I got the lowdown on the noodles at Truman Du’s restaurants. According to the server at Spicy Queen, their Chongqing Hot Numbing Spicy Noodle (Chongqing Xiao Mian) is the Mr. Potato Head of noodles, and the basic model includes a toasted chili oil broth and greens (see reports on the Chongqing Xiao Mien thread). The Tan Tan Noodles is that with meat sauce added, the Noodles with Peas and Meat Sauce has meat sauce and peas added. The Wuhan noodles has sesame paste added, and the Spicy Beef Noodle Soup has braised beef and more broth added.
I’ve had the basic model at one of their other locations before, so decided to go nuts and get the meat and peas version at Spicy Queen. The server suggested I stir everything up, which helped warm the cold peas and cold meat sauce that topped the dish. I remember Sichuan peppercorns in the basic model at Chongqing Xiao Mien, and way too many noodles. This one didn’t taste like Sichuan peppercorns and had just the right balance of meat, vegetables, and noodles for a more balanced meal.
The meat sauce was savory and salty, and contained minced pork, small pieces of onion, and a scarce pieces of a translucent pickled vegetable (zha cai?). The minced pork was soft and seemed like it had been coated in a starch or tenderized before cooking. The peas were a light yellowish green, and had starchy insides. The pea texture is not my personal preference, but it did provide a texture contrast to the soft thin noodles. They purchase the peas dried from a Korean market.
According to the server, the remainder of their noodle dishes don’t use the same formula. @Souperman the server wasn’t sure how the pork bone broth differed from versions that would be elsewhere in China. The Braised chili pepper with eggplant noodles sounded interesting— it’s something the chef created.
