Dan dan mian

Name: Dan dan mian
Prep time: 15 min
Cook time: 12 min
Total time: 27 min
Yield: 2 bowls
Cuisine: sichuan
Ingredients: 250 g Wheat noodles; 120 g Pork, mince; 2 tbsp Tahini, or Chinese sesame paste; 2 tbsp Soy sauce; 2 tbsp Fresh chilli, chilli oil, with sediment; 1 tsp Sichuan pepper; 2 clove Garlic; 1 tsp Vinegar; 15 g Peanuts; 2 piece Spring onion

担担面

Sichuan noodles in a sesame-chilli sauce with a little pork — mala, not a peanut-butter soup.

Recipe by I Want Some Food · Reviewed by the editorial kitchen. Native name preserved: 担担面.

0 people cooked this in the public kitchen yet. Kitchen-tested by I Want Some Food. Not a purchased rating.

Start cooking

Prep: 15 min
Cook: 12 min
Total: 27 min
Difficulty: Easy
Spice: Hot
Cost: Cheap nightUnder $8 USD · indicative, not a store price

Know it before you cook it

Source photograph of Dan dan mian. Not official I Want Some Food pixel artwork. — Photo: MOs810 via Wikimedia Commons. CC BY-SA 3.0. Source

About

Dan dan mian is a sauce you build in the bowl: chilli oil, sesame paste, soy, Sichuan pepper, a spoon of the pork you fried with preserved vegetable if you have it. Noodles in, toss. It should tingle. If it is only sweet peanut, you are in a different restaurant.

Ingredients

Servings

Wheat noodles250 g
Pork, mince120 g
Tahini, or Chinese sesame paste30 ml
Soy sauce30 ml
Fresh chilli, chilli oil, with sediment30 ml
Sichuan pepper4.9 ml
Garlic2 clove
Vinegar4.9 ml
Peanuts (optional)15 g
Spring onion2

Scaling multiplies the written quantities. Baking still prefers a scale.

Steps

Step 1
Fry pork with a pinch of soy until crisp-edged. Toast and grind Sichuan pepper.
8 min
Step 2
In each bowl: sesame paste, soy, chilli oil, garlic, vinegar, pepper. Loosen with a spoon of noodle water.
3 min
Step 3
Boil noodles, drain, toss hard in the bowls. Pork, peanuts, spring onion.

Adapt this recipe

The canonical recipe stays intact. Personal versions are labelled. Serving changes are maths, not AI.

Adaptations · 0 / 15 used. Resets 24 August.

Substitutions

Pork → Crumbled tofu
A vegetarian bowl. Season harder.

Tips

Chinese sesame paste is darker than tahini. Tahini still works with a drop more soy.
Yacai (preserved mustard) in the pork is the Chengdu note if you can find a bag.

History & culture

Chengdu street poles (the dan) and every Sichuan menu abroad. The dry-ish toss is older than the soupy takeaway version.

A late Qing street noodle. The sesame-and-chilli bowl is the one that travelled.

Regional variation

Provenance: Editorial adaptation. Original editorial adaptation for I Want Some Food. Not copied from another recipe site. Official recipe photography is pending. Photograph: MOs810 via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0). https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dan%20dan%20mian%2C%20dan%20dan%20noodles%2C%20makaron%20dandan.jpg

Questions about this recipe

Answers taken from this dish's times, amounts, swaps and tips — not a chatbot.

How long does Dan dan mian take?

27 min all in — 15 min prep, 12 min cook. That is the time on this recipe, not a guess.

How many does it serve?

The recipe is written for 2 bowls. Scale the ingredient list on the page if you are cooking for a different number.

How hard is it?

Easy.

How spicy is it?

Hot.

What allergens should I watch?

This recipe is labelled for Wheat, Soy, Sesame, Peanuts. Labels are informational — check the packets in your kitchen. This is not medical advice.

Does it fit a diet?

The published recipe is labelled Dairy-free.

What does it cost to cook?

Cheap night — about Under $8 USD, as a grocery budget for this recipe, not a restaurant price.

What equipment do I need?

Saucepan, Frying pan.

How much salt do I put in?

This recipe does not list salt as its own ingredient. Saltiness comes from Soy sauce — 2 tbsp. Taste at the end rather than adding a number we did not write.

How much soy sauce?

2 tbsp of Soy sauce.

How much vinegar?

1 tsp of Vinegar.

What can I use instead?

Pork → Crumbled tofu. A vegetarian bowl. Season harder.

Any tips from this recipe?

Chinese sesame paste is darker than tahini. Tahini still works with a drop more soy. Yacai (preserved mustard) in the pork is the Chengdu note if you can find a bag.

Can I use an air fryer?

This method is not written for an air fryer. The core technique on the page still applies.

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