We’ve partnered with Pearl River Bridge to bring you this post. Enjoy!
These Soy Sauce Braised Wild Mushroom Noodles are earthy, flavorful, rich, and savory, all with the benefit of being totally vegan! Yes, that rarest of times has come again, where we have a great vegan recipe to share with you all.
Usually, aside from the Buddhist monks, Chinese people love their meat, and it can be hard to find a completely vegan recipe. But this is one that even we meat lovers really enjoyed.
Braising in Chinese Cuisine
When it comes to many of our favorite authentic Chinese recipes, “braised” is a word that we use often. There are Chinese words and phrases like 红烧 (hong shao) meaning “red-cooked” or “red braised,” and 卤 (lu), 焖 (men), and 炖 (dun), all meaning “braised.” Braising times can vary from just 10 to 15 minutes to a few hours, depending on the dish.
Other than time, the most important ingredient in Chinese braised dishes is usually soy sauce. There are two main kinds:
- Light soy sauce (生抽酱油): A thinner, saltier soy sauce that heightens the flavor of dishes.
- Dark soy sauce (老抽酱油): A more viscous, darker sauce that enriches the color of dishes.
This pair goes hand-in-hand for a wide variety of Chinese braises.
Buying the Right Soy Sauce
Now, when it comes to buying soy sauce, not all brands are created equal! We often get questions from readers as to which sauce brands we use in our cooking, and after many years, we’ve settled on using Pearl River Bridge.
A dash of their Superior Light Soy Sauce adds so much flavor to a stir-fry or braise, without making it overpowering or too salty. Pearl River Bridge Mushroom-flavoured Superior dark soy sauce, on the other hand, is intense and rich, and a little bit really enhances the color of a dish beautifully.
This could be why some frustrated readers complain that their Shanghai Style Braised Pork Belly does not have the rich red color in the picture. Starting with the right ingredients is often the solution to most cooking woes! You can get Pearl River Bridge regular dark soy, but in this recipe, we actually used the Pearl River Bridge Mushroom Flavored Superior Dark Soy Sauce, because, well, it’s a mushroom-y recipe!
Okay, class over!
Recipe Notes & Tips
Let’s get on with the recipe for these Braised Wild Mushroom Noodles. Other than the importance of soy sauces, another consequential step is to caramelize the mushrooms before braising, or they will taste rubbery.
Feel free to use any combination of mushrooms. (Just remember––there’s no need to caramelize wood ear mushrooms if that’s one of the mushrooms you select.)
Some other tips to keep in mind while you’re making these Braised Wild Mushroom Noodles:
- A couple teaspoons of oyster sauce will help boost the flavor even more, but it’s an optional addition if you’d like the recipe to remain vegan.
- I used 1½ pounds of fresh noodles. If you are using dried noodles, you will need about ¾ pound by weight.
- Remember to salt to taste at the very end, after you’ve added the noodles. Too much salt in the sauce during the braising process will cause the mushrooms to be too salty.
Recipe Instructions
If you’re using dried shiitake mushrooms, wash them a couple of times to get rid of any dirt first. Then soak them in 2-3 cups of hot water for up to 3 hours until they are completely re-hydrated. Squeeze the water out of the rehydrated dried shiitake mushrooms, then slice them thinly. Remember to save the mushroom soaking liquid!
Next, quickly rinse the fresh oyster mushrooms and beech mushrooms under running water. Spin off any extra water using a salad spinner.
Heat the oil in a wok or thick-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the chopped shallots and white parts of the scallions.
Cook for a minute or two until the shallots turn translucent. Now turn up the heat to high and add in all of the mushrooms, and spread them evenly across the wok.
Turn up the heat and let cook for a couple of minutes before stirring. When caramelizing mushrooms, the key is NOT to stir them too much and keep a steady heat to cook off any water in the mushrooms. Only stir when one side is browned slightly, and repeat the searing process until all of the mushrooms are browned and any liquid in the pan has been cooked off.
Turn the back down to medium, and add the dark soy sauce…
…light soy sauce, the sugar, and 2½ cups of liquid—the mushroom water and fresh water combined. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
In the meantime, boil a large pot of water to cook the fresh wheat noodles according to the package instructions. Once you’ve cooked the noodles, drain and set aside.
After 20 minutes (there should still be a good amount of sauce in the pan), add the noodles…
…along with the sesame oil, and the julienned green parts of the scallions.
Toss everything together so the noodles get fully coated in the mushroom sauce.
Salt to taste and serve your braised mushroom noodles with chili oil, chiu chow sauce, or your choice of spicy condiment on the side.
Soy Sauce Braised Wild Mushroom Noodles
Ingredients
- 6 large dried shiitake mushrooms
- 8 ounces oyster mushrooms
- 8 ounces beech mushrooms
- 3 tablespoons oil
- 4 shallots (finely chopped)
- 3 scallions (with the white parts chopped and the green parts julienned)
- 1½ tablespoons dark soy sauce (preferably mushroom flavored)
- 3 tablespoons light soy sauce (or low sodium soy sauce)
- 1 tablespoon sugar
- The dried mushroom-soaking water (plus enough water to yield 2½ cups of liquid)
- 1 1/2 pounds fresh wheat noodles (or other noodles of your choice)
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- Salt (to taste)
Instructions
- If you’re using dried shiitake mushrooms, wash them a couple of times to get rid of any dirt first. Then soak them in 2-3 cups of hot water for up to 3 hours until they are completely re-hydrated. Squeeze the water out of the rehydrated Shiitakes, then slice them thinly. Remember to save the mushroom soaking liquid!
- Next, quickly rinse the fresh oyster mushrooms and beech mushrooms under running water. Spin off any extra water using a salad spinner.
