It’s honestly mind boggling to me the amount of people I have met and become friends with in the last three years in New Orleans. I’m a VERY social person, and I could talk to an actual brick wall, but even then, I’ve met so many amazingly kind and talented people. One of them being Justin Bruhl of Matchbook Kitchen. Currently a pop-up, mainly at Courtyard Brewery, Barrel Proof and Miel, he will be running a new permanent kitchen when Courtyard opens their new larger location. He serves a variety of Asian and Asian inspired dishes, Dan Dan Noodles being one of his specialties and one of my personal favorites. Dan Dan noodles “consist of a spicy sauce usually containing preserved vegetables, chili oil, Sichuan pepper, minced pork, and scallions served over noodles," according to google. Now, I can’t tell you whats in this recipe but I can tell you that this savory, spicy, creamy noodles are SO GOOD. Justin was kind enough to share his recipe with me so I could feed my hungry Tuesday masses, but the rest of you will have to go visit him yourselves. You can find out where he’s popping up on instagram @MatchbookKitchen and on Facebook, Matchbook Kitchen. I toned down the spice in these a little because my friends are babies when it comes to spice, and I added some baby bok choy, where Justin usually serves his with mushrooms. I can tell you that I compared his recipe to most of the Dan Dan Noodle recipe’s out there and he’s definitely doing it differently, maybe that explains why his are so good.
