I only recently came across the term “fakeaway”, a homemade meal that replicates your favourite takeaway from a restaurant. And these Xi’an Biang Biang Noodles is my homemade version of the Xi’an Biang Biang Noodles served at Dahlia on Regent in Sea Point, Cape Town. A tiny Asian restaurant that manages to deliver huge flavours every single time.

Biang Biang noodles are a type of noodle from China’s Shaanxi Province of which Xi’an is the ancient capital. The province was the starting point of the Silk Road, a trade route that linked the Western world with the Middle East and Asia. The noodles are hand pulled to a long wide shape, almost like a belt. The noodles are deliciously chewy and usually served with a spicy dressing. Perfect weekend takeaway food.

Enter John Gregory-Smith with his fab “fakeaway” recipe using lasagne sheets to make the wide noodles. His recipe is super easy so I had to give it a try. It calls for lamb shoulder but I used ground pork as it is much cheaper than lamb shoulder. You could use ground pork, chicken, turkey, lamb or beef or crispy tofu or even fried aubergine. I tweaked the ingredients here and there and his recipe also calls for Lao Gan Ma’s famous chili crisp but I suggest you check out my chili crisp recipe I published earlier this week. I promise it’s worth it and keep the chili crisp close by, you’ll probably want an extra dollop on the noodles. And don’t stress if you can’t find fresh lasagne sheets, use dried and just cook them a bit longer.

Print Recipe

Ingredients

250 g fresh lasagne sheets sliced lengthways into 2½ cm wide noodles
1 tbsp canola oil
250 g ground pork, beef, lamb, chicken or turkey
1 tsp cumin seeds
1 tsp Sichuan pepper corns
2 cloves garlic finely sliced
1 thumb ginger finely sliced
3 spring onions finely chopped
2 medium bok choi finely sliced
2 tbsp chili crisp (see recipe on heinstirred)
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp white wine vinegar

Instructions

Boil the noodles for 2-3 minutes until al dente in a large pan of boiling water. Drain and set to one side. (If you are using dried lasagne noodles, cook them for a bit longer.)
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a pan over a high heat and add the ground meat you are using
Stir-fry for about 5 minutes
Lightly crush the cumin seeds and Sichuan pepper using a pestle and mortar and add to the meat in the pan
Add the garlic, ginger and spring onions and stir fry for another few minutes
Add the bok choy and stir fry until wilted
Add the cooked noodles, chilli crisp, soy sauce and vinegar
Stir-fry to reheat the noodles and coat everything in the sauce
Divide between two bowls and serve

I hope you enjoy making this recipe for Biang Biang Noodles. If you’ve made it, share it with me by tagging @heinstirred on Instagram or Facebook with the hashtag #heinstirred. It is always a treat to see the recipes made and enjoy. The images in this post has been shot on the EARL GRAY background available at shop.heinstirred.com.

If you are looking for more quick, easy delicious meal ideas, my cookbook, DRUNK AND HUNGRY is available as a digital download. As the title states, the book consists of easy and flavourful recipes for when you find yourself drunk, and hungry. Savoury, sweet, vegan, vegetarian, bacon, cheese, spice, and carbs are packed into 15 easy recipes to satisfy your hunger while tantalising your tastebuds. The book has just been announced as the South African winner in the Digital Books category in the Gourmand World Cookbook Awards. It will now compete for Best in the World later this year at the Cookbook Fair in Paris.

P urchase the book by clicking on this link