antipinkkitten What did we try
This week, we were inspired to bring in new elements for the recipes. Noodles, Bok Choy, implementation of more flavors from the Middle East (Sesame seeds, etc). All of these ingredients would have been present in 1000 c.e. On paper, this recipe sounded easy, tasty and satisfying with limited adaptations. We had decided that basing it off existing recipes for Dan Dan Noodles would be possible.
In reality, it was an inedible dish that looked pretty.
What went wrong?
In the recipe, to make it more timeline accurate, we had to omit chilis. This is due to chili peppers originating from South America, which would have been an additional 500-600 years before the ingredient would make it to China, from trade by the Portuguese and Dutch. We also had to omit an ingredient that would have been timeline friendly, however, Bradly is Epi-Pen-Level allergic to: Star Anise.
With the removal of the chilis, the “Chili” oil was just Sichuan Peppercorns. Which, has a very distinct, numbing flavor that on it’s own, made the dish tongue-numbing.
What do we do from here?
When the recipe completely imploded, I immediately turned to Brad and said “Maybe we don’t post this recipe?”. His answer was nothing less I’d expect from his scientific mind.
We need to show the failures, with the successes, so we can learn from them. Maybe others can help us see what we missed.
Bradly
Feedback wanted
With that, we are posting the recipe and letting everyone know our feelings on it. BUT, I do ask, if you can see where we went wrong or what ideas you may have to fix it – Let us know. Our goal with this blog has always been education – and not just us providing, but also us receiving. If you have experience with Chinese Cuisine, let us know in the comments how you would fix it and we can guide with research to make sure it could be accurate for the time period.
We may try to do redemption in the future (Probably will not be historically accurate)!
1000 c.e. Dan Dan Noodles
Ingredients
“Chili Oil”
- 2 tablespoons Sichuan peppercorns
- 1 cinnamon stick
- 1 cup oil
Ground Pork
- 1 teaspoons oil
- 8 oz. ground pork (225g)
- 2 tbsp sweet bean sauce
- 2 teaspoons Rice Vinegar
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce
- 3 cups shredded Bok Choy
Sauce
- 2 tablespoons sesame paste tahini
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon Sichuan peppercorn powder
- 1/2 cup of your prepared chili oil
- 2 cloves garlic
Noodles
- 4 pieces of dried noodles
- Chopped Green Onion
Instructions
- Mix Sichuan Peppercorns, cinnamon stick and oil into sauce pan. Cook at medium heat for 6 minutes, then remove from heat – Set aside.
- Begin cooking the ground pork. While in skillet, add oil, rice vinegar and soy sauce to meat. Once lightly browned, add sweet bean sauce.
- Stir until fully covered, add Bok Choy. Remove from heat once Bok Choy is wilted.
- Cook noodles for 3 minutes, remove from water and set aside. Leave 1/4 cup of remaining water for sauce if-needed.
- For the sauce, place the minced garlic, peppercorn powder and “Chili Oil” into a sauce pan. Start to warm it, and add sugar and sesame paste (Tahini). As the mixture starts to bubble, remove from heat and toss noodles in it.
- Serve noodles with meat on top, with the bok chop, and sliced green onions.
Reviews
We are omitting reviews this week, because it’s a zero star for the both of us.
Pst – What do you think of the bowls?
You may have noticed in the post those fun, rustic hand-carved bowls. Interested in getting one yourself? Check them out on our store and let us know what you think!
Thank you for sharing this recipe for “Dan Dan Noodles”; you can’t imagine how excited I was when I saw this. My husband tried Dan Dan Noodles at a “Japanese???” Restaurant in Philadelphia a few years ago and absolutely LOVED the dish. He had me try a little and I was equally impressed! Since then, I have been searching for a recipe or a restaurant in our area
(MD) that has this on their menu without any luck for either avenue. I even tried to find it in the “Frozen
Food” section of multiple grocery stores (near and far… probably up to 50 mile radius to where we live)
again…..with no luck!
I must say however, I was a little disappointed when I read about your distaste for your dish! I’m really sorry that you felt so unhappy with your dish.
By chance, did you try to make it again, possibly with a different recipe? If so, how did it taste? If not, do you intend to try searching for another recipe/method? I really would love to try to make this dish at home; if you wouldn’t mind sharing your thoughts with me about your experience (s) with
Dan Dan Noodles if you are willing to give it another
go, I would like to hear your thoughts/feedback.
Thank you in advance for your time, patience,
willingness to share and your sense of adventure for
at least making the attempt!! I wish you much luck in your future cooking adventures!
Thank you so much! I believe our issue was the amount of Sichuan Peppercorns. We do plan on making it again at some point with modification. Did you make it exactly as the recipe said or did you modify? I love hearing of other experiences with these recipes and I am so happy you have enjoyed the work we put in <3!
I’m not sure you’re still checking this site, but have you considered using other “spicy” ingredients like black pepper, long pepper, or garlic? Obviously they won’t imitate a chili pepper, but the concept of spicy those ingredients provided is why Sichuan cuisine took to chili peppers so quickly.
Hi there, so that was the plan. We had to make some decisions that impacted the recipes because of my spouse’s allergy to Star Anise, but long pepper would have been an interesting option. I’m always willing to try again. We’re not gone forever, but when we had our toddler, our ability to do the research, recipes and etc. fell the side, but I’m hoping to get back to this in earnest someday.