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This is the archived version of the Milk Street website and is no longer up to date.

Please visit 177milkstreet.com to see the current website with all of the latest recipes!

Thai-Style Tan Tan Mian

4 Servings

1½ hours

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At Bā Hào, a bar in Bangkok’s Chinatown, we were smitten with the tan tan mian, a soup that featured chewy wheat noodles in a rich, spicy-sweet peanutty broth, finished with bits of ground pork, shiitake mushrooms and sesame seeds. Sichuan pepper add tongue-tingling flavor, while bok choy supplies color and crispness. It’s a muddle of a dish—a Thai riff on a Japanese dish that actually originated in China. We like the nubbiness of chunky peanut butter in the broth, but smooth is fine, too, if that’s what’s in the pantry. And any type of peanut butter—regular (such as Skippy or Jif) or natural (no added sweeteners or oil)—will work. For convenience, the soup can be made ahead and refrigerated in an airtight container for a few days. When ready to serve, reheat the soup while you cook the bok choy and noodles, portion and serve.

4

Servings

Tip

Don’t trim off too much from the base from each head of baby bok choy. Cut away just enough to remove the dry ends, but not so much that the leaves separate. This way, the layers will hold together when the bok choy is quartered lengthwise.

1½ hours

Ingredients

  • 1

    ounce dried shiitake mushrooms (about 10 medium)

  • 1 ½

    cups boiling water, to soak the mushrooms

Directions

Reviews
Liane N.
March 5, 2025
Very good
Made exactly as recipe. Used more bok choy. Could easily add other topping such as boiled eggs or tofu
Ed P.
January 11, 2025
Delicious and peppery
This recipe had several steps, but each was fairly simple. Luscious peppery peanut broth. I’ve made it twice. Second time I added additional vegetables, thinly sliced carrot, celery, and some snow peas. I was fortunate to locate GF organic udon noodles made by Lotus Foods. They cooked up perfectly in 10 minutes as the package specified. I also added sliced green onion and peanuts as garnish
Heather U.
January 4, 2025
Yummy!
This was delicious! I had to make substitutions as there are no Szechuan peppers where I live. But still so good!! Note the cooking time. This isn’t a “quick” dinner (said as we eat dinner at 8 pm). But yummy! I did do the bok choy in the oven, with zucchini. As I like roasted veggies over steamed. Definite repeat.
Janine W.
December 30, 2024
Delicious, definitely a keeper
This was like a warm hug in a bowl. So yummy and will definitely make it again.
Natalie B.
December 8, 2025
Monday night soup
Definitely needed more bok choy and my partner insists I cut it small so okay I did. Also please say soup pot because large pan confused me I used too small a pot and had to transfer. Also used chanterelle mushrooms. This was one of the few recipes I could find all the ingredients for on a Monday night since our grocery gets restocked on Tuesdays!

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