Tantanmen(担々麺)is the Japanese take on Sichuan Dan Dan noodles. In this dish, yummy ramen noodles are swimming in a deliciously balanced soup with hot spiciness from rayu Japanese chili oil and a melow nutty sweetness from soy milk and sesame paste.
What is Tantanmen?
Tantanmen is the Japanese version of Sichuan Dan Dan noodle. Dan dan noodle does not come with soup but Tantanmen comes with spicy chili flavoured soup. Both come with miso pork mince and flavoured with chilli.
What’s in the soup?
The base soup is made out of torigara soup and soy milk. Soy milk makes the spiciness of Rayu more mild. The soup also consists of zasai, sesame paste, vinegar, soy sauce, and shallots.
Special ingredients explained
Zasai (搾菜): or Zha cai, is pickled mustard plant stem. They are used in many Chinese dishes. I like just eating it with plain rice so I have a small jar that I bought from a local Japanese grocery store in my fridge.
Chimajan (Sesame paste) : It is called Chimajan(芝麻醤) in Chinese and you can buy a jar from asian grocery stores or online.
Rayu(辣油) : Japanese Chili Oil. It is vegetable oil infused with chili. Rayu is used for making Tantanmen soup and also for gyoza dipping sauce. I have seen them in major supermarkets here in Brisbane so I assume that Rayu is easy to get nowadays.
Torigara Soup(鶏がらスープ) : is granule chicken carcus stock soup. Japanese people often use this soup to make Chinese dishes at home. You can make this from scratch or buy it from asian grocery stores or online.
Can I use Tahini instead of Chimajan?
Chimajan is Chinese sesame paste and it is different from Tahini. Tahini is raw sesame seed paste whereas Chimajan is toasted sesame seeds paste and therefore they have quite a different taste. I will not recommend to use it instead of tahini.
What ramen noodles should I use?
I used Nissin brand dry noodle “Raoh”. It actually comes with Tantanmen flavoured soup sachet. So you can use that soup sachet and take a short cut. Although this dry noodle takes about 4 minutes to cook, it is way better than 2 minutes noodles. Of Course you can use ready made egg noodles, or homemade Ramen noodles is even better.
Toppings variation
Classically, the toppings for Tantanmen are pork mince cooked with sweet miso paste and pak choy. But be creative and use something else too. I used miso egg in the original post. Chashu would be great too and instead of pak choy, you could use spinach also.
1 tip to make Tantanmen successfully
Timing! Chop up the shallots and zasai finely. Place all the soup ingredients in the ramen bowl. Make the soup base and stir to combine all. At the same time in a separate bowl, cook the noodles. Drain the noodle and put it in the soup in the ramen bowl. Top with the pork mince and parboiled pak choy.
If all the ingredients in line are in order, Tantanmen can be made in 10 minutes! Can you believe it? This delicious noodle soup can be made in 10 minutes at home. It has been raining miserably in Brisbane so this hot spicy Tantanmen made my day!
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Related Ramen Recipes
Tantanmen
Ingredients
Pork mince
- 250 g pork mince
- 1 tbsp sake
- 1 ½ tbsp soy sauce
- 1 ½ tbsp tenmenjan Chinese sweet miso paste
soup
- 1 tbsp or 10g finely chopped Zasai
- 5 cm 2 inch finely chopped shallots (white part)
- 1 tsp rice vinegar
- 1 ½ tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp Chimajyan sesame paste
- 1 tbsp Rayu Japanese chili oil
- 150 ml water
- 1 tsp torigara soup granules
- 150 ml soy milk
Noodle and toppings
- 1 ramen noodle
- ¼ pak choy parboiled
- 20 g of pork mince *1 from the pork minced cooked. Freeze left over
- Bean sprouts optional
Instructions
- Make miso pork
- Cook the pork mince in a frying pan over medium heat.
- When the mince changes colour, add the sake, soy sauce, and tenmenjan.
- Cook the mince further until the sauce thickens and all the mince is coated in sauce.
- Turn the heat off and set aside.
- Make Noodles
- Chop the zasai finely and set aside.
- Chop the shallots finely and set aside.
- Place zasai, shallots, vinegar, soy sauce, sesame paste, rayu in a ramen bowl.
- Boil 150ml water in a small saucepan and dissolve the torigara soup granules.
