Chinese fried rice recipe

How to Prepare / Make / Cook - ?Chinese fried rice recipe

Dan Dan Noodles are Szechuan street food at its most traditional. Dan dan refers to the thumping sound made by the pails of noodles and sauce at the ends of bamboo panniers as they are carried through the streets in a sort of traveling fast food restaurant.

The noodles are served cold or tepid. Once assembled, the dish holds well, although the noodles absorb the sauce after an hour. If you like saucier noodles, dress them just before serving. I sometimes add blanched and shredded snow peas or blanched bean sprouts along with the scallions for texture.

1 pound thin spaghetti
2 tablespoons sesame seed oil
¾ cup creamy peanut butter
¾ cup Chinese chicken broth (page 64) or canned chicken broth
2 tablespoons light soy sauce
2 teaspoons chili oil, or to taste
¼ teaspoon cayenne, or to taste
1 heaping teaspoon Szechuan peppercorns, toasted and ground
3 scallions, white and green parts, thinly sliced

Bring 4 to 5 quarts of water to a boil in a large pot. Add the noodles and cook uncovered, until a little more tender than al dente. Avoid over cooking, or the noodles will be mushy. Stir occasionally to keep the noodles from sticking together. When done, drain and rinse with cold water until thoroughly cool. Drain well, transfer to a large serving bowl, and gently toss with 1 tablespoon of the sesame seed oil (hands work best). Set aside.
2. While the noodles are cooking, blend the peanut butter and broth together in a bowl until smooth and creamy. Add the soy sauce, chili oil, the remaining 1 tablespoon of sesame seed oil, the cayenne, and Szechuan peppercorns and mix thoroughly. If you have time, let the sauce sit for 30 minutes or more to allow the spices to develop.
3. Pour the peanut paste over the cooked noodles and add the scallions. I use my hands to toss the noodles because they mix the ingredients more evenly and the noodles don’t break. Serve cool.

Variation For a vegetable garnish, blanch snow peas and bean sprouts in the boiling water that will be used to cook the noodles. For snow peas, snap off both ends and string ¼ pound of snow peas. Blanch for 10 to 15 seconds. Remove with a wire skimmer and rinse in cold water to refresh and drain. Cut on the diagonal into shreds. For bean sprouts, blanch 2 cups of bean sprouts in boiling water for 15 seconds. Remove with a wire skimmer and rinse in cold water. Drain well. Add the vegetables to the noodles with the scallions in step 3.