For the seven years of my life I spent in Cambridge, Mass., a significant portion of the calories I consumed came from the kitchen at the Yenching Restaurant by Holyoke Center in Harvard Square. A high perecentage of those calories came from one dish served there: Szechuan Meat Sauce Noodles. (The picture below is from my visit to Cambridge last month — the dish is still on the menu, almost unchanged, though the spice-fire seems weaker than I remember.)
For $4 (almost twice as much today!) you got a small mountain of big noodles topped with a spicy shredded pork, celery and carrot mixture. The gravy would collect in the bottom of the bowl (or take-out carton) to replenish the coating on the pasta.
I loved it, and when I moved to the West Coast I missed it. So as I became more adept at Sichuan cooking — schooled by my masters, Mrs. Chiang and Fuchsia Dunlop — I began to experiment with duplicating the great Yenching Meat Sauce Noodles experience. After much experimentation, I think I’ve perfected it.
Full recipe after the jump. Have a great weekend!
Szechuan Meat Sauce Noodles
as served at the Yenching, Cambridge MA
[Recipe adapted from Irene Kuo’s recipe in “The Key to Chinese Cooking” for Shredded Celery in Meat Sauce. Kuo uses ground pork, and no carrot, and I’ve made a number of other small adjustments, but her basic formula was the right one for this dish.]
All slivers 1.5″-2″. You want the vegetables to retain some crunch but be thin enough to cook fast.
1 cup finely slivered carrot
1 cup finely slivered celery
1 lb. pork butt or shoulder, finely slivered
1 lb. fresh flat Shanghai style noodles (or whatever noodles you like!)
1-2 scallions slivered (in the photo you’ll see the whites cut into rounds, but I sliver them all by slicing 2″ lengths down the center a few times)
1-2 cloves garlic (more if the cloves are small and you love garlic), finely minced
2-3 quarter sized ginger slices, finely minced
4 tb peanut oil
SEASONINGS:
2 tb hot bean paste (Dunlop recommends the fava bean-based “broad bean paste” over the soy versions, and I’ve found it superior too)
1 tb soy sauce
1 tb chinese cooking wine (or sherry)
1/2 tsp sugar
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 tsp sesame oil
1/4 – 1/2 tsp ground roast sichuan peppercorn
Heat water to boil your noodles and cook them so they’re ready when your topping is.
Heat 2 tb oil in wok. Stir-fry carrot and celery for 1-2 minutes until they begin to go limp. Remove from wok.
Heat additional 2 tb oil in wok. Stir-fry garlic, ginger, scallion just long enough to season the oil.
Add the meat and stir-fry for a minute till browned but not cooked through.
Add the seasoning and the vegetables. Mix well.
Add the broth, lower heat, cover and cook for 3-5 minutes. Some liquid will cook off; don’t let it dry out — you’ll want some left to coat the noodles.
Remove from flame, add the sesame oil and sichuan pepper, mix well.
Serve noodles in bowl and top with a generous spoonful of meat/vegetable mixture.
Should serve 3-4.