In China’s Sichuan region, people eat spicy food to combat the unfriendly weather of that climate. I eat spicy foods for their bold flavors. Same outcome – they invigorate the appetite, warm the body when it’s cold and damp or combat insufferably hot and sultry summer temperatures by inducing sweat – a yin and yang relationship.
So is the case with Sichuan peppers in Fuchsia Dunlop’s book, “Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper, a Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China”. A half-Chinese English woman, she yearns to connect with her heritage and master Sichuan cooking during her stay in that province. Eventually she acknowledges that part of her was no longer English as a result of her love affair with its food.
While Dunlop went on to write a number of renowned cookbooks exploring that cuisine, she initially felt totally alien in the Chinese environment. Her book chronicles her transformation along with that of Chinese life before and after the Cultural revolution. My main interest was the book’s recipes, enlivened by her descriptions of eating those dishes. But while I consider myself an omnivore, the telling of consuming all manner of insects, rodents and other “delicacies” was a little beyond my appetite.
In reading the memoir, which is the current Cook the Books selection, I was drawn from the first to the description of DanDan Noodles, which at one time were the archetypical Sichuan street snack. Named for the bamboo shoulder pole carried by street vendors, they are incendiary hot. Dunlop says that they look quite plain, being just a small bowl of noodles topped with sauced minced beef.
She goes on “But as soon as you stirred them with the chopsticks, you awakened the flavors in the slick of spicy seasonings that coated each strand with a mix of soy sauce, chili oil, sesame paste and Sichuan pepper. The effect of this was electrifying. Within seconds, your mouth was on fire, your lips quivering under the onslaught of the pepper and your whole body radiant with heat to the point where on a warm day you might even break out into a sweat.”
I found them the same – spicy hot yet sweet and tangy. Dan Dan noodles are addictive, a fast and fresh introduction to Sichuan cooking since the amount of heat can be tailored to the eater’s tolerance.
Sichuan DanDan Noodles
Adapted from Fuchsia Dunlop – Feeds 2 for dinner or 4 for a snack
Ingredients
For the Sauce:
½-1 tsp Sichuan pepper flakes, 2 tbs chili oil, ¼ tsp ground cumin, 1/8 tsp ground coriander, 3 tbs soy sauce
For the DanDan Noodles:
8 oz dried Chinese noodles (I used wide Lo Mein Noodles)
1 tbs vegetable oil, 6 oz minced beef, 3 tbs douban chili paste, 3 ½ tbs unsweetened peanut butter, ½ tsp sesame oil,1 tbs soy sauce, 2 slices ginger, chopped, 2 cloves garlic, smashed, 2 tbs Chinese rice wine, 2 ½ cup unsalted chicken broth
Salt to taste, being careful of the salty ingredients, Pinch of sugar
1 bunch scallions sliced diagonally, Chopped cilantro or more scallions for garnish
Preparation:
For the sauce, combine ingredients by stirring in a small bowl. Set aside. For the noodles, cook the dry noodles in boiling water till softened. Drain and set aside. Heat the oil in a wok over moderate flame till hot but not smoking. Add chili paste and peanut butter, stir fry briefly. Add ginger, garlic scallions, sesame oil and soy sauce. Add the meat and stir fry till brown and a little crisp. Toss in a pinch of sugar to balance the saltiness. Remove from the wok and set aside. Pour chicken broth and rice wine into the wok and heat till bubbling briskly. Add the sauce, stirring. Add back the seasoned meat and the slivered scallions. Heat through. To serve, portion the noodles into individual bowls. Add sauced meat mixture and top with garnishes. Serve immediately.
This is my contribution to the current selection of Cook the Books hosted by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen who we thank for her generosity in hosting this cycle’s sharing of literary and culinary inspirations.
