Dan Dan Noodles

Ingredients

• 400g fresh thin wheat noodles
• 200g minced pork
• 60g ya cai (Sichuan preserved mustard greens), rinsed and chopped
• 1 tbsp Shaoxing wine
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 1 tbsp neutral oil
• 6 tbsp Sichuan chilli oil with its sediment
• 3 tbsp light soy sauce
• 2 tbsp Chinese sesame paste
• 1 tbsp Chinkiang black vinegar
• 2 tsp sugar
• 2 garlic cloves, crushed to a paste
• 1 tsp ground roasted Sichuan pepper
• 120ml unsalted chicken stock, warm
• 2 spring onions, finely sliced
• 2 handfuls baby pak choi or spinach

Before you cook

• Rinse the preserved mustard greens well and squeeze them dry, then chop them small
• Crush the garlic with a pinch of salt to a smooth paste
• Loosen the sesame paste with a spoonful of the warm stock until it pours
• Divide the chilli oil, soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, garlic paste and Sichuan pepper between four bowls

Steps

1. Heat the neutral oil in a wok over high heat.
2. Add the minced pork and fry it hard, pressing and breaking it up, until the pieces are crisp, brown and completely dry, about six minutes.
3. Splash in the Shaoxing wine and dark soy sauce and stir until they have evaporated.
4. Add the chopped preserved greens and fry for two more minutes until everything smells toasty, then scrape the mixture into a bowl.
5. Bring a large pan of water to a rolling boil.
6. Stir the loosened sesame paste and the warm stock into each of the four seasoning bowls.
7. Drop the greens into the boiling water for thirty seconds, lift them out, and divide them between the bowls.
8. Cook the noodles in the same water until just tender, about two minutes for fresh noodles.
9. Lift the noodles straight into the bowls, letting a little cooking water come with them.
10. Spoon the crisp pork over each bowl and scatter with spring onions.
11. Tell everyone to toss the noodles up from the bottom of the bowl before eating, so every strand is coated.