Vegan Chow Fun noodles – An Easy Chinese Takeaway Fakeaway Recipe

We love making up meals at home that we would otherwise order from our local Chinese takeaway. These vegan chow fun noodles are perfect. They’re simple but really tasty and a lot healthier than the restaurant version. They’re also great for the whole family with kids loving them too. They are a really healthy lunchtime meal. Or pair them with spring rolls for a satisfying dinner.

What Are vegan Chow Fun Noodles?

Similar to the meat version that traditionally uses beef. These vegan chow fun noodles are packed full of beansprouts and a combination of sauces.

The dish uses wide, flat rice noodles which capture the sauce perfectly. Stir-fried with tofu (or your choice of meat substitute), onions, bean sprouts and spring onions in a tasty sauce.

Ingredients

This is a very easy recipe to pull together. It’s also very quick. You can use your cupboard staples with just a few key fresh ingredients.

Main ingredients for vegan chow fun

• Tofu or meat substitute (around 300 grams). We love this with plain tofu as that really allows the flavours of the sauce to shine. We do make it with a meat substitute for extra chewiness occasionally too
• Flat rice noodles – 300 grams. You can use fresh or dried
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 finely chopped garlic cloves
• 200g fresh bean sprouts
• 1 large onion finely chopped
• 100g spring onions chopped into 1 cm pieces
• 1 tsp cornstarch
• A sprinkling of sesame seeds

Sauce mix

• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tspn dark soy sauce
• 2 tbpn mushroom sauce – this adds some more flavour to the dish. It can be bought at most Chinese supermarkets but leave out if you can’t get hold of it.
• 1/2 tspn sugar

What to do to make vegan chow fun noodles

1. Marinate the tofu or meat substitute in a bowl with the soy sauce, dark soy sauce, chinese rice wine and cornstarch for five minutes.
2. Mix the ingredients for the sauce and set to one side.
3. Cook the rice noodles as per the pack instructions.
4. Add a little oil to the wok and stir-fry the noodles and place to one side.
5. Add the garlic, onion, bean sprouts and spring onion to the wok and stir friend until they start to get crispy.
6. Next add the marinated tofu/meat substitute and noodles to the wok and stir fry with the sauce until cooked.
7. Add the spring onions and stir fry until softened.
8. Serve in a bowl with a sprinkling of sesame seeds.

Top Tips

• Do not overcook the noodles
• Mushroom sauce adds to the flavour of the sauce mix. It’s good to include it if you can get hold of it.

Find our recipe card here

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Frequently asked questions about making vegan chow fun

1. What’s the difference between chow mein and chow fun?

Chow Mein is generally made with thin egg noodles. Chow fun is made with big, flat rice noodles.

2. What is usually in chow fun?

Chow fun is usually the same as this recipe but uses beef rather than tofu. This Cantonese dish often contains rice noodles and beansprouts as its signature ingredients.

3. Where is Chow Fun noodles from?

This is a dish from Hong Kong. It uses wide rice noodles, spring onions and beansprouts. Traditionally it is made using beef but our recipe is vegan.