Vegetable Chow Mein

By tschnet1

Ingredients

• 1 tablespoon Vegetable Oil
• 4 cups Nappa Cabbage (shredded, more to taste)
• 1 cup Carrots (shredded)
• 1/2 bunch Green Onions (sliced in long thin strips)
• 1 lb Fresh Steamed Thin Chow Mein Noodles
• 1 cup Chicken Broth
• 1/4 cup Soy Sauce (Light)
• 1/8 - 1/4 cup Pure Sesame Oil (To taste)
• 1/4 cup Panda Brand Lo Mein Sauce
• 2 cups Bean Sprouts (cleaned and trimmed)
• 2 cups Baby Bok Choy (sliced thin)

Details

Servings 1
Preparation time 5mins
Cooking time 17mins
Adapted from dish-ditty.com

Preparation

Step 1

Fresh chow mein at home is delicious and easy. Well, technically this is Lo Mein, but most people will consider it Chow Mein. I make this all the time for my family, and sometimes (like today), it’s what we are eating for lunch. This recipe is made without meat, so it can go easily with any other stir fry dishes.

Wheat

Fresh steamed chow mein is only partially cooked and can be found in the refrigerated section at most Asian markets. If you can't find fresh chow mein noodles, then use the dried noodles by cooking them first and remove about 1 minute before the package directions. Drain them and rinse with cold water. If using fully cooked noodles, reduce the chicken broth to 1/4 cup.

Not as is since the Lo Mein sauce I use has chicken base in it and it uses chicken broth. To make it vegetarian, use a vegetarian Oyster Sauce, like this one from the same maker

, and mix 1/2 tsp of sugar with it and substitute vegetable broth for the chicken broth.

Or, try using Miso base mixed with water as a substitution for the chicken broth. I just did this and it was amazing. I think it would be way better than made with vegetable broth.

Make it Vegan?

That is much harder as the noodles are egg noodles.  You will need to find a vegan noodle that is thin like this one and that will hold up to a stir fry. You can try substituting rice or soy bean noodles.  It will be good, but not chow mein like.

Directions

In large wok or pan, heat oil on medium-high and add green onions, cabbage and carrots. Stir fry for about 2-4 minutes, or until the cabbage is wilted.

Increase the temperature to high and dd the chow mein noodles and 1/2 cup of chicken broth. Cook stirring and tossing constantly for about 45 seconds and then add the remaining chicken broth. Cook for another 1-2 minutes or so or until all the liquid is dissolved.

Add the remaining ingredients, soy sauce, sesame oil and lo mein sauce, and continue to cook for another 2-4 minutes. Remove from heat and serve.

Variation: You can also choose at this point to crisp the bottom by spreading the noodles on the pan and cooking on high for about 1-2 minutes without moving or stirring the noodles. Flip over onto a plate and serve.

Did you make any other substitutions? Yes, it should be 1/4 cup of Sesame oil, but some people might find that strong. I would suggest if you are not a fan of that flavor, to just use 1 Tablespoon of Sesame oil and if you need more oil, to substitute with Olive oil to soften the flavor.

I just made this for my family yesterday. I scrambled 5 eggs and cut up pan seared a couple chicken breasts to add to the chow mien. I thought it was fabuolas! Everyone loved the recipe. My husband took it to work the next day and the kids and I had it for lunch after swimming lessons. Yum!

I’m so glad your family loved it! Your additions sound great. Thanks for sharing.

Please read the description, I did state that this is technically lo mein in the description. However, most people will look at this and say “Chow Mein”, hence the title. Also, Chow Mein directly translated is “Fried Noodles”, so you should see noodles in your chow mein wherever you go. I’m not a huge fan of Bean Sprouts, so you won’t find them in most of my recipes, although they can be added to this one and it will be delicious.

This looks so amazing! I want to make it so badly but I have been unsuccessful finding fresh lo mein noodles. I’ve checked Marc’s, Giant Eagle, and Acme so far with no luck. Still need to try Heinens and Super Walmart. Someone else suggested trying Trader Joes or Earth Fare, but those stores are not very close. I know I could get some uncooked, but if I can find them fresh I’d love to. Where do you find yours? Did you have a hard time initially? Any advice is appreciated!!!!!!! Thanks!

I’m going to try this recipe with regular noodles, I know others have done that with success. I’d suggest a thin noodle, like Angel Hair. When cooking your noodles, reduce the cooking time by 2 minutes. For example, if it says 5 minutes to boil, cook only for 3. Then rinse with cool water to stop the noodles from cooking (you don’t want them overcooked or soggy). You may also want to use only 1/2 the sesame oil in the recipe if using Angel Hair as it might overpower the dish.

I’ll redo this again sometime in the future with the angel hair, take pictures, and make sure the measurements work. Once I do that, I’ll post a new recipe and link it to this one. Thanks!

could you use a chow main seasoning mix packet in place of lo main sauce? i could not find the lo mein sauce. And not a fan of oyster sauce…

Yes, you could choose to change the type of sauce. Once person chose to use Hoisin sauce instead for the same reason and liked the results. To me the hoisin sauce might be a little sweet. I’m not sure what is in chow mein seasoning mix, so you may want to be careful with the soy sauce and sesame oil and add that as needed. Let me know how it works for you. Thanks!

You’re the second person to say the sesame oil was too overpowering. I’ll adjust it down to 1/8 cup, but I’m curious, what kind of noodles did you use? Did you make any other adjustments (used regular oyster sauce instead of lo mein, etc)? I think the type of noodles makes a difference as to how the oil is absorbed. Thanks! I’m going to try it this week with regular noodles to see how it turns out.

I don’t remember the name of the noodles I used. I went to the Chinese supermarket and asked for the type of noodles. They were dry and she told me not to let it sit in the water long. I did not make any adjustments. The sesame seed oil I used was pure and not blended. The flavor did not taste at all like any lomein/chow mein. Unfortunately I was unable to eat it and had to throw it away. I will say that your pictures are really nice and it does help to quickly view your pictures when cooking.

Also, what type of Sesame Oil did you use? Did you use Pure or Blended? That will make a huge difference in taste, needs to be pure.

Hi. I don’t have any lo mein sauce, nor oyster sauce. Can I make it without this ingredient?

I would just add 1 tsp sugar. You don’t need a lot. Also, if you can’t find the steamed Chinese style noodles and plan on using dry noodles, be sure to undercook them by about 2 minutes since you will be adding liquid while cooking which will finish cooking the noodles. I also found that using american style noodles doesn’t give the same result. So, if you only have american noodles, reduce the sesame oil to 1 tbl and use only 1/2 pound of angel hair pasta. One of these days I’ll do a version with american ingredients so that it is easier for those who don’t have access to a Chinese supermarket.

I like the recipe and plan to make it- it provides the basics and with all recopies, you can play around with the “extras”. Not every recipe is designed for each persons individual tastes- but this gives me , anyway, the foundation and I have cooked enough to be able to alter what goes into it to suit my needs- Thanks for the recipe and the tips

I tried this recipe and it was good but the sesame oil flavor did overpower the dish. Don’t get me wrong, I like sesame but I would have liked to have had all the flavors make an appearance. I will try this again with only a tiny bit of sesame oil.

White Miso base. I added 2 tablespoons to 1 cup of hot water to mix it together. Worked great.

Eliza makes Lasagna!

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