Recipe: Dan dan noodles

Looking for some hearty comfort food for the winter with a twist?

Chef and co-owner of Asian Heritage Eatery Felix Zhou has you covered with this recipe for dan dan noodles.

Ingredients

• 1 onion, chopped finely
• 3 cloves of garlic, minced
• ½ lb. ground pork
• 25 g. chili oil
• 5 g. soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. peanut butter
• 250 ml. chicken stock
• 10 g. white vinegar
• 25 g. sweet bean paste
• One package of udon noodles (frozen)
• Olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• For garnish: pickled cucumbers, cilantro, chopped green onion

Method

1. On medium heat, heat the oil in a non-stick pan and sweat the chopped onion.
2.  Add garlic to pan and cook until golden brown.
3. Add ground pork to pan and break into smaller pieces while seasoning with salt and pepper.
4. Once pork is cooked, add peanut butter and chicken stock to the pan and heat the mixture while stirring constantly to make sure it doesn’t stick to the bottom of the pan.
5. Add the chili oil, soy sauce, white vinegar and sweet bean paste to the pan. Mix until thoroughly combined and sauce reaches a boil again.
6. In a medium-sized pot over medium heat, boil water and place one disc of the frozen udon noodles to cook, following cooking instruction on the udon noodle packaging.
7. Udon noodles should be ready in approximately two minutes once the water reaches a boil again.
8. Strain cooked noodles and add directly to the pork sauce (this way, the noodles will soak up the meaty mixture).
9. Transfer noodles to a bowl and garnish with picked cucumbers, cilantro and green onion.