Char kway tiao or fried wide rice noodles are an unhealthy indulgence from the hawker stalls of Singapore and Malaysia. In this vegan char kway tiao, I replace the fish cake with tofu. If you have vegan shrimp, lup cheong (wax sausage), or fish cakes, feel free to add them too.
The frying process for this dish is going to be hard and fast. We need the oil and pan to be very hot for the wok hei or flavour of char. If you have a wok, that’s ideal, but it’s not essential. I think it is better to be accessible than to expect everyone to have specialized cooking equipment. Don’t worry, you can still get a reasonable amount of wok hei even with a non-stick pan, as long as you commit to going in very hot.
As always, the sauce can be adjusted to your preferences. I recently made a batch of vegan XO sauce, which adds a bit of oomph to the flavour, but it’s optional. You can also add 2 tbsp of stock with the sauce if you like to have your noodles a little bit wetter. If you like your noodles really black and full-on, then add another 0.5 tbsp of kecap manis and dark soy sauce.
I used 10mm dried rice noodles for this vegan char kway tiao. If you can get fresh ones, that’s even easier! Because the vegetable cooking process will be super fast, make sure the rice noodles are drained and ready before you start. Cut or break the rice noodles into thumb-lengths before soaking so they will be easier to cook later.
If you are not sure how to prepare dried rice noods, check out How to Cook Dried Rice Noodles without Despair.
Ingredients
- Sauce
Instructions
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Separate the leaves from the stems of the pechay. Cut each leaf into four pieces. Cut the chives into thumb-lengths. Finely chop the garlic.
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Heat 0.5 tbsp of oil over medium heat in a non-stick pan. Fry the block of tofu turning until golden on all four sides. Slice the tofu and set aside.
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Mix the sauce ingredients in a separate bowl.
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Have your rice noodles ready to go. It's going to be pretty intense from now on.
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Heat 2 tbsp of oil over high heat in a non-stick pan until the oil starts to smoke.
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Add the garlic and toss quickly.
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Add the green vegetables and 1 tbsp of Shao Hsing wine and toss quickly until the vegetables are just wilted.
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Add the rice noodles and sauce and mix well.
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Add the sliced tofu back into the noodles and toss to mix well. Salt and pepper to taste.
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Serve hot with sambal on the side.
