Chow Mein
Chow mein is a generic Chinese term for a dish of stir-fried noodles, of which there are many varieties. Authentic chow mein is generally made of soft noodles, whereas chow mein in Westernized Chinese Cuisine may also be made from thin crispy noodles.
- Prep
- 37 min
- Cook
- 1 hr 27 min
- Total
- 2 hr 4 min
- Servings
- As written in source
- Difficulty
- Advanced
Timings are approximate — worked out from the method, not measured in a test kitchen.
Ingredients
Quantities are retained as written by the source and do not scale automatically. Tap an ingredient to check it off as you go.
Cooking instructions
Procedure
1–2 hours before cooking, rinse the mung bean sprouts so that they have time to drain thoroughly.
Procedure
Cut the seitan into thin strips. Add the marinade ingredients, adding the cornstarch last. Marinate the seitan for 20 to 25 minutes.
Procedure
The following 3 steps can be completed while the seitan is marinating: To prepare the sauce, in a small bowl dissolve the 1 tablespoon cornstarch with the 4 tablespoons water. Whisk the water or vegetable broth with the oyster sauce, soy sauce, salt, pepper and cornstarch and water mixture and set aside. Soften the noodles by placing them in boiling salted water. Plunge into cold water to stop the cooking process and drain thoroughly. Wash all the vegetables as needed. Cut the celery and the bok choy into ½-inch pieces on the diagonal. If substituting broccoli for bok choy, peel the stalks until no more strings come out, and slice thinly on the diagonal. Wipe the mushrooms clean with a damp cloth and slice. Cut the red bell pepper in half, remove the seeds and cut into chunks. Peel and chop the onion. Dice the green onion.
Procedure
Heat a wok or frying pan over medium-high to high heat. Add 2 tablespoons oil. When the oil is hot, add the noodles. Fry in batches until golden. Remove the noodles from the pan.
Procedure
Heat 2 tablespoons oil. Add the onion and the seitan, keeping remaining marinade aside for later use. Let the seitan brown briefly, then stir-fry until the redness is gone and the seitan is nearly cooked through. Remove the cooked seitan and onion from the pan.
Procedure
Cook the rest of the vegetables separately, except for the green onion, seasoning each with a bit of salt while stir-frying if desired. When cooking the bok choy or broccoli, add ¼ cup of water and cover while cooking. Remove each of the vegetables from the pan when finished stir-frying. Add more oil as needed.
Procedure
Give the sauce a quick re-stir. Add all the ingredients back into the wok, making a "well" in the middle of the wok for the sauce. Add the sauce and any remaining marinade, stirring quickly to thicken. Mix everything together. Stir in the green onions. Pour the cooked vegetable and sauce mixture on top of the noodles. Garnish the chow mein with the toasted sesame seeds. Serve hot.
Notes, tips, and variations
For crispy chow mein noodles, add more oil than the recipe calls for and cook the noodles longer to dry them out.
Photo: ♡yuen♫ · CC BY 2.0 · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0 · Photo source and licence
Wikibooks contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 · https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/ · Adapted; quantities retained as written. · Original source
Read it through first
Skim all 8 steps before you start — it is the difference between cooking and firefighting.
Scale it
Use the quantities listed in the original recipe. Adjust them manually if making a different batch size.
Storage
Cool completely, then keep in an airtight container in the fridge for up to three days.
Reheating
Reheat gently with a splash of water in a covered pan, rather than blasting it, so nothing dries out.
Approximate values per serving. Worked out from the ingredient list — treat them as a guide, not a measurement.
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