Cantonese Chow Mein

"A Cantonese chef -- my roommate-- gave me this recipe that I translated into English. It's pan-fried egg noodles (crispy brown in places) topped with a mix of vegetables and seafood in a light white sauce. Very nice."
 
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photo by Natalie S. photo by Natalie S.
photo by Natalie S.
Ready In:
1hr 10mins
Ingredients:
20
Serves:
4
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ingredients

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directions

  • Immerse egg noodles into boiling water for 30 seconds, then remove and set aside.
  • Heat your wok at high heat, keep it dry. Add 5 tbsp oil and coat the wok evenly with oil.
  • Fry the noodles for about 2 minutes, and keep shaking it back and forth, until the noodles turn golden brown. Flip and repeat.
  • The outer noodles should be golden, inner ones are soft. Remove noodles and arrange in center of a plate.
  • Blanch the vegetables in boiling water (30 seconds). You can arrange the bok choy in a circle around the noodles if you like.
  • Put some oil and fry minced garlic in the work, then add the blanched vegetables and stir fry. Add the meat ingredients, 1 tbsp water, cover the wok and steam for 1 - 2 minutes.
  • Add the flavouring ingredients, the water with corn starch, and fry gently. Add a bit more water if you want more sauce.
  • Pour the veggies and meat over the noodles.
  • Note #1: Char xiu (Honey BBQ pork) is available in Chinatown or a good Chinese grocery store, as well as baby boy choy (also known as Shanghai bok choy).
  • Note #2: Ideally you should use a large non-stick wok for frying noodles. Traditionally, Chinese people use a carbon steel wok, which is baked in the oven after purchase, and then rubbed with oil after washing each time to protect it. It turns black over time, and is pretty much non-stick. You could also use a non-stick pan, but non-stick coatings are poisonous and will accumulate in your body. Non-stick pans should generally be only used with medium or low heat. If you like them, get a professional grade non-stick pan for high heat cooking, it feels like ceramic.
  • Note #3: I often add a dash of rice wine (sake) to the meat and vegetables. It just gives it a little extra flavour and isn't salty like most cooking wines.

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Reviews

  1. This was beyond wonderful. Far better than any takeout I have ever had from anywhere.The sorry excuse for a local Chinese takeout has reason to be very afraid indeed ; ) I omitted the salt altogether, upped the oyster sauce by an extra 1/2 tsp, did emply the the rice wine, and added in bean sprouts to compensate for my lack of cauliflower. I had to use up leftover roast beef and half a bag of thawed tiger shrimp so subbed those for the meats listed. Served topped with chopped scallions and sesame seed.
     
  2. We really enjoyed this. The sauce and noodles are what makes this great. I cheated and used a bag of frozen Asian style vegetables (broccoli, carrots, baby corn, etc), and chicken. I look forward to making it again with fresh vegetables and with the pork and shrimp. For the sauce I substituted 1 teaspoon of chicken base instead of the bouillion, and skipped the salt. Also took the suggestion and added a splash of rice wine when cooking the meat, and added an extra 1/4 cup water to the sauce.
     
  3. The only Chinese Takeout that produced a quality product in our small city parlayed their success into the purchase of a full size restaurant in a nearby larger center . I tried this recipe and was stunned at how well it turned out . A scary thought for the remaining Chinese restaurants that I now make the best Cantonese Chow Mein in a city of 35,000
     
  4. Loved this dish. I used Recipe #81096 for the Chinese bbq pork, chicken breast and cooked shrimp. I couldn't get baby bok choy so used regular. Made with Soba noodles and then fried as directed. It has great flavor and looks wonderful on the plate. Took some time but was worth it. Do try this one.
     
  5. This is a classic. I like the idea of blanching the veggies before stir frying. This gets them moist , yet tender crisp and makes the stir frying a lot quicker since they're already par cooked. I found the technique most interesting, i.e. preparing the noodles, surrounded by the blanched leaves. ( I use shangai greens and/or baby bok choy, or regular bok choy. I haven't tried any other greens but I was wondering about swiss chard or even kale. ) ..and then topped with your meat and veggies and sauce. then I use a pair of tongs to serve out the food onto my plate. the tongs help to pick up the noodles and the vegetables very well. I use more water like 2/3 or 3/4 cup with about 2 T corn starch. it produces just the right amount of sauce. I also added some chopped pieces of scallion. This dish would be good with shrimp too. i love having this dish because it has everything in it, your carbs, protein, vegetables... the best!
     
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Tweaks

  1. We really enjoyed this. The sauce and noodles are what makes this great. I cheated and used a bag of frozen Asian style vegetables (broccoli, carrots, baby corn, etc), and chicken. I look forward to making it again with fresh vegetables and with the pork and shrimp. For the sauce I substituted 1 teaspoon of chicken base instead of the bouillion, and skipped the salt. Also took the suggestion and added a splash of rice wine when cooking the meat, and added an extra 1/4 cup water to the sauce.
     

RECIPE SUBMITTED BY

I am living in Toronto, Canada now. The first thing I ever cooked was a carrot cake that my dad taught me when I was 8 years old. I am a gardener and like to forage for wild and local foods, and turn them into delicious meals.
 
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