Dan Dan noodles is a Chinese dish that is known for its bold, spicy, nutty flavours. This is a simplified, vegan version, completed with a fragrant homemade chili oil, that does not pale in comparison to the traditional version. Whether you’re vegan or not, your tastebuds will love this!
Prep Time
15 mins
Cooking Time
15 mins
![Vegan Dan Dan Noodles](/recipes/images/vegan-dan-dan-noodles-1.webp)
Ingredients
Servings
4
Chili oil
Vegan “mince”
Sauce
Other ingredients
Instructions
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
- 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.