Vegan Pan Mee is a hand-torn noodle dish made from scratch, served in a savoury mushroom broth, topped with minced tofu, mushrooms, vegan anchovies and sweet leafy vegetables.
Pan mee makes me feel like my 8 year old self again. When I was young, I didn’t like many of the dishes at the kopitiam like wan tan mee or yong tau foo. I don’t know why, I was just very picky. Every Sunday after church, I would ask my mom to order me a piping hot bowl of pan mee (Cantonese), or ban mian (Mandarin). Yup, even in the sweltering Malaysian heat.
Traditionally, pan mee usually comes with minced meat, mushrooms and anchovies, but the other toppings vary based on each stall. Personally, I love wood ear mushrooms (木耳, mu er) because it has a nice crunch and ma ni cai 马尼菜 or pucuk manis in Malay, which lends some sweetness to the broth. The noodles are usually made from scratch, and you can choose between thick or thin but the OG kind are called mee hoon kueh. It’s super easy to make at home because you just tear the dough by hand.
Some may argue that this isn’t really pan mee, but I had this dish so often growing up that the flavour is kind of engrained into my taste buds so I think I know what a good bowl of pan mee should taste like, and this vegan version gives me the same level of satisfaction.
Ingredients
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup water
- ½ tbsp neutral oil
- 120 g firm tofu crumbled
- 2 dried shiitake mushrooms reconstituted and sliced
- 1 piece wood ear mushroom/black fungus reconstituted and sliced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- ½ tbsp dark soy sauce
- ½ tbsp sesame oil
- ½ tsp sugar
- white pepper to taste
- splash of Chinese cooking wine
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 5 cup water
- 1 tbsp mushroom seasoning
- salt and white pepper to taste
- ma ni cai or other leafy vegetables
- vegan anchovies
- fried shallots
- chili in soy sauce
Instructions
- Make noodles: In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, water and oil. Mix well until you get a shaggy dough, then knead for a few minutes to bring everything together. The dough shouldn’t be too wet. Cover with a damp towel and rest for 1 hour.
- Prepare mushrooms: Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water for 30 minutes until soft (wood ear mushrooms will reconstitute quicker). Save the soaking water for the broth, slice the mushrooms thinly and set aside for later.
- Prepare broth: In a pot over medium heat, sautee garlic in oil until fragrant. Add water and mushroom seasoning, then bring to a boil. Let simmer for at least 10 minutes, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep on low heat until ready to serve.
- Cook toppings: In a medium wok over high heat with some oil, cook the crumbled tofu until slightly dry. Add the mushrooms, garlic and sauces. Cook for 1 minute and season with white pepper to taste. Finish with a splash of Chinese cooking wine, then set aside.
- Cook noodles: Bring a large pot of water to boil. Work with a small portion of dough. Stretch the dough to your desired thickness, tear it, then drop into the boiling water. Once you’ve stretched all the dough, cook the noodles for around 1 minute then submerge in cold water to stop the cooking. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Serve: Add ma ni cai (or other leafy vegetable) to the broth and cook until just wilted. In a bowl, add desired portion of noodles and ladle the broth together with veggie over. Top with minced tofu, mushrooms, vegan anchovies and fried shallots. Serve with chili if you’d like.
Notes to make vegan pan mee
- For the sake of simplicity, I combined the tofu and mushroom together in the recipe but personally, I like to cook them separately. Feel free to adjust the seasonings to your taste, I usually eyeball it.
- I prefer soaking dried shiitake mushrooms in hot water, then adding the soaking water to the broth rather than cooking them in the broth directly because I find that they reconstitute better that way.
- For smoother noodles, roll the dough out and cut into small pieces before tearing and cooking. The method above is the quick way!
- You can also use vegetable stock for the broth if you don’t have mushroom powder.
- To make halal, omit the Chinese cooking wine.
More Chinese noodle recipes:
If you made this recipe, do leave a comment and rating below because I love hearing your feedback. Make sure to tag me on Instagram @eatwkriss so that I can see your recreations!
Vegan Pan Mee
Ingredients
Noodles
- 1 cup + 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- ½ tsp salt
- ¼ cup water
- ½ tbsp neutral oil
Toppings
- 120 g firm tofu crumbled
- 2 dried shiitake mushrooms reconstituted and sliced
- 1 piece wood ear mushroom/black fungus reconstituted and sliced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 tbsp light soy sauce
- ½ tbsp dark soy sauce
- ½ tbsp sesame oil
- ½ tsp sugar
- white pepper to taste
- splash of Chinese cooking wine
Broth
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 5 cup water
- 1 tbsp mushroom seasoning
- salt and white pepper to taste
- ma ni cai or other leafy vegetables
To serve
- vegan anchovies
- fried shallots
- chili in soy sauce
Instructions
- Make noodles: In a medium bowl, combine flour, salt, water and oil. Mix well until you get a shaggy dough, then knead for a few minutes to bring everything together. The dough shouldn't be too wet. Cover with a damp towel and rest for 1 hour.
- Prepare mushrooms: Soak the dried mushrooms in hot water for 30 minutes until soft (wood ear mushrooms will reconstitute quicker). Save the soaking water for the broth, slice the mushrooms thinly and set aside for later.
- Prepare broth: In a pot over medium heat, sautee garlic in oil until fragrant. Add water and mushroom seasoning, then bring to a boil. Let simmer for at least 10 minutes, then season with salt and pepper to taste. Keep on low heat until ready to serve.
- Cook toppings: In a medium wok over high heat with some oil, cook the crumbled tofu until slightly dry. Add the mushrooms, garlic and sauces. Cook for 1 minute and season with white pepper to taste. Finish with a splash of Chinese cooking wine, then set aside.
- Cook noodles: Bring a large pot of water to boil. Work with a small portion of dough. Stretch the dough to your desired thickness, tear it, then drop into the boiling water. Once you've stretched all the dough, cook the noodles for around 1 minute then submerge in cold water to stop the cooking. Repeat with the remaining dough.
- Serve: Add ma ni cai (or other leafy vegetable) to the broth and cook until just wilted. In a bowl, add desired portion of noodles and ladle the broth together with veggie over. Top with minced tofu, mushrooms, vegan anchovies and fried shallots. Serve with chili if you'd like.
Notes
- For the sake of simplicity, I combined the tofu and mushroom together in the recipe but personally, I like to cook them separately. Feel free to adjust the seasonings to your taste, I usually eyeball it.
- I prefer soaking dried shiitake mushrooms in hot water, then adding the soaking water to the broth rather than cooking them in the broth directly because I find that they reconstitute better that way.
- For smoother noodles, roll the dough out and cut into small pieces before tearing and cooking. The method above is the quick way!
- You can also use vegetable stock for the broth if you don’t have mushroom powder.
- To make halal, omit the Chinese cooking wine.