Have you heard of pork dan dan noodles? Dan dan noodles were originally sold by street vendors who carried their ingredients and stoves in baskets hanging from a dan (bamboo shoulder pole). They would sell a portion of noodles and ladle over each ingredient in the sauce separately, which would then be mixed by the customer.
We first tried pork dan dan noodles when we were sent out the recipe as part of my Marley Spoon order. But it was such a hit with our family that we have played around with the original recipe to make it our own.
The boys love the noodles and the peanut based sauce. They also love the crispy pork and the abundance of fragrant Asian greens that are served along side it. In fact, the other day the Asian greens were $2 for 2 bunches – so I bought 2 bunches of bok choy, 2 bunches of choy sum, and 2 bunches of chinese broccoli…and they all got eaten.
My husband and I like to spice up our bowls with fresh red chilis and sriracha sauce. But don’t be afraid to try this dish if you don’t like spicy food – you can simply omit the chili and the chili sauce at the end and it’s totally fine for children.
PORK DAN DAN NOODLES
500grams pork mince
1/4 cup kecup manis
1 packet of egg noodles
1/4 cup of peanut butter
1/4 cup of soy sauce
1/2 cup of water
1/2 tsp Sichuan peppercorn powder
1 bunch of bok choy
1 bunch of choy sum
1 bunch of chinese broccoli
3 cloves of garlic
1 nob of ginger
1 tbsp of peanut oil
1 tbsp of coconut oil
red chili
sriracha sauce
Fry of the pork mince until cooked through and then add in the kecup manis and allow to get crispy.
Whilst the pork is cooking bring two medium size pots of water the the boil. Add the noodles into one pot and cook as per instructions. Add the stalks of the Asian greens into the other pot and cook for 3 minutes before adding the remaining leaves and cooking for another minute or so.
Drain the noodles and place onto your serving dish. Into the empty saucepan, place the peanut butter, soy sauce, water, 1 crushed clove of garlic and sichuan peppercorn powder. Whisk whilst bringing to a simmer.
Drain the Asian greens and return to the pan with the remaining crushed garlic, ginger, peanut oil and coconut oil. Toss until fragrent.
Add your asian greens to the serving dish, along with your crispy pork and peanut sauce. Allow guests or family members to serve themselves with what they wish and top with as much or as little chili as they want.
Think this dish sounds good, but you’re vegetarian or vegan? Don’t worry, simply swap out the egg noodles for any wheat based noodle and try tossing some baby corn in kepus manus instead.
Have you ever whipped up a recipe from my blog? I would love for you to let me know…So I don’t feel as if I am just writing all this stuff down for nothing… If you choose to whip up one of my recipes , then I would love for you to share it on social media, and don’t forget to use the hashtag #goodfoodweek.
