Dan Dan Noodles – the iconic spicy Sichuan noodles, a flavour explosion with slippery noodles tossed in an intense spicy sesame sauce and pork. You’ll need to visit an Asian grocery store but once you’ve got what you need, it’s a cinch to make! (Plus, I’ve provided loads of substitution options.)
Dan Dan Noodles
The beautiful Northern Beaches area of Sydney in which I live is many things….but certainly not known for great authentic Sichuan food!!!
And given that Dan Dan Noodles is literally one of my all time top 3 foods, it was essential that I arm myself with a totally doable home version that is everything you want in a bowl of slippery, spicy noodles laced with the sesame flavoured Dan Dan Noodle Sauce, wafting with the scent of Chinese five spice.
With the signature slick of fiery red chilli sauce on the surface, it actually looks more fierce than it is. I’m one of those people who likes to think they can handle really spicy food – but actually, I can’t at all. So while the recipe provided has a good kick to it (I wouldn’t serve it to a toddler 😂), it is not blow-your-head-off spicy!
Usually I’d start with a visual of the ingredients, but in this case I think it’s better to give you an overview of how it’s assembled so you can see the different components of Dan Dan Noodles.
How to make Dan Dan Noodles
Unlike most noodles, such as Lo Mein and Chow Mein noodles, Dan Dan Noodles aren’t tossed together with sauce, vegetables and proteins. Instead, it’s served layered for a DIY toss situation, as follows:
Dan Dan Sauce in first – the savoury, Five Spiced sesame sauce with a slick of the signature chilli oil that you know and love about spicy Sichuan noodles!
Noodles next – but don’t mix it through;
Toppings – stir fried pork, preserved mustard greens (Sui Mi Ya Cai), choi sum and green onions;
Peanuts – finish with a sprinkle of chopped nuts;
Serve it just like that, with the sauce pooled at the bottom; then
To eat, you toss it all together so the white noodles become stained red with the spicy sauce, then devour!
What goes in Dan Dan Noodles
Here’s an overview of what you need and how to make each component for these spicy Sichuan noodles.
1. Dan Dan Noodles Sauce
Here’s what goes in the sauce – it’s not cooked, it’s just mixed up in a bowl.
Chinese Five Spice Powder is a spice mix of (don’t fall of your chair!) five different spices. It’s a common spice blend sold at grocery stores (🇦🇺Woolies, Coles);
Sichuan Pepper is the pepper that’s used in Sichuan cooking and other iconic Chinese dishes such as Kung Pao Chicken. It has a spiciness that is numbing rather than the usual fiery heat, and a slight lemony flavour. Available at Asian stores and some grocery stores with speciality spices (eg 🇦🇺Harris Farms), it’s best to freshly grind your own if you can but for convenience, just use pre ground. Substitute with white pepper.
Chilli Oil – Bright red in colour, and as spicy as it looks! You’ll find Chinese chilli oil in any Asian grocery store, otherwise, any chilli oil will do just fine. Substitute 1 part sriracha to 2 parts oil.
Chinese Chilli paste in oil – My favourite is Fuyun Xiang La Wang (chilli sauce) which is sold at most Chinese grocers. Substitute any Asian chilli paste (preferably in oil), a plain chilli paste, sambal oelek, and add an extra glug of chilli oil;
Chicken stock/broth – though I say this sauce is not cooked, this is heated up until hot and this heats up the sauce;
Chinese Sesame Sauce or paste (pictured below) – a key ingredient for the sauce flavour. It’s made from ground sesame and is like tahini (used in Hummus) but has a more intense sesame flavour, and it’s darker. Sold at Asian stores, substitute with tahini. Also used in Creamy Sichuan Sesame Sauce for Lettuce Salad.
2. Pork Toppings and Pickled Mustard Greens (Sui Mi Ya Cai)
Dan Dan Noodles are topped with pork mince and pickled mustard greens (called Sui Mi Ya Cai):
The making part is literally a less than 5 minute effort – just cook the pork, add the Chinese five spice flavoured sauce. Transfer to a bowl then just heat the pickled mustard greens (more on this below).
3. Sui Mi Ya Cai – Sichuan Preserved Mustard Greens
Firstly, don’t fret if you can’t find this, it’s not a make-or-break ingredient. Recipe only uses a sprinkle that’s added at the end when assembling the dish.
This is a signature ingredient used in Dan Dan Noodles. It’s Chinese pickled mustard greens (a type of green vegetable) that comes from the Sichuan region of China. It has the texture and saltiness of kimchi, but it’s not spicy. So that’s the best substitute – kimchi!
We’re almost there! Here’s the last part.
