In This Post: What You Need To Know About Lo Mein
A blank canvas for Chinese Stir Fry Noodles
I rarely follow a recipe for stir-fried noodles because, having made them hundreds and hundreds of times, I can practically make any combination of ingredients and still come up with a delicious dish. And I swear, I’ve never had a disaster failure. While I’ve experimented with stir-frying some odd ingredients (parsnip in stir fries, for example), some are better than others, and overall, it’s always delicious and I happily scarf down a big bowl and go back for seconds.
Using my Real Chinese All Purpose Stir Fry Sauce, I’m going to show you how to “make your own” Chinese stir fry noodles in this post. The “recipe” is quite straightforward and is for one serving:
2 to 3 cups (packed) of vegetables*; 1/2 cup of noodles; 1/4 cup of water; 2 tablespoons of Real Chinese All-Purpose Stir-Fry Sauce; Optional Add-Ons (Base Flavour and Additional Flavourings)
* I love having loads of vegetables. However, ultimately it comes down to personal preference. A “normal” serving size is typically two cups, but make sure to fill the cup to the brim. Pack it good! Veggies are good for you!).
For instructions on each of these parts, continue reading below. At the bottom, you’ll find a printable recipe that summarizes this post.
Any kind of noodles will work, both dried and fresh; however, the egg noodles for soups (the ones in the packet coated in cornflour/cornstarch) and vermicelli (which are too thin for this sauce) should not be used. The stir-fry will turn out to be too thick and gluggy. Cook the dried noodles according to the packet instructions. My preferred method of “cooking” dried rice noodles is to cover them with a generous amount of boiling water and let them sit in a bowl for approximately five minutes.
It’s preferable to use fresh noodles rather than dried ones in most recipes. Hokkien noodles are my favorite fresh noodles for stir-frying; you can get them fresh in almost any supermarket, and they’re very versatile; you can use them in soups and stir-fries for almost any Asian dish (Thai, Japanese, Malaysian, Singaporean) But, fresh rice noodles are hard to come by in Sydney supermarkets; instead, you have to buy them from Asian markets. For that reason, I usually make this with dried rice noodles instead of fresh, since they are much more affordable.
Use any type of protein you choose, such as tofu, shrimp, or meat. For meat, slice it against the grain. To ensure that the meat cooks quickly, slice it thinly – 1/4 / 0 5cm slices.
What Goes In This Easy Lo Mein Sauce
You need good soy sauce, and the two types of soy sauce trick is highly recommended. It’s more of a little thing that makes a big difference than a trick. You most likely have light or low-sodium soy sauce in your refrigerator, but let me tell you something—dark soy sauce has an incredible umami flavor that elevates this Lo Mein “sauce” situation to a whole new level.
I did not use soy sauce packets from leftover takeout because soy sauce quality matters in this case (it’s one of literally THREE ingredients that will make the sauce for your stir-fried noodles).
Add a small amount of sugar and a tiny dash of sesame oil to a jar and shake well. annnnd DONE.
