Tantan Men has its roots in the Shichuan area of China, famous for their spicy dishes. One of the most popular is Dandan Mein. Dandan refers to the pole balanced on the shoulder by street peddlers with baskets hanging on each end holding the noodles and soup. Noodles are mixed in a sauce consisting of soy sauce, chili oil, ya cai (pickles mustard green), and black Chinese vinegar. The dish is topped with ground pork flavored in soy sauce, rice wine, and Tianmianjiang.
A chef named Chin Kenmin is often credited as the first person to bring Shichuan cooking to Japan. He was born and raised in Shichuan the youngest of 10 children. Chin learned his craft in restaurants across China before moving to Japan in 1952. He was the first to introduce Japanese people to Shichuan dishes like Dandan Mein and Mabo Tofu. Chin started a restaurant in 1958 called "Schezuan Restaurant" (四川飯店) in Akasaka that is currently run by his son
As with many foreign dishes, Dandan Mein was "localized" for Japanese tastes. Ra-yu and sesame paste is added to reduce the spiciness. The noodles are served in a Ramen-like soup to water down the spice into a drinkable medium. Since there is no strictly defined definition for Tantan Men, shops freely use different kinds of ground meat (beef, pork, chicken), and toppings like chingensai, spinach, snap peas, and bean sprouts.
The other day, I wandered into a local shop and tried their Tantan Men. It was a classic example of typical Tantan Men.
This bowl was full of sesame paste which added a slightly heavy and oily flavor. This also masked the Chinese spice. Once the ground meat mixed into the soup, there was a perforated spoon to help scoop it up. This is a perfectly mediocre bowl that can be found across Japan. No need to go this specific shop.
There are sub-styles of Tantan that are gaining popularity, and hope to write about those in the future.
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