Preview
Vegan Dan Dan Noodles
15 min
Prep Time15 min
Cook Time30 min
Total TimeDan Dan noodles is a Chinese dish known for bold, spicy, nutty flavors. This is a simplified vegan version with fragrant homemade chili oil that doesn't pale in comparison to the traditional version. Vegan or not, your tastebuds will love it!
Ingredients (4 servings)
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Chili oil
2 tbsp sichuan peppercorns
1 cinnamon stick
2 star anise
4 tbsp chili flakes
120ml oil
1 piece of thinly sliced ginger
Vegan “mince”
4 dried shiitake mushrooms
90g textured vegetable protein (TVP)
240ml hot water
2 tbsp shiitake soaking liquid
1 tbsp mushroom powder
1 tbsp dark soy sauce
1 tbsp hoisin sauce
1 tsp Chinese five spice powder
2 tsp shao xing wine
1 tsp oil
Sauce
2 tbsp peanut butter
3 tbsp soy sauce
2 tsp monk fruit erythritol sweetener
1/4 tsp Chinese five spice powder
1/4 tsp garlic powder
4-8 tbsp of chili oil, to taste
Other ingredients
4 servings udon noodles
1 cucumber, julienned
4 tbsp chopped peanuts
4 tbsp chopped green onions
Make chili oil
- Place Sichuan peppercorns, cinnamon stick and star anise in a large, heat-proof bowl.
- In a small pot, heat up the oil over medium-high heat. Add ginger. When the ginger turns golden brown, immediately remove pot from heat.
- Discard the ginger and carefully pour the hot oil into the bowl with spices. It should sizzle for a few seconds.
- Stir in chili flakes and allow them to steep in the hot oil.
- When the oil is completely cooled, strain to remove the peppercorns, cinnamon stick, and star anise. You can either remove the red chili flakes or leave them if you like.
Make the sauce
- Make the sauce by combining all the sauce ingredients in a bowl. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed.
Prepare vegan “mince”
- Rehydrate TVP by placing it in a large bowl with mushroom powder, hot water and 2 tbsp shiitake soaking liquid. Cover and let it sit for 10 minutes.
- Meanwhile, small dice rehydrated shiitake mushrooms.
- Heat up oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add shiitake mushrooms and rehydrated TVP, and stir-fry for 1 minute.
- Add hoisin sauce, shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce, and five spice powder. Stir-fry for 2-3 minutes. Taste and adjust seasoning if necessary, then remove from heat.
Prepare the other ingredients and assemble
- De-seed and julienne cucumber.
- Cook noodles according to package instructions and drain.
- Transfer noodles to serving bowls. Top each one with sauce, mince, cucumber, chopped peanuts and spring onions. Mix everything together and enjoy!
Notes
- Soak and drain mushrooms, and reserve soaking liquid prior to starting this recipe.
- Sichuan peppercorns are responsible for the signature numbing spiciness for Dan Dan noodles. Adjust the amount according to your taste preference if needed.
- Adjust the amount of chili flakes in the chili oil according to your spice tolerance. If you like spicy, feel free to add more!
- Use any neutral cooking oil that has a high smoking point eg. grapeseed oil, rice bran oil or light olive oil.
- Any leftover chili oil can be stored in a glass jar in the fridge for up to 6 months.
- Mushroom powder adds umami to the vegan mince. If you don’t have it, simply omit it and replace some of the water with more shiitake soaking liquid.
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