This article is a birthday gift to my dear friend Ed. He and I bonded during our university years over a strange shared love for instant ramen noodles. I say "strange" because this was back in the 1980s. To find said food you had to travel to the East end of town and visit the only Chinese grocer. Times have changed!
And in more than one way. Though I still sometimes resort to ramen packs, I am no longer a starving student and my tastes have become more refined. Here I share a far superior instant noodle that you might be lucky enough to find locally.
But first I need to sing the praises of the best damn (should that be "dan") noodle house I have found. Having recently missed out on a trip to China, I can only imagine that Noodle Alley in Manchester is the real thing. Though I didn't have a chance to talk to the chef (she was too busy in the kitchen) her husband told me that the dishes were unadulterated versions of what they serve in Chengdu. And since I am addicted to food bloggers from that part of the world I can only confirm that the food at least looks the part.
On my visit I ordered the Su Jiao Mian, a generous portion of sesame noodle with minced pork and pickled vegetables. (Sorry for the phone photos but I'd left my camera in my hotel room. And for some reason Blogger blurs everything.)
And the taste? Remarkable. Spicy, numbing, salty, slightly bitter... every flavour one could want in an integrated profile. With the peanut and sesame slick mouth feel.
We can't expect to get the same out of a dried noodle packet but surprisingly we can get 50% of the way there. Recently I have discovered two products from Sichuan You Ni Yi Mian Food in Chengdu. (Their website is either down or being blocked.) These come either individually or in packs of five. But oddly these have slightly different contents since the individual packs come with a vegetarian meat substitute not present otherwise.
In any case, we get the noodles themselves plus three flavour packs. In the case of the Congyou Banmian (Scallion Oil Noodles) there's dried chive, scallion oil, and the base flavour packet. But that was far from my favourite. The Jiaoma Banmian is the winner with its sesame paste and chilli combo.
To prepare you simply boil the noodles for 6 to 8 minutes, according to the directions. For me five minutes was enough. Drain and add to the remaining contents in a bowl. Stir vigorously to coat the noodles. To make your repast more fulfilling, I suggest getting some Sichuan pickled vegetables... mustard is my favourite. This adds crunch and a bitter tang, while boosting the heat.
The noodles themselves are far better than dried ramen. The large "8" on the front of the package indicates that they have been sun dried for eight hours. The rough cut edges ensure the sauce sticks and the bite has texture.
It's my new lunchtime addiction until I return to Manchester. And if you know of anything equally amazing, do let me know below.
Suggested listening: Songs of the Free by The Gang of Four.
The article title is a translation of the packaging promotional text.
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