A guide to stir-frying vermicelli noodles, Chinese style, in only 20 minutes. Tossed in a hot pan with some simple seasonings, shiitake mushrooms, and cabbage, the springy noodles become irresistibly coated with umami and laced with the aroma of scallion, ginger, and garlic. Vegan and gluten-free.
This recipe is featured in my new cookbook, The Vegan Chinese Kitchen.
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Vermicelli noodles have been my go-to dish for the week— they take very little time to cook and readily absorb any sauces, becoming glistening with flavor, clingy with a slightly chewy bite. This stir-fry is versatile because much like fried rice, you can add anything you have in your fridge along with the noodles. Think broccoli, bok choy, kale, cabbage, red peppers, green beans, snap peas… the possibilities are endless.
To make this dish even heartier, I added some frozen and thawed tofu that I sliced up into thin shreds.
Ingredients
The vermicelli noodles are sold in any Asian grocery store, and you can often find it in the Asian aisle of a supermarket. They’re called 粉丝 fen si in China and 冬粉 dong fen in Taiwan. There are several English names, which can be confusing— cellophane noodles, bean thread noodles, mung bean threads, Chinese vermicelli, or glass noodles— but look for thin, nearly translucent white noodles, made of mung beans or potato/yam starches. Get the ones packed in small skeins or bundles.
I love any kind of mung bean vermicelli because they’re naturally gluten-free, take on flavor easily and cook to a slippery glisten and chewy bite.
Apart from the noodles, you will need:
- 1. Vegetables. I used shredded green cabbage and carrots.
- 2. Aromatics. Ginger, garlic, and scallion.
- 3. Seasonings. Primarily, salt, soy sauce (both light and dark, see notes below), rice vinegar, sugar, toasted sesame oil, and ground white pepper.
Instructions
- Make the sauce: In a small bowl, stir together the sauce ingredients until combined.
- Prepare the noodles: In a bowl, soak the noodles in warm water for 15 minutes, then drain them in a colander and place them in a large bowl. Cut the noodles roughly in half with clean kitchen scissors. Add the scallion oil and dark soy sauce, and toss to coat—this will prevent the noodles from sticking to the wok later and add some base flavor.
- In the meantime, shred the cabbage and carrot, thinly slice the mushrooms and green onions, and mince the garlic and ginger.
- Heat a wok over medium-high heat until a drop of water evaporates immediately on contact. Add the 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and swirl it around to evenly coat the sides. Add the garlic, white parts of the scallions, shiitake mushrooms, and chilies and stir-fry briefly, about 30 seconds, until the mushrooms are beginning to brown and everything is fragrant. Add the cabbage and toss a few times, stir-frying until itthe cabbage is softened, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle on with the salt and stir to incorporate.
- Push the cabbage to one side of the wok. Give the sauce a stir and pour it into the center of the wok. It should sizzle as it hits the hot surface. Immediately add the vermicelli noodles. Stir continuously and fold the noodles to incorporate them with the vegetables and the sauce. If the noodles are cooking too quickly, reduce the heat—you don’t want them to dry out and stick to the bottom. Add more liquid, if needed. When the noodles are piping hot, tender with a slight chew and there isn’t any more liquid visible at the bottom of the wok, remove it from the heat. Stir in the green parts of the scallions, the sesame oil, and ground white pepper (if using). Taste and add additional salt if needed. Serve immediately.
Add sauce and noodles. Give the sauce a stir and pour it into the wok. It should sizzle as it hits the hot surface. Add the vermicelli noodles and pressed tofu (if using). Continue to cook, stirring constantly and folding the noodles over with your spatula, until liquid is mostly absorbed. If the noodles are cooking too quickly, reduce the heat— you don’t want them to dry out and stick to the bottom. Add salt to taste.
That’s it! Switch off the heat and stir in the fragrant, toasted sesame oil— you want to add this at the very end, since sesame oil doesn’t withstand high heat (it can turn bitter). Taste and season with additional salt as needed, then garnish with the green parts of the scallions, transfer to a serving dish and serve hot.
Tips for Making this Recipe:
- Remove the hard core of the cabbage before you chop it into shreds. For the carrot, I simply took a vegetable peeler and peeled it into thin ribbons.
- Don’t leave the noodles to soak for too long (it should take around 10 minutes if you’re using cold water), and be sure to drain them well. The noodles are delicate and will get soggy and start to fall apart if they absorb too much liquid.
- During the stir-fry process, if your noodles are cooking too quickly, lower the heat and add in a little extra water or stock to prevent them from sticking to the bottom.
- I sliced up half a block of thawed (previously frozen) tofu that I added into the pan to stir-fry with the cabbage and carrots. The spongy tofu soaks up the sauces and adds a heartier element to the dish. You can also used pressed tofu or baked tofu, cut into strips.
If you made this dish let me know how you liked the recipe by leaving a comment and a rating below. Or tag me on Instagram @hannah.che, I love seeing what you make!
