I was hit by a sudden craving for Chinese food last night. The problem with getting such cravings these days is that I've been spoiled by good home cooking. Ordering Chinese take-away always sounds great in my head. And I know it always used to taste great. But these days I tend to find it a little lacklustre. I mean, all the Americanized deep-fried sugary things are still... well, deep-fried and sugary and that does hold a certain appeal. But anything that doesn't come with a crunchy coating and/or a sticky sauce tends to be a little disappointing to me these days.

So, instead of ordering take-out, I turned to the Woks of Life blog in search of inspiration. I settled on their vegetable lo mein recipe as it looked like it'd be fairly quick and easy to prepare and also had enough veggies that I figured I could turn it into a one-wok meal. I ultimately ended up using dried thin white noodles for this dish. I think that probably technically makes it chow mein rather than lo mein, but I'm not sure.

I was about to say that I'd be tempted to bump up the veggies next time, but I just realized that the reason we had so many noodles for the amount of veg is that I forgot to account for the weight of fresh vs. dried noodles. No wonder it seemed like so many noodles! I guess I should seek out the fresh noodles next time. Whoops!

Vegetable Chow Mein

Slightly adapted from Woks of Life

Ingredients

• 1-2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 scallion, sliced, green and white parts separated
• 125g mushrooms², sliced
• 150g five-spice dry tofu (五香豆腐干), sliced thin
• 1 bell pepper, julienned
• 1 carrot, julienned
• At least 2 c. of other vegetables: snow peas, bean sprouts, napa cabbage, bok choy, choy sum, mustard greens, etc.
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 tsp. boiling water
• 1 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 2 Tbsp. light soy sauce
• 1 tsp. sesame oil
• 1/8 tsp. five-spice powder
• 450g fresh white or lo mein noodles¹
• 1 Tbsp. oil
• 1 Tbsp. shaoxing wine

Directions

1. Chop all the veggies and tofu and set them aside. The garlic, white parts of the scallion, and mushrooms can all go in the same bowl/buffer. The bell pepper, carrots, and tofu can go together. And any remaining veggies (minus the green parts of the scallion) can go into a third bowl to wait. The green parts of the scallion should be kept separate and used as a garnish at the end.
2. Dissolve the sugar in the boiling water.
3. Combine the sugar-water with the soy sauces, sesame oil, and five-spice powder and set aside.
4. Cook the noodles according to package directions. Drain, rinse with cold water, set aside.
5. Heat wok over high heat.
6. Add oil and swirl to coat wok.
7. Toss in mushroom mixture and stir-fry for a minute or so. Nudge the heat down a little if needed, but the veggies should be cut very thin and the wok should be very hot and everything should cook fast. This is why you prepped everything in advance!
8. Add the carrot-pepper combo, give it a quick toss and then drizzle in the wine and cook for another minute or so. If the wok seems too dry, toss in some water (or a bit of mushroom soaking liquid if you're using dried mushrooms).
9. Add the remaining veggies and stir-fry for 30-60 seconds.
10. Quickly loosen the noodles by running them under some warm water and then toss them into the wok.
11. Give the sauce mixture a quick stir and pour it in.
12. Mix and toss the noodles to combine everything and coat them in the sauce.
13. Top with the green parts of the scallion and serve with hot sauce and/or chili oil.

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¹ Remember to reduce the quantity of noodles accordingly if starting with dried noodles! ^Back
2 Cremini, shiitake, oyster, or king oyster. If you don't have any fresh mushrooms, feel free to rehydrate a few dried ones and use them instead. ^Back