Dan Dan Noodles

The October 2011 issue of Bon Appetit had quite a few recipes that caught both Brit's and my eye. This is a dramatic improvement from the past several issues and might be enough to convince us to continue our subscription.  One such recipe that looked fairly exciting was the Dan Dan Noodles that was specifically requested by a reader who really enjoyed the dish served at Peter Change's Tasty 2 restaurant in Marietta, GA. I'm always amazed that restaurants are willing to provide their dish's recipes for print and I'm definitely not complaining.

This dish turned out fantastic and I cannot wait to make it again. We wanted to add more vegetables to the recipe, and some more color, so we chose red bell pepper. We'll prob also throw in a green bell pepper and some carrots to give it even more color next time.

Dan Dan Noodles
(Adapted from a recipe in the October 2011 Bon Appetit)

Serves 4

8 oz. Udon noodles
2 tbsp olive oil
12 oz. ground turkey
2 tbsp ginger, peeled and chopped
Red bell pepper, sliced (our own addition)
4-5 cloves garlic, minced (my own addition)
1.5 cup vegetable stock
4 tbsp chili oil
4 tbsp red wine vinegar
4 tbsp soy sauce
8 tbsp tahini (this was actually a mistake and should have been 8 tsp. I'm sticking with tbsp in the future)
2 tsp Sichuan peppercorns (we couldn't find these, so we just used regular black peppercorns)
pinch of sugar
4 tbsp chopped roasted peanuts
4 tbsp scallions, thinly sliced

Cook the noodles until al dente, drain and set aside
Meanwhile, heat the olive oil over medium heat in a large skillet. Cook the ground turkey, seasoned with some salt and pepper, until it's about halfway done. Stir in the ginger and bell pepper and keep cooking until the turkey is done. Stir in the garlic, stock, chili oil, red wine vinegar, soy sauce, tahini, peppercorns, and sugar. Simmer the mixture until the sauce thickens, in about 7-8 minutes. Pour the turkey mixture over the noodles and garnish with peanuts and scallions.