![Vegan Chow Fun with bok choy, chives, and fermented beans, plated with a pair of chopsticks perched on the side.](https://cdn.statically.io/img/www.seriouseats.com/thmb/Yko___7F1Pkdhv-xmmoNweAbIt0=/1500x0/filters:no_upscale():max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/__opt__aboutcom__coeus__resources__content_migration__serious_eats__seriouseats.com__recipes__images__2012__01__20120124-chow-fun-bok-choy-1-e1ec15f8b5994985b8bbba14951c6a24.jpeg)
Serious Eats / J. Kenji López-Alt
Why It Works
- Cutting back on the noodles and adding more vegetables makes for a more nutritionally balanced vegan dish.
- The noodles are great for a bit of textural and flavor contrast.
Back in 2007, Mark Bittman wrote what I thought was one of the more brilliant columns of The Minimalist in The New York Times. Every good Italian cook knows that a bowl of pasta is mainly about the pasta; the sauce is merely there to accent it. His simple idea? Who cares what Italian tradition says: reverse the ratios and make your dish focus on the sauce and vegetables, using pasta as a tasty, textural accent, not the centerpiece of the recipe.
It's a really good idea for anyone—even omnivores—but as a vegan, I've found it to be a total life-saver when planning meals. Could that pasta with braised broccoli and tomato I made be better as braised broccoli and tomatoes with pasta? Indeed it is.
The other day, I stir-fried some chow fun noodles in the office and served them with a bit of scallion and a black bean sauce. As I was eating, I thought to myself: Why not apply Bittman's trick to other cuisines?
Once I'd broken that psychological barrier, I found myself experimenting. A mapo tofu-inspired dish of simmered soft tofu with chiles and flowering chives should have been served daintily scooped along with a big bowl of white rice to dilute its intense flavor. Instead, I decided to tone down the flavor a bit, add some extra tofu and vegetables, and serve it with just a tiny bit of rice on the side.
Dry-fried chow fun is one of my favorite foods in the world (exhibit a) but at its core, it's essentially a huge pile of refined carbs. As a meat eater, that's fine. I've got meat as a concentrated source of protein, and perhaps a pile of steamed dark green vegetables on the side. As a vegan, I need to pack more fresh vegetables into my meals if I want to make sure to stay balanced.
The solution? Cut way back on the noodles and add a whole slew of vegetables. That's exactly what I did here. Instead of noodles, the base of the dish is stir-fried bok choy (cooked in a super-heated cast iron wok to get some nice, smoky wok hei into it) along with flowering chives, Chinese chives, and leeks in a savory fermented black bean and soy-based sauce. The noodles are still great—perfect for adding a bit of textural and flavor contrast—but now their ratio is more akin to the marshmallows in the Rice Krispies.
I know that I'm going to be playing around with this method a lot more in days to come, and I'd encourage anyone who cooks a carb-with-sauce-based meal to try it out. You may find it to be surprisingly delicious.
January 2012
Recipe Details
Bok Choy With Chives, Black Bean Sauce, and Chow Fun Recipe
Ingredients
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1/2 cup Shaoxing wine or dry sherry
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3 tablespoons dark soy sauce
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2 tablespoons fermented black bean sauce (or 3 tablespoons whole fermented black beans, mashed with the back of a fork)
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1/2 pound fresh chow fun noodles
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2 tablespoons vegetable oil
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1 1/2 pounds bok choy (about 1 medium head), cut into rough 2-inch lengths (about 4 quarts packed pieces)
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1/4 pound Chinese chives or scallions, cut into 2-inch lengths
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1 large leek, quartered lengthwise and cut into 1-inch lengths
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2 cups mung bean sprouts
Directions
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Combine Shaoxing wine, soy sauce, and black beans in a small bowl and stir. Set aside. If noodles are cold, transfer to a microwave-safe bowl and microwave under high power for 1 minute.
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Heat 1 tablespoon oil over high heat in a large wok until smoking heavily. Add bok choy and toss to coat in oil. Cook, stirring and tossing occasionally, until bok choy is charred in spots, bright green, and tender-crisp, about 2 minutes total. Transfer cooked bok choy to a bowl and wipe out wok with a paper towel.
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Add remaining tablespoon oil to wok and heat over high heat until heavily smoking. Add chives and leeks and cook, stirring and tossing occasionally, until charred in spots, about 1 minute. Add bean sprouts, noodles, bok choy, and sauce. Cook, carefully flipping and turning until noodles and vegetables are evenly coated in sauce. Transfer to a large serving platter and serve immediately.
Special Equipment
Wok
Notes
You need a supply of fresh steamed rice noodles for this recipe. Check your local Chinatown or a good Asian grocery. Steamed rice noodles need to be used the day they are made. Do not refrigerate them or they will become brittle/stale very rapidly. If you can't find chow fun noodles, any cooked vegan Chinese noodle will work.
Read More
Nutrition Facts (per serving) | |
---|---|
285 | Calories |
10g | Fat |
35g | Carbs |
12g | Protein |
Nutrition Facts | |
---|---|
Servings: 4 | |
Amount per serving | |
Calories | 285 |
% Daily Value* | |
Total Fat 10g | 13% |
Saturated Fat 1g | 5% |
Cholesterol 6mg | 2% |
Sodium 1379mg | 60% |
Total Carbohydrate 35g | 13% |
Dietary Fiber 6g | 20% |
Total Sugars 5g | |
Protein 12g | |
Vitamin C 59mg | 296% |
Calcium 219mg | 17% |
Iron 4mg | 24% |
Potassium 1029mg | 22% |
*The % Daily Value (DV) tells you how much a nutrient in a food serving contributes to a daily diet. 2,000 calories a day is used for general nutrition advice. |