Meera Sodha has created a vegetarian recipe that combines the traditional Scottish haggis with Chinese dan dan noodles, arguing that the Burns Night staple deserves to be enjoyed throughout the year. The dish features a 454g pack of vegetarian haggis, such as Macsween's, cooked with garlic, ginger, five spice, dark soy sauce, hoisin sauce, and shaoxing wine, then served over noodles with a tahini-based sauce.
The sauce is made by mixing 100g light tahini, 60ml light soy sauce, 2½ tablespoons chilli sediment and oil, and 4 teaspoons black Chinkiang vinegar. The haggis topping is prepared by frying garlic and ginger in rapeseed oil, then crumbling in the haggis and cooking until browned, before adding the spices and sauces.
Noodles are cooked according to packet instructions, with pak choi added in the final minute. The drained noodles are tossed with the sauce, adding reserved noodle water to achieve a saucy consistency. The dish is served in bowls, topped with the haggis mixture, pak choi, crushed peanuts, and sliced spring onions.
Sodha, who shares a birthday with Robert Burns, hopes to popularise vegetarian haggis beyond its traditional use, noting its meaty texture and flavour despite being plant-based. The recipe is designed to be straightforward, with most ingredients added sequentially to a single pan.
