Weird Ding Ding So Mien (Yes, Uyghur)

Note 1: Yes, this is Uyghur food. I am not entirely sure how to re-create the taste of Ding Ding So Mien from our favourite Tangritah Uyghur place in Adelaide <https://m.facebook.com/pages/category/Halal-Restaurant/Tangritah-Uyghur-Restaurant-344234136317297/>. 

Note 2: I adapted from Laghman + Dapanji recipe. Both noodles and gravy, recipes are from here < https://silkroadchef.com/2015/01/10/uyghur-style-laghman-noodles/>, <https://silkroadchef.com/2016/05/12/soman-uyghur-chopped-lagman-noodles/> and <https://silkroadchef.com/tag/dapanji/>.

Ingredients:

Noodles (So Mien)

1 cup flour

1 tbsp sesame oil

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup hot water

Oil for sealing

Gravy

3 cloves garlic

1 inch ginger

1/2 yellow onion

1 stalk spring onion

1/4 cup mushroom

1/2 tomato

1/4 cup capsicum

1 tbsp coriander leaves

1 star anise

3 dried chili

200 gm minced lamb or mutton

2-3 tbsp of light soy sauce

2 tbsp tomato paste

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 tbsp sugar

Water

Chili Oil

1/2 cup coarse chili flakes

2 cloves garlic

1/2 bottom stalk of spring onion (white part only)

1 star anise

2 tbsp chopped fermented dried black beans (can remove if you don't like)

1 cup oil

Soy Vinegar

1/2 cup light soy sauce

1/4 cup chinkiang vinegar (cannot be substituted)

Steps

Noodles (So Mien)

1. Add salt and sesame oil to flour. Mix well using wooden spatula.

2. Add hot or boiling water to dough and mix well using wooden spatula. Dough will be very sticky and hot. Continue to knead using spatula for a few turns until water fully incorporated. Set aside to cool.

3. Once cooled, knead the dough. If dough is still springy, rest for a while. Cover with oil and set aside.

4. Once dough is softened, start to roll the dough into long noodles. Dust the noodles with flour and chop to million little pieces. Make sure dust with enough flour so that the so mien do not clump together.

5. Boil the so mien in water until little so mien are floating to the surface of the water. Lift the cooked so mien and runs cold water through it to stop the cooking. Drain well. Set aside.

Gravy

1. Pound garlic, ginger, and 1/4 of yellow onion to make smooth paste. Set aside.

2. Shred mushroom (if using oyster mushroom) to fine pieces. Cube mushroom (if using shitake mushroon) to same size as so mien. Do not wash if no soil were attached to it. Set aside.

3. Cube the rest of yellow onion, capsicum (it does not matter what colour), and tomato. Set aside.

4. Separate white and green parts of spring onion. Finely chop 1/2 white parts of spring onion, and the other half is saved for chili oil. Finely chop coriander leaves. Set aside.

5. Cut green part of spring onion on the bias. Set aside.

6. Heat up a considerable amount of oil in a wok. Add in star anise and dried chili, broken into tiny pieces. Sautee until bloom but not burnt.

7. Add in mutton. Sautee until a little cooked. Add in garlic, ginger, and onion paste, and white part of spring onion. Sautee until browned and smell nice everywhere.

8. Add in diced yellow onion. Sautee until quite softened.

9. Add in tomato and mushroom. Sautee until quite coated in oil. Then add in soy sauce, stir fry for a short while until you smell a caramelised soy sauce.

10. Add in tomato paste. Stir until quite incorporated. Then add in water, however just enough to form a thin sauce, not soup. Bring to a gentle boil.

11. Add in capsicum. Season with enough salt and sugar. 

12. Add in noodles. Stir until noodles are incorporated with the gravy.

13. Add in green spring onion and coriander leaves. Stir until spring onion is quite softened and gravy is quite thickened and not watery.

14. Immediately remove from heat and serve with chili oil and soy vinegar.

Chili Oil

1. Put dried coarse chili powder and star anise into a bowl that can withstand heat. Set aside.

2. Smash the garlic with pestle. Put into the bowl.

3. Halve the 1/2 of white parts of spring onion. Put into the bowl.

4. Coarsely chop the fermented dried black beans. Put into the bowl.

5. Heat up the oil in a pot until the oil becomes quite light but not watery and smoking. If watery and smoky and smell quite burnt, that means the oil will be too hot and will burn the chili flakes.

6. Once heated, carefully pour the oil into the bowl. Wait until cool to serve or store.

Soy Vinegar

1. Combine soy sauce and chinkiang vinegar. Taste and alter the ratio to your taste. Cannot use other vinegar. If don't have chinkiang vinegar, skip this recipe altogether.