Dan Dan noodles have it all! A pile of bouncy, chewy noodles and a meaty, peanutty sauce with flavor for days. My version includes some greenery with baby bok choy, and it’s based on a recipe my mom used to make. It’s a Chinese Sichuan dish, and it’s heavy on the chile oil.
| Level: | Intermediate |
| Total: | 45 min |
| Active: | 40 min |
| Yield: | 4 to 6 servings |
Ingredients
- 1 tablespoon neutral oil
- 1 pound ground pork
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, plus more as needed
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 3 cloves garlic, sliced thinly
- 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, finely chopped
- 2 tablespoons Shaoxing cooking wine (or substitute sherry cooking wine)
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 8 ounces baby bok choy, rinsed, ends trimmed, and halved
- 1 pound fresh ramen-style egg noodles
- Peanut Sauce, recipe follows
- Chile Oil, recipe follows
- Chopped roasted, unsalted peanuts, for serving
- 1/4 cup (56 grams) chile oil, store-bought or recipe below
- 1/4 cup (70 grams) creamy, unsweetened peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons unseasoned rice vinegar
- 1 tablespoon honey
- Freshly ground black pepper
- 1 cup (226 grams) neutral oil
- 2 tablespoons Sichuan peppercorns, crushed
- 1/4 cup (32 grams) coarse red chile pepper powder
- 2 teaspoons kosher salt
Instructions
- Heat the neutral oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat. Add the pork, salt and pepper. Using a wooden spoon, break up the pork into smaller pieces and cook until browned and the pork is no longer pink, 5 to 6 minutes. Add the garlic and ginger and cook until fragrant, 1 minute. Deglaze with the cooking wine, scraping any brown bits from the bottom of the skillet. Reduce the heat to medium. Add the soy sauce. Stir to combine and cook until fragrant, 20 to 30 seconds. Add the bok choy, season with salt and cook until bright green, the leaves are wilted and the stems are tender, 2 to 3 minutes. Keep warm while you cook the noodles.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil over medium-high heat. Add the noodles and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Remove the noodles with a spider or tongs and place directly into the bowl with the Peanut Sauce. Toss to combine, adding 1 tablespoon reserved pasta water at a time, as needed, to reach desired consistency.
- To assemble, plate the noodles. Top with the pork and bok choy mixture. Garnish with a drizzle of the Chile Oil and the chopped peanuts.
- In a large mixing bowl, whisk together the chile oil, peanut butter, soy sauce, rice vinegar, honey and a couple turns of black pepper until smooth. Set aside.
- Heat the oil and Sichuan peppercorns in a small saucepan over medium-low heat until the peppercorns start to sizzle and become fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. In a small jar, combine the red chile pepper powder and salt. When the oil is hot, pour over the red chile and allow to sit and steep for a few minutes. Set aside.
Nutrition Facts
| Serving Size | 1 of 6 servings |
| Calories | 982 |
| Total Fat | 68 g |
| Saturated Fat | 11 g |
| Carbohydrates | 66 g |
| Dietary Fiber | 5 g |
| Sugar | 7 g |
| Protein | 29 g |
| Cholesterol | 118 mg |
| Sodium | 683 mg |
Reviews
Absolutely delicious! We didn’t have time to pick up fresh Ramen noodles at our favorite Asian market so we used a dried version. It was still delicious. I’m always cautious when it comes to spice but the chili oil (the only one we could find was a hot version at Whole Foods) was still yummy. I’ll try to make Molly’s version next time because there will be a next time with this dish!
Thanks Molly! My husband rates this in the top 5 dinners I make! He asks me to make a double batch and store the sauce separately from the pork in the fridge, then he can add it to fresh noodles and be sure to have enough for leftovers.
Proportions were a bit off – 8oz noodles would have worked better.
This was really good and we all loved it. I did use prepared peanut sauce and chili sauce that were on the Asian isle. I will be adding this to our rotation.
This was delicious. I did use store bought chili oil and subbed tahini for the peanut butter (I had no unsweetened PB). But everyone ate it up. Great recipe.
Since it’s Chinese New Year today, I made it for lunch. I did use store bought garlic oil and the next time I make this, I will definitely use less, too spicy for my taste. Along with the bok choy I also added mustard cabbage, but after that I followed the recipe. Thanks, Molly Yeh, for another Great Recipe!
Made this for a group of food insecure individuals and they loved it. One guy had 3 helpings! I mixed the noodles, meat and sauce together and used a bag of coleslaw mix and frozen peas for the vegetables but otherwise stuck to the recipe. Making this for me tonight.
Whole family enjoyed this meal, Couldn’t find ramen noodles so used brown rice noodles. Not too spicy (but can be modified to taste with the chili oil)
This was amazing! I had high expectations after having Dan Dan noodles at a fantastic restaurant and this recipe did not disappoint. I made it exactly as written, except I only had dried ramen on hand. Next time I will buy fresh ramen or use soba or udon noodles to increase the chewy texture. Super delicious! Make it tonight!
So yum and so easy! Just for personal taste, I reduced the chili oil to half, and doubled the peanut sauce and doubled the meat mixture to 1 pound pasta ratio. That was still a little spicy for my family’s preference. However, everyone enjoyed it so much, and her show!