Spicy noodles are a Sichuan speciality, often served with a signature Sichuan sauce and no other protein. Here they're cooked with seafood and a side dish of wokked hispi cabbage. A simple and delicious dish prepared in very little time at all.
Yangtze noodle dandy
Sichuan cooking is spicier than many other Chinese cuisines, notable for the distinctive hot chillies and peppercorns that grow easily in its warm, humid climate. One signature Sichuan dish is "Sichuan spicy noodles" (often known as Dan Dan Noodles) sometimes cooked with pork or other animal proteins, but just as often not—though many versions of the signature sauce include a shellfish (dried shrimp) ingredient similar to the shrimp in many Thai and Vietnamese off-the-shelf sauces and/or combinations with chicken stock.
The spicy Sichuan noodles with seafood I'm doing it here uses a quotidian combination of king prawns and fish balls, though any type of shelled seafood will work—knock yourself out and go for large scallops or langoustine if you're feeling indulgent.
Similarly, while I'm using common or garden closed cup mushrooms, you can opt for oyster mushrooms or other types of Asian mushrooms if you prefer.
I'm doing it with a simple side dish of cabbage wokked in light soy with garlic and ginger and garnished with spring onions. I'm using a hispi cabbage (also called a sweetheart or Chinese cabbage) but any "white" cabbage can be used. These other varieties may take a little longer to cook.
Dirty wok
This is what my dad used to call a "dirty wok" dish, a literal translation of the concepts he learned as a young man on junks in the harbour at Kowloon when bemused maritime compadres took him home to eat with the family. Basically, it's a dish where you do not rinse out the wok between the different combinations of ingredients, building up layers of flavours until the overall meal is ready.
Yes, I often make my own Dan Dan-style sauce, but it is quite an ordeal. So, I'm opting to use Lee Kum Kee's Sichuan Style Spicy Noodle Sauce, which isn't available in all markets except through specialist Asian supermarkets. The reason I've opted for this one is because the dried shrimps and peanuts in it are an excellent match with seafood.
However, if you're looking to do a vegetarian or vegan version, I suggest you opt for Lee Kum Kee's Sichuan Style Hot & Spicy Stir-fry Sauce which contains no fish products; essentially vegan. However, you might want to slightly reduce the quantities you use because, in my experience, it is notably spicier.
Traditionally Dan Dan noodles does not combine all of the elements at once but adds them to the dish at different points rather than first combining them as a cohesive sauce. This can be fun, but also time-consuming.
If you do want to make your own sauce from scratch, I'm including my personal recipe for making it too. Be warned: it contains some ingredients that will require a visit to a specialist Asian supermarket or online retailer. In the quantities detailed, you will produce more sauce than needed for this dish. It will keep for about 10 days in the fridge but because of some of the ingredients—such as the seafood elements—it goes off fairly quickly. The answer is simple: freeze it in an ice tray or in very small containers and defrost as needed.
On the question of spice, there is no easy answer: this is a spicy dish. I would personally say it was a medium-to-hot dish cooked in these quantities. But, these things are relative. If you're not keen on spicy, unfortunately there's not that much you can do. Short of creating your own sauce from scratch with fewer Sichuan chillies and peppercorns, all you can do is reduce the quantities of sauce used. However, you may reduce the spiciness, but you'll also lose some of the impact of the other fantastic flavours in the sauce.
I'm using the egg noodles traditionally used in Sichuan cooking here, but you can use other types of noodles if you prefer.
This recipe serves 2 to 3 diners. You can easily scale it up for larger groups. While it isn't in the ultra-low fat category that I've been publishing of late, it's still fairly low in overall fats.
