hello hi everyone! Wesley here. Today we're diving back into our series on foods from the Bay Area restaurant scene with a request that a few folks from the Oakland subreddit have been asking for, which is the Hot and Spicy Chow Mein from the one and only, absolutely legendary noodle and dumpling shop, Shan Dong in Oakland, CA.

For the Bay Area locals that are not familiar, Shan Dong is a LONG time staple of the Oakland restaurant scene, offering hand made noodles, dumplings, and Chinese comfort food right in the heart of Oakland Chinatown. While their Hot and Spicy Chow Mein may at first glance look like a pretty typical chow mein (with its inclusion of carrots, zucchini, and onion, paired with a dark soy sauce noodle marinade), it is unique not only because it can be ordered featuring Shan Dong's handmade noodles, but also because of their approach to creating the "hot and spicy" qualities that the dish's name promises. Today we'll be doing this with a combination of Chinese fermented chili paste "doubanjiang," lao gan ma "chili crisp oil," and my personal favorite, a healthy handful of dried toasted tian jin peppers. Hope you try it.

Freshen up on the recipe here (out August 13th!), bookmark the stream here, and pick up the ingredients below if you want to follow along and cook dinner with me.

INGREDIENTS

• 4 cloves garlic

• 1 inch (about 1 tbsp) ginger

• 2 green onions

• 16 oz Shanghainese round noodles

• 1 medium zucchini

• 2 medium carrots

• 1/2 medium sweet white onion

• 8-10 dried Tian Jin peppers

• 2 medium chicken thighs

• 1/4 cup chicken stock (or water)

• peanut oil

• ice

INGREDIENTS (noodle marinade)

• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce

• 1 tbsp sesame oil

INGREDIENTS (chicken marinade)

• 4 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 tbsp shaoxing wine

• 1 tbsp brown sugar

• 1/2 tsp white pepper

• 1/2 tsp corn starch

INGREDIENTS (sauce)

• 4 tbsp soy sauce

• 2 tbsp rice vinegar

• 1 tbsp dark soy sauce

• 1 tbsp oyster sauce

• 1 tbsp doubanjiang

• 2 tbsp lao gan ma

• pinch kosher salt