Dan Dan Noodles- SRC

Ah vacation!!

It’s here! It’s really, really here!!!

The past week has been killer to be able to properly meet a deadline and prep for my time away from the office but it was worth it in the end as I get to enjoy this whole week off with my family. The best.

My dad came up from FL and was saying with us since Tuesday night. On Saturday morning we headed down to Cape Cod with a very packed car. It was quite a feat to fit it all and quite comical to see too. But we made it down and have been having a fantastic time all together.

From walks to the pool to not napping (kill me) to leprechauns in trees and lots of birthday cake, it’s been a jam packed past 2 days. Tiring but in the best sort of ways. Damn, the dog is even worn out. He cut his foot on something so he has a sad little limp (I’ve bandaged it well!), but even then 5 kids is a lot of him to handle. ha!!

And so here we are, Monday! It’s another Secret Recipe Club Day as well. Holy smokes. It feels like I can tell time from these posts. Every 4th Monday of the month, and before I know it I am prepping for another and then another.

 

For this month’s Secret Recipe Club post I was given Sally’s blog, called Bewitching Kitchen. Sally is just the best. She is such a fun, active member of SRC. Plus, her blog is just awesome.

Sally has had the most interesting life. She has lived all over doing scientific research based on bacteria. Everywhere from Brazil to France. Such a smarty-pants who has lived in incredible places. She met her husband while working and since then they have been working together. For just about the past 20 years they been working on “trying to figure out the mechanism of a transport reaction in bacteria.” Umm what? I design bathrooms, she wins. ha!!!

Anyway, she has been blogging for years and years so she has a HUGE index of recipes. I had such a hard time picking one to make this month. For real!!! I was scrolling, and scrolling, and scrolling through all the recipes. From appetizers to breads to cakes to drinks to entrees.

I picked the Dan Dan noodles as I figured they would be delicious, something that would be fairly easy to whip up, and a crowd favorite. Crowd = me, Price, & my dad.

It was a dinner that really hit the spot!

The original recipe called for 8 ounces of udon noodles and 12 ounces of ground pork but the packages that I purchased came in 10 ounce and 16 ounce, respectively. Since I didn’t want just a bit left over in each package, I just used it all up and played around with the quantity of the rest of the ingredients. I think it all worked out perfectly.

It is quite spicy so if you are sensitive, then just cut back on the chili oil and try it before you add the full amount. It’s a good heat though. I swear!

I served the Dan Dan Noodles with steamed broccoli. I just feel dinner is not dinner without some veggies. I mean, even my pizza has veggies on it. ha!

This was a fantastic dinner!! I could really see myself making this again, which is saying a lot considering my attention span is almost non-existent so I’m always on to trying something new, and hardly make anything ever again.

I hope that when you have a craving for a spicy Asian dish you will toss the take-out menus aside and make these awesome Dan Dan Noodles.

Dan Dan Noodles

Makes 4- 6 servings

Ingredients

• 10 ounces udon noodles
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 16 ounces ground pork
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 2 tablespoons chopped peeled ginger
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 2 – 3 Tablespoons or less chili oil
• 2 1/2 Tablespoons red wine vinegar
• 2 Tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 Tablepsoons tahini
• 1 teaspoon Szechuan peppercorns, optional
• Pinch of sugar
• 3 Tablespoons chopped roasted peanuts
• 2 Tablespoons sliced scallions

Process

1. Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling water until just tender (follow instructions on the package).  Drain, rinse  with cold water, drain again, and place in a large serving bowl.
2. Heat the vegetable oil in a medium skillet over medium heat.
3. Add the pork, season with salt and pepper, and cook for a couple of minutes, just to begin browning it. While cooking, break apart into small pieces with a spoon.
4. Add the ginger; cook until pork gets lightly browned, about 2 minutes more.
5. Stir in chicken stock, then add the chili oil, red vinegar, soy sauce, tahini, peppercorns, and a pinch of sugar.
6. Simmer everything together until the sauce thickens, about 7 minutes.
7. Pour pork mixture over noodles; garnish with peanuts and scallions.

Slightly adapted from Bewitching Kitchen

____________________

Check out all the other great Secret Recipe Club posts this month!

And be sure to check out my 3 years of Secret Recipe Club posts!!!!

____________________

Thanks for visiting. Please leave me a comment to provide some feedback. I appreciate all the comments I receive.