Cook\'s Country - 2019-06-07

JUNE/JULY 2019 • COOK’S COUNTRY 11

WHEN MY EDITORS asked me
to develop a recipe for Chinese-style
sesame noodles, I knew exactly which
dish I wanted to use for inspiration: dan
dan noodles. The first time I had these
noodles (at an unassuming Sichuan res-
taurant near Boston), they opened up
flavor possibilities I didn’t even know
existed. They were tossed with a lively,
bright-red chili oil but had a tempered
spiciness that was enhanced and bal-
anced with scallion, toasted sesame oil,
meaty soy sauce, tangy vinegar, and
pleasantly numbing Sichuan pepper-
corns. The noodles were also dotted
with little bits of supersavory minced
pork. I ordered a second bowl before I
finished the first.
For a home-cooked version of these
noodles, I decided that my goal would
not be to create an exact replica of an
authentic Sichuan dish. Rather, I would
develop a delicious, foolproof recipe
that was true to the essential idea of the
original but didn’t require hard-to-find
ingredients or a wok.
Traditional dan dan noodles have
four primary components: thin, long,
soft noodles; a complex sauce; a topping
of salty-sweet-savory minced pork; and
a punch of heat. (They usually also
include pickled mustard greens, which
would be too time-consuming for my
weeknight goal.) For a similarly shaped
but commonly available noodle, I
started with plain old spaghetti cooked
beyond al dente until fully tender.
Using ground pork for the topping
was a no-brainer, and to enhance its
flavor, I knew I’d use hoisin and soy
sauces. But many recipes also call for
Chinese rice wine, which can be hard
to find. Luckily, we’ve had good results
substituting dry sherry for rice wine in

other recipes, and it worked great here,

too. With a pound of spaghetti setting

the baseline, I found that 8 ounces of

pork was the right amount; the heavily

seasoned pork is an accent here, not

the star.

For the heart of my rich sesame

sauce, a combination of toasted sesame

oil and tahini (sesame paste) worked

great. To achieve bold but balanced

heat traditionally provided by dried

Sichuan chiles, I used a combination

of crushed red pepper flakes—sautéed

in oil with scallion whites and garlic to

bloom their flavor—and Asian chili-

garlic sauce. A little rice vinegar added

brightness and spark. A sprinkling of

ground Sichuan peppercorns, which

have a heady citrusy aroma and a mild

numbing effect, imparted the signature

lip-tingling sensation that’s character-

istic of much Sichuan cuisine. (Don’t

worry if you can’t find them and don’t

want to mail-order—the dish is still

great without them.)

As I was putting the finishing touches

on the recipe, I was happy to see that

the noodles were becoming so popular

in the test kitchen that I could hardly

save any for myself. Luckily, I now had

a simple recipe that was fast enough for

me to whip up my own batch—no shar-

ing—as soon as I got home.

HOT SESAME NOODLES WITH PORK

Serves 4 to 6

We like to drizzle Sichuan Chili Oil

(recipe follows) over the noodles

before serving. Tahini is a Middle

Eastern paste made from toasted

sesame seeds.

1 pound spaghetti

¼ teaspoon table salt, plus salt for

cooking pasta

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

8 ounces ground pork

¼ cup soy sauce, divided

5 teaspoons hoisin sauce, divided

1 tablespoon dry sherry

¼ cup tahini

2 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 tablespoon Asian chili-garlic sauce

2 teaspoons sugar

¼ cup vegetable oil

6 scallions, white parts sliced thin,

green parts sliced thin on bias

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 teaspoon red pepper flakes

½ teaspoon ground Sichuan

peppercorns, plus extra for serving

(optional)

1. Bring 4 quarts water to boil in large
   Dutch oven. Add pasta and 1 tablespoon
   salt and cook, stirring often, until ten-
   der. Drain pasta and return it to pot.

Add sesame oil and toss to coat; cover

to keep warm.

2. Cook pork in 12-inch nonstick
   skillet over medium-high heat until no
   longer pink, 3 to 5 minutes, breaking
   up meat with wooden spoon. Stir in
   1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon
   hoisin, and sherry and cook until all
   liquid has evaporated and pork is well
   browned, 3 to 5 minutes. Transfer pork
   to bowl; set aside.


3. Whisk 1 cup hot water, tahini,
   vinegar, chili-garlic sauce, sugar, salt,
   remaining 3 tablespoons soy sauce,
   and remaining 2 teaspoons hoisin
   together in bowl; set aside. Combine
   vegetable oil, scallion whites, garlic,
   pepper flakes, and peppercorns, if
   using, in now-empty skillet and cook
   over medium heat until fragrant, about
   2 minutes.


4. Add oil mixture and tahini mixture
   to pot with pasta and toss to coat.
   Transfer pasta to platter and top
   with pork, scallion greens, and extra
   peppercorns, if using. Adjust consis-
   tency with additional hot water as
   needed. Serve.

SICHUAN CHILI OIL

Makes about ¾ cup

Note that you may need to mail-order

the Sichuan peppercorns. There’s no

need to peel the ginger. Make sure to

use toasted sesame oil here.

½ cup peanut or vegetable oil

2 tablespoons red pepper flakes

1 tablespoon Sichuan peppercorns

2 teaspoons smoked paprika

2 garlic cloves, smashed and

peeled

1 (½-inch) piece ginger, smashed

1 cinnamon stick

2 tablespoons toasted sesame oil

Heat peanut oil in small saucepan

over medium heat to 350 degrees. Off

heat, add pepper flakes, peppercorns,

paprika, garlic, ginger, and cinnamon

stick. Let come to room tempera-

ture, about 1 hour. Strain oil mixture

through fine-mesh strainer into jar;

discard solids. Stir in sesame oil. (Oil

can be stored at room temperature in

airtight container for up to 3 weeks or

refrigerated for up to 3 months.)

Optional homemade

chili oil adds irresist-

ible heat and depth

to these knockout

noodles.

Spicy

Sesame

Noodles

with

Pork

We took cues from a

Sichuan favorite for our

new take on a weeknight

noodle dinner.

by Matthew Fairman