Weeknight Chow Mein

Submitted by dianegrapegrower

"Easy, tasty weeknight recipe. Adaptable to different types of meat; add veges or delete to suit your taste, or what you have on hand. I developed this "cook-and-drain" technique to avoid chow mein that was swimming in liquid. It also makes added thickeners unnecessary. I show varying amounts of noodles and cabbage - I enjoy a chow mein with lots of veges, but others in my family like the noodles. This recipe works well either way."

 

• Ready In: 35mins
• Ingredients: 17
• Serves: 4-6

ingredients

• 8 -12 ounces whole wheat spaghetti
• 1 teaspoon peanut oil
• 1 tablespoon peanut oil
• 8 -12 ounces Chinese cabbage, shredded
• 2 tablespoons peanut oil
• 2 teaspoons sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger, grated
• 1 tablespoon chili-garlic sauce (or to taste)
• 1 1 lb pork or 1 lb shrimp
• 1⁄2 onion, sliced thinly
• 4 ounces Chinese pea pods, slivered
• 1⁄2 red bell pepper, slivered
• 1 small zucchini, slivered
• 1 carrot, slivered
• 4 ounces mushrooms, sliced
• 3 tablespoons oyster sauce
• lime wedge, to garnish

directions

1. Cook spaghetti in boiling water as directed. Drain in colander, sprinkle with 1 t. peanut oil to keep from sticking, and let set.
2. Slice chicken or pork into thin strips. Peel shrimp. A single meat, or a combo work fine in this recipe.
3. Heat 1 T. peanut oil in wok. Stir-fry cabbage until hot-crisp. Dump on top of spaghetti in colander and let set. (any moisture coming off the cabbage will drain, keeping your chow mein from getting soggy).
4. Heat 2 T. peanut oil in wok. Add sesame oil, ginger, chili sauce, meat or shrimp. Stir-fry until meat is almost done.
5. Add remaining veges and continue stir-frying until veges are hot-crisp and meat is done.
6. Add oyster sauce and stir to coat. Add cabbage and spaghetti and combine thoroughly.

Reviews

[GoVegan]

Though I made it on the weekend - not on a weeknight - this was a great success! The chili garlic paste and oyster sauce give this terrific flavor. The cabbage makes the dish! My carrots and wheat spaghetti had gone bad so I used more of the other veggies and fresh rice stick noodles. Highly recommended!

 

[Karen Elizabeth]

Made this last night and everyone loved it, DD2 even had seconds, VERY unusual!!! I didn't have cabbage... :( sorry. That would obviously make a difference. And I had to use frozen peas, - but apart from these minor differences (and it does say the recipe is versatile! - it was exactly as directed! It certainly is an easy weeknight meal, do all your prep beforehand, and it goes very quickly. Even without the cabbage, I didn't need to add any thickeners, everything coated nicely in the sauce, and as I said, even DD2 loved it... and she is jolly fussy! I've posted a photo of the veggie mix Before I added the noodles, because the after picture didn't look so good, so this is more of a Work in Progress photo :) Thanks for this lovely and well-received recipe, Diane :)