- This Hakka Noodles taste delicious and will have you craving for more. I am sharing a vegan version loaded with veggies and button mushrooms. Fairly easy to make hakka noodles is a popular Indo-Chinese dish of stir fried noodles. You will find it being made and served in many restaurants and street-side Chinese food joints in India. Hakka noodles is not only popular with kids, but also with grownups.
Ingredients You Need
- Hakka Noodles – Use any Indian brand of Hakka Noodles. I have used Ching’s Hakka Noodles. Note that these noodles is made with all-purpose flour so if you prefer a healthier version, then use whole wheat noodles or soba noodles (buckwheat noodles)
- Veggies: You can add veggies of your choice. Mushrooms give a meaty texture and umami flavor. If you do not like mushrooms you can skip them. You can choose from the following list of veggies:
- cabbage (green or red)
- carrots
- french beans (green beans)
- zucchini
- broccoli
- button mushrooms or cremini mushrooms
- capsicum (bell pepper)
- spring onions (scallions) or regular onions3
- Soy sauce: Try to use naturally fermented soy sauce as it gives a lovely fermented taste and flavor to the noodles. You can even use bragg liquid aminos or tamari instea
- Toasted sesame oil – The noodles get a lovely hint of smokiness from toasted sesame oil. But do not worry if you do not have toasted sesame oil. Just use any other neutral tasting oil like sunflower oil or safflower oil.
- Herbs and spices: Garlic, dry red chillies, celery or coriander leaves (cilantro) are the herbs and spices added. Celery is not available everywhere in India. So if you do not have celery, then just skip it. Use green chillies instead of dry red chillies.
- Rice vinegar: Instead of rice vinegar you can add white vinegar or apple cider vinegar. You can even use rice wine or mirin. Both rice vinegar and rice wine give a distinct flavor and aroma to the dish.
Note on Celery
Many Indian readers ask me what is celery and where to get it. Celery is a herb that is easily available in most superstores and supermarkets in Indian metros.
You can also grow celery in a pot. Either buy the plant from a nursery or plant the seeds. The best way is to chop the celery from its base and plant the base in the soil. Here is a shrub of celery from my balcony herb garden.
How to make Hakka Noodles
Prepare Veggies and Cook Noodles
1. First finely chop all the veggies and keep aside. You can even shred or grate the veggies using a food processor. I have used carrots, french beans, spring onions, button mushrooms, capsicum and cabbage (in the video).
2. Boil 4.5 cups water in a pot or pan with ½ teaspoon salt and a few drops of oil.
3. Add the hakka noodles (200 grams).
4. Cook the hakka noodles according to the package instructions. The noodles have to be cooked till al dente or just about cooked.
5. Drain cooked noodles in a colander. Then rinse noodles with fresh water very well. This stops the cooking process and removes the starch.
6. Add 1.5 teaspoons of toasted sesame oil.
7. Toss noodles well, so that the oil gets coated evenly on them. This gets rid of stickiness from them.
Stir Fry Spices, Vegetables
8. Heat 2 tablespoons sunflower oil (or any neutral tasting oil) in a frying pan or wok. On a medium-low to medium heat, first sauté 2 to 3 dry red chilies (broken and seeds removed) and 1.5 teaspoon finely chopped garlic for about a minute.
9. Increase the heat a bit and then add the 3 to 4 small spring onions (finely chopped), 8 to 10 french beans (finely chopped). Stir fry for about 3 minutes.
Pro Tip: For non-stick frying pans, keep the heat to medium and for cast iron or carbon steel pans or wok, use medium-high to high heat.
10. Add the 4 to 5 button mushrooms (finely chopped), 1 small to medium carrot (finely chopped) and 1 teaspoon finely chopped celery and continue stir-frying.
You can also add ½ cup finely chopped cabbage and 1 small to medium capsicum at this step. For the hakka noodles video in the post, cabbage is added.
11. Stir fry for about 5 to 6 minutes till the edges of the veggies start to slightly brown. I like the veggies to be cooked more, than what is the norm usually for this recipe. You can cut down on the stir frying time, if you prefer half cooked or more crunchy veggies.
12. Add 1.5 teaspoon soy sauce and mix well.
Make Hakka Noodles
13. Add the cooked noodles. Mix, keep on tossing and stir-fry noodles for 1 to 2 minutes.
14. Season with salt and crushed black pepper as per taste. Add ¼ teaspoon rice vinegar or white vinegar or rice wine.
15. Toss well again and stir fry for a minute. Switch off the flame and add 1 to 2 tablespoons spring onion greens and mix well. Or you can garnish with spring onions while serving.
16. Serve Hakka Noodles hot as it is or accompanied with an Indo Chinese dish like Gobi Manchurian or Paneer Manchurian or chilly mushroom or mushroom manchurian.
