What goes in Chow Mein
Chow mein nearly always includes carrots, cabbage, and bean sprouts in addition to noodles, followed by your choice of protein. I’m fairly certain that chicken is the most widely consumed food, but I can’t prove it with statistics. .
Because chicken thighs are more juicy than breast and tenderloin, I prefer to use them in stir fries. When I make this with chicken breast, I always use a Chinese restaurant technique called “bi-carb,” or baking soda to tenderize the chicken. It’s super simple, see directions here: How to Velvet Chicken.
Here’s what you need for the sauce. Chinese cooking wine, which is used in almost everything at your neighborhood Chinese restaurant, is the secret ingredient that makes home cooking genuinely competitive with takeout.
Difference between Lo Mein and Chow Mein
The difference lies in the noodles. Since both are egg-based wheat noodles, they are somewhat yellow. After being boiled or soaked until tender, lo mein noodles are moist and greasy right out of the package. They are then combined with a sauce, veggies, and protein.
Noodles for Chow Mein are thinner, crispier, and somewhat dry right out of the package (see above photo). They can be used to make:
- This recipe’s soft noodles are boiled until tender and then combined with meat, veggies, and sauce; or
- This is how Chow Mein noodles are traditionally served in China and Hong Kong: they are fried until crispy and then topped with a saucy stir-fry.
But First, What is Chow Mein?
Noodles are stir-fried with meat or vegetables to make Chow Mein. It’s a favorite meal in most Chinese restaurants in America, and it can now be found in your house!
I designed this recipe to serve as a flexible foundation for your dinner requirements; feel free to substitute other veggies, meat, or even a different kind of noodle.
- Chow Mein Noodles: Traditionally made from wheat and egg, chow mein noodles have a bite that makes me think of traditional pasta noodles from Italy. Dried chow mein noodles are available in almost every grocery store’s Asian aisle. Additionally, some markets have freshly cooked noodles that are already cooked and can be added to your pan with the vegetables right out of the refrigerator.
- Vegetables: Green onions, carrots, cabbage, and bean sprouts are a few traditional vegetables used in chow mein. But, you can be inventive when choosing your vegetables and include celery, corn, bok choy, water chestnuts, broccoli, spinach, kale, and snap peas. Chow mein is a great way to use up any leftover vegetables you may have in your refrigerator.
- Meat: You can use any kind of high-quality meat as a source of protein for your chow mein. Choose for beef, pork, shrimp, or chicken breasts or thighs; these will add flavor and fillingness to your meal.
If you’re not a meat eater, you can still enjoy chow mein in its plant-based form by using tofu or tempeh instead of meat and using vegetable stock. Incredible taste guaranteed!.
