Article: the history of dan dan noodles and tantanmen ramen

Our next series will look at how a recipe evolves across time and space.

Many of you may know tantanmen ramen, those famous ramen with minced pork, chili oil, and sesame. A delight that wins over the Japanese and food lovers all around the world. Let me tell you a bit about how this dish came to be.

It all starts in 1841 in China's Sichuan province, when a villager named Chen Baobao decides to try his luck in the hope of a better life and moves to a town close to home: Zigong.

On the road he travelled on foot, he came across many street vendors selling food along the way. He then had the idea of doing the same and selling the fresh noodles he cooked best.

He carried everything he needed on his shoulder using a bamboo pole, from which he hung two buckets: one for utensils and the other for the ingredients he needed. That gave the dish its name: "Dan Dan Mian" (carried noodles).

Chen Baobao's homemade noodles, topped with bean sprouts, were such a hit that he was able to open his own restaurant.

A little later, street vendors brought the dish to the city of Chengdu. They added minced pork, and the dish gradually became one of Sichuan's signature plates.

Dan dan noodles are eaten as a starter in small bowls and consist of noodles with no broth but with a spicy sauce, pickled vegetables, Sichuan peppercorns, minced pork, and spring onions. So it's a "dry" version with no soup.

Cousin versions have also spread: reganmian in Wuhan, zhajiangmian in northern China, and even a cold version of dan dan in Dongbei.

Much later, in 1911, the revolution led by Sun Yat-Sen drove the last emperor of the Qing dynasty from power. An imperial court chef, Yeung Din-Wu, a native of Yangzhou (northeast of Shanghai), fled to Hong Kong, then a British colony.

Life was hard and he struggled to provide for his family. Yeung Din-Wu eventually met a man from Sichuan who had recently settled in Hong Kong. He wanted to open a restaurant but had no kitchen experience.

The former imperial chef offered to help and, in 1947, they opened "Wing Lai Yuen," an address serving Sichuan specialties in the village of Yuen Leng in Hong Kong. The restaurant, though it has since moved, still exists today.

https://goo.gl/maps/hmPbWqas2wCuhw1Q6

Yeung Din-Wu then took great liberties with the original recipe and gradually adapted it to Hong Kong tastes, where heat is only moderately appreciated.

He started by offering chili oil as a simple option. Then he did something more controversial and turned the dish into a noodle soup. He introduced a broth based on sesame and peanuts that he used to make at the imperial palace.

The success was immense and the restaurant became a local attraction with lines out the door. Other restaurants picked up the recipe and the dish became a true Hong Kong classic. It even has its own sauce today, made in Hong Kong by Lee Kum Kee and exported around the world.

The soup version of dan dan noodles made its way back to mainland China via Shanghai and spread further, becoming a favourite across the country.

As you might guess, the dan dan noodle adventure doesn't stop there, and they would cross into Japan thanks to the talent of a chef of Chinese origin, Chen Kenmin, nicknamed the "father of Sichuan cuisine in Japan." He emigrated to the Land of the Rising Sun from his native Sichuan in 1952, took Japanese citizenship in 1954, and opened his first restaurant, Shisen Hanten, in 1958.

As an aside, his son, Chen Kenichi, even became a TV star chef thanks to the show "Iron Chef."

His version of dan dan noodles, adapted to the Japanese palate, was renamed tantanmen ramen. It's inspired by the Shanghai version, itself inspired by the deep alteration Hongkongers made to a recipe from Sichuan.

Our next trilogy will therefore include the following recipes:

Tantanmen ramen (already published) Dan dan noodle soup, HK version (already published) Sichuan dan dan noodles (coming soon)

Enjoy your meal! 😋