Slurpable rice noodles are stir-fried with veggies, dressed in savory hoisin sauce, and served with a sprinkling of roasted peanuts to make these easy and flavor-packed vegan hoisin noodles.
Last weekend I took it upon myself to clean up the pantry, and that’s one of my least favorite things to do. I’m one of those people whose house looks clean, because looking at clutter drives me nuts, but open most closets and cupboards and there’s more than a slight risk of injury from stuff hitting you in the head. I’ve always been this way, but since I started blogging it’s gotten really out of hand in the kitchen.
Anyway, I found all kinds of treasures that’ll probably get used up in my cooking over the next few weeks. And you know what item I found more than any other? Noodles! I had no idea I had such a noodle thing, but there they were: all kinds of ramen and udon and soba and lo mein. So many noodles to use. It’s a good thing noodles keep well. It’s also a good thing they’re so versatile. I feel like after four years of blogging I could throw together a noodle dish blindfolded. So that’s what I did.
No, I didn’t do that. For one thing it would be really dangerous operating a stove and all. But I did take a gander at my list of recipe ideas and found a quite a few that I had everything on hand for and would be easy enough to actually throw together blindfolded, if I were inclined to live dangerously. Isn’t that the most awesome thing about noodles? (Along with the slurping?) It’s so easy to throw together a noodle dish on the fly. No wonder I hoard them.
A simple hoisin noodle stir-fry was right up there, and lucky me, I had a bunch of veggies and peanuts and seasonings that would make a delicious batch of hoisin noodles.
What’s great about this recipe, in addition to being delicious, is that it’s so adaptable. You could absolutely switch up the rice noodles with ramen, soba, or even spaghetti. I had a crisper full of veggies, so I picked a nice colorful assortment of broccoli, red bell peppers, and carrots, but use whatever you want. Softer veggies might require a bit less cook time though. Some pan-fried tofu would be a nice addition too. You kind of can’t go wrong, so play around with this one, and enjoy.
Stir-Fried Hoisin Noodles
Ingredients
- 8 ounces medium or wide rice noodles, I used pad Thai noodles. I don't recommend using thin noodles.
- 3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 2 tablespoons creamy natural peanut butter
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1/4 cup water
- 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 3 scallions, white and green parts separated and chopped
- 3-4 dried chile peppers, halved*
- 1 small broccoli crown,
- 1 medium red bell pepper, sliced into strips
- 1/2 cup julienne cut carrots
- 1/4 cup chopped roasted peanuts
- 1/4 cup sliced fresh basil leaves
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil, then remove it from the heat. Submerge the noodles and allow them to soak until tender (check the package directions for soak times). Drain the noodles into a colander and rinse with cold water. Return them to the pot and set aside.
- While the noodles soak, whisk the hoisin sauce, peanut butter, soy sauce, and water together in a small bowl.
- Coat the bottom of a large skillet with oil and place it over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the garlic, white parts of scallions, and chiles. Stir-fry for about 1 minute, until the garlic is very fragrant and the chiles begin to darken. Add the broccoli, bell pepper, and carrots. Stir fry for about 2 minutes, just until the veggies begin to brighten in color and become tender-crisp. Add the noodles and the hoisin sauce mixture. continue to stir-fry for another minute or so, just until the sauce thickens up a bit and coats everything. Use a fork to separate the noodles and move them around the pan.
- Remove from heat and sprinkle with peanuts, basil and green parts of scallions. Divide onto plates and serve.
Recipe Notes
*For a milder version of the dish, remove the seeds from the dried chiles before stir-frying them. You can also omit the chiles (for a very mild dish) or season to taste with your favorite hot sauce instead.
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