The seventh day of the Lunar New Year is “person day” or “human day” – also known as “everyone’s birthday.” Since people, at least southern Chinese, eat noodles on birthdays to symbolize longevity, I decided to make something inspired by dan dan mien, which translates to “porter’s noodles.”
Cin Cin Mien
This dish, which I’ve dubbed Cin Cin (pronounced like the “cin” in cappuccino – Cin Cin is my Chinese name. I think my parents gave me that name since it looks similar to Cindy/Cynthia (and was, for a long time, pronounced with an English pronunciation) AND because it’s easy to write in Chinese) Mien mostly to avoid criticism from purists (and because it has more Mediterranean flavours than Chinese). You never know these days – especially when it comes to culture. Like dan dan mien, it has greens, long noodles, sauce and protein. Unlike the “authentic” version, it doesn’t use Chinese sesame sauce (or peanut butter) or wine vinegar. Instead, it has hummus (hey, hummus has tahini, right? And extra protein!!!) and balsamic. So what do you need?
Ingredients
Ingredients for the sauce (for one person):
- 1/2 tsp soy sauce or soy substitute
- 1/2 tbsp almond butter
- 1 tbsp hummus
- dash of dried chili pepper
- dash of garlic powder
- drizzle of olive oil
- drizzle of balsamic
Sauce
Other ingredients:
- Long noodles (Asian egg noodles, soba, spaghetti, linguini, etc…doesn’t matter)
- Protein of some sort (I used leftover vegan chili. To be honest, I really should have used something plainer – maybe tofu (ideally extra firm, but firm is okay) or chicken)
- Leafy green vegetables like kale, spinach, collards, etc…
Cin Cin Mien a Fromage
Directions
- Boil noodles according to the package
- While the noodles are boiling, make the sauce and set aside. Make sure you take some of the pasta water out so you can cook the greens later
- Cook the protein, adding half of the sauce.
- Drain the noodles once they’re cooked
- Using the extra pasta water, cook the greens.
To assemble the noodles:
Place the noodles into a bowl first then add the protein on one side and greens on the other. Top the remaining sauce onto the protein. Before eating, mix everything together!
Extras: The noodles can be topped with more seeds (I used everything spice), nuts or, for Cin Cin Mien a fromage, use cream cheese, ricotta, cottage cheese and/or quark!
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