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Print📖 Recipe
Stir-Fried Vermicelli Noodles 素炒粉丝 (Vegan)
This is the kind of noodle stir-fry you’d order at a street stall in a night market, tossed over a flaming burner in less time than it takes to find a seat and served piping hot in a heaping mound. If cooked just right, the slick, thready noodles cling to your chopsticks and to each other in a fragrant mass, laced with the smoky aroma of the searing iron (called wok hei), and tangled with ribbons of cabbage, scallion, and shiitake mushrooms. Like fried rice, this is total comfort food.
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 5
- Total Time: 20 minutes
- Yield: 3 1x
- Category: Main Dishes
- Method: Cook
- Cuisine: Chinese
Ingredients
For The Sauce:
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon Chinkiang black vinegar
- ¾ cup unsalted stock of any kind, or water
For The Noodles:
- 3 bundles (6 ounces / 170 grams) dried mung bean vermicelli
- 2 teaspoons scallion oil or vegetable oil
- 1 teaspoon dark soy sauce*
- 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 scallions, white parts finely chopped, green parts cut into 3-inch segments
- 4 dried shiitake mushrooms, soaked until fully rehydrated, squeezed dry, and cut into ⅛-inch strips
- 2 fresh small red chiles, seeded and thinly julienned
- 4 cups (12 ounces / 340 grams) finely shredded green cabbage
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
- ¼ teaspoon ground white pepper (optional)
- Optional protein add-in: 5 oz pressed tofu, sliced into thin strips
Instructions
- Make the sauce: In a small bowl, stir together the sauce ingredients until combined.
- Prepare the noodles: In a bowl, soak the noodles in warm water for 15 minutes, then drain them in a colander and place them in a large bowl. Cut the noodles roughly in half with clean kitchen scissors. Add the scallion oil and dark soy sauce, and toss to coat—this will prevent the noodles from sticking to the wok later and add some base flavor.
- Heat a wok over medium-high heat until a drop of water evaporates immediately on contact. Add the 2 tablespoons vegetable oil and swirl it around to evenly coat the sides. Add the garlic, white parts of the scallions, shiitake mushrooms, and chilies and stir-fry briefly, about 30 seconds, until the mushrooms are beginning to brown and everything is fragrant. Add the cabbage and toss a few times, stir-frying until itthe cabbage is softened, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle on with the salt and stir to incorporate.
- Push the cabbage to one side of the wok. Give the sauce a stir and pour it into the center of the wok. It should sizzle as it hits the hot surface. Immediately add the vermicelli noodles. Stir continuously and fold the noodles to incorporate them with the vegetables and the sauce. If the noodles are cooking too quickly, reduce the heat—you don’t want them to dry out and stick to the bottom. Add more liquid, if needed. When the noodles are piping hot, tender with a slight chew and there isn’t any more liquid visible at the bottom of the wok, remove it from the heat. Stir in the green parts of the scallions, the sesame oil, and ground white pepper (if using). Taste and add additional salt if needed. Serve immediately.
Notes
- If you want this dish to be gluten-free, use gluten-free soy sauce or tamari.
- *The dark soy sauce adds a rich, deeper color to the noodles, but if you can’t find it, simply omit it and season with a bit more regular soy sauce.
- The vermicelli noodles are sold in any Asian market. I actually found mine in the Asian aisle of my regular local grocery store. Also called cellophane noodles, bean thread noodles, mung bean threads, Chinese vermicelli, or glass noodles, they are made of mung beans or potato/yam starches. Get the ones packed in small skeins or bundles.
- Use cool water to soak the noodles, and don’t leave them in there for too long! They’ll get soggy and start to fall apart if they absorb too much liquid.
ganshu says
你这个冻豆腐真的是厉害了。
Michelle Jones says
My daughter is vegan and I have allergies to wheat gluten, which resulted in my searching for easy recipes. Found this recipe last month and thought that I would give it a try. Both my daughter and I asbolutely loved it so much that since then I have made it four more times. This receipe is so versatile that I have even changed it up a bit by sometimes adding brocolli or baby bok choy. So good!!!
Hannah says
this makes me so happy to hear! thanks for sharing 🙂
Veronica says
Delicious! Just one minor correction — the Chinese translation that you wrote, “炒米粉” refers to rice (米) vermicelli, not the bean vermicelli that you use here. Both of course are good, but in the grocery store, you do need to be a bit careful to make sure you are getting the right type of vermicelli. You can cook both type of vermicelli in this way, but the big difference is that the rice vermicelli doesn’t have the same springy-elasticity and instead will break up much more easily.
Hannah says
Oh, good point, thanks! I’ll correct it.
kinda says
what can i do if i dont have cabbage
Hannah says
You can omit it, it just adds veggies/bulk. Or you can use any other leafy green— sometimes I will add kale or bok choy.
Sf says
Chanced upon this and used the seasoning recipe. My kids love the fragrance. Thank you for sharing.
★★★★★
Tammy says
This is the best stir-fried vermicelli recipe I have tried yet. I was looking for something I ate in Singapore some time ago. So simple but the flavors are perfect! Love that it is vegan as well.
★★★★★
Britt Ringrose says
Made it tonight. Used roasted beets and carrots for veg (thinly sliced) and cabbage (was all I had). Super easy. Really good! Thumbs up!