Chow Mein Recipe?

[ithildin]

I want to make my own Chow Mein, and I'm looking for recipes. What I'm finding varies widely from one recipe to the other, so I have no idea which one to pick. Has anyone made Chow Mein and do you have a recipe you like?

Comments

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

That only works if you have any idea what's supposed to go in the pot [g] Which I don't! I found recipes that call for oyster sauce, rice wine vinegar, sesame oil, soy sauce -- either all or one or two of them. One says won ton noodles, others say don't use won ton noodles. At this point, I'm very confused :)

[in-the-bottle.livejournal.com]

Ahh... ok.

For something simple, use whatever noodles you like. Rice noodles, udon noodles, egg noodles, the noodles from instant noodles (if you use that, you need to soften it first, ie, half cook it by soaking in boiling water a couple of minutes). Wonton noodles can be a bit tricky since if you don't know what you're doing, they can end up sticking together especially in dry noodle dishes like chow mien. Which is why I think why someone would say not use it.

Ingredients, again, whatever you like. I like putting in vegetables, chopped up into bite size. Brocolli, celery, baby corn, capsicum, mushrooms, etc. Use the Japanese shiteki (sp?) mushrooms if you can get those, since the flavour is just fantastic, but normal mushrooms are good too. Put in some prawns if you have them, or chicken/pork/beef, cut up into bite size.

If you're using meat, I'd suggest you marinate them a bit in light soy sauce and a bit of white pepper about 30mins before. You can put in a bit of sesame oil also if you like.

Cut up some brown onions, about half of a big sized one or the whole small one. About a table spoon or so of oil, heat up the wok, make sure the oil is hot then toss in the onions and fry them till lightly brown. Then toss in the chicken and cooked until they're sealed, and toss in all the vegetables. Though if you're putting in brocolli, I'd suggest soaking them in boiling water for a bit as well so it'll cook a bit easier. Then put in the noodles and mix them all up with the sauce.

For the sauce, just use about 1 table spoon of oyster sauce, half a table spoon on sesame oil or more if you like the taste of it, some pepper, and half a tea spoon of honey with about 2-3 spoons of hot water to mix them all up, and then pour in and mix. Feel free to add a bit more light soy sauce into the mix if you think it's not salty enough.

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

Thank you! That's exactly what I was needing to know.

Yes, shitake mushrooms are so good! I'll add them to the list I'm making.

Thanks so much!

[in-the-bottle.livejournal.com]

And yeah, as for how long you have to leave them in there, just until all the ingredients are cooked, then it's ready to be dished out. It's pretty much a 'chop it all up and toss into wok and fry' type of dish that's really easy to do.

Forget about all the fancy rice wine etc thing. And you can also vary the sauce a bit. If you like things a bit sweeter, which I sometimes find my westerner friends prefer, just up the quantity of honey and there you have it. Simple, quick, and quite healthy. ;)

[ithildyn.livejournal.com]

Thanks again! I make Japanese Soba Noodle dishes frequently, and what you've explained sounds somewhat similar. I shall give it a try next week!

[in-the-bottle.livejournal.com]

You're welcome and glad I could help! :D