- Add soy milk to the saucepan and turn the heat off just before it boils.
- Pour the soy milk soup base into the ramen bowl.
- Stir all soup ingredients together.
- Cook ramen noodle in a separate pot.
- Drain the noodle and add it to the ramen bowl.
- Top with pork mince, pak choy and bean sprouts.
- Garnish with chopped shallots.
Gabriel says
That’s so amazing. I have to try it tonight for my family. Thanks for sharing
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
You are welcome Gabriel 😀
elk says
Is there an alternative to tenmenjan? Can I find it in a Chinese supermarket? When I search it up on Amazon, for example, I only see Japanese products come up. Also, I’ve seen other recipes use doubanjiang for the ground pork; would that work?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Elk, I do use Japanese product of Tenmenjan. I like sweetness in the recipe which balance overall flavour of this dish. But if you like super hot spicy, then you can try and let me know 😀
rhea says
I made this recipe x4 for my family it was delicious
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you rhea 😀
Anna says
This is fantastic, thank you! Do you get the Nissin Raoh ramen packets somewhere in Brisbane or even Australia? They are my favourite and have not been very lucky finding them. Thank you 🙂
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Anna, are you in Brisbane? There are two Japanese grocery stores in Brisbane. One is Genki mart in Alderley or Tarragindi, and another is Fuji mart in Buranda Shopping complex near the PA hospital.
Anna says
I am in Brisbane and frequent the Alderley Genki mart but they never seem to have them. I’ll try and see if they can order in for me. Thank you!
Rimmy says
This recipe is amazing! So flavorful and delicious. I’ve made it three times this week!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you Rimmy 😀
Jenny says
I made this tonight for my family of six. The flavours are so authentic and particular and I loved it. It’s not something you’d find at a suburban Australian Chinese restaurant, that’s for sure. The flavours were a bit strong for my younger kids, though, who prefer subtler Japanese flavours. Thank you!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you Jenny 😀 I am glad that your family loved tantanmen 😀
Dianne says
I love Tantanmen! Oh my goodness this looks so delicious I might have to lick my computer screen.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hehe Dianne 😀 Thank you!
Jo says
Could you please give me more information on the tenmenjan Chinese sweet miso paste. Is there a substitute for this? I’m having trouble knowing which miso to buy. Even a link to a product you would use?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Jo do you have miso? Tenmenja is sweet miso. So if you have miso, soy sauce, sugar and sesame seeds oil, you can make tenmenjan substitution. You can combine 1tbsp of Miso, 1/2 tsp each of soy sauce and sugar and 1/8 tsp sesame seeds oil. This is the brand I usually use Ajinomoto cookdo Tenmenjan.
Anthony Allen says
This is my favorite ramen! Thank you for giving me a recipe I can make at home.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Anthony You are welcome 😀
Rimmy says
I love Tantanmen! Oh my goodness this looks so delicious I might have to lick my computer screen.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you Rimmy 😀
David says
Delicious soup! I don’t mean to be rude, but you used scallions in the soup, not shallots, as listed in the recipe.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Thank you David. We call it green shallots in Australia. I will fix the recipe ingredients list. Thank you for letting me know 😀
Thomas Gibson says
Looks so amazing. Thanks for the awesome recipe.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
You are welcome 😀
Sara says
I tried this recipte and I absolutely loved it! I was just wondering, would you be able to make a large batch of the soup and freeze it? Could you freeze it with the zasai, chopped shallot, sesame paste included in the soup?
Thank you!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Sara, yes I have not tried it myself but I think you can freeze it 😀
Heath says
Thank you so much.
I’ll be giving this a try when I can gather all the ingredients.
Like some other people here, I used to live in Tokyo and was devestated when I found out that this is just not available in Brisbane anywhere.
Can’t even find Dandanmien.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Well, you can make your own with this recipe 😀
Kristina says
Where in Brisbane, Heath? I’m from Brisbane too and if you ask your asian grocer like Hanaromart they should be able to direct you to it – I could find it at my local asian grocer this way 🙂
Nicole E. Tonconi says
I have now made your recipe several times. It is so addicting! I loved this soup which I tried at the most popular place here in San Diego. Tajima’s. They call this spicy Sesame Ramen but it’s the same. I am so happy to be able to now enjoy it anytime. Warmest regards. Thank you so much for the recipe. I will also try to make my own Zhasai. It is small and costly at the market. I really like it. I will also try to make my own Rayu. Sprouts had an Organic toasted sesame seed paste that works well. Now I’m sprouting mung beans as we speak. Also the sweet soybean paste I found in the refrigerator. They kept trying to give me a little paste that was spicy and salty and I knew that wasn’t it.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
I am so glad to hear you liked this tantanmen. yes it is addictive isn’t it!? Wow I don’t know how to make zasai, will be great if I can make my own too because it is pricy.
