Dan Dan noodles are a staple of Sichaun street food and have been gaining popularity as a cult foodie dish. We decided to recreate the traditional recipe with a House of Dumplings twist! If you love Dan Dan noodles, you’ll love our Dan Dan dumplings.
What are Dan Dan noodles?
Traditionally, this dish is comprised of thin noodles mixed with chilli oil, ground pork, spices and a sesame paste or tahini sauce. Every Dan Dan noodle shop has their own special twist on the famous recipe, so it’s up to you to find which is your favourite! To perfect the dish takes a lot of time and practice, so we’ve simplified the recipe. Instead of noodles, we are using our Chicken & Coriander dumplings! Of course, you can make the meal even more filling by adding both noodles and dumplings.
Specialty sesame sauce
We’ve made a version of the classic Dan Dan sesame sauce that is super easy to make at home. The key ingredient is tahini paste, which is made from ground up sesame seeds. You can also use Chinese sesame paste, which is stronger tasting as it uses unhulled, roasted sesame seeds. Tahini is becoming increasingly popular, as it’s a key ingredient in hummus and lots of plant-based alternatives. This means that, these days, it’s pretty easy to find at your local supermarket! In our Dan Dan sauce, we mix tahini paste with our House of Dumplings Mum’s Sauce, Chilli Oil, sugar and water. The earthy bitterness of the tahini blends with the tangy soy, garlic and ginger flavours of the Mum’s Sauce and the kick of the chilli oil. Use as much or as little chilli oil as you like – in Sichuan, they like this dish spicy!
Dan Dan Dumplings
Ingredients
- 1 pack of Cantonese Bostock Brothers Organic Free Range Chicken Coriander Dumplings
- 1 tbsp of The Good Oil for panfrying
- a handful of spinach leaves
- 1/3 of a cucumber (cut into matchsticks and placed into ice water)
- 1 carrot (cut into matchsticks and placed into ice water)
- 1/2 of a capsicum (cut into matchsticks and placed into ice water)
Tahini dressing
- 3 tbsp tahini (also known as sesame paste, find it in the chilled section of the supermarket)
- 2 tbsp Mum's Sauce
- Chilli Oil optional
- 1 tbsp sugar
- 1.5 tbsp Water
- A handful of Sprouts (we sprout our own mix from Kings Seeds -Alfalfa Mustard Radish)
Instructions
- Leave the dumplings out to thaw on the bench for 30 mins before cooking.
- Cut the cucumber, carrot and capsicum into matchsticks. Place the matchsticks into a bowl of ice water to ensure that they stay nice and crisp!
- Heat a drizzle of oil in a frying pan over medium-high heat. Pop in the dumplings and pan-fry for 2 minutes on each side, or until golden.
- While you wait for the dumplings to cook, make your dressing. In a small bowl, mix together tahini, Mum's Sauce, chilli oil, sugar and water.
- Serve the dumplings, vegetables and watercress together and cover with the Dan Dan sauce. Yum!
