Tofu dan dan noodles
25 min · 31 g protein · 438 cals / serving
Sichuan street-food noodles with a crisp, savoury tofu, soy-mince and shiitake crumble in place of pork, sitting on a nutty sesame, soy and chili-oil sauce you toss together at the table. Blanched bok choy keeps it fresh; the chili crisp keeps it exciting.
Ingredients
Crispy tofu
- 1 block (14 oz) prepared extra firm tofu, patted very dry
- 2/3 cup textured vegetable protein (tvp), dry, dry soy mince (TVP)
- 1/2 cup water, boiling
- 5 oz shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, finely chopped
- 2 tsp canola oil
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1/2 tsp Chinese five-spice powder
- 2 tsp ginger, grated
- 1 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 1 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
Sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp Chinese sesame paste, or tahini
- 2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1 tbsp rice vinegar, or Chinese black vinegar
- 2 tsp chili crisp, plus more to taste
- 1 tsp maple syrup
- 1/4 cup water, hot noodle water
To serve
- 3 scallions green onions, sliced
Steps
- Pour the boiling water over the TVP and leave it 5 minutes to soak. Crumble the tofu finely with your fingers. Heat the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, add the tofu, soaked TVP and mushrooms and cook, stirring every minute or two, for 10–12 minutes, until the mushrooms have given up their liquid and the tofu is browned and crisp in places.
- Add the garlic, ginger and five-spice for a minute, then the hoisin and soy sauce, and toss until the crumble looks dark and glossy. Keep warm.
- Meanwhile cook the noodles in a large pot of boiling water according to the packet, dropping the bok choy in for the last 2 minutes. Scoop out a mug of the cooking water, then drain.
- Whisk the sesame paste, soy sauce, vinegar, chili crisp, maple syrup and 4 tablespoons of the hot noodle water in a bowl until smooth, then divide between four bowls.
- Add noodles and bok choy to each bowl, spoon the crispy tofu on top and scatter with scallions. Toss everything together at the table.
Good to know
Is it very spicy?
As written it is medium. Real dan dan noodles are fiery and numbing: add more chili crisp and a pinch of ground Sichuan pepper if you like that.
Can I use super-firm tofu?
Yes, and it crisps faster. It adds protein and, being denser, scores about 58 instead of 62.
Per
- Calories
- 88
- Protein
- (28%)
- 6 g
- Fat
- (29%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (44%)
- 11 g
- of which sugar
- 2 g
- Fiber
- 2 g
- Sodium
- 161 mg
More meals
Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. General guidance, not medical advice. Talk to your prescriber. How
As written, 1753 kcal goes into the pot and 2043 g of ingredients comes out as about 2000 g of food: 88 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.