Dan-dan noodles with longan

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 30 g leaves (Kailan leaves), alternatively spinach or chard
• 3 medium-sized garlic cloves
• 10 g ginger, fresh or frozen
• 1 pepper, red, long, medium hot
• 30 g longan fruits (can, drained weight)
• 1 flower (pepper flower)
• e.g. longan fruits, fresh (if available)
• n. B. flowers and leaves
• ½ tsp mushroom powder (bouillon, granules)
• 2 tsp, levelled sugar, fine
• ½ tsp Szechuan pepper, freshly ground
• 200 ml water
• 6 g mushroom powder (bouillon, granules)
• 40 g Chinese egg noodles, dried in bars
• 1 tsp rice vinegar, dark, mild
• 1 tbsp sesame oil, dark
• 2 tbsp fruit juice, reserved (longan juice)
• 1 tbsp cooking water (from the pasta)
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil for frying

Instructions

Working time approx. 20 minutes; Cooking/baking time approx. 5 minutes; Total time approx. 25 minutes

A sweet and spicy, exotic temptation. A vegetarian main course from Malaysia’s Nonya cuisine.

Prepare the vegetables: Wash all ingredients, peel if necessary, and chop very finely. For the vegetables, halve the peppers lengthwise, remove seeds and partitions, and cut crosswise into thin strands. Quarter the drained longan fruits. For the garnish: Wash the peppers. Quarter lengthwise about 1.5 cm from the stem. Remove seeds and partitions, and then carefully halve each quarter lengthwise. Let the peppers float in plenty of cold water until ready to use. This will cause them to bloom. For the seasonings: Place the stock, sugar, and Sichuan pepper in a bowl and stir in the finely chopped vegetables. Cook the noodles: Dissolve the mushroom stock in boiling water and cook the noodles in it for 2 minutes until al dente. Strain, reserving the appropriate amount of stock. For the liquid seasonings: Place the rice vinegar, sesame oil, reserved longan juice, and noodle cooking broth in a small bowl. Fry the noodles: Add the sunflower oil to the wok and heat gently. Add the chopped vegetables and seasonings and stir-fry for 1 minute. Stir in the noodles and stir-fry briefly. Then mix in the liquid seasonings and remove the finished dan-dan from the heat. Serve: Divide the noodles between serving bowls. Garnish with the hot pepper blossom, longan fruit and, if desired, with more blossoms and leaves. Serve warm and enjoy. Notes: In Europe, the longan fruit is virtually unknown and can only be found in well-stocked Asian stores or online in canned form (without seeds). It is a relatively inexpensive fruit and cheaper in cans than lychee or rambutan. In Indonesia, it is sold in bulk, including its branches, when ripe. Like the lychee and the rambutan, the longan is a “jump in the mouth” fruit; this means that the surrounding skin is broken open with both thumbnails and the fruit, with the seed, is pushed into the mouth. Like a cherry, the flesh is separated from the pit using the tongue and teeth, and the pit is then spat out. The longan, also called lengkeng, is the smallest of the lychee-flavored fruits. Next come the lychee, the rambutan, the mangosteen, the srikaya, and the sirsak, which can weigh up to 1 kilogram.