Gordon Ramsay Dan Dan Noodles

Gordon Ramsay’s dan dan noodles are springy egg noodles tossed through spiced minced pork, ready in about 25 minutes. The heat comes from chilli bean paste and Sichuan pepper, not fresh chilli. It is hot, savoury and fast, a proper Sichuan classic.

The recipe is from his Ultimate Cookery Course. Ramsay is clear the heat comes not from fresh chilli but from chilli bean paste, and if you cannot find any he swaps in a little Chinese chilli oil. He is also fond of the Sichuan pepper, which he says has “a mild lemony flavour” and leaves a slight tingle on the lips.

Here I have to be honest. I have not cooked this one myself, but our reader Alex has, more than once, and he sent his photo along with a few clever changes. He uses turkey instead of pork and has a neat trick for the sauce, and I’ve written both up for you below.

Gordon Ramsay Dan Dan Noodles

Recipe by Sophie LaneCourse: DinnersCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Easy

Servings

2

servings

Prep time

10

minutes

Cooking time

15

minutes

Calories

740

kcal

Total time

25 minutes

Gordon Ramsay’s Sichuan dan dan noodles from his Ultimate Cookery Course: minced pork and chilli bean paste over egg noodles, finished with Sichuan pepper and sesame. Ready in 25 minutes, and tested by a reader who shares his own turkey version below.

Ingredients

• 250g (9 oz) minced pork

• ½ tbsp Shaoxing rice wine

• ½ tbsp soy sauce, plus extra to taste

• ½ tbsp sesame oil, plus extra to serve

• Olive oil, for frying

• 2 garlic cloves, crushed

• 2cm (¾ in) fresh root ginger, chopped

• 1 tsp Sichuan peppercorns

• ½ to 1 tbsp chilli bean paste, to taste

• Rice vinegar, to taste

• 200g (7 oz) dried Chinese egg noodles

• Sea salt and black pepper

• To serve:

• 2 spring onions, shredded

• 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds

Directions

• Marinate the pork: Mix the minced pork with the Shaoxing wine, soy sauce and sesame oil. Leave for at least 10 minutes.
• Fry the aromatics: Heat a wok over medium-high heat with a dash of olive oil. Add the garlic and ginger and cook for 30 seconds.
• Brown the pork: Add the pork with its marinade and the Sichuan peppercorns. Cook for about 5 minutes, breaking up the mince, until coloured. Season with a little soy sauce.
• Add the paste: Stir in the chilli bean paste and a few drops of rice vinegar. Cook for 2 minutes more.
• Make the sauce: Add a couple of tablespoons of water and stir over low heat to loosen into a sauce.
• Cook the noodles: Cook the egg noodles to packet instructions, then drain.
• Toss and serve: Stir the noodles through the pork. Season to taste, then finish with a drizzle of sesame oil, the spring onions and toasted sesame seeds.

FAQs

Can you make dan dan noodles with turkey instead of pork?

Yes, and Alex does exactly that. He makes a bigger batch with turkey mince in place of the pork because pork does not agree with him, and it works well with the same marinade of Shaoxing wine, soy and sesame oil.

The thing to know is that turkey is so lean it drinks up the marinade, so the book’s small amount leaves it under-marinated. Alex scales it up to about 100ml of marinade for every 500g of mince, which keeps his turkey properly seasoned all the way through. A crisp side rounds the bowl out too, and his bang bang cauliflower brings crunch without competing with the heat.

How do you thicken the sauce for dan dan noodles?

Gordon keeps it simple and just stirs in a couple of tablespoons of water at the end. Alex takes it further. Once the mince has cooked and released its juices, he stirs in a tablespoon of plain flour, then adds about 60ml of water on a low heat and keeps stirring.

That turns the loose juices into a glossy sauce that clings to the noodles instead of pooling at the bottom of the bowl. He measures everything with just a tablespoon and a quarter cup, so he gets the same result every time without reaching for the scales.

What does chilli bean paste do, and what if you cannot find it?

The heat in this dish comes from chilli bean paste, not fresh chilli, which is what gives dan dan its deep, savoury warmth rather than a sharp burn. Gordon says if you cannot find any, swap in half to one tablespoon of Chinese chilli oil instead.

Pastes vary a lot in salt and acidity between brands. So Alex tastes as he goes instead of measuring the vinegar in, and that little habit is worth copying.

Do dan dan noodles need vinegar and sugar?

Gordon adds a few drops of rice vinegar with the paste. Alex only adds about a teaspoon, and sometimes none at all, depending on how sharp his chilli bean paste already is.

To balance it, he keeps a spoon of caster sugar to hand. If the mince tastes too salty or too sour once the sauce comes together, a tablespoon of sugar rounds it off. Add it slowly and taste, since you cannot take it back out.

What are Sichuan peppercorns and how do you use them?

They are not actually pepper at all, but the dried pod of an Asian berry. Gordon describes their “mild lemony flavour” and the gentle tingle they leave around the mouth, which is the signature of a good dan dan.

Toast them in a dry pan for a minute until fragrant, then grind them, as Alex does in a mortar, before they go in with the mince. Toasting wakes up the aroma and grinding spreads that tingle evenly through the sauce. Gordon builds the very same Shaoxing and Sichuan pepper marinade into his Sichuan chicken thighs in the same book, if you want more of that flavour.

Do dan dan noodles keep well?

The pork or turkey sauce keeps in the fridge for two to three days and actually deepens in flavour overnight. The noodles are the problem, since cooked egg noodles turn soft and claggy once they sit.

So store the sauce on its own and cook fresh noodles when you reheat. It takes three minutes and it is the difference between a proper bowl and a sad one. For another fast noodle bowl on a different night, his duck stir fry with noodles is done in about 15 minutes, or his chicken ramen in a miso broth if you want something brothy.