Dan dan tofu noodles

Ingredients

For the dan dan tofu

• 250ml rapeseed oil
• 200g block of firm tofu, crumbled into coarse 1cm pieces
• 2cm piece of fresh ginger, peeled and finely diced
• 2 tsp chilli powder
• 1½ tsp ground white pepper
• 1½ tsp caster sugar
• 2½ tbsp whole bean soy sauce
• A pinch of salt

For the tofu dressing

• 3 tsp mirin
• 8 tsp whole bean soy sauce
• 2 cloves of garlic, grated
• 4 tbsp fermented mustard greens
• 2 tsp tung choi preserved vegetable
• 4 tsp chinkiang vinegar
• 8 tsp Sichuan chilli oil

To serve

• 400g plain wheat noodles
• 4 generous handfuls of coriander, finely sliced

Method

Start with the tofu. Heat the oil in a frying pan over medium heat. Add the tofu and ginger, then pan-fry for 2 minutes before adding the remaining ingredients. Cook gently for 10 minutes, allowing the tofu to soak up all the flavours and develop a tender, fluffy texture. Remove from the heat and set aside.

While the tofu is cooking, heat the oven to 150C and place four bowls in the oven to warm.

Into each warm bowl, measure ¾ tsp mirin, 2 tsp soy sauce, ½ clove garlic, 1 tbsp fermented mustard greens, ½ tsp preserved vegetable, 1 tsp chinkiang vinegar and 2 tsp chilli oil, including some pulp. It’s important to do this bowl by bowl rather than make a batch of dressing, as the flavour balance is key.

Cook the noodles in two batches. Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil, add half the noodles, then stir with chopsticks to separate the strands. When cooked, drain and immediately divide into two bowls by picking up half of the noodles with a pair of chopsticks. Gently lay the ends of the strands into the bowl and fold them over so the noodles are all sitting uniformly snug next to each other. Repeat for the second batch of noodles.

Top each bowl of noodles with 4 tbsp of the dan dan tofu. Be sure to include the oil for extra flavour. Add a generous handful of the coriander. Mix thoroughly before eating.

Image: Fangyu Cho

Recipe from BAO by Erchen Chang, Shing Tat Chung & Wai Ting Chung (Phaidon)