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
Scale
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.