If you only ever eat cucumbers raw or pickled, you aren't using the vegetable to its full potential. Salting and lightly cooking cucumbers tenderizes them, turning their crunch into a meaty bite. One of our favorite ways to cook cucumbers is in this easy stir-fry, seasoned with marinated ground pork, soy sauce, and sesame oil.
"Depending on the preparation, you've got lots of options. Ma po tofu, for instance, works with a lot more than Riesling. Recently, we had some of the Barbieto "Savannah Verdelho" Madeira with it, and while it was a bizarre idea at the onset, it was completely nuts with the dish. Generally the sweetness in the sauces of mushu and Peking duck make for potentially awful non-riesling pairings. If the kitchen at your particular restaurant has a deft hand, Peking duck can be great with juicy cru Beaujolais or juicy Grenache-based wines, like those from Grammenon. There are some non-Riesling options for mushu, but honestly, this is an example of why Riesling is such a steadfast go-to wine.
Perhaps the biggest key to making excellent dan dan noodles is to make your own roasted chile oil. When done right, it gets a rich, fruity, smoky flavor that none of the store-bought stuff can touch. It's really quite simple. Toasted Sichuan peppercorns have a sweet, citrus-like aroma with a mouth-numbing quality, while roasted chile oil brings on the heat.
To make the roasted chile oil, just toast a handful of whole Chinese chiles (or if you want, red pepper flakes) in a dry skillet until fragrant and ever-so-slightly smoking (about 30 seconds). Transfer them to a food processor with a cup of neutral oil, like canola, and whiz the whole thing up. Let it sit in a sealed container in the fridge for a week or so, and you're good to go. You can even top up the jar with more oil and toasted chiles every time you seem to be running low. Make some, have it on hand at all times, and it will revolutionize your mapo tofu, ramen, dumplings, stir-fries, and countless other dishes.
Making the sauce for dan dan noodles is exceedingly simple once you've got the basic ingredients in your pantry. It's just a matter of mixing them in the right proportions. Soy sauce forms the base, while Chinkiang black vinegar lends its characteristic acidity—it has a sweet, almost balsamic vinegar-esque aroma to it, though not quite as syrupy as that. Fermented broad bean chili paste comes in many forms throughout China or can be purchased online. Chili oil is a given, and while it's best (and remarkably easy!) to make at home, there are a number of good options available at any decent Chinese market. Look for the kind which has actual chile, garlic, and ginger debris in the bottom of the jar, not the completely clear kind you see in easy-pour bottles. That debris is where the magic is at.
The prototypical street noodle food tips|https://noodleinsight.com/, dan dan noodles are an ultra-simple dish of cold or warm noodles placed in a bowl with a ladleful of highly seasoned sauce poured on top. Flavored with minced pork, preserved pickled mustard, black vinegar, fermented broad beans, garlic, and plenty of chili oil, the dish is eaten by swirling the slick noodles through the oily sauce, picking up bits of meat and pickles as they go.
The first great thing about making dan dan noodles at home is that you can customize it however you'd like. Personally, I like the chile oil of the Sichuan version, but I also love adding crushed roasted peanuts to the top. Who's to stop me? Some hardcore versions of the dish have the noodles quite literally swimming in a bowlful of chile oil. I like my oil to coat the noodles and pool up a bit in the bottom of the bowl.
To Finish : Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add noodles and cook according to package directions. Drain. While noodles are cooking, heat oil in a wok or a small skillet over high heat until smoking. Add pork and preserved vegetable and cook, stirring and shaking constantly, using a spatula or a spoon to break up pork until cooked through, about 1 minute. Transfer to a small bowl and set aside.
The second great thing about making dan dan noodles—it's an exceedingly simple dish to make. Once you've put together your roasted chile vinaigrette (which holds for months in the fridge, by the way), it's just a matter of cooking your noodles, frying your chopped pork, and throwing everything together.
The problem with potato salads is, most of them rely on mayonnaise for richness, an ingredient that unfortunately vegans can't consume. With this recipe, you get all the delicious creaminess of a traditional potato salad, without all the trouble of making a vegan mayonnasie.
"German Riesling is the ultimate answer to this question. Find a lighter bodied riesling like a kabinett for the ma po tofu. A richer spatlese or auslese style for the duck to hang out with the fat. Pairing with Asian food is complex because there are so many flavor components. Spicy, sweet, fatty, tangy...Riesling easily handles all of those flavors. Don’t be afraid of wines with a little sweetness to them! They can really be excellent for pairing."— Adam Chumas, Tom Douglas Restaurants, Seattle
