Spicy Dan Dan Mein

My hands are on fire, unable to be extinguished.  I've lavishly lathered lime juice and cold water over ever crevice of my fingers to what feels like a 2nd degree burn.  The pain jolts and sears as my fingers pounces (not so elegantly) on the keyboard, even with Keiko Matsui' smooth piano jazz playing in the background.  This time.  I only dealt with 2 red thai chilies, it's capsaicin branding every open pore of my hands.  When I had made the hot sauce to accompany the Hainanese Chicken, over 20 red thai chilies were used.  I felt as if my fingers were going to fall off.

This is where the concept of "pain & pleasure" come in play.  There's an enjoyment one cannot deny itself when it comes to consuming spicy food.  It excites our palette.  Enhances our food experiences as well as broaden food selections. It provides warm glowing sensation that coats our tummy post meal.  But if you had to prepare your own raw chilies to enhance your dish, please, do yourself a favor and wear kitchen gloves, unless of course.... you like the pain post prepping chilies.

It was during my research about various types of Japanese ramens did I come across Dan Dan Mein,(Japanese version is called "Tantanmen")  which apparently, according to social media consensus, originated from Szechuan, China; a sesame base sauce toss with noodles, topped with minced pork and vegetables on the side.  A typical road side, fulfilling street dish that requires only a pot of rolling water to cook the noodles, it's sauces and toppings pre-made by the vendor at the crack of dawn.   Upon request, a pre-fixed amount of noodle is dropped in the rolling pot of water, with smooth fluid moments, the vendor spoons in the required amounts of sauces, usually a combination of sesame paste, soy sauce, homemade chili oil with seeds, sugar, and black vinegar into the bottom of the bowl, the now cooked noodles, sieved from any excess liquid is place on top of the sauces, minced meat, green onions and vegetables topped up and served with a pair of chopsticks.  In a blink of an eye, this perfect harmony bowl of noodles is served, all you have to do is toss the noodles with the sauce with your chopsticks until every strand of noodle is coated with the sauce.  It really is that simple.  

To make the mince meat:

1/2 pound ground pork 

2 red thai chilies (optional)

1tbsp each of, chili paste, soy bean paste - if not already sweeten, add 1tsp or so of brown sugar

1tsp of grated ginger

3 cloves of garlic - finely diced

2 tbsp of pickled sichuan mustard vegetable (sold in asian groceries in small foil packs usually sold at $0.39 per pack) 

2 stalks of the white portion of green onion

1.  In a medium high pan, coat bottom with olive oil.  Once hot, throw in chilies and garlic.  toss for a few second until fragrant, throw in ginger, pickled mustard and white portion of green onion.  Toss.  Throw in minced ground pork and separate into tiny tiny bits with a wooden spatula.  When it is 3/4 cooked through, add in the soybean paste, chili paste and sugar.  Toss and coat each tiny piece of ground pork.  Cook for another 6-7 mins on medium high, constantly mincing the meat with the wooden spatula.  Once cooked, turn off the heat and set aside. 

Prepare your choice of vegetables you like.  I chose to use bak choy as the natural sweetness and texture will compliment well with the noodles when tossed with the sauce and meat.   All I did was boiled the vegetables for 1 min and shocked the cooked veg. in cold water to stop from further cooking and maintain the fresh greenness.  Over cooked vegetables will have a yellow tone to it. 

Let's prepare the sauce.  All you need is the following to make one serving.  Add sauce to bottom of a bowl.

1 tsp and a bit of sesame paste 

1 tsp of dark soy sauce 

1 tsp of soy sauce

1 tsp of sugar

1 tbsp of chili oil (add as little of as much as you like:)

1.5 tbsp of black vinegar

Boil a desired amount of noodles (dried or freshly made :)  ) into a pot of rolling water.  Cook accordingly but do not overcook.  Mushy noodles makes for an unpleasant texture. 

Strain noodles using a seive and toss in the bowl of sauce.  Top with meat and vegetables. 

Using a pair of chopsticks and a spoon, toss and coat each strand of noodles with the sauce from the bottom.  

 You are now ready to enjoy this simple simple meal:)