Description
The soul food of Xinjiang. 'Ding Ding' means 'finely chopped'. Hand-pulled, udon-like thick noodles are chopped into tiny dice, then stir-fried with mutton, tomatoes, and bell peppers. A Silk Road-style macaroni dish boasting an exquisite balance of tartness and spice.
Restaurants serving Ding Ding Chao Mian (Uyghur Chopped Fried Noodles)
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On this site you can check dictionary details and, later, places to buy or eat related items.
The Recipe section below is a general reference, not a recipe from the listed shops.
Recipe
Ingredients
- Hand-pulled thick noodles
- Mutton(or beef)
- Ripe tomatoes
- Bell peppers
- Onion
- Cumin powder
- Garlic
Instructions
- [Authentic Recipe]
- (Noodle Prep) Knead wheat flour with salt water to make Lagman (hand-pulled noodle) dough. Pull into thick noodles and boil.
- [The Ultimate Feature]: Place the long boiled noodles on a board and chop them all into '1-2cm tiny dice (Ding Ding)'.
- (Stir-fry) Heat oil, fry finely diced mutton (or beef).
- Add diced onion, bell pepper, and celery. Add massive amounts of 'ripe tomatoes (or tomato paste)', frying until the red juices and tartness bleed out.
- Season with soy, black vinegar, cumin powder, Sichuan pepper, and garlic to create a distinctly Silk Road spicy profile.
- Dump the chopped noodles into the wok. Fry aggressively on high heat so every tiny noodle 'completely absorbs' the red tomato soup and spice umami.
Learn more Spice, substitutes, tips
Key spices
Intense tomato tartness/umami、Cumin spice aroma
Substitutes at Japanese supermarkets
(Chop Japanese frozen Udon into small pieces to substitute)
Pairing
Xinjiang Black Beer / Lamb Skewers
Trivia
[Trivia] The texture and flavor profile perfectly mirror Italian short pasta (like in minestrone). It is a dish overflowing with historical romance, allowing your tongue to experience the Silk Road as the true intersection of Western and Eastern food cultures.
Eating tips & etiquette
[Unique Eating] It is a noodle dish, but slurping with chopsticks is impossible. Use a spoon to scoop the chewy 'tiny noodle pellets'—which have absorbed all the tomato and mutton umami—together with the vegetables, and chew vigorously.
Allergen
Wheat, Mutton