Meatless Beef Chow Mein

Meatless Beef Chow Mein

I've always loved noodles. Call it a Chinese thing. On the other hand, noodles is a world-wide thing. So, everyone can get in on the noodle action. Here's my version for the day. It's really what I had lying around. Really, if I had mung bean sprouts or bell peppers or bok choy, I'd throw it in. However, Chinese cabbage works nicely too. This dish features my homemade wheat gluten, but you can buy it at the store. Since I made a whole batch, I may as well eat it up while it's fresh, you know.

Meatless Beef Chow Mein
8 oz of chow mein noodles
1-2 cloves of garlic
4 oz of wheat gluten/seitan, homemade or WestSoy Seitan Wheat Protein
1/2- 3/4 cup of vegetarian chicken broth/bouillon or vegetable stock or mushroom stock
2 teaspoons of soy sauce
2 teaspoons of vegetarian oyster sauce
2 oz Chinese cabbage
1 handful of dried Chinese black mushrooms
a little Lao Gan Ma chili sauce (optional)
spicy sesame oil (optional)
1 teaspoon of sugar (optional)
coconut oil

Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water until soft. Remove stems. You can reserve the water and replace the broth if you wish, but make sure you don't pour in any sediment. Prepare noodles according to directions on package. Usually, you will soak them in hot/warm water for about five minutes and drain.

Pre-heat pan on medium heat. When it's hot, add coconut oil and coat the pan. Throw in your Chinese cabbage, mushrooms and cook for a few minutes. Add garlic (making sure not to burn) and your wheat gluten. It's already cooked so you don't have to worry about it that much. If using Lao Gan Ma sauce, add some at this point. Pour broth in or water. If using bouillon, toss it in right now. If using, add sugar now.  Add soy sauce and oyster sauce. Bring broth to a boil or close to a boil. Add noodles and toss noodles to coat. Reduce broth until it's near dry. If using sesame oil, pour in teaspoon and mix evenly. Serve immediately. This makes 2 servings, but I can eat the whole thing. 23 grams of protein per serving.

Clear Noodles with Minced Vegetarian Meat

Here is another easy noodle dish made with mung bean noodles (also known as cellophane noodles, clear noodles, saifun, fensi, etc.). This is a typical Sichuan style dish with an interesting Chinese name. This dish is famous dish so it has a set name: Ants Climbing a Tree (Ma yi shang shu, 螞蟻上樹). It's usually made with ground pork and the pork pieces are said to resemble ants. If you lift up strands of noodles with your fork, the pork sticks to the noodle, so I suppose they could remind someone of ants climbing upwards. Of course, this version, there are no ants or pork- just minced vegetarian meat made from soy.



Clear Noodles with Minced Vegetarian Meat

 Clear Noodles with Minced Vegetarian Meat
4 oz of mung bean noodles
4 oz of minced vegetarian meat or minced wheat gluten
1 teaspoon of hot bean paste (dou ban jiang, toban jian, etc., 豆辦醬)
shaoxing rice wine (shaoxing jiu, 紹興酒)
1-2 teaspoons of vegetarian chicken bouillon/broth
1-2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 green onions
sesame oil, optional
coconut oil



Mung bean noodles and minced vegetarian meat

 Before I share the recipe, I must say a few things about the items. You can get mung bean noodles in the Asian aisle of your supermarket. They usually have some next to the soy sauce, etc. If they don't carry it, you can go to Viet Wah or 99 Ranch. I got mine from the Red Apple. I look for the kind that's from Taiwan. Don't let the pink netting fool you. Most of them have pink netting surrounding them. The ones from China tend to break up while cooking. I bought the can of vegetarian minced meat from 99 Ranch. However, you can always use minced wheat gluten since that'll up the protein value. I wanted to try this brand because it had other traditional seasonings already in it. It has some protein, but not enough for a substantial meal.

Soak the dried mung bean noodles in warm water for thirty minutes . . . or not. Most people soak them. I don't find any use for it. Pre-warm your pan on medium heat while cutting up your green onions. When the pan is hot enough, scoop in some coconut oil and coat the pan. Toss in your minced meat and cook evenly by stirring. Splash in a teaspoon or so of the Shaoxing rice wine and put in your hot bean sauce. One teaspoon is actually quite hot. So, start off with 1/2 teaspoon and adjust to taste. If you like it really hot, add two or more teaspoons. If it clumps together, de-clump it with your spatula. Everything will take on a red hue. Usually when that happens, you know it's going to be hot. In fact, I'm starting to sweat right now and I'm not even near it!!! Since the 'meat' is already cooked, throw in 2 cups of water and crank up the heat to high and bring to a boil.

