Total Time30 minutesPrep Time10 minutesCook Time20 minutes

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A specialty from Sichuan, a province in the southwest of China, vendors once balanced baskets of noodles and sauce on their shoulder poles and cried out “dan dan mian!” to hawk their wares. Dan dan refers to those bamboo shoulder poles and mian means noodles, but there’s no one way to prepare them. Nowadays in the Western diaspora, the dish is associated with a few essentials, namely chile oil and sesame paste, but another is worth adding: preserved vegetables. Salty and a little sweet with the sour oomph of fermentation, pickled mustard greens give the soothing noodles an umami zing. These noodles are especially rich with sesame, but you can adjust all of the seasonings to your taste. Toasty and salty, tangy on the cliff of funk, chewy with pops of peanut, dan dan noodles are a bowl of contentment.

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For the Sauce

• ¼cup well-stirred Chinese sesame paste or tahini (see Tips)

• 2tablespoons soy sauce

• 1tablespoon sesame oil

• 1 to 2tablespoons chile crisp, preferably Sichuanese, plus more for serving

• 2 to 3teaspoons brown sugar

• ½teaspoon Chinkiang vinegar or balsamic vinegar

For the Meat

• 2tablespoons vegetable oil

• ½cup ya cai (Sichuan preserved mustard greens) or other finely chopped Chinese pickled or preserved mustard vegetables (see Tips)

• 1large garlic clove, finely chopped

• 8ounces ground pork

• 1tablespoon Shaoxing wine or other rice wine

• 1tablespoon soy sauce

• 2teaspoons tian mian jiang (sweet wheat sauce) or hoisin

For the Noodles

• 1pound fresh Chinese wheat noodles (see Tips)

• 8 to 12bok choy or gai lan (Chinese broccoli), optional

• Chopped roasted, salted peanuts, ground Sichuan peppercorns and finely sliced scallions, for topping

Ingredient Substitution Guide

Nutritional analysis per serving (12 servings)

309 calories; 12 grams fat; 3 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 5 grams monounsaturated fat; 3 grams polyunsaturated fat; 38 grams carbohydrates; 5 grams dietary fiber; 4 grams sugars; 13 grams protein; 288 milligrams sodium

Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.

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Step 1

Start the sauce: Set a large pot of water to a boil. Meanwhile, mix the sesame paste, soy sauce, sesame oil, chile crisp, brown sugar and vinegar in a large bowl. The mixture will be thick. Taste and add more chile oil or brown sugar (or other seasonings) to your liking. 1.

Step 2

Make the meat: Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a wok or large, deep skillet over high. Add the ya cai and cook, stirring, until softened and fragrant, about 1 minute. Scrape half into the sauce bowl. Add the remaining oil to the wok. When it’s hot, add the garlic and stir until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Add the pork and cook, smashing it into the vegetables and stirring to break it into tiny bits. When its pinkness fades after a few minutes, add the wine, soy sauce and tian mian jiang, and stir until the pork is cooked through. Keep warm over low. 1.

Step 3

Finish the sauce: Scoop ¼ cup boiling water from the pot and add to the sauce. Stir until smooth. The sauce should run off the spoon. If it doesn’t, add more boiling water a tablespoon at a time. 1.

Step 4

Make the noodles: Drop the noodles into the pot of boiling water, stir and cook until there’s still a bite in the center, 1 to 2 minutes. Add the bok choy and cook until bright green and the noodles are just tender, about 1 minute longer. Drain and run under hot tap water to rinse excess starch off the noodles. 1.

Step 5

Slide the noodles and bok choy over the sauce, scrape the pork and its sauce on top, then sprinkle with peanuts and scallions if you want. Top with more chile crisp if you’d like. Mix well and enjoy immediately.

Tips

• Chinese sesame paste has a deep toasted flavor. If using tahini, try to find one made with roasted sesame seeds, such as Joyva. If using tahini ground from raw sesame seeds, add another tablespoon toasted sesame oil.
• Sichuan preserved mustard greens, known broadly as ya cai or more specifically as Yibin ya cai for the region from which it comes, come in small foil packets or jars. The dark brown bits of preserved vegetables start as strips of Sichuanese mustard green stems, which are then dried, salted and fermented with a sugar syrup and spices. They end up savory, a little sweet and pleasantly funky. There’s no great substitute, but other varieties of Chinese pickled or preserved mustard greens, such as sui mi ya cai, work. In a Western pantry, a combination of finely chopped capers and finely diced fermented bread-and-butter pickles comes closest.
• If you don’t have fresh Chinese wheat noodles, you can use 12 ounces dried lo mein noodles, thin spaghetti or ramen and cook according to the package directions before draining and rinsing.

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