Selene says
You need to try Menya Ultra in San Diego. The best.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Or make your own with my recipe 😀
soffipoff says
i really love tantan men ramen since my stay in tokyo and was very sad to find out that we dont have a restaurant serving this delicious dish in my hometown. today i tried your recipe and i am soooo excited about how great it is! even better than in some actual ramen restaurants!! thank you!!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Soffipoff, I am glad that you liked it and now you can have delicious tantanmen at your own home 😀
Ursula Kaiser says
Hi Shihoko
I’m not sure if you can help me with a recipe, but I’m desperate and will try anything! It concerns a wonderful soup I had regularly at Ramen Bayashi in Narita, which is the arrival port for Tokyo. As a former flight attendant I would actively bid for Tokyo flights just to enjoy this amazing, addictive soup. Judging by the fact that the little restaurant was always packed with flight crew, I was not alone in my passion. The soup was called Red Chilli Pepper soup, or alternatively “Shisenmen”, and consisted of noodles, cabbage,carrot,probably stirfried in sesame oil, over which the soup base was poured and a little chilli oil added. The soup base had a grainy red consistency , I’m not sure if any other sauces or spices were added. I would imagine the soup base is the key and I’ve tried a number of different combinations of ingredients but have not had any success.
I wonder if you have any chance of finding out how to make this soup, as I am now retired from flying and suffering severe withdrawal.
The restaurant image of the soup is attached as is the address:
Ramen Bayashi
533-9 Hanazaki-cho 1F Komeya Bldg., Narita 286-0033 Chiba Prefecture
https://fastly.4sqi.net/img/general/width960/41336717_-Wx-6UPTzi5OnRSotmxjaBn1GouqcN9pgUe3_yWwtKc.jpg
Best wishes Ursula (Australia)
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Ursula, thank you for the comment. From the look of the noodle, It does not like Tan Tan noodle but it is ramen with spicy soup. I am not sure what it is used but, I will try my best to figure out and let you know.
Ursula Kaiser says
Thank you Shihoko,’I await with anticipation. In the meantime I have surmised that there is a roasted sesame seed added to the soup base to explain the grainy consistency, and perhaps a szechuan broad bean chilli paste?
Best wishes Ursula
Shirley Chandrawati says
Love it. Btw it’s wonderful to find someone who also live in queensland, makes it easier to buy the groceries from your recipe…since I live in Goldcoast. Thank you.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Ohhh, yes there are many Japanese grocery stores and also restaurants to visit as well 😀 lucky you!
Thomas says
I am sooo thankful. I ate that once a week during my stay in Tokyo this year. The first time it was recommended by a guy and he told me which button to press on the machine but i never knew what it actually was. They used very thick noodles that were sliced from a big block of noodle dough :), delicious. Now, i have to find all these ingredients in Germany.
Thank you very much
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Konnichiwa Thomas 😀 hope you can find all ingredients in Germany so that you can enjoy authentic Japanese flavour in Germany 😀 Thank you for your comment. I am glad to know someone from Germany is reading my blog 😀 because I love Germany and German food which I made in my blog too like Baumkuchen 😀
cara says
Calories: 1617kcal – Is this the calorie per bowl?
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Cara yes if you drink all soup as well.
JRJ says
Correct me If I’re wrong. I Thought you misscalculated those pork mince calories as you made 250g in total but used only 20 g for topping per bowl.
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi JRJ yes you are correct. It does automatically calculate all ingredients listed. I will put a note about it in the recipe. Thank you 😀
Lu says
All of your food looks amazing! May I ask where do you normally purchase your plates/bowls shown in the pictures?
Much appreciated!
Shihoko | Chopstick Chronicles says
Hi Lu. Thank you. I usually find something looking Japanese. I purchased from local Japanese potters group exhibition and sale. They have twice a year in Gold Coast but nowadays, I am making my own hehehe.