Jamie Oliver’s Dan Dan Noodles
I recently picked up Jamie Oliver’s American cookbook encouraged by it’s beautiful pictures and tasty sounding recipes. Last week I turned my bounty from the market into this beauitful and very spicy noodle dish. It turned out beautifully and I was so excited to make a spicy noodle dish with all local products. 
Dan Dan Noodles
Ingredients
1 beef or chicken stock cube, preferably organic
500g minced beef
2 tbsp runny honey
300g wheat noodles
4 handfuls of mixed green veg (sprouting broccoli, bok choy, kale)
4 cloves of garlic, peeled and finely chopped
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
2 tsp freshly ground chili pepper
5 tbsp good-quality chili oil
2 spring onions, trimmed and finely sliced
1 lime, quartered, to serve
Method
Crumble your stock cube into a large pan of water and get it on the heat. Add the beef to a dry pan and, on a medium to high heat, keep moving it around until it’s golden and crunchy, about 10-15 minutes. Pour away any excess fat, then add the honey and toss until all the mince is nicely coated. Cook for about 30 seconds, then take the pan off the heat.
Stir your noodles into the boiling stock and move them about so they don’t stick together. Cook according to the packet instructions. Shred your cabbage into 1cm strips, quarter your bok choy and snap up the broccoli spears. When the noodles have 1 minute to go, throw in the prepared greens to blanch them. Drain the whole lot in a colander, reserving a mugful of the cooking water. Tip your noodles, veg and the mugful of water back into the hot pan.
Add your garlic, soy sauce, chili pepper and chilli oil. Give it all a good mix with tongs and divide between 4 bowls. Sprinkle over the crunchy beef (you can reheat this at the last minute if you like), finish with a scattering of spring onions and serve each dish with a lime quarter to squeeze over. A serious noodle dish.
Note: To make your own chilli oil, get a handful of mixed dried chillies (as many as you like), toast them in the oven to bring out the flavor, whack them in a food processor with a bottle of groundnut oil and pour back into the bottle. This will keep well in your cupboard for a year.