• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Messy Vegan Cook
  • Recipes
  • Thai Food + Travel
  • Supper Clubs
  • Subscribe
    • Bloglovin
    • Instagram
    • RSS
menu icon
go to homepage
subscribe
search icon
Homepage link
  • All Recipes
  • Thai Food and Travel
  • London Vegan Supper Clubs
  • About
    • Bloglovin
    • Email
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
  • ×

    Home » Easy Vegan Recipes » Mains

    Five Minute Zhenjiang Vinegar Noodles

    19 December, 2017 by Kip 5 Comments

    Zhenjiang vinegar (also commonly called Chinkiang) is a dark, aged vinegar made from fermented glutinous rice that conveys a rich, musky, smoky, and slightly sweet flavour. This style of vinegar is made in different Asian countries, but Zhenjiang reputedly turns out the best stock. There are also some excellent Japanese black rice vinegars, but for this noodle dish I recommend sticking with Chinkiang.

    There are a couple of ingredients in these Zhenjiang vinegar noodles that add some prep time – the fried shallots and accompanying flavoured oil – but once you've got them out of the way the rest of the dish comes together in a snap. And once you have these toasty kitchen weapons to hand, you'll find yourself using them to spruce up many a meal.

    Fresh Noodles

    Alkaline ramen-style noodles

    While you can use virtually any type of noodle you have to hand, I prefer wheat based threads. Specifically, I am partial to alkaline noodles; any fresh ramen style noodle will hold its own here. You can buy fresh noodles in sizeable East Asian supermarkets, and will find an abundance of options in Chinatown. The Vietnamese chain Longdan is also reliable, and where I often buy the Jan Jan noodles pictured.

    Serve the Chinkiang noodles warm or cold, and if you should be lucky enough to find yourself with leftovers I advocate for stir-frying.

    Vegan Zhenjiang Vinegar Noodles

    Smoky Five Minute Zhenjiang Vinegar Noodles

    These noodles are salty, sour, and ever so slightly sweet. The dressing combines full-bodied, slightly sweet Chinese black vinegar with fragrant smoked paprika and soy sauce for a rich, complex flavour. Shallot oil adds a toasted note and the fattiness improves the overall texture of this simple dish. If you have all of the ingredients to hand, dinner will be on the table inside five minutes. Depending on the type of smoked paprika you use the noodles may pack a little heat, so keep this in mind when deciding just how heaped your half teaspoon ought to be.

    Ingredients

    • 250 grams ramen style noodles
    • 1 ½ tablespoons Chinkiang (Zhenjiang) black rice vinegar
    • 1 ½ tablespoons soy sauce
    • 1 tablespoon shallot oil
    • ½ heaped teaspoon smoked paprika
    • ½ teaspoon sugar
    • Couple handfuls bean sprouts
    • Chopped spring onion
    • Fried shallots
    Directions/Method

    1. First make the dressing. Whisk the vinegar, soy sauce, shallot oil, smoked paprika, and sugar together in a medium sized bowl.
    2. Bring a large pot of water to the boil. Add the noodles and cook per packet instructions. Just before the noodles are done, add the bean sprouts. After 20 seconds drain, tip the lot into the dressing bowl, and immediately toss to combine.
    3. Serve the noodles with chopped spring onion and fried shallots.
    • Author: Kip Dorrell
    • Serves: 2 (or one very hungry person)
    • Cuisine: Chinese fusion

    5 Minute Zhenjiang Vinegar Noodles

    More Mains

    • Vegan cheesy cauliflower with Chinkiang vinegar
    • Thai style vegan chicken rice (khao man gai)
    • Vegan mee gati – Thai coconut milk noodles
    • Instant pot black rice with smoked tofu and tomato coconut purée

    Reader Interactions

    I reserve the right to improve any malicious and trollish comments left below. Please do not comment about nonvegan products or activities.

    Comments

    1. Diane Wilkins

      December 25, 2017 at 3:20 am

      That looks really good, but I can't find Chinkiang in the local supermarket. What could I substitute if I don't have one? Thanks for the recipe.

      Reply
      • Kip

        December 28, 2017 at 4:47 pm

        Hi Diane,

        Any Chinese black vinegar should do the trick!

        Reply
    2. dannie

      May 28, 2018 at 9:53 am

      Kindly inbox me this recipe.I would love to prepare this meal.

      Reply
    3. Keisha Taylor

      April 10, 2020 at 5:10 pm

      Thanks a lot . I ate this noodles in a Chinese restaurant and I became addicted to it . Now they don't prepare it anymore and I was searching for the recipe .

      Reply
    4. Sunanda

      May 07, 2020 at 10:23 am

      This looks fulfiling and delicious. Thanks for recipe process.

      Reply
    5. I reserve the right to improve malicious and trollish comments.

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    Primary Sidebar

    Name's Kip. Some things about me: vegan, Thai food enthusiast, comfortably chaotic and disorganised, information lover, Londoner, cookbook collector, clumsy AF, rarely takes a serious photo, has never been on a diet. This is not a wellness blog.

    More about me →

    • All recipes
    • Thai food + travel
    • General travel
    • Reviews
    • Food facts
    • Thai fried tofu with sweet peanut dipping sauce
    • Thai winged bean salad (yam tua pu)
    Vegan Thai Recipes
    Vegan Travel in Thailand
    Kippysnacks logo

    I run vegan Thai supper clubs at my home in East London.

    Think Like a Vegan

    Think Like a Vegan Book

    A thoughtful read for long time vegans and nonvegans alike, this is one of the best styles of arguing for and discussing veganism I have yet to find. Highly recommended reading.

    Footer

    ^ back to top

    About

    • About
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Privacy policy
    • Relationships and disclosures
    • Comments Policy
    • PR and Review Policy
    • Freelance and Consultancy

    Contact

    Email me
    • Facebook
    • RSS Feed
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter

    Newsletter

    All content on this site, including, but not limited to, text, recipes, and photographs are owned by Messy Vegan Cook and its contributors. No content may be reprinted or reproduced without permission. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    Copyright © 2020 Messy Vegan Cook