Name: Vegan Dan Dan Noodles
Prep time: 7 min
Cook time: 17 min
Total time: 25 min
Yield: 2 servings
Ingredients: 1 tablespoon vegetable oil; 5 cm piece of fresh ginger (peeled and finely chopped); 4 null garlic cloves (minced); 100 g chopped pickled mustard greens (see note above); 200 g vegan mince (I use naturli or the stuff from the fresh meat aisle, rather than frozen stuff, but either work well); 1 teaspoon hoisin sauce; 1 teaspoon five spice powder; 2 tablespoon light soy sauce; 1 tablespoon shaoxing wine; 3 tablespoon tahini; 1 tablespoon peanut butter; 2 tablespoon sichuan peppercorn (toasted in a dry pan and roughly ground); 2 teaspoon chinese black vinegar; 100 ml chili oil (see note above); 2 tablespoon dark soy sauce; 1 tablespoon granulated sugar; 400 g udon noodles; 100 g bok choi; 2 tablespoon roasted peanuts (toasted and chopped); 2 null spring onions (finely chopped); 1 tablespoon black sesame seeds

Instructions

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1

Heat the vegetable oil (1 tablespoon) in a large frying pan or wok over medium-high heat.
2

Add the piece of fresh ginger (5 cm), cloves (4 garlic) and chopped pickled mustard greens (100 g) and stir-fry for a few minutes.
3

Break the vegan mince (200 g) up with your hands as you drop it into the pan. Fry until lightly browned.
4

Add the hoisin sauce (1 teaspoon), five spice powder (1 teaspoon), light soy sauce (2 tablespoon), and shaoxing wine (1 tablespoon). Stir well.
5

Cook for another few minutes, until most of the liquid has evaporated. Set aside.
6

In a large bowl, combine the tahini (3 tablespoon), peanut butter (1 tablespoon), sichuan peppercorn (2 tablespoon) (toasted and roughly ground), chinese black vinegar (2 teaspoon), chili oil (100 ml), dark soy sauce (2 tablespoon), and granulated sugar (1 tablespoon). Set aside.
7

Cook the udon noodles (400 g) according to instructions. When cooked, remove the noodles from the pan using a spaghetti claw. Retain the water. If you like, you can toss the noodles in a little vegetable oil to stop them from sticking, but if you work relatively quickly this isn’t necessary.
8

Stir around noodle water (150 ml) into the sauce ingredients. Stir to combine.
9

Return the noodle water to the hob over a medium heat and use it to cook the bok choi (100 g). If there’s not enough water remaining, top the pan up with some fresh boiling water.
10

Once the bok choi (100 g) is cooked, drain the water off.
11

Add the udon noodles (400 g) to the bok choi (100 g) and mix. Add the sauce (as much or as little as you like).
12

Plate up the noodles. Top with the mince and sprinkle with roasted peanuts (2 tablespoon) and onions (2 spring). Garnish with black sesame seeds (1 tablespoon).