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If you know me, you know I love soup. I often crave dan dan noodles, but sometimes wish it were soup! The Japanese have a solution for that: tan tan ramen. This is my quick fix for a delicious bowl of spicy noodle soup ready in 15 min as long as you have a couple specialty items on hand: asian sesame paste (made with toasted sesame instead of raw like tahini), doubanjiang (spicy bean paste), and zhacai.
in a small bowl mix:
- 1/2 lb ground pork
- 1 tbsp minced ginger
- 1 tbsp shaoxing wine
while that marinates, get your water boiling in a pot to blanch your green and cook your noodles, then prep the ingredients for the wok:
- 1 tbsp minced garlic
- 1/4 cup finely diced zhacai
- 2 tbsp doubanjiang
- 1 cup broth or just water is ok
then set out two ramen bowls. In each bowl spoon in the following:
- 1 tbsp asian sesame paste
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- 1 tsp black vinegar (or white if you don't have)
- 1 tsp minced garlic
- 1/4 tsp msg ( do it coward)
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/2 tsp ground hua jiao (sichuan peppercorn)
- 1/4 cup half and half or oat milk (whatever milk alt you use)
when water is boiling, blanch your greens, In this case I used spinach and didn't blanch but usually baby bok choy gets 2 min in the pot then rinsed under cold water and set aside. Use the same pot and water to cook your noodles according to their package instructions.
when the noodles are cooked, scoop out a cup of the starchy water and add it to each of your bowls. whisk to combine everything in there. add more water if you want more soup. the pork mixture will be salty enough to be diluted.
drain your noodles and add them to your bowls.
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| hot starchy noodle water helps combine everything |
Get your wok ripping hot and then throw in your marinated pork. brown the crap out of it and then throw in your zhacai and minced garlic. Toss them around together for a few minutes, then incorporate the doubanjiang. Cook for a minute then add your broth or water to deglaze. Scrape up all the good bits and cook the liquid down.
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| your pork should look like this once the liquid has cooked down |
top your noodles with the pork, greens, cilantro and scallion. I add sliced chilis for more heat. enjoy immediately!
