If you were so inclined, you could do as the street vendors of Chengdu did: make the aromatics and sauce base in larger batches, store them together in a sealed container in the fridge, and have them ready to go at moment's notice whenever you want a quick snack. All you have to do is cook the noodles, add some starchy cooking liquid to the sauce base, pour it on top, and you're good to go. Due to its high oil, salt, and acid content, the pre-made and mixed sauce should stay good in a sealed container in the fridge for several weeks at least.
Making the sauce for dan dan noodles is exceedingly simple once you've got the basic ingredients in your pantry. It's just a matter of mixing them in the right proportions. Soy sauce forms the base, while Chinkiang black vinegar lends its characteristic acidity—it has a sweet, almost balsamic vinegar-esque aroma to it, though not quite as syrupy as that. Fermented broad bean chili paste comes in many forms throughout China or can be purchased online. Chili oil is a given, and while it's best (and remarkably easy!) to make at home, there are a number of good options available at any decent Chinese market. Look for the kind which has actual chile, garlic, and ginger debris in the bottom of the jar, not the completely clear kind you see in easy-pour bottles. That debris is where the magic is at.
Heat 1 tablespoon vegetable oil in a wok over high heat until smoking. Add cabbage and cook, stirring regularly, until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Work in batches if necessary to get the leaves nicely charred. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside. Add 1 tablespoon oil to wok and return to heat until smoking. Add mushrooms and cook, stirring regularly, until lightly browned and tender-crisp, about 2 minutes. Add chives and cook, stirring, until lightly wilted, about 1 minute. Transfer to bowl with cabbage.
Braised eggplant with garlic sauce is a classic Sichuan dish that combines soft simmered eggplant , fermented soy beans, and a sweet, garlicky sauce. This version adds a few tablespoons of preserved mustard root and incorporates the garlic in a couple of ways. You can go with 100% eggplant if you'd like, or you can add cubes of firm silken tofu to transform this into a one-pot-meal.
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).
Fried eggplants and roasted poblanos are the base of this sandwich stuffed with chipotle-molasses refried beans, lettuce, pickled red onions, and avocado. For the ultimate indulgence, coat the whole thing in enchilada sauce and griddle it.
It's not easy making a vegan burger that doesn't come out mushy or bland or just plain boring. This one combines chickpeas, cashews, and barley along with fresh vegetables to form a complex, satisfying patty that will behave just like meat on the griddle or grill.
Noodles at take-out restaurants are often swimming in gloppy sauce. I like my noodles very moderately sauced—just enough to lightly coat each strand, but not so much that it pools at the bottom of the bowl. This is just a mixture of light and dark soy sauces (you can use straight up shoyu if you don't have both varieties of Chinese soy sauce), along with some Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, and white pepper.
Preparing a stir-fry for dinner gives us food that checks off two boxes: It's delicious, and it's fast. This pork lo mein delivers on both points, plus it's loaded with noodles, meat, and plenty of vegetables—a complete meal in one wok.
Add remaining teaspoon oil and reduce heat to medium-high. Add garlic, ginger, and scallions and cook, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 15 seconds. Add noodles and toss to coat. Return vegetables to wok. Add soy sauce. Add sesame seeds and cilantro. Cook, tossing constantly, until noodles and vegetables are coated in sauce. Transfer to a plate and serve immediately.
Transfer noodles to serving bowl and top with pork mixture. Stir vinaigrette and spoon over and around the noodles (you may not want to use all of it). Sprinkle with roasted peanuts, Sichuan peppercorn, grated garlic, and international pasta guide|https://noodleinsight.com/ scallion greens. Serve immediately.
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.