Recipe and photos by Kourtney Paranteau aka CuteMeatInc.
Even though I always impatiently await the season of summer cooking (fresh strawberries, charcoal grills and gazpacho), I can’t go more than a few weeks without feeling my favorite noodle dish tugging at my appetite: dandan noodles. I love dandan more than anything: chewy noodles tossed with ground pork and richly flavored with sesame paste and Sichuan peppercorn. But to cope with this already unfathomably hot summer, I’ve created a variation designed for the heat. This cold dandan noodle bowl features chilled Umi Organic ramen noodles and swaps the traditional preserved greens for a light, raw pea shoot salad. Now, even in the summer months, I can satisfy my year-round comfort food cravings.
Makes 3 bowls
Pea shoots dressing:
2 garlic cloves grated
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons black vinegar
2 teaspoons raw honey
Dandan noodles:
1 package (12 ounces) Umi Organic fresh ramen noodles
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
½ lb ground pork
4 scallions, thinly sliced and white and green segments separated
2 teaspoon soy sauce
1 teaspoon mirin
2 garlic cloves, grated
2-inch ginger knob, peeled and grated
1 tablespoon sichuan peppercorns, crushed
½ cup tahini
¼ cup chicken broth
2 teaspoon sesame seeds
Chili oil (to taste)
Directions:
Bring a large pot of water to a rapid boil.
Whisk the pea shoot dressing ingredients together in a small bowl and set aside.
In a large saucepan, heat oil over medium heat and crumble ground pork evenly throughout the pan. Add the white stems of the green onions and stir. Keep cajoling pork around the pan with a wooden spoon until fully cooked through and all the pork has turned a dull brown shade. Reduce heat to medium-low and season cooked pork with soy sauce, mirin, garlic, ginger and sichuan peppercorns. Stir until fully incorporated.
Next, pour tahini over your pork mixture slowly, being mindful of avoiding clumping, and stir thoroughly. At this point the pork mixture should start to resemble a loose sauce. Remove from heat and pour chicken stock into your dandan dressing and allow to cool. Once at room temperature, refrigerate for at least an hour.
Tease apart the noodles. Drop the noodles into the boiling water. Start a timer for 2 minutes. Stir occasionally to loosen the noodles. When the timer rings, drain the noodles in the colander and rinse under cold running water until fully chilled. Shake out the water thoroughly.
In three medium bowls, divide cooled noodles and distribute your dandan sauce over the top evenly. Sprinkle the green tops of your scallions and sesame seeds over the top and drizzle with chili oil. Cover your pork and toppings with a liberal layer of pea shoots. Then, rain your vinegar sauce lightly over the entire bowl. Serve. Have each eater stir the layers of noodles, sauce and pea shoots with vinegar together with chopsticks before enjoying.
Kourtney Paranteau (aka CuteMeat) was born and raised in Portland (okay, okay Beaverton), Oregon but spent a sunny stint in Los Angeles, where she ate her way through the San Gabriel Valley. Kourtney returned home to work in the food and beverage industry where she has met nearly all her friends and freelances as a recipe developer. Keanu Reeves' oeuvre plays in the background of every CuteMeat recipe for inspiration etc.
