Sichanese Dan Dan Noodles

If it weren't for this cookbook, I would not have known to make the dish nor the sauce that goes with it. This recipe comes from Fuchsia Dunlop's Land of Plenty. Total prep time is about an hour, including noodle cooking time. This was one of the few times I went out of the way to procure a single recipe ingredient, in this case it was the tianjin preserved vegetable; which is a garlic and salt-preserved cabbage. If you can't find this little clay urn of intensely salty vegetable, you could probably substitute the more commonly used preserved turnip or preserved mustard greens instead.

Egg Noodles with Pork & Bok Choy, Sichuanese Flavors

More appalling was the fact that the Wel-pac brand was the only packaged noodle at the Asian grocery store that listed egg as an ingredient instead of yellow food coloring. Sichuanese food is nearly synonymous with hot and spicy. The spiciness of the dish comes from chili oil and toasted sichuan peppercorns.

Serves: 4

For the noodles:

1 pkg (3 bundles) egg noodles

8 bok choy heads, halved and leaves only

For the sauce:

2 tbsp tianjin preserved vegetable, or pickled Chinese cabbage

1 tbsp olive oil

3 spring onions, green parts only, finely chopped

3 tsp light soy sauce

2 tsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp chili oil, to taste

2 tsp Chinese black vinegar

1 tsp ground toasted sichuan peppercorns

1 qt hot chicken stock

For the pork:

1 tbsp olive oil

3.5 oz ground pork

1 tsp Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry

1 tsp light soy sauce

Directions

1. Rinse the Tianjin vegetable in a sieve under the tap to get rid of excess salt and shake dry. Heat the oil in a wok over a high heat,and stir-fry the Tianjin vegetable until it is dry. Set aside.

2. To prepare the pork topping, add the oil to the wok and heat through. Add the ground pork and stir-fry, splashing in the Shaoxing wine. Add the soy sauce and fry until the meat is cooked but not too dry. Set aside.

3. Divide the stir-fried preserved vegetable, the spring onions and the light and dark soy sauce, chili oil, vinegar, Sichuan pepper and stock among four serving bowls.

4. Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil. Add the bok choy and blanch until just cooked. Place a couple of leaves in each serving bowl. Meanwhile, add the noodles to the boiling water and boil until cooked to taste. Drain the noodles and divide among the prepared bowls. Top each serving with a spoonful of the cooked pork.

5. Serve immediately. The noodles should be mixed into the sauce at the table, using chopsticks.