DAN DAN NOODLE SOUP WITH LAMB

A‘dan dan’ is the pole that noodle sellers use to carry the baskets of fresh noodles and sauce, with one at either end. The star is the Sichuan chilli bean paste, but you can use other chilli pastes if you can’t get your hands on it. Combined with the Sichuan peppercorns, you get a lip-tingling intensity. You can also try it as a stir-fry dish by omitting the stock water, and using fresh noodles.

Ingredients:

z ½ tbsp vegetable oil

z 230g (8 ¼ oz) minced lamb (or frozen vegan mince and ½ tsp yeast extract)

z 2 tsp garlic paste or 3-4 garlic cloves, crushed and chopped

z 1 tbsp ginger paste

z 1 carrot, finely diced

z 1 large onion, finely diced

z 120g (4 ¼ oz) dried wheat noodles

z 1 spring onion, finely sliced, to

garnish

For the soup:

z 600ml (20 fl oz) boiling water, or ready-made fresh vegetable stock