What goes in Lo Mein Noodles
Here’s what goes into the noodles (see below for sauce):
• Lo Mein noodles: Use freshly made yellow noodles, often called “egg noodles,” that are about 3 mm or 1/8 inch thick for takeout. “Fresh” refers to the ones found in the refrigerator section of grocery stores (for Aussies, head to the pasta section at Coles, Woolies, etc.). These noodles have that satisfyingly chewy, slick texture of takeout.
The next best option is vacuum-packed “fresh” egg noodles or dried egg noodles.
However, you can actually make lo mein with any kind of noodles—thick, thin, fresh, dried, egg, or rice—as well as ramen noodles and long pasta like spaghetti. This is going to be delicious with ANY kind of noodles (or pasta—trust me, no one will know!) Lo Mein doesn’t judge!
• For protein, use tofu, prawns/shrimp, turkey, pork, or beef. The recipe includes instructions on how to chop and cook each of these (PS: the hard tofu tastes amazing in this!).
• Vegetables: I used carrots, green onions, and bell or chili peppers. Use five cups total of packed vegetables, any kind will do. plus half of an onion and garlic; these comprise the flavor foundation!
The key to making a perfect lo mein is having a great sauce, and this is what you need to make lo mein that is truly worthy of takeout! I use these ingredients in almost all of my stir fries and noodles because they are the pinnacle of Chinese cooking!
- Dark soy sauce is available in most large grocery stores these days and is labeled as such on the bottle. It gives the food color and flavor—see how my noodles have turned a lovely bronze color? Thanks, Mr. Dark Soy!
- Soy Sauce: The second bottle will be labeled as light soy sauce or any generic soy sauce. Unlike dark soy sauce, which stains the noodles, this soy sauce gives the food some flavor and salt.
- Shaoxing wine, a Chinese cooking wine, is a necessary component for creating Asian noodles that are truly “restaurant standard.” Substitute with Mirin, cooking sake or dry sherry. Replace the cooking wine and water with low-sodium chicken broth or stock to make a non-alcoholic alternative. Cut the light soy sauce to one tablespoon. 5 tbsp.
Rolling and Cutting Noodles
You can roll and cut these noodles by hand, just like we demonstrated in our first homemade noodle recipe. But if you have a pasta roller and cutter, this process has become a lot simpler.
On the weekends, my mom’s father, my grandfather, enjoyed searching his neighborhood for garage sales. When he and my grandma visited, he would frequently buy items for our family that he thought we would like and show off his treasures.
I believe his upper spending limit was five or ten dollars, because some of his best finds were kitchen appliances!
He got me a really nice toaster that I used all through college, and I still make my coffee every morning with the little espresso machine he found.
But the mechanical pasta roller he gave us years ago—imported from Italy—is my most recent acquisition. It has been collecting dust in my cabinet, which is really a crime on my part. Until NOW.
It rolls pasta and noodles so beautifully. I must admit that over the past week, I have made no fewer than four batches.
You do need to make sure you have a surface with a lip to clamp it down securely, but I would highly recommend this mechanical hand-crank pasta roller. If you don’t have a suitable surface but do have an electric stand mixer, you could try a pasta roller attachment.
In this post, I’ll demonstrate how to use a pasta roller to roll and cut these noodles. Don’t worry if you don’t have one; you can still roll and cut them by hand using the directions in this homemade white noodle recipe.
Many of our essential guidelines are the same whether you’re making homemade egg noodles or plain white noodles:
- The dough will take some time to come together as the flour progressively absorbs the liquid in the eggs, so resist the urge to add more water! Avoid adding more water to the noodles as this will make them gummy instead of springy. Add one more tablespoon of water if the dough doesn’t come together in four to five minutes if you live in a dry climate. But that’s it! .
- Frequently flour the dough while rolling and chopping to keep the noodles from sticking together.
- Remember that noodles expand when cooking. This implies that when you roll them out, they must be fairly thin. The rolled dough should ideally be thin enough to allow one to read a newspaper through. A pasta roller really helps with this.
- Use weight measurements for more consistent results. Many inconsistencies can be produced by differences in measuring cup tools and methods. For optimal results, measure the flour in this recipe by weight.
- All purpose flour is fine to use. (Different from our other recipe!) We recommend using bread flour (which has a higher gluten content) in our regular white noodle recipe. But we discovered that for this egg noodle recipe, all-purpose flour worked just as well, if not better.
Lo Mein making TIPS!
As the preparation process is simple and goes quickly, be sure to have all the ingredients prepared to throw into the wok!
Even if you’ve never cooked lo mein before, follow these tips to make it easy:
- As with all stir fries and noodles, be ready! You’ll be done in five to six minutes, so once you start cooking, it moves FAST! Have everything chopped and ready to toss in!
- Use some of the sauce to season any protein you choose before cooking it to make a double-duty sauce. Makes it extra tasty!.
- Having TWO wooden spoons will greatly simplify your tossing experience.
- You don’t have to cook stir fries in a wok, but doing so makes it simpler to toss them enthusiastically, which is what stir fries require. Use a very large skillet instead of a wok if you don’t have one, preferably one with a heavy base that retains heat well.
- Once you begin cooking, stir continuously to prevent things from stewing. Keep things moving! e. leeching liquid. This will make your vegetables soggy and your noodles watery.
- CRISP tender vegetables: All stir fries and noodles are meant to have vegetables that are slightly raw inside but have just been cooked. This is known as “crisp tender” vegetables. This preserves the nutrients, flavor, and color of the vegetables better and is essential to the dish because overcooked vegetables absorb water and dilute the sauce’s flavor.
The amount of vegetables in these lo mein noodles is sufficient to make the dish a complete meal, but if you’re really craving more veggies, you can either add a side salad like one of these or add an additional two cups or so of vegetables (ideally something like shredded cabbage, spinach, or bean sprouts that become “noodle shaped” once cooked).
And with that, I get to sign off. It’s your turn. The key to making stir-fried noodles is to toss them abundantly, so go forth and become a Noodle Master! Toss, toss, toss!! – Nagi x.