4. Noodles, Chinese Greens and Garnishes
Noodles – just any medium thickness, white Asian noodles. Not rice noodles, wheat noodles (check the ingredients list if you can’t read the packet 🙋🏻♀️). White is best for the most striking contrast of colour – the red chilli oil against the white noodles. However, any noodles will do just fine here, even noodle cakes (like ramen packs). Just prepare per packet;
Choi Sum – or other Chinese greens, briefly blanched; and
Garnishes – peanuts and green onion.
Cook the noodles first, then blanch the choi sum in the same water (just add it into the same pot and drain together for simplicity).
Then layer it all up – sauce in first, noodles next, then all the toppings.
Then mix it all up and devour!!
I know it’s a looooong post, with lots of ingredients visuals and breaking down the components. But don’t fret! Once you’ve gathered all the ingredients, the making part is straight forward.
You also don’t need to rush and worry about cooking all the components so they’re piping hot when you put it together. The sauce and pork and be lukewarm because it gets heated through when you toss the hot noodles through. It’s the Dan Dan way! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Dan Dan Noodles
Ingredients
Dan Dan Sauce:
- 2 tbsp Chinese sesame paste (sub tahini, Note 1)
- 1.5 tbsp Chinese chilli paste in oil , adjust spiciness (Note 2)
- 4 tbsp light soy sauce (Note 3)
- 2 garlic cloves , minced
- 3 tsp white sugar
- 1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder (Note 4)
- 1 tsp Sichuan pepper powder , preferably freshly ground (Note 5)
- 3 tbsp (or more!) chilli oil , preferably Chinese (Note 6)
- 3/4 cup (185ml) chicken broth/stock , hot, low sodium
Pork topping:
- 2 tsp Hoisin sauce
- 1 tsp dark soy sauce (Note 7)
- 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine (sub 2 tbsp extra chicken stock)
- 1/2 tsp Chinese five spice powder (Note 4)
- 1 tbsp vegetable oil
- 250g/ 8oz pork mince (ground pork)
Sui mi ya cai (preserved mustard greens):
- 1 tsp vegetable oil
- 30g (1/4 cup) Sui Mi Ya Cai (preserved mustard greens) , finely chopped (Note 8)
To serve:
- 500g/1lb white fresh noodles , medium thickness (Note 9)
- 16 choy sum stems , cut into 15cm pieces
- 2 green onions , finely sliced
- 1 tbsp peanuts , finely chopped (optional)
Instructions
Dan Dan Sauce:
- Mix all ingredients except oil and chicken stock. Then gently stir in oil and stock – oil should be sitting on surface. Set aside.
Pork:
- Mix together hoisin, soy, Chinese wine and five spice (“Sauce”).
- Heat oil in a skillet or wok over high heat. Add pork and cook, breaking it up as you, until it changes from pink to white. Add Sauce and cook for 1 minute, then transfer into a bowl.
Sui mi ya cai (preserved mustard greens):
- Return skillet to stove, reduce to medium heat. Add oil into middle of skillet.
- Add Sui mi ya cai and stir for 30 seconds, just to warm through. Set aside.
Noodles & choi sum:
- Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Cook noodles per packet directions.
- Add choi sum for last 1 minute of cooking.
- Drain.
Assemble:
- Ladle 1/4 of Dan Dan Sauce into a bowl. Pile in noodles, top with pork and Sui mi ya cai. Place choi sum on side.
- Sprinkle with peanuts and green onions and serve.
- To eat, mix it all up to coat the noodles well with Sauce, then devour!
Recipe Notes:
- Recipe as written is spicy but not blow-your-head-off spicy
- Reduce spiciness by using less chilli paste, Sichuan pepper and lastly, less chili oil (the oil is a key part of Dan Dan Noodles – look, mouthfeel and flavour)
- Pork amount is small – not supposed to be meat loaded, just a sprinkling. Can double pork (click Servings and slide to scale)
- Can add more steamed Asian greens to make complete meal
Nutrition Information:
Life of Dozer
Plant shopping!
He spent the entire time snuffling around frantically. Some people said it’s because of all the exciting smells – fertiliser manure and the like.
I think he was looking for food – because I know how he thinks. He truly believes that people eat their lunch while browsing nurseries and accidentally drop half their sandwich and leave it for lucky dogs to discover.
I loved the flavor! Was a bit too spicy for me but I’ll just cut back on the spice next time. 👍🏼
One of my faves, it is worth going to your local Asian store to find the ingredients. Substitutes are good but the OG is verrrrry good!!! I would have made this a dozen times.
so yummy!!!! Made this last night using homemade five spice powder and it is so easy to make and taste sooooo good!!!! I have a lot of extra dan dan sauce – how long can I keep it in the fridge? I am thinking few days but can it last longer than few days?
