Vegan Dan Dan Noodles

5 from 4 votes

These vegan dan dan noodles taste like they came from your favorite Chinese restaurant, but they're actually really easy to make at home! Made with spiced pan-fried tofu, slurpable noodles, crunchy peanuts, and fresh spinach in a luscious spicy sesame sauce, you'll want to make this irresistible dish again and again.

Prep Time15

Cook Time15

Total Time30

Course: Entree, Main

Cuisine: American, Chinese

Servings:

Calories: 678kcal

Author: Alissa Saenz

Ingredients

16 ounces fresh noodles (Note 1)
6 ounces fresh spinach

For the Sauce

¼ cup chili oil (Note 2)
¼ cup hot water
3 tablespoons Chinese sesame paste (Note 3)
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon organic brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon Sichuan peppercorns, ground using a mortar and pestle or pepper grinder
½ teaspoon Chinese five spice

For the Tofu

8 ounces super-firm tofu
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon hoisin sauce
½ teaspoon Chinese five spice
1 tablespoon peanut oil

For Serving

¼ cup roasted and salted peanuts, chopped
2 scallions, chopped

US Customary - Metric

Instructions

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook them according to the package directions. When they have about 30 seconds of cook time left, add the spinach. Boil the spinach with the noodles, then drain the spinach and noodles together into a colander.
While the noodles boil, stir the sauce ingredients together in a small bowl. Give it a taste-test and adjust any seasonings to your liking. If the sauce seems very thick, add a bit of additional hot water.
Finely dice the tofu, cutting it into ¼-inch or slightly smaller cubes.
Mix tofu seasoning sauce tofu by combining the soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and Chinese five spice in a small bowl.
Coat the bottom of a medium nonstick skillet with the peanut oil and place it over medium heat. Give the oil a minute to heat up, then add the diced tofu in a single layer. Cook the tofu for about 8 minutes, flipping the pieces once or twice to get them browned on multiple sides.
Drizzle the tofu seasoning sauce over the tofu and stir it up to coat the tofu pieces evenly with the sauce. Cook the tofu for about a minute longer, just until most of the liquid dries up. Remove the tofu from the skillet and transfer it to a plate.
To serve, divide the sauce among four bowls, the divide the noodles up and place them over the sauce. Stir the noodles to coat them in the sauce, then top each bowl with the tofu, followed by peanuts and scallions.
Serve.

Notes

Fresh noodles are available at Asian markets. Check the ingredients to ensure that they're vegan before buying. If they're not available, substitute ramen noodles or spaghetti. Reduce the amount to ten ounces if using dried noodles.
You can use less chili oil to reduce the heat level of this dish, but it will be spicy no matter what. Start with two tablespoons of chili oil. The brand I've linked to in the recipe is relatively mild, but the dish still packs quite a bit of heat if using the full quarter cup listed under the ingredients section.
Tahini paste and/or natural peanut butter can be substituted. A mix of both will give you a flavor closest to that of Chinese sesame paste.

Nutrition