How to Make Chow Mein

Although chow mein is not difficult, preparing the ingredients can be quite time-consuming. Chow mein is a versatile dish that can be tailored to suit your taste. You can use beef, shrimp, or pork instead of chicken, and crispy noodles can be used in place of fresh noodles. The following recipe for stir-fried chow mein noodles will help you prepare a serving for 4-6 people.

Table of Contents

Ingredient

Main material

200 grams of egg noodles
2 boneless chicken breasts (or other meats of your choice)
250 grams of raw bean sprouts
2 stalks of celery, cut into pieces about 1 cm
250 grams broccoli or bok choy, thinly sliced
1/2 onion finely chopped
200 grams fresh mushrooms, sliced
1 red bell pepper, chopped
1 sprig of scallions, finely chopped
Peanut oil (for frying)

Marinated Ingredients

1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
Salt and pepper
1/2 teaspoon cornstarch tea

Sauce Ingredients

Low sodium chicken broth
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 teaspoon cornstarch tea
Salt and pepper

Prepare materials

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Put about 450 grams of raw bean sprouts in a basket. Rinse the bean sprouts, then drain the water, in the meantime, you can start preparing other ingredients. The bean sprouts will drain completely within 1 hour before you finish preparing the other ingredients.

If you don’t like bean sprouts, don’t worry. A few other stir-fry recipes won’t require you to use bean sprouts or they can be replaced with about 100 grams of cowpeas or green beans. You just need to cut them into pieces about 2.5cm long, boil the beans for 1 minute, blanch them in ice water for another minute, then set aside. ^{[1] X Research Source}

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Prepare seasoning mixture. Place 1 tablespoon oyster sauce in a small bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of soy sauce tea, then add salt and pepper to taste. Stir in 1/2 teaspoon of cornstarch tea until all the spices have blended together, forming a smooth paste. ^{[2] X Research Source}

And again, every recipe is different. Some other recipes can eliminate the marinade step altogether. If you’re thinking about how much salt you’re consuming, you can directly sauté the chicken (or any meat of your choice) without going through the brining step. ^{[3] X Research Sources}

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Slice 2 chicken breasts into thin strips. Then add them to the oyster sauce mixture and marinate for 20-25 minutes. Continue to the step of making the sauce and chopping the vegetables while waiting for the chicken to absorb the spices.

You can also use this marinade for pork or beef. And you can also use your own seasonings instead.
Tofu and shrimp can also be substituted for chicken, but if you use these ingredients, you may need to skip the marinating step.

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Prepare the sauce for the noodles. Put about 250 ml of low-sodium chicken broth in a bowl. Stir in 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon oyster sauce, and a little salt and pepper to taste. Mix 1 teaspoon of cornstarch tea with 4 tablespoons of filtered water, then stir the mixture into the sauce. Once the sauce is smooth, set the sauce aside. ^{[4] X Research Sources}

Many other recipes will guide you in making sweeter sauces. You might consider adding 1 or 2 tablespoons brown sugar, honey, or half a tablespoon white granulated sugar to the sauce. ^{[5] X Research Sources}

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Put about 200 grams of dried egg noodles in a bowl filled with salt and boiled water. Wait for the noodles to soften (about 5-7 minutes), then strain out the water and set the noodles aside.

Choosing the type of noodles to use will be the hardest part. Yaki Soba noodles will be quite similar to the ones you usually get at Chinese restaurants (they are usually refrigerated). You can also choose to buy fresh, dried, or pre-blanched egg noodles. If you choose pre-blanched noodles, you only need to soak them in cold water before using. However, no matter which noodle you choose, you should follow the instructions for use printed on the product packaging.

Stir-fry Noodles and Dish Presentation

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Chop 2 stalks of celery, 250 grams of broccoli or bok choy 1/2 onion, 1 red bell pepper, and about 200 grams of fresh mushrooms and 1 sprig of scallions. Keep the ingredients separate – you’ll need to stir-fry them separately.

The variety of chow mein noodles is that you can use any vegetables you like. Cabbage and carrots are also common ingredients. Just dicing these ingredients and you can start sautéing them.

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Put 2 tablespoons of peanut oil in a deep saucepan. Heat the oil, then add the marinated chicken. Remove the chicken from the pan when it has completely lost its pink color.

Set the chicken aside – you’ll need to sauté them again once you’ve finished preparing the vegetables.

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Add 2 tablespoons of peanut oil to the pan. Fry egg noodles in hot oil, little by little. Remove the noodles from the pan when the noodles turn light yellow.

You probably won’t want to use too much excess oil after frying the chicken, or you’ll probably need to add more oil. Make sure there is enough oil left in the pan so that you can cook all the ingredients.

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Add the chopped vegetables to the pan, one at a time. Remove each vegetable from the pan before adding the other vegetables. Add more oil to the pan if needed. Saute all vegetables, except green onions. Add salt and pepper to taste.

As you saute the broccoli and bok choy, add about 250 ml of filtered water to the pan and cover. For this reason, it will be easier if you stir-fry these ingredients last.

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Put all the ingredients in the pan, except the noodles, sauce, and green onions. Stir well, then make a small hole in the middle of the ingredients to put the sauce in. Stir in the sauce, then pour the sauce into that pit. Continue to stir ingredients.

Add a few scallions, stir well, then pour the whole mixture over the egg noodles. Stir well if you want.

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Food presentation. Put the noodles in a large bowl with tongs or a large fork and spoon and let diners serve themselves. Serve a few more bowls of soy sauce on the table if needed.

Make sure you have chopsticks and fork ready – some people are not used to using chopsticks and will want to eat with a fork (and others prefer the opposite).

Cooking Food According to Own Recipe

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Consider making the sauce a little sweeter. If you want to repurpose your chow mein to taste exactly like the one you bought at your favorite grocery store, you may want to add some sweetness to the sauce. A tablespoon or two of brown sugar, honey, or a little white granulated sugar will work.

You can use hoisin (black bean paste) sauce, which you can find at most supermarkets.

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For a more Americanized chow mein, use extra shredded cabbage and carrots. Most Americanized chow mein uses only cabbage and carrots. If you want to recycle according to this recipe, cabbage and carrots will be a great choice for you. However, any type of vegetable will add a delicious flavor to the dish – and will also be healthier.

Quite a few people like to use onions and garlic. If you’re like them, consider adding 3 cloves of garlic and one sliced onion to the pan and sauté until they turn light golden.

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Change the type of meat, or just use vegetables for cooking. Chicken is the most commonly used meat for chow mein, but that doesn’t mean you have to use chicken in your recipe as well. You can also use beef, pork, shrimp, and tofu. Alternatively, you might as well not use meat at all – though that will make the dish less appealing.

If you want to make chow mein with vegetables but don’t like tofu, simply replace the tofu with your favorite vegetables. This will make the dish more nutritious and colorful.

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Experiment with different types of noodles. Many people find that they prefer to use pre-blanched noodles because they only need to soak the noodles in water before using. Many others prefer to use fried noodles, which are similar to chow mein noodles, so you don’t need to change your preferences. And moreover, many people have limited nutrition, and need to use noodles made with mushrooms or other types of noodles. You can use any kind of noodles, so you can experiment to your liking.

If you want to make a dish with a low carbohydrate content, you can use mushroom noodles (or shirataki) instead of regular noodles. In addition, if you are more careful, you can also use noodles made from zucchini or yellow squash, however, the taste of the dish will be completely changed.

Things you need

Sieve
Bowl
Baskets
Deep pan, or frying pan
Knife and cutting board
Fork
Spoon
Measuring spoon

Advice

You can use vegetable oil instead of peanut oil if desired.