Slurpy Chinese Noodles

Here in the planty house, we LOVE Chinese food. I mean, LOVE it. In fact, one of the hardest things for me to give up as a vegan was General Tso's chicken. It's like my crack. We have to drive by our favorite Chinese place on the way to my daughter's cheerleading practice twice a week, and it makes my mouth water every time. So I decided to try my hand and making a planty version of Chinese takeout. I still haven't gotten the General just right, but these noodles make me and my kids pretty happy. 

But beware General Tso, planty mom is gonna get 'cha... 

Slurpy Chinese Noodles

• 2 tbsp canola oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 inches of peeled and chopped ginger
• 2 bags frozen stir fry veggies (it's cheaper than fresh, and I'm lazy)
• 1 package Tempeh (or you could use Seitan, but once again, I'm lazy and didn't feel like making any)
• 1 package rice noodles (or you could use Udon, but I prefer rice because it doesn't get as gummy)
• 1/2 c Hoisin sauce
• 2 tbsp soy sauce
• 1/4 c rice vinegar (1 tbsp white vinegar would probably work too, you're just trying to cut the sweetness of the Hoisin sauce a bit)
• 1/2 tsp sesame oil (this is just to give it a little heat, if you don't have sesame oil, use some red pepper flakes for the same effect)
• 1 - 1 1/2 cups of water

That's everything!

• The first thing you want to do is cook the pasta. Cooking it in a separate pot works the best I've found. Is it authentic? No. But I've always had issues with my veggies scorching when I try to cook both in the same pot. 
• You'll want to cook this in a big pot. I use my 5 quart dutch oven. 
• Add the oil to the pot, let it get a little hot, then toss in the onions, tempeh, and ginger. Let the onions sweat and get soft. You're not trying to caramelize them, just let them get soft. 

Like so... 

• After the onions are soft, toss in the frozen stir-fry mix. Or make your own by chopping up and dumping in whatever veg you have on hand that sounds vaguely Asian. I usually throw my veggies in frozen, as they thaw, they release some liquid that helps deglaze the pan a little. If you are using fresh, you'll want to add about a cup and half of water at this point. If your using frozen, add about a cup of water. 
• While those are cooking mix your sauce in a separate bowl. Mix the Hoisin sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, and sesame oil until well mixed. 
• Now toss that sauce in with the veggies. It will smell really, really good. 

And will look something like this... 

• Let that simmer and reduce for about 5 minutes. The sauce will thicken a bit and the flavors will intensify. Basically, it will get super yummy. 
• Now, toss in those noodles you cooked earlier, and serve!  

This is really, really good. Most people think the secret to Chinese noodles is soy sauce, but I've found that Hoisin sauce gets you much closer than soy sauce. And honestly, large quanities of soy sauce are nasty. Have you ever tasted that stuff on it's own? Bleh. So, in other words, go easy on the soy sauce, hard on the hoisin, and you'll pass on paying $12 for takeout from now on.

Yummmm....