- Heat the oil in a wok or thick-bottomed pot over medium heat. Add the chopped shallots and white parts of the scallions. Cook for a minute or two until the shallots turn translucent. Now turn up the heat to high and add in all of the mushrooms, and spread them evenly across the wok.
- Turn up the heat and let cook for a couple of minutes before stirring. When caramelizing mushrooms, the key is NOT to stir them too much and keep a steady heat to cook off any water in the mushrooms. Only stir when one side is browned slightly, and repeat the searing process until all of the mushrooms are browned and any liquid in the pan has been cooked off.
- Turn the back down to medium, and add the dark soy sauce, light soy sauce, the sugar, and 2½ cups of liquid––the mushroom water and fresh water combined. Cover and simmer for 20 minutes.
- In the meantime, boil a large pot of water to cook the noodles according to the package instructions. Once the noodles are cooked, drain, and set aside.
- After the mushrooms have been braising for 20 minutes (there should still be a good amount of sauce in the pan), add the cooked noodles, the sesame oil, and the julienned green parts of the scallions. Toss everything together so the noodles get fully coated in the mushroom sauce. Salt to taste and serve with chili oil, chiu chow sauce, or your choice of spicy condiment on the side.
nutrition facts
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If this is anything like your other braised recipes it should be amazing. It certainly looks amazing and is now on my bucket list for meals to cook.
Thank you, Alan, you are kind! Hope you like it.
I just came to your site to look up a use for scallion sauce and then the first thing I saw was the Pearl River Bridge Mushroom flavoured Soy sauce, which has always been my favourite soy sauce :) I only buy Pearl River Bridge soy sauces because I know it’s delicious :) Though I do keep Sempio on hand when I make Korean or Japanese dishes. When my local Asian grocer stopped carrying Pearl River Bridge bran it, I actually started going somewhere about twice the distance just to buy it. Soy sauce is a very important condiment when you’re vegan, as many Asian products are. And well, you get spoiled and start demanding the best. Why not? Love the recipe to by the way, I love mushrooms and am always looking for new things to do with my noodles! As a side note, I have a vegetarian (vegan) oyster sauce and the brand is Kimlan: http://www.kimlan.com/en/e_proDetail.php?prosn=75
I echo your sentiment, I only use Pearl River Bridge brand soy sauces. I love the light soy sauce so much that I add it to almost all my stir-fries.
What an amazing dish!!! Simple, quick, easy to make and super delicious! THANX SO MUCH dear Judy! It’s the perfect recipe for us observing Lent here in Greece:)
Thank you so much for posting this! xoxoxo
Thank you so much! Just curious, can you find Pearl River Bridge brand soy sauces in Greece?
Hi Judy all the way from Malaysia :-). I just discovered your blog last week and what a joy it was for a noob like me. Lol. I love noodles as my mum is half-Chinese (which makes me 1/4 Chinese). Sometimes my hubby says I am too Chinese. Hahaha. I have been saving all the noodles recipes from this blog for easier reference. If I do cook on weekends, its usually only for hubby and myself but looking at most of the recipes here, the servings are for 4-6 person. Would it be safe to half all the ingredients such as the sauces, vegetables, meats and noodles or rice if I am only cooking for 2? Would just like to add keep up the great work guys :-)
That reminds me of something. When I say to my Caucasian friends that “I am so Chinese,” what’s the reply I get? You are Chinese! As to your question about cooking for just you and your husband, you can definitely halve the recipe cutting all the ingredient amounts by half, but you wouldn’t cut the cooking time in half. Happy wokking!
Thanks Judy. Your Caucasian friends are correct. LOL.
When you serve this or other noodle dishes with a chili sauce, how do you add the sauce?
Spoonfuls onto the whole dish?
Spoonfuls + then mix it all up?
Partial spoonfuls on each bite as needed?
I do all of the above depending on the dish and situation, but I’m curious if there’s a correct method :) thanks!
Hi Caleb, add the chili sauce to your own serving, and not the whole dish since everyone has their own levels of spice tolerance. With that said, there is really no right or wrong way––what’s important is how you like it :-)
Another amazing recipe from the worlds best blog! Can’t wait to try this one! I ran out of my favorite pearl brand mushroom soy so stocked up with several bottles. It is a brand worth hunting out if you need to, an amazing product. And their superior light soy sauce IS superior! Thanks for all of your help and guidance, you guys are amazing!!
Hi Toni, I agree! I usually buy the big 60 oz. jug!
My mouth is watering!
What are beech mushrooms.
How many generous serves can I get out of this recipe?
Hi Michelle, one of the photos in the post shows the three kinds of mushrooms I used. The white one is the beech mushroom. You can choose whatever mushrooms you like to use; you don’t have to follow my selections.
Can you post package of noodles you used? Was it tee mein noodles? Shanghai noodles? Great looking recipe..can I also use regular mushrooms?
Hi Kaytue, I usually use Twin Marquis fresh noodles. We have a picture in the fresh noodle section of this page: https://thewoksoflife.com/chinese-noodles-wrappers/. And yes, you can use regular mushrooms.
Thanks for posting this. I really have to scour your site to find vegan recipes. The ones I’ve made so far have been fabulous. You don’t need animal products to make a great dish. I’m looking forward to making this one!! Please keep making vegan recipes!
Thank you, Dominique! Hope you like it! Thank you for leaving us a comment. we will make an effort to post more vegan dishes.
LOL – a poorly placed ad caused Castile soap to be the first ingredient needed.
Do beech mushrooms have another name?
Looking forward to trying this maybe as a pasta course followed by a grilled chicken cutlet or pork chop and salad.
Hi Alan, you can use the mushrooms of your choice, even wood-ears. I do like your pasta suggestion. Hope you like it.
They’re also known as shimeji mushrooms in many Asian countries :)