Have you tried the @Amazin’GrazeSg’s honestly smooth peanut butter yet? If not, you are indeed missing out on something super delicious. By far the best use of this all-time fav peanut butter has been in this sweet-spicy Sichuan styled dan dan noodles or spicy peanut sauce noodles. The first we had this was at @Chili Fagara in HongKong (must visit in your HK trip!) and have been ever since looking to find these in Singapore. The search ended when @Qi – House of Sichuan opened two years back here. We actually discovered them by chance and were its first set of customers. It is now our go to place for the most amazing Sichuan food in Singapore.
Fast forward to today, given it is such a house favourite, attempting Dan Dan Noodles at home required not only courage but also the best ingredients. Two most important ingredients for Dan Dan Noodles are chili oil and sweet-spicy peanut sauce. Both need to be super perfectly done for that authentic taste. While we made herb infused chili oil at home (let’s talk about it later in another post on how!), today we will talk at length about the sweet-spicy peanut sauce which is indeed the most critical part of these Vegan Dan Dan Noodles.
Ingredients for sweet-spicy peanut sauce:
- 1 cup honestly smooth peanut butter of Amazin’Graze (if the peanut butter is not very smooth, then take 2:1 proportion of your peanut butter and tahini)
- 4 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp hoisin sauce or vegetarian oyster sauce (ideally try to get hoisin sauce – it is sweeter and spicier)
- 2.5 tbsp sriracha (non sweet chili sauce)
- 3 tbsp white/rice vinegar
- 1.5 tbsp warm honey
- 1.5 cups water
Other ingredients: (for serving 4 pax)
- 6-7 tbsp herb infused chili oil (detailed recipe below)
- Thinly sliced vegetables – carrot, capsicum in all colours, onion, asparagus, beans (see vegetable board)
- 400 gm sphaghetti noodles
- Fresh basil leaves (5-6)
- 2-3 spring onion (green part)
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame seeds
Procedure:
- In 4 tbsp herb infused chili oil, sauté onion and red chili (keep the rest of chili oil for garnishing in the end)
- After 2-3 min, add all the sliced vegetables and sauté for 5-7 min until almost cooked. Add mushrooms if you like.
- Add boiled noodles and mix well
- Blend all the ingredients sweet-spicy peanut sauce in the blender and add the noodles leftover water if too think
- At the time of serving, warm the peanut sauce in a pan and add the noodles with vegetables in it and gently toss
- Serve noodles in the bowl & put a tbsp of peanut sauce on the sides (well dunked in sauce) and for garnishing – use chopped red chili, toasted sesame seeds, spring onion greens and importantly chili oil. You can also add cooked bok choy on the side
Making of herb infused chili oil:
Heat up 1 cup of olive oil and when it starts to boil, add 1 cinnamon stick, 1 star anise, 1 big cardamom, 1 bay leaf and fry until you can sense the aroma. Take all the aromatics out and lower the flame. Add 4-5 sliced garlic and 1.5 tbsp sesame seeds and fry until garlic is golden. Take 5 tbsp of red chili flakes in a bowl and pour the hot oil over it (ideally use half-half mix of normal red chili flakes of Sichuan chili flakes, but if not available use all normal). Store in a jar after cooling in room temperature. Can store in a jar for upto a year.
Break&Binge 