I am a big fan of Sichuan noodles. I had my first authentic Dan Dan Noodle experience, when I was working in Xi’an, China in the early 90s, cooked by the chefs from Sichuan. I just love how the Sichuan peppercorns in the noodle creates a numbing sensation in the mouth. Sadly, my husband does not like this numbing sensation. 🙁 The peppercorn is the signature ingredient in Sichuan style spicy food!

Till now, I am still game for a bowl of good Sichuan spicy noodles but sad to say I have yet to find one that hits the mark. This is the reason why I am cooking this noodle: to satisfy my cravings. You can prepare the soup a day ahead, in my opinion this makes the soup taste better. I will share the Dan Dan noodle recipe in another post. (Anyone keen?)

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Serves 4 to 6 person

Ingredients

For the stock:

10 cups cold water

9 slices of ginger

4 stalks of scallions, washed and cut in half

850g beef chuck, cut into 1½ inch chunks

For the paste:

4 tablespoons oil

2 to 2½ tablespoons Sichuan peppercorns

2 heads of garlic, peeled and slightly crushed

2 large onions, cut into chunks

2 large tomatoes, cut into small chunks

6 star anise

5 bay leaves

½ cup spicy bean paste

½ cup light soy sauce (adjust according to your taste you may reduce or add)

1½ tablespoons sugar

1 large piece of dried tangerine peel

¼ cup Shaoxing wine

Other ingredients:

Noodles of your choice (Fresh or dried)

Green vegetables, blanched

Chopped scallions and cilantro, to garnish

Method:

1. Fill one stock pot with 10 cups of cold water.
2. Add the ginger, scallions, and beef chunks.
3. Bring to a boil. Then immediately turn down the heat and simmer for 15 to 20 minutes.
4. Turn off the heat and set aside.
5. In a large wok or another stock pot, heat up the oil over medium-low heat.
6. Add in the Sichuan peppercorns, garlic cloves, onion, star anise, and bay leaves.
   
7. Stir fry till the garlic and onion chunks start to soften.
8. Then add in the spicy bean paste and mix well.
   
9. Next add the tomatoes and cook for a couple of minutes.
10. Finally, stir in the light soy sauce, the Shaoxing wine, and sugar. Turn off the heat.
11. Now scoop out the beef, ginger, and scallions from the 1st pot and transfer them to the wok or the 2^nd pot.
    
12. Once this is done, pour in the stock through a fine mesh strainer and into the wok/2^nd pot.
13. Place the pot over high heat, and add in the tangerine peel.
14. Cover and bring the soup to a boil.
15. Then turn the heat down to simmer for about 1½ hours.
    
16. Turn off the heat and let it sit on the stove for another hour to let the flavours come together or leave it overnight if you are cooking in advance.
17. When ready to serve, warm up your soup again and then cook the noodles.
18. Divide the noodle among the serving bowls.
19. Top the bowls with the beef and some green vegetables.
20. Scoop the hot soup over each bowl of noodles.
21. Garnish with the chopped scallions and cilantro and serve immediately.

Note:

1. If you like your soup to be really spicy, you might want to crush some of the peppercorns or add more.
2. If you have some leftover stock you may freeze it and defrost it when you want to use them in future.