Thin wheat noodles in a little sauce of chili oil, Sichuan pepper, sesame paste and preserved vegetable, topped with crisp minced pork and often crushed peanuts. Stir it all together before eating.
Sichuan's dandan noodles are spicy, numbing, and fragrant.
Tips
culture
The name comes from the shoulder pole (扁担) that 19th-century Zigong vendors used to carry the noodles and sauce from street to street. 担 here means 'to carry on a shoulder pole'. The authentic Sichuan version is dry-tossed with Sichuan pepper, chili oil, preserved vegetable (芽菜), and minced pork, not soup-based.