Shopping list
for spicy Sichuan noodles with seafood
Approx. 150g shelled raw large king prawns (fresh or defrosted)
3 or 4 defrosted Asian-style fish balls; sliced
1 large red bell pepper, cut vertically into slices
2 tspns garlic and ginger paste
Sichuan Style Spicy Noodle Sauce; approx 4 tspns (if not making your own)
1 medium onion cut into quarters or sixths and pulled apart
3 tspns of "wok oil" (or equivalent)
420g of fresh egg noodles (or dried—cooked, drained and cooled)
Approx. 100g small closed cup mushrooms; sliced
Salt and black pepper to taste
The hispi cabbage side dish
½ a hispi cabbage, sliced
1 tspn of "wok oil"
2 tspns garlic & ginger paste
1 tspn Chinese 5 spice
A liberal dash of light soy sauce
1 tbspn rice vinegar
4 or 5 spring onions, chopped
for the spicy Sichuan sauce (optional)
2 tspns minced dried Chinese (Sichuan) chillies (or 3 hot bird's eye chillies, chopped)
4 tbspns light soy sauce
3 cloves of garlic, roughly chopped
2 tbspns pickled mustard tubers (“zha cai”)
2 tbspns soybean paste (“doenjang”)
4 tbspns roasted peanutsr
2 tspns Sichuan red peppercons, freshly coarsely ground (or 1 tspn powder)
4 tbspns chilli oil (or sesame oil as an alternative)
½ tbspn shrimp paste
½ tspn Chinese five spice
3 tspns brown sugar
2 tbspn Chinese sesame paste (or tahini as an alternative)
1 chicken stock cube diluted in approx 250ml boiling water
Cooking Method
the spicy Sichuan sauce (optional)
I you are making your own rather than buying one of the readymade sauces listed above, do it first. You can do this up to days before and store, sealed, in the fridge. I warned you it's a palaver. Actually the biggest pain is simply getting all the ingredients together. Put all of the ingredients except for the chicken stock and chilli oil into a mini-chopper or small food processor and chop them up for a minute or so
Add the chilli oil and hot chicken stock in vaguely equal parts, a bit at a time, chopping/blending for approx. 30 seconds at a time slowly adding all of the oil and stock. You want to end up with a fairly smooth sauce with notable "bits" in it. (add a little boiling water at a time time if it still seems too chunky once you've used all the stock and oil)
You can cook with it immediately, but allow any surplus to fully cool before refrigerating or freezing
for the hispi cabbage side dish
As mentioned above, this is a "dirty wok" dish. So, you start with the side dish. Heat a tspn of wok oil on a high heat, adding the garlic and ginger paste while the oil is still warming. When the oil begins to sizzle, stir and add the cabbage to the wok, stirring almost constantly
Sprinkle over the Chinese five spice and stir in. Given the relatively small amount of oil in the wok, the cabbage is likely to stick within a few mins. Sprinkle a liberal dash of light soy sauce into the wok and stir. When this has cooked in, add the rice vinegar. This will almost certainly provide sufficient liquid until the cabbage begins to soften
When the cabbage looks as if it will be ready in a min or so, add all of the chopped spring onions and stir in. Your looking to wilt them rather than cook them
As soon as the cabbage is cooked—al dente but not undercooked—decant to a serving dish and keep warm. Do not rinse out the wok
for spicy Sichuan noodles with seafood
Some time before you get to cooking your seafood immediately after the cabbage, slice the fish balls and place into a small receptacle with the raw prawns. Using barely 2 tspns of the sauce—homemade or store-bought—marinade the seafood and store in the fridge. Ideally do this an hour before but no more than 4 hours before you cook
As soon as you have removed the cabbage from the wok, return to the high heat and add an additional dab of wok oil. Add the seafood ensuring you add all of the sauce with it. It is likely to begin sizzling almost immediately
Stir nearly constantly until the prawns begin to appear pink on all sides. Remove from the heat and place the wok contents to one side in a dish or on a plate
Return the un-rinsed wok to the high heat, adding the remainder of the oil. As soon as you've "swished" the oil around the wok, add the garlic and ginger paste. It will begin sizzling immediately—possibly even "spitting". Add the onions and stir energetically.
After about 2mins, add the red bell pepper and stir nearly constantly. When the the onions and peppers begin to soften, add the mushrooms and stir in. These should release liquid as they cook
Add the remaining Sichuan Style Spicy Noodle Sauce and stir in. Cook for about 3 mins, stirring constantly
Add the egg noodles and stir in (or tossing if you're wok-adept), cooking for at 3 to 4 mins
Add the pre-cooked king prawns and fish ball slices back into the wok. Stir and ensure they reheat fully
Plate (or decant to serving dishes) and serve with the wokked cabbage
Alternatives
This is basically a pescatarian dish by default. Nonetheless, you can create great vegetarian (actually vegan) versions using tofu or additional mushrooms cut into larger pieces in lieu of seafood. Obviously opt for rice noodles instead of egg noodles.
Pairings
I generally enjoy this dish with a good cold beer or, as tonight, with a mineral water with a dab of lime juice. It is also definitely one I'd like Karel to pair with relevant wines. There is something very "clean" about the flavours in this dish that I know he would zoom in on and find exactly the right wines. Watch this space...
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