Project Sichuan #5 - Dan Dan Noodles - Small eats with big taste
/So much of the traditional food of Sichuan originated as street food, sold by hawkers outside with little more than a couple of baskets of items mixed simplistically together to create something hearty and delicious. The most famous of these street food dishes come in the form of noodles – and within that universe the overwhelmingly favorite is Dan Dan Mian. But unlike so many alluring dishes originating from the Sichuan larder, Dan Dan Mian is not one of those sexy, alluring items that steals the show. It is, instead, a simple street food dish whose roots go back to days in China when people plied the streets, selling straightforward food with simple, easy to prepare recipes.
The name itself reflects this – dan means “to carry on a shoulder pole”; mian means noodles. Balanced on one end of a shoulderpole was a basket of the food ingredients; and on the other the cooking items needed to make a small bowl of inexpensive sustenance. With baskets hanging on both ends of the shoulder pole it was a dan dan — and was the name the hawkers would announce while walking down the narrow alleys of Chengdu. Sadly, most of those noodle vendors are gone now, replaced by countless shops and stalls and the occasional pushcart selling the noodles under more modern conditions. So while today’s dan dan mian may be the same as before, that romantic vision of preparing noodles curbside from baskets has faded into history.
Today Dan Dan Mian is so ubiquitous in Sichuan restaurants the world over that it’s easy to find really good versions and, well, really bad ones. While originally a one-bowl snack in itself, as time carried on the dish moved inside to restaurants and stalls and is typically served as an appetizer or side dish, often known as Sichuan Noodles. So many cooks have developed their own version that it’s hard to know what is traditional and what is not. But the classic recipe is a dry noodle, three-layer combination of taste, including the deep flavor of sesame paste, the mala sensation of spicy chilis and numbing Sichuan peppercorns, and the umami satisfaction of ground pork fried with Shaoxing wine, ginger, soy and more chili oil. The first layer is the sauce in the bottom of the bowl, consisting of lightly stir fried sesame paste and Tianjin preserved vegetables (Yibin yacai), which gives it a sparkle of brightness and its distinctive, trademark flavor. Without the special salty/sourness of the preserved vegetables, it just isn’t the real deal. Next, lay in a pile of springy wheat noodles and, lastly, top the dish with a dollop of the fried pork mixture. Sometimes ground peanuts and boiled leafy greens crown the dish.
Typically a serving of Dan Dan Mian consists of just a few bites and its initial appearance is usually innocuous and innocent. But slip your chopsticks beneath those noodles and turn them over a few times. A rich reddish brown sauce begins to coat the noodles with a fiery sheen, creating a hearty dish that is typically very spicy, deep flavored and ridiculously delicious. It’s hard to think that such a straightforward little snack delivers such a big punch of satisfying flavor and spice. It at once feeds your hungry stomach and satiates your flavor cravings. Which is why this dish – perhaps more than any other in Sichuan – is one of those foods which nourishes both body and soul and helps hold peoples’ lives together.
Street Vendor image courtesy of www.ibsdigital.net
