Dan Dan Noodle Soup My Way (video)

One morning during my trip to Tokyo earlier this year, I notice a very long que outside a tiny restaurant near a train station. It was a very cold morning and these people were waiting patiently for their turn to be seated at this tiny 10 seat restaurant. Off course I am like the Japanese, if the reward is amazing food I don’t mind the wait. I patiently joined the line in the blistering cold wind dreaming of a delicious breakfast to make up for the long wait. Finally I was seated, the only non-Japanese with a menu of 5 items only to my content. Written in Japanese I struggled to understand the ingredients, I peeked at the dish served to the person next to me. The smell was divine and soup was just what I needed to warm me up. I looked at him with my thumb up and he in return put his thumb up. I asked the cook what the name was and all I could catch was dan dan.

One spoonful of that soup brought an instant smile of satisfaction to my face and addiction it was.

This soup is a heavy soup that is delicious, creamy, spicy, salty and sweet. It is a soup that is perfect for that cold day where you need the energy to keep warm. It is rather high in calories but very easy and fast to execute.

Ingredients:

Servings: 4

• 1 teaspoon Sichuan pepper corn
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon mirin
• 2 tablespoons honey, or syrup
• 2 tablespoons gochujang chili paste
• 2 tablespoons peanut butter
• 2 tablespoons tahini
• 4 tablespoons Chinese aromatic vinegar or malt vinegar
• 3 green onion
• 1/4 cup chili oil
   
• 200 g Noodles
• 4 cups Asian chicken stock
• 1/4 cup soy milk
• 4 tablespoons peanuts, crushed
• 4 small Pak choy
• 100 grams boiled bean sprouts
• 2 boiled eggs, halved

The fried chicken

• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 minced cloves of garlic
• 2 tablespoons minced ginger
• 500 grams minced chicken breast
• 1 tablespoon gochujang sauce
• 1 teaspoon sugar

Method:

* Crush the Sichuan pepper in a mortar until fine then add to a glass bowl.

* Add to the bowl the minced garlic, soy sauce, mirin, honey, gochujang, peanut butter, tahini, aromatic vinegar and green onions then whisk well until all ingredients are incorporated then add the chili oil and set aside.

* In a skillet/fry pan put 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and fry the garlic and ginger then add the chicken mince, add the gochujang paste and sugar and crisp chicken up.

* Boil the noodles according to manufacturer’s instructions and set aside, then boil the Pak choy in salted water for a couple minutes and set aside.

* To assemble put 1/4 cup of the paste mix in a soup bowl then top with 2 tablespoons of the soy milk and 1 cup of the chicken stock and mix well, then add the cooked noodles, bean sprouts, Pak choy, green onions, the chicken mince and half a boiled egg.

Tips:

* For a faster execution you can use chicken bouillon.

* For a healthier option you can omit the chili oil and add chili powder instead.

* For a less calorific soup add 2 tablespoons of the paste mix.

* For a vegetarian option use vegetable stock and fry cubed tofu following the steps for frying the chicken mince.

Per Serving : 857 Calories; 58g Fat (60.9% calories from fat); 48g Protein; 36g Carbohydrate; 4g Dietary Fiber; 163mg Cholesterol; 2985mg Sodium.