Spicy Moon - East Village

Vegan Chinese, Both Innovative and Traditional | The New Yorker

"To Chinese-food traditionalists who are also vegan—or perhaps simply cutting back on animal products—I’d recommend Spicy Moon, with locations in both the East and West Village. Pea leaves are on the menu there, too, still attached to their shoots and sautéed with oil, garlic, and Shaoxing wine, a recipe no less ingenious for being ancient in origin. You’ll also find other, mostly Szechuanese old favorites: fiery dan-dan noodles, speckled with ground Szechuan peppercorn and big flakes of chili, with or without crumbles of Beyond Beef; silky mapo tofu, garnished with leek greens; vegetable-filled wontons in chili oil. If the names of some dishes sound familiar—'dry pot style,' 'dry pepper style,' 'cumin style'—it may be because Spicy Moon’s owners once worked at Han Dynasty, to which the menu pays homage. At Spicy Moon, instead of choosing from a range of meats to be prepared in each style, you pick tofu, an assortment of vegetables, or a combination of both. For a recent to-go order of the kung-pao tofu and vegetables, cubes of tofu and morsels of eggplant, battered and deep-fried until bubbled and puffy, were packed separately from the ruddy sauce; combining them à la minute assured no compromise in texture." - Hannah Goldfield