hi hello everyone! Wesley here. Today we’re adding to our Bay Area Restaurant Hack series with a request from the Oakland subreddit for the “Spicy Sauce Noodles” from Good to Eat Dumplings in Oakland. As far as I can tell, Good to Eat’s “Spicy Sauce Noodle” dish is essentially a simplified, pantry friendly version of a sesame paste noodle dish called Dan Dan Mian.
A dan dan mian is a VERY popular Sichuan noodle dish here in the states (and we actually did a peanut sauce version a few months back on this channel already), but what makes Good to Eat’s version so unique is that it does not contain any meat whatsoever. In lieu of the more traditional ground pork, their version instead features crispy fried shallots with a fresh green onion finish. This makes for a super minimalist, pantry friendly, yet tasty and hearty dish that’s great to throw together for a quick meal. Hope you try it.
Serves 2-3
INGREDIENTS
4 small shallots
4 cloves garlic
1 tbsp or (about 1 inch) ginger
12 oz Shanghainese round noodles
2 green onions
sesame seeds
kosher salt
peanut oil to cook
12 oz high heat oil to deep fry
INGREDIENTS (sauce)
2 tbsp sesame paste
4 tbsp low sodium soy sauce (or 2 tbsp full sodium soy sauce)
2 tbsp rice vinegar
2 tbsp shaoxing wine
2 tbsp lao gan ma (chili oil)
1/4 cup stock
1 tbsp brown sugar
1/2 tbsp sichuan pepper
PREP
CRUSH and MINCE the garlic, set aside
FINE MINCE the ginger, set aside
SLICE the green onions on a bias as thinly as possible, set aside
DICE 2 shallots, then SLICE the remaining 2 shallots, set aside
COMBINE all sauce ingredients, set aside
ON THE STOVE
HEAT a wok as hot as possible, then add 4 tbsp peanut oil and long yao
ADD the shallots and season with a pinch of kosher salt, then saute for 3-5 minutes until translucent
REMOVE the shallots, wipe down the wok, and heat 12 oz of fryer oil to 350F
DEEP FRY the cooked shallots for 5 seconds in a fine mesh sieve, then immediately remove and cool
REMOVE the fryer oil, then reheat the wok as hot as possible, add 4 tbsp peanut oil, and long yao
ADD the garlic and ginger to the wok and bloom until fragrant (about 10 seconds)
ADD the noodles and sauce to the wok and toss to combine
ADD 1/4 cup water until the sauce reaches desired thickness
REMOVE from heat, and finish with fried shallots, sesame seed, and green onions