I spent some enjoyable hours reading Fuchsia Dunlop’s memoir, Shark’s Fin and Sichuan Pepper: A Sweet-Sour Memoir of Eating in China
This is truly a 30-minute meal. Alongside it we usually add some sauteed greens or a tossed salad with crisp lettuce (like Romaine) drizzled with a dressing of 1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger, 2 Tablespoons rice wine vinegar, 1 Tablespoon vegetable oil, a teaspoon or two of mirin or 1/2 teaspoon sugar, and soy sauce to taste.
Pork and bean thread noodles
I think is really is best when made with pork, but I’ve used ground chicken, ground turkey, and ground beef all to great effect. The ground lamb experiment, however, did not go so well. I made it once using picked crab meat in place of the ground meat, which was pretty tasty but, of course, completely undid the frugal appeal of this dish. We’ve never found the amount in the original recipe nearly enough for the three of us, so the amounts here are duly adjusted.
1/2 pound bean thread noodles
2 Tablespoons peanut or vegetable oil
1/2 – 3/4 pound ground meat
1/4 cup rice wine or dry sherry (I will admit to having used sake or dry white wine when we had no Chinese rice wine or sherry around and they both worked just fine)
2 teaspoons soy sauce, plus more to taste
3 Tablespoons chile bean paste [also sold as "chile bean sauce" or with the word "red" thrown in there – in any case both soy beans *and* fava beans or broad beans should be in the ingredient list]
2 cups chicken or vegetable stock
6 green onions, chopped
Put the noodle in a large bowl and cover with hot water, let them sit about 15 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat a large saute pan or wok over high heat. Heat oil until it shimmers a bit. Add ground meat and cook, stirring, until it starts to brown.
Add sherry and soy sauce and cook, stirring, until liquid is half absorbed/evaporated. Add chile bean paste and cook, stirring, until the whole thing smells spicy, a minute or two. You need to stir a lot here to keep the paste from burning at all.
Add stock and bring to a simmer. Add more soy sauce to taste. Add drained noodles and simmer until liquid is mostly absorbed, about 10 minutes. Stir in green onions and serve hot.
Samantha | 02-Feb-10 at 6:16 pm | Permalink
You are a genius of yum. I would never attempt that recipe based on its name alone. But you make it all sound so tuesday-night-dinner. I’m going to make it after a trip to New May Wah. Thanks.
jen maiser | 02-Feb-10 at 8:54 pm | Permalink
This looks great. I’ll probably get my foodie credentials revoked, but I’ve never bought bean thread noodles or chile bean paste. Guess I’ll head to New May Wah for them?
Molly Watson | 03-Feb-10 at 8:57 am | Permalink
I believe ours were both acquired at Rainbow, Jen. Your foodie credentials will always be intact- I just remember your willingness to eat in the usual culinary wasteland that is the Castro, to be rewarded by the wonder that is Kasa (speaking of, Heidi has an great palak dal recipe from there up).
Kendra S | 03-Feb-10 at 2:59 pm | Permalink
M, do you think I could get away with walnut oil or grapeseed oil? If I can get bean thread noodles at the Japanese grocery by my house, can I also get chile bean paste there?
Molly Watson | 03-Feb-10 at 3:06 pm | Permalink
I would opt for grapeseed oil (neutral flavor) over walnut oil (walnut flavor); your market may have the chile bean paste, but my understanding it that it’s more of a Chinese ingredient. I forgot it might not be readily available everywhere (I like my bubble here in SF) – the dish turns out using pretty much any red chile paste/sauce. Sriracha is probably a bit sweet, but just plain chile paste/red chile and garlic paste all that stuff that’s red and comes in a jar works to some degree!
molly | 05-Feb-10 at 9:19 am | Permalink
What a great, simple, flavorful looking dish. My kind of meal. Dunlop is a gem, isn’t she? Will have to give it a go.
The gold digger | 26-Feb-10 at 10:27 am | Permalink
She didn’t have to give a political answer about why she didn’t eat the fin! All she had to do was say that she just didn’t want it, thank you, and leave it at that. She did not have to “start a conversation with a bunch of Chinese chefs about the moral and environmental limits of consumption.” Just the person everyone wants at a party.