slack season’s danzi noodle 度小月擔仔麵

One interesting little bowl of noodles that I encountered in Tainan is slack season’s danzi noodle (度小月擔仔麵). The origin of this bowl of noodle snack piqued my curiosity. The restaurant that I first came across it prepare the noodle in the open, as a showcase which it built its fame. It claims to be the original invention of the dish.
Wikipeida has a good article on the origin of this slack season’s danzi noodle 度小月擔仔麵.

The phase 度小月 (pronounced as du xiao yue) means getting through the lean months (when going out to sea to fish is too dangerous). The phase 擔仔麵 (pronounced as danzi mei) means how this little bowls of noodles were sold in that the vendor would carry the whole fast food set up on a shoulder carrying pole 擔仔 (danzi). For me this is one prime example why food bring us together and what being a foodie means.


the menu of the restaurant I visited in Tainan features this humble bowl of noodles on the cover

the shop has a thriving business of international tourists and local alike; at this table some Asian foodie tourists went to town were video filming their meals

the assembly of this bowl of noodles in this exhibition is the showcase of the restaurant and no doubt a successful marketing over all others which also sells the similar bowl

 for this meal I order the slack season’s danzi noodle 度小月擔仔麵 and a plate of drunken chicken

With some existing ingredients that I have at home, I decided to prepare a bowl that is inspired by it, not not pretend to be a replica. The most important aspect of making this dish is to take inspiration from it, especially with the use of ingredients that I would not have thought of myself.

I plan to execute a more authentic one in the near future however.

this pork is from a loin cut which is too lean but it is what I pulled out from the freezer

I happened to have some braised and seasoned shiitake mushrooms so I improvised some into the meat sauce

even the shrimp came out of the freezer; I used only 1/2 of one in each serving

One ingredient for the meat sauce that you cannot short change is the fermented bean paste. I used a mix of Chinese broad bean paste and miso (again both are what I have in the fridge).

since good dark Asian vinegar is impossible to find in this country I substituted with Balsamic; I used Korean dried wheat noodle and blenched some mung bean sprouts when the noodles are al dente

the US quarter gives the scale that this is a small bowl of snack

you mix the meat paste and the noodles well before eating

The key ingredients of this dish are raw grated garlic, minced pork stewed in fermented bean paste, a light broth made of shrimp heads and shell, cilantro, and a dash of good dark Chinese vinegar.