Dandan Noodles (Dan Dan Mian)

Dan dan man takes its name from the dan dan shoulder pole — the pole balanced across the vendor's shoulders with a pot of noodles hanging from one end and the sauce components from the other. The vendor would walk the streets of Chengdu selling small portions to passersby — the original fast food, each portion dressed and served in the time it took to lift the noodles from the broth and toss them with the sauce.

A preparation of wheat noodles (or thin noodles of any type) dressed with a sauce of ground pork (cooked with Sichuan preserved vegetable and soy sauce), sesame paste, chilli oil, Sichuan pepper, light soy sauce, and vinegar — served as a street food snack in Chengdu, either as a dry-dressed noodle (the original dan dan man format: a small portion of noodles, the sauce components added and tossed at the table) or as a soupy version with the sauce diluted with a small amount of stock. Dunlop's treatment in *The Food of Sichuan* provides both the dry and soupy versions and a detailed account of the preparation's street food origins.