{"id":9725,"date":"2016-03-16T14:49:30","date_gmt":"2016-03-16T18:49:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/omnivorescookbook.com\/?p=9725"},"modified":"2022-10-25T18:26:52","modified_gmt":"2022-10-25T22:26:52","slug":"ding-ding-chao-mian","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/omnivorescookbook.com\/ding-ding-chao-mian\/","title":{"rendered":"Ding Ding Chao Mian (\u4e01\u4e01\u7092\u9762, Fried Noodles in Lamb Tomato Sauce)"},"content":{"rendered":"

A hearty fried noodle dish that is cooked with a scrumptious tomato sauce with lamb and peppers. Fast to cook and bold in flavor. A must-have for Xinjiang food lovers.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

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Ding Ding Chao Mian (\u4e01\u4e01\u7092\u9762) is a signature dish from Xinjiang<\/a>. The region is located in the far west of China, adjacent to Kazakhstan and Mongolia. The majority of the population is Uyghur (a Turkic ethnic group), and their food is highly influenced by central Asian cuisine, as well as traditional Chinese cuisine.<\/p>\n

Xinjiang food is wildly popular in Beijing and we\u2019ve been eating it we were growing up. Some of our favorite dishes are roast lamb skewers<\/a> (Chinese kebabs), Baked samosa<\/a> (A bread with savory filling), and Ding Ding Chao Mian.<\/p>\n

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Craving fresh noodles<\/h2>\n

Fresh handmade noodles are a luxury in the US. Back in China, they\u2019re one of the cheapest foods you can get. Even in big cities like Beijing, you can easily find small diners serving handmade noodle dishes at 2 to 3 dollars a bowl.<\/p>\n

After eating fresh noodles for years, I\u2019ve gotten picky about my noodles. That\u2019s one of the reasons I feel reluctant to cook with dried noodles. They just don\u2019t taste right. I miss the days when I could get fresh noodles for 50 cents a pound from our next-door vegetable market.<\/p>\n

I admit, it\u2019s a bit too obsessive to make noodles from scratch just to cook a plate of fried noodles. But in order to present this dish the authentic way, freshly made noodles were a must.<\/p>\n

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Some of you might have heard of Ding Ding Chao Mian before. For these who haven\u2019t, you might wonder why I call these small pieces of dough \u201cnoodles\u201d instead of gnocchi. I promise I didn\u2019t make this up. We do have this type of noodle in China, and they\u2019re shaped pretty similarly to gnocchi. They are freshly made from wheat flour (no potato) and have a very meaty texture.<\/p>\n

These short noodles are another form of hand pulled noodles<\/a>. Instead of pulling the noodles into long thin strips, you leave the noodles thick, and cut them into small chunks. It results in a firmer shape and chewier texture. The short noodles soak up sauce nicely and keep their shape well. Perfect for stir frying.<\/p>\n

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Cooking notes<\/h2>\n

Do not let the handmade noodles scare you away from this recipe! You can use any type of noodle to cook Ding Ding Chao Mian, even dried.<\/p>\n

I recommend you use fresh wide noodles if you can find them. Simply chop the noodles into shorter pieces before boiling them, and you\u2019ll have a dish very close to the original one. My other recommendations are Farfalloni and Rotini pasta. They will save you the trouble of chopping. Their texture is firm and very close to the original dish.<\/p>\n

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For those who want to challenge themselves with a real-deal Ding Ding Chao Mian, try making the noodles once and you\u2019ll find it easier than you thought. If you have a KitchenAid stand mixer, I highly recommend you use it to knead the dough. It saves you time, allows the water to incorporate more thoroughly, and produces a dough that is easy to pull.<\/p>\n

A Xinjiang housewife who is familiar with the process can probably get the whole dish done in 45 minutes, from making the noodles by hand to finishing the stir-fry. I can\u2019t. But I did manage to finish the whole thing in an hour. It could be a fun weekend project for you to challenge yourself with. And the results are very rewarding.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re not making the noodles from scratch, you can finish prep and cooking in 20 minutes. A great option for a quick weekday dinner.<\/p>\n

I adapted the recipe from the Ding Ding Chao Mian<\/a> by the famous Chinese blogger Wen Yi. She is married to a Xinjiang guy and has learned a lot of secrets to create the authentic flavor. When I\u2019m looking for a Xinjiang recipe, I go to her blog first to make sure I\u2019m doing everything right. You can\u2019t go wrong when you\u2019ve learned from the best \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

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Do you like my recipes? Sign up<\/a> our weekly newsletter to get the latest updates delivered to your inbox and a FREE e-cookbook that contains my top 30 most popular recipes!<\/p>\n

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Chinese Cooking Made Easy<\/h2>

Are you new to this website? This free email series is a great place to start. I\u2019ll walk you through a few of my most popular recipes and show you how and why they work. You\u2019ll quickly start to cook better Chinese food in your own kitchen.<\/p>\n

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Ding Ding Chao Mian (\u4e01\u4e01\u7092\u9762, Fried Noodles in Lamb Tomato Sauce)<\/h2>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t
By <\/span>Maggie Zhu<\/a><\/span><\/div>\r\n\r\n\t\t\t