Dandan noodles
Dandan noodles or dandanmian (traditional Chinese: 擔擔麵; simplified Chinese: 担担面), literally "carrying-pole noodles", is a noodle dish originating from Chinese Sichuan cuisine. It consists of a spicy sauce usually containing preserved vegetables (often including zha cai (榨菜), lower enlarged mustard stems, or ya cai (芽菜), upper mustard stems), chili oil, Sichuan pepper, minced pork, and scallions served over noodles. The dish can either be served dry or as a noodle soup.
| Dandan noodles | |||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Hong Kong–style dandan noodle soup (擔擔湯麵) served in a Sichuan restaurant in Shanghai with traditional red chili oil sauce, pork, and spring onions | |||||||||||||
| Chinese name | |||||||||||||
| Traditional Chinese | 擔擔麵 | ||||||||||||
| Simplified Chinese | 担担面 | ||||||||||||
| Literal meaning | "carrying-pole noodles" | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
| Japanese name | |||||||||||||
| Kanji | 担々麺 | ||||||||||||
| Kana | タンタンメン | ||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||
The dandanmian originated in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province. The original dish is served with no soup in a small bowl covered in a mala meat sauce and pickled vegetables, with peanuts and spring onions served on top. The soup variant is from Hong Kong and is more widespread across the rest of China but it is uncommon in Sichuan itself where the traditional style dominates.
Sesame paste or peanut butter is sometimes added, and occasionally replaces the spicy sauce, usually in the American Chinese style of the dish. In this case, dandanmian is considered a variation of ma jiang mian (麻醬麵), sesame sauce noodles, although ma jiang mian usually refers to a specific Shanghainese dish.