Quite possibly the best bowl of vegan bowls I’ve ever made. Numbingly spicy, nutty, and umami, this bowl of dan dan noodles is everything you wished vegan food could taste like, and more.
Dan dan noodles (担担麵) is an extremely popular Sichuan street food noodle dish. It is everything you want in a comforting bowl of noodles — numbingly spicy, nutty, and umami. It is also everything you thought vegan food couldn’t taste like.
To replace the traditional crispy pork topping, I chose to use a combination of textured vegetable protein (tvp) and mushrooms. When dehydrated enough, textured vegetable protein becomes crispy and golden-brown just like the traditional pork topping.
An Essential: Authentic Chili Oil
Dan dan noodles are not complete without a flavorful chili oil — it’s super easy to make at home, and a home-made chili oil will top any store-bought chili oil by ten-fold.
Vegan Dan Dan Noodles
Course: DinnerCuisine: ChineseDifficulty: Easy2
servings15
minutes20
minutesNumbingly spicy, nutty, and umami, this bowl of dan dan noodles is everything you wished vegan food could taste like, and more. This has quickly become one of my favorite bowls of vegan noodles.
Ingredients
360 grams Chinese wheat noodles or ramen noodles
- Minced “Pork”
1/2 cup Textured Vegetable Protein (TVP)
3 white or shiitake mushrooms, finely minced
1 teaspoon ginger, finely minced
1 clove garlic, finely minced
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine (or mirin)
2 teaspoons doubanjiang, or spicy broad bean paste
1/4 teaspoon ground five spice
vegetable oil, for frying
- Spicy Sauce
4 cloves garlic, grated
4 tablespoons chili oil (home-made recipe HERE)
4 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons ground Sichuan peppercorns
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar
1.5 tablespoons creamy peanut butter (or sesame paste)
2 teaspoons black vinegar
Directions
- Prepare the TVP. Soak the TVP in warm water for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, drain the water and squeeze out excess liquid from the re-hydrated TVP. Combine with minced mushrooms.
- Cook the Minced “Pork” Topping. In a non-stick pan, heat up vegetable oil on medium-high heat and cook the TVP and mushrooms until most moisture evaporates. Add the garlic, ginger, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, doubanjiang, and five spice. Cook together, occasionally stirring until golden-brown and crispy — this could take up to 10 minutes. Once crumbly and crispy, remove from the heat and set aside.
- Make the Spicy Sauce. Simply add all ingredients to a bowl and whisk to thoroughly combine. Note for a simplified version of the spicy sauce (as I’ve showed in recipe video): Heat up 4 tablespoons of neutral oil and pour it over 4 cloves of minced garlic, 2 tablespoons of red chili flakes, 1 tablespoon of sesame seeds, and 1-2 teaspoons of ground Sichuan pepper. Then finish with soy sauce, dark brown sugar, black vinegar, and peanut butter. Stir to combine.
- Prepare Toppings. For my Bok choy, I simply blanched them in lightly-salted boiling water for around 45 seconds. Prepare any additional toppings as desired. Other great toppings are crushed peanuts, thinly chopped scallions (not pictured), etc.
- Assemble the Bowl. Cook the noodles of choice according to package directions. Strain the noodles and reserve the cooking water. For each bowl, first add about 180 grams of noodles. Top the noodles with about 1/4 cup of its cooking water (still warm), followed by 4-5 tablespoons of spicy sauce, a few tablespoons of minced “pork,” some Bok choy, crushed roasted peanuts, and any additional toppings. Lightly toss to emulsify. Enjoy immediately.
Notes
- Noodles: traditionally, dan dan noodles are eaten with Chinese wheat noodles. However, I found that thick ramen noodles work great as well.
- Sichuan Pepper. Sichuan pepper is what gives Dan Dan Noodles that signature numbing/mala flavor. If you’ve never tried Sichuan pepper before, try adding half the amount to begin with, then taste and adjust to your liking.
Did you make this recipe? I’d love to see your recreations!
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Looks really delicious!! I will try out this recipe, with tvp…
Tried this and LOVED it!!! Big punch in the face and perfect with pak choi
Tried this and have to give it 5 stars!! Loved being able to have a jar of sauce on hand ready to make dandan noodles.
Ahh so glad you liked it Ray!! 🙂 Good idea to prep the sauce ahead of time hehe
My mouth is on fire!
The flavours were incredible, but I’d highly recommend starting with half the chili oil, giving the sauce a taste, and going from there. This was a lot spicier than the average Dan Dan Noodle place in Vancouver – I had to sip soy milk between every other bite.
Will definitely make again, but with the proportions in the sauce recipe slightly altered. I’m a wimp!
Hi Laura!! Hahaha this was a fun read — I’m glad you liked it despite the heat!! Perhaps I should tone down the spice in my recipe too as I realized I am eating a lot spicer than most. Thank you for the recs!!
Me too!! So good, mouth on fire. I cut the chili oil as suggested (thanks Laura!). Didn’t add the bok choy which probably would have helped. Note: used
Tahini vs peanut due to allergy. Will make again…on the wimpier side. 🙂
[…] After 10 minutes, drain the water and squeeze out excess liquid from the re-hydrated TVP. See this recipe for TVP […]
I made this last night! thank you for the amazing recipe.
This, like everything else I make from here, was absolutely AMAZING!
So glad you liked them Tiffani!! =)
This is a fantastic dish. Looking forward to working through all you recipes.
Was bored and saw this on Instagram and it was amazing my whole family liked it
This was so good! Thank you for the recipe. As mentioned by others, I only used half of the chili oil and it was perfect! I can’t wait to try your other recipes.
Hi! Just wondering if the 180 grams of noodles is measured dry or cooked? Thank you!
Hi Robin! It’s measured dry. Hope you’ll like the recipe!! x
This sounds A-mazing! And, so easy! Thanks so much for sharing it!
Is it ok to sub rice vinegar for black vinegar?
Hi Barb!! No problem, I hope you liked it! Rice vinegar will be perfect.
Omg! All the flavors! This recipe is amazing and I love the idea of having extra chili oil on hand. It took me a while to make, but I don’t have much counter space so that could be why. Also, its definitely way too spicy for me, but I’m a spice punk. I can barely eat buffalo sauce hahaha. However, I will absolutely be making this again. It’s truly a flavorful recipe.
could I chop up jackfruit to resemble tvp? Not a big fan of soy
Yes, jackfruit would be perfect!! You can shred them by pulling with a fork as well.
AMAZING recipe! My partner and I both loved it and look forward to making it again in the very near future.
Hey! I’m a little turned off by TVP. What would you recommend I use in place of this?
Hi Taylor! You could use crumbled firm/extra-firm tofu too, for an almost identical texture. Check out my “Fish Fragrant” Eggplant recipe for some details about the substitution!
I genuinely love this recipe so much! The flavours are amazing. I find it really hard to find easily accessible vegan asian recipes and this one genuinely fills me with so much joy