Yummy! I used the tahini and kimchi subs as i already had them. It wasn’t until I re-read the recipe again afterwards that I discovered I’d left the garlic and sugar out of the sauce! (Admittedly I’d had a glass of wine before I started pepping 🙄). But it was still delicious!
SO GOOD. Marinated slivered pork loin in the sauce and had Vietnamese spinach instead of kimchee. Added extra chili oil.
Oh my goodness – this was so delicious. I had Dan Dan noodles from a food truck recently which prompted me to try this. This was better!
Best Dan Mian I ever had. My wife is Chinese and she says the same. Thank you very much. I only made three adjustments: 1) only 2 TBSP of soy sauce because in China I always thought it was toooo salty, 2) only 1.5 TBSP red chili oil, because in China I thought it was too oily, 3) added 1 TSP black vinegar, because….hey, why not add another layer of flavor. Thanks again!
The Dan Dan sauce is terrific and is really good on vegetables and noodles even without the pork. I am not vegan but didn’t have meat, so I tried heating up some shredded canned jackfruit with the Dan dan sauce. . I provides a meaty texture.
That’s a great tip for a vegetarian version Susan! N x
So good! Used the tahini and kimchi substitutions, Fly by Jing Zhong Sauce for the chili paste in oil, and extra pork/greens. It was spicy warm, and we will definitely be making this again!
this is a super tasty recipe. I used regular tahini (and a scoop more than recipe says), and replaced the chili oil with sambal badjak. topped the pork with some spinach and chopped paksoi which wilted into the meat (yes indeed). I’m gonna make this ALL THE TIME. thanks!
I have honey garlic pork sausage and am wondering if the pork seasoning ingredients can be adapted to make it work instead of pork mine (eg: decreasing the hoisin and using more 5spice). Do you have any suggestions ?
So I went ahead and tried it with the honey garlic sausage and it turned out great, a repeat for the family for sure! I went out a few days later and ordered the same dish from a restaurant to see how close I’d gotten and it was nearly spot on – in fact I don’t think I could have gotten as close to that same ‘Chinese pork’ flavour with plain pork mince, so the honey garlic sausage will be my go-to. I had substituted oyster sauce for the hoisin in the pork because the sausage is already a little sweet, but I don’t think the swap is necessary. Hope someone finds this helpful!
Just made this and WOW what a flavour bomb! Amazing recipe – simple to follow.
Thank you Nagi,
A delicious recipe. The sesame paste, chilli paste and noodles very easy to buy from local chinese supermarket. We enjoyed the chilli heat but would use 2 tblspn of chilli oil next time. This will be a favourite recipe especially in the colder months
Amazing recipe! Partner says it’s one of the best noodle dishes I’ve cooked for him. I made a few changes to the recipe since I didn’t have the ingredients on hand but it still turned out FANTASTIC!! I used kangaroo mince instead of pork, peanut butter powder and sesame oil instead of sesame paste, and sambal oelek paste for the spicy element. Incredible!
Nagi, I use your recipes nearly every night. In fact, my boyfriend simply says, ‘Nagi?’ after I cook a tasty meal- ha! This one in particular is a favourite. Delicious and spicy. Thank you so much!
Welcome back Nagi, hope the cookbook experience is fantastic for you, cannot wait to buy it… can I just say, have been following you for a while now, absolutely adore all your recipes, you give me kitchen courage! The Dan Dan noodles are just the best our near favourite… tied with the crumbed sardines… Yum! But can I say, I’m a little bit slow… I just today discovered the sliding scale for servings… OMG it’s awesome !!!
You aren’t the only one Jo! All kinds of comments ask for that sliding scale all the time…it is a great tool! N x
I made this on the weekend and it was a huge hit! My husband loves spicy food and this was perfect. I couldn’t find the preserved mustard greens so used kimchi instead. Will definitely be making this again. Thanks Nagi! 🙂
They are one of my favourites!! N x
I just made this and it was perfect! Exactly as I was hoping for and just like takeaway. I used tahini as a substitution and Laogonma sauce for the chilli paste (I think it worked though I don’t know if it is strictly correct). Anyway, thank you Nagi for all of your amazing recipes, every one I’ve tried has been a huge success.
Another fantastic recipe! Long time fan of Nagi’s recipes, I have cooked many of her recipes, and I must say, I have never been disappointed. All the recipes I’ve tried have been spectacular. I didn’t have all the ingredients in my pantry for this recipe today, but I had most of them. and the dish was still absolutely delicious!
Nagi – a Northern Beaches local, now I love you even more! I have spent the last 1 trawling through all your amazing recipes. I made your pork and prawn wontons the other night and needless to say my husband said he would never order it take away again!
Love how simple and easy your dishes are!
Wahoo!!! That’s great Michelle! N x