擔擔麵 (Dan Dan Noodles)

擔擔麵 (Dan Dan Noodles) is a noodle dish that originates from the Sichuan province, but there are Taiwanese and American Chinese versions as well!

The Sichuan version is typically more soupy, and I tend to like it saucier and slightly more peanut-buttery than spicy, so I’m more of a fan of the Taiwanese version! If you’ve ever had 麻醬麵 (Sesame Sauce Noodles), 擔擔麵 (Dan Dan Noodles) is somewhat reminiscent of that one! :]

I learned how to make this (among a couple billion other things) at a family friend’s house. She was giving me a crash course on cooking food before I ran off to college. Her food is amazinggggg. There are no measurements for ingredients though because everything’s to taste. You kinda just figure out what works best for your taste buds. I will likely go back and redo this sometime/someday to add in actual measurements, but today is not that day, because i was just tasting as I went along and measured absolutely nothing whilst conjuring this.

I think 擔擔麵 (Dan Dan Noodles) traditionally calls for pork, but since we both don’t consume pork, it was axed from the recipe. :O Gotta love cooking for yourself, heh heh heh. Feel free to add it back in though if it floats your boat!

擔擔麵 (Dan Dan Noodles)

Ingredients:

• peanut butter (chunky)
• spicy Sichuan noodle sauce (found in Asian supermarkets, has a yellow top)
• soy sauce
• sesame oil
• white pepper
• vinegar
• dumpling sauce (found in Asian supermarkets, also has a yellow lid)
• cucumbers (cut up)/lettuce and/or carrots
• noodles
• water (to mix sauce to desired consistency)

Instructions:

1. Cook noodles. Cut cucumbers into small pieces.
2. Mix peanut butter, spicy noodle sauce, soy sauce, sesame oil, vinegar, and dumpling sauce together. Sprinkle on white pepper.
3. Mix noodles with sauce and cucumbers. Sauce will be really thick, so add water to thin it out. This dish can be served hot or cold!