The pork is the odd man out in the traditional recipe. Fortunately, much like with the beef in Sichuan mapo tofu, the pork is not the star player of the dish. Its role is mainly textural, adding a bit of meaty, bouncy chew that clings to the slippery noodles as you slurp them up. Having already addressed an identical issue when finding a suitable replacement for ground beef in my vegan mapo tofu recipe, I knew what I had to do here: I chopped up a bunch of mushrooms in a food processor, then employed the Chinese technique of dry-frying—cooking them slowly in oil—until they were mostly dehydrated, lightly shriveled, and deeply browned. The resulting little nuggets have great texture and a flavor that is not really pork-like, but savory and rich in its own unique way.
Crispy fried sope shells, followed by a rich and creamy layer of refried beans , a drizzle of hot and tangy salsa verde, crunchy toasted pepitas, and a fresh sprinkle of onions, jalapeños, and cilantro make for a filling meal with a whole slew of textures.
Return pot of water to a hard boil and add noodles. Cook, stirring regularly to prevent noodles from sticking to each other or the bottom, until barely cooked through with a springy bite, about 4 minutes. Drain, reserving 3/4 cup of cooking liquid. Add cooking liquid to bowl with sauce and stir to combine.
Tailgating staple, vegan-style, with Vegetarian Bean Chili served on top of fritos with Pickled Red Onions , jalapeños, and avocado. A sprinkle of fresh cilantro, a scattering of sliced scallions, and a squeeze of lime all add freshness.
If you want a break from the usual white rice that goes alongside a stir-fry, try adding noodles to make it a complete meal. Here, that means lo mein, which we mix up with strips of country-style ribs, purple cabbage, Chinese broccoli, carrots, and a variety of aromatics. Serving it with sambal oelek on the side lets each eater customize the spiciness level to their taste.
The beauty of the wok is that you can use it for all sorts of techniques , but its real purpose in life is stir-frying. The convenience, versatility, and pure deliciousness of stir-fry makes it the perfect weeknight meal. No matter what the contents of your fridge look like, you can have an awesome stir-fry on the table in virtually no time. We’ve rounded up 33 of our favorite recipes, from kung pao chicken multiple ways and crab fried rice to vegetarian lo mein and Korean-style pork, to illustrate the incredible variety that’s just a wok away.
One of the problems with ordering dan dan noodles at a Chinese restaurant is that you never know exactly what you’ll get. Are they gonna deliver the hardcore Sichuan version swimming in red-hot chile oil and laced with pickled zha cai (mustard root) and noodle game beginner guide|https://noodleinsight.com/ mouth-numbing Sichuan peppercorns? Or can you expect the equally delicious but totally different Chinese-American version with more pork, a vinegary soy-based sauce, perhaps some greens, and a sprinkling of peanuts?
This hearty white bean soup with spinach flavored with garlic and rosemary is a great winter warmer, perfect for those evenings when you’ve just come home from a day on the slopes or from romping with the dogs in the park or taking photos of majestic snowy owls, or whatever it is that active winter folks do in this day and age. The real magic of the recipe is the way the starch released from the beans helps the extra-virgin olive oil (and do use your best extra virgin for this) to emulsify with the liquid, creating a rich, spoon-coating texture in no time at all.
This dish takes the flavors of Italian asparagus alla Milanese and gives them a Korean twist. We thinly slice the asparagus before stir-frying it with kimchi and spam. The finished product is topped with a fried egg, grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, and finely grated Spanish chorizo. Make sure to freeze your chorizo for easy grating.
Perhaps the biggest key to making excellent dan dan noodles is to make your own roasted chile oil. When done right, it gets a rich, fruity, smoky flavor that none of the store-bought stuff can touch. It’s really quite simple. Toasted Sichuan peppercorns have a sweet, citrus-like aroma with a mouth-numbing quality, while roasted chile oil brings on the heat.
There are all kinds of variations on the dish that you’ll find in Chinese restaurants in the U.S. Some go the ultra-authentic, hardcore traditional route, while others remove some or even all of the heat from the dish, instead replacing it with a creamy sesame (or even peanut butter!) based sauce. To me, picking one version of dan dan noodles as the best is kinda like choosing my favorite Beatles album: It’s a constantly shifting debate, even with myself. Best plan is to just pick a path and run with it. This time I’m going for the more traditional approach. Obviously, modifying it for my vegan needs is going to alter that approach in practice (though not in spirit).
A little spicy, a little sweet, a little salty, chewy Chinese noodles with cucumbers, peppers, and scallions coated in a chunky peanut sauce is a tasty, filling meal that’s hard to get tired of. This version is made with far fewer noodles and many more vegetables. Indeed, it’s now more of a vegetable salad with a few noodles added in for textural contrast.