If your meat is already seasoned, then add one teaspoon of bouillon. If not, add two. Toss in your noodles and splash a few teaspoons of soy sauce into them. The boiling water will soften them as they go. Turn the heat down to medium and let it simmer and let the water reduce. Somewhere along the way, the noodles will completely submerge into the broth. Make sure this happens. You will want all the broth to reduce away. This will happen in about ten minutes. Keep your eye on it and using your spatula, move the noodles around so they don't stick to the pan. When you're nearly out of water, toss in your green onions. When it is more or less dry, remove from heat. Pour in one teaspoon of sesame oil and mix evenly. Serve immediately. 4 grams of protein (more if you use wheat gluten/seitan).

Gluten Rolls with Chinese Cabbage



Gluten Rolls

 Gluten rolls (mianlun, 麵輪) or wheels are made from gluten rolled up into a 'sausage,' then cut into pieces and deep fried. When you get them, they are dried, so you will need to soak them before using them. If you don't soak them long enough, they will have crunchy parts within a softened texture. You do want them to have an even texture. I find that they are worth eating because they are chock full of protein, but also they have a different textural experience from anything you can find in a non-Chinese market. You can buy these in Chinatown at Ping's Food Mart (510 South King Street) or 99 Ranch.

Gluten Rolls with Chinese Cabbage
2.5 ounce of gluten rolls
1/4 medium Chinese cabbage
4 Chinese black mushrooms
1 clove of garlic
1 cube of fermented bean curd
dash of sesame oil
coconut oil

Separately, soak gluten rolls and Chinese black mushrooms in boiling hot water for 45 minutes. Remove mushroom stems and slice into pieces. If you notice that your gluten rolls are not soft enough, I let them stay in the hot water a little longer. They have a tendency to float so I usually put a bowl on top of them, to keep them submerged. Chop garlic. Cut cabbage into bite-sized pieces (if not a little larger than that). Pre-heat pan on medium heat. When the pan is warm, throw in your garlic and cabbage. Keep the cabbage moving with a spatula, making sure the cabbage and garlic don't burn. Throw in your mushrooms, your fermented bean curd and your gluten rolls. If you haven't thrown out the water that the mushrooms were soaking in, pour a teaspoon or two of the water into the pan. Cover pan and steam for 3 minutes or so. Uncover pan and if there is excessive water, allow it to reduce. If your fermented bean curd didn't break up yet, mash it and spread evenly. Pour in a dash of sesame oil and stir to coat evenly. Serve immediately with brown rice. Serves 1 large-ish portion or 2 decent servings. 25 grams of protein as one serving.

Vegetarian Duck Noodle Soup

Pho (Vietnamese Rice Noodles) is popular in Seattle. You can get a good bowl of beef pho, but I have found that the vegetarian pho always sucks, maybe because they think that vegetables are substantial enough for a meal? Why isn't there a choice to add wheat gluten, instead of let's say just vegetables or tofu? I like tofu every now and then, don't get me wrong. It just seems as if vegetarian noodles are an afterthought. Here

is my version.


Vegetarian Duck Noodle Soup



Vegetarian Duck Noodle Soup

2 teaspoons vegetarian chicken bouillon

1 piece of star anise (with 8 points)

1 cinnamon stick (or cassia)

1/2 teaspoon of sugar

1/4 medium onion

1 green onion

1 slice of lime

1/2 can of mock duck

3 or 4 oz of rice noodles

Optional:

handful of mung bean sprounts

a few sprigs of cilantro

Sriracha sauce

Hoisin sauce

Thai basil

Bring to bowl 2 cups of water. Add the bouillon, star anise, cinnamon, ginger, onion, sugar and mock duck. Simmer for ten minutes or so. If you want to simmer longer, that's fine. Don't let the water reduce too much. You can always water back. Meanwhile, chop up the green onion. Remove the star anise, ginger and cinnamon. Prepare the noodles per instructions on the package. Pour the noodle and the broth into a bowl, top with the green onions. If using, serve with lime, mung bean sprouts, Sriracha sauce and hoisin sauce. Serves 1 (21 grams of protein).



Wheat Gluten 'duck' and vegetarian bouillon.

If you are not a fan of vegetarian chicken bouillon, you can make a mushroom soup base with Chinese black mushrooms. Soak 6 dried mushrooms until soft and remove stem. Add mushrooms to boiling water and simmer for thirty minutes then follow the rest of the directions.

I'm not a fan of too much cilantro, but normally, I would add mung bean sprouts. I just didn't have any in the fridge. I'd add maybe a squirt of Sriracha. I never use hoisin sauce in my noodles. My friend in Los Angeles likes to mix the hoisin with a plate of raw onions and eat it with the noodles. He's Korean and he says that it's a Korean thing.

And if you want to come over and have some, let me know ahead of time and I'll make extra!