Spicy Numbing Noodles

Have you ever tasted a dish while traveling abroad and thought, "I have to recreate this at home!"?

That was my exact reaction the moment I had these noodles during my recent travels to Chengdu and Chongqing!

I’d describe it as a variation of dan dan noodles, but with way more chilli oil and Sichuan peppercorns!

Each restaurant had their own variation of it, so there wasn’t really a recipe I could look up. It was the ultimate test for my taste buds to deconstruct the recipe and figure out the ingredients. While adding my twist to it of course ;)

Chilli scallion oil

The noodles I had in China were much simpler than this, as it was mainly a combination of noodles + chilli oil + meat sauce + chickpea garnish.

They were bloody delicious, however I found it lacking in balance, particularly in terms of protein and fibre. To address this, I added some crumbled firm tofu and shredded cabbage in this rendition!

P.S. The chickpeas have to be prepared fresh before serving, a they go soft upon keeping. If this happens, I’d recommend simply mixing it together with the crumbled tofu upon heating up.

P.P.S. If you can only make 1 component from this dish, make it the scallion-chilli oil! It’s packed full of flavour, and it’s incredibly versatile.

THE RECIPE

SERVES 2 bowls

Ingredients

Noodles

  • 2 discs brown rice ban mee (I like Farmer Brand!)

  • 1 small wedge of Chinese cabbage, thinly shredded

Chilli-Scallion Oil (A)

  • 1 cup vegetable oil with high smoke point (I used rice bran oil)

  • 3 stalks spring onion, finely sliced

  • 4 garlic cloves, grated

  • 2” ginger, grated

  • 2 tbsp chilli flakes (more if you like it spicy; this yielded a mild flavour)

  • 2 tsp Sichuan peppercorn powder (see Notes)

  • 1 tsp sesame seeds

  • 2 star anise

  • 1 cinnamon bark

Chilli-Scallion Oil (B)

  • 1 tbsp low sodium soy sauce

  • ½ tbsp kicap manis (or Tian Mian Jiang)

  • ½ tsp sugar

  • 1 tbsp Chinkiang black vinegar

  • A dash of white pepper

Tofu Sauce

  • 1 tbsp cooking oil

  • 225g firm tofu, crumbled (see Notes)

  • 1 tsp Dou Ban Jiang

  • 2 tsp Chinese wine/cooking sake

  • 1 tsp kicap manis/dark soy sauce

  • 1 tsp five-spice powder

Sesame Paste

  • 1 tbsp tahini

  • 1 garlic clove, minced

  • 1.5 tbsp low sodium soy sauce

  • 1 tsp Chinkiang black vinegar

  • 1 tsp sugar

  • ½ tsp Sichuan peppercorn powder

  • ½ tbsp of Chilli-Scallion Oil

  • A dash of water

Chickpea Garnish

  • ½ can chickpeas, drained

  • 1 tbsp olive oil

  • 2 tsp Sichuan peppercorn powder

Directions

  1. Noodles: place the noodles in boiling water, and cook according to instructions. 1 minute before it’s done, add in the cabbage to blanch. Once done, remove together and set aside.

  2. Chilli-Scallion Oil:

    • In a medium sized bowl, add contents A, except for the oil.

    • In a small pot, heat the oil till it reaches about 160C.

    • Pour the oil over A, and mix well (enjoy the asmr…)

    • Fish out the cinnamon bark and star anise, then add contents B.

    • Set it aside to cool.

  3. Tofu Sauce: in a medium sized saucepan, heat the oil and stir-fry the crumbled tofu until lightly browned. If it starts to stick to the bottom of the pan, add the Chinese wine/cooking sake to deglaze. Add the rest of the ingredients and continue cooking for another minute, or until the fragrance of the five-spice comes through. Remove from the heat and set it aside.

  4. Sesame Paste: mix all the ingredients in a small bowl and mix well to combine. Set aside.

  5. Chickpea Garnish: as your final step, toss the chickpeas in olive oil and Sichuan peppercorn powder, and air fry at 200˚C for 15 minutes, shaking every now and then. Be careful when opening the air fryer as the chickpeas may continue to pop!

Notes

  • Sichuan peppercorn powder: I made this by lightly toasting Sichuan peppercorns on a pan, then grinding it into a fine powder. I like to keep a small jar of it in my fridge to sprinkle on my soups/noodles/stir-frys!

  • Tofu: Make sure to remove as much water from the tofu as you can. I wrap mine in a clean kitchen cloth, wedge it between two plates, and weigh it down with a heavy jar for a couple of minutes to draw as much water out. I also dab it once more with a clean cloth after crumbling it up. This is usually the first step of the recipe that I do!

  • Chilli-Scallion Oil: Note that this amount will make for >2 bowls! Keep the rest as a fragrant cooking oil for your stir-frys.

Nutrition

Coming soon!


DID YOU MAKE THIS RECIPE?

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Spiced Mediterranean Meatballs