Is migration a blessing or a curse? Let’s make a bowl of Chow mein and see how the world has changed since the first!

Chow Mein simply means stir-fried noodle where chow means sauteed or stir-fried while Mein meaning noodles. If the stir-fried noodles are only topped with vegetables then it’s a Vegetarian Chow Mein but adding some sort of meat like chicken, pork, beef or shrimp is also a very popular option.

To make matters more complicated, there is two types of Chow Mein in the States, one is the steamed Chow Mein with a round softer texture while the other one is the flat crispy – Hong Kong style Chow Mein is crispier, dryer.

It appears that the East Coast’s favorite is the crispy, flat style Chow Mein and some places like to take crispiness to the next level by deep frying the noodles. The soft Chow Mein here gets a different name called Lo Mein.

The West Coast doesn’t complicate matters that much. They just stick to Chow Mein as the softer noodle and called the crispier ones Hong Kong style Chow Mein.

Which is the best Chow Mein?

So, it seems that if someone never wants to eat the same dish ever again, it is enough to visit various restaurants and asking for the same Chow Mein dish over and over again to get something totally different time after time.

To make Chow Mein in the coziness of our kitchen, we don’t need many ingredients to have at hand and quicker than a home order arrives, we are able to whip up one in no time. The bad news is that we still have to decide which version of Chow Mein we like.

Ingredients

Sauce

1½ tablespoon / 25ml Soy sauce
1½ tablespoon / 25ml Chinese cooking wine
½ teaspoon / 2.5ml Roasted sesame seed oil
1½ tablespoon / 25ml Oyster sauce or Hoisin sauce
Black or white pepper to taste (optional)

Chow mein

½ cup / 150ml Cooking oil
2 cloves / 5g Garlic (sliced or diced)
7 oz / 200g Meat (Chicken, pork, beef…)
1 / 100g Carrot (shredded)
4 cups / 500g Cabbage (shredded)
1 cup / 50g Green onion (sliced)
¼ cup / 60ml Water or stock (1 cup in case of crispy chow mein)
7 oz / 200g Chow Mein noodles

How to make Chow Mein

Sauce

Measure soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, roasted sesame seed oil and oyster or Hoisin sauce into a bowl and mix everything together. Add black ground black or white pepper too if desired.

Chow Mein – soft noodles

Heat oil in a skillet, add the sliced or diced garlic and saute until the garlic starts to smell, for about a minute.
Add the meat and sear both sides of it until golden brown spots start to appear for about 3 minutes each side.
Remove the garlic and meat then mix in the shredded carrots and cabbage.
Stir fry until the cabbage collapses about a quarter of its size, for about 5 minutes.
Add back the chicken and garlic then add in the sliced green onion too.
Mix in the sauce.
Bring a pot of water to boil then add the Chow Mein noodles. Follow the instuctions on the packaging but generally it takes about 3 minutes to get the pasta done.
Mix in the drained noodles then serve.

Enjoy!

Chow Mein – crispy noodles

Heat oil in a skillet, add the sliced or diced garlic and saute until the garlic starts to smell, for about a minute.
Add the meat and sear both sides of it until golden brown spots start to appear for about 3 minutes each side.
Remove the garlic and meat then mix in the shredded carrots and cabbage.
Stir fry until the cabbage collapses about a quarter of its size, for about 5 minutes.
Add back the chicken and garlic then add in the sliced green onion too.
Mix in the sauce and pour in a cup of water or stock too. Dissolve a tablespoon of cornstarch in the water beforehand if thick sauce is desired.
Heat oil in a skillet and deep fry the Chow Mein noodles until golden brown. Don’t need to use too much oil for this but make sure to flip the noodles halfway through the frying so both sides get fried properly. Also we can spray the noodles with oil and bake them in the oven but that takes an eternity while frying them takes about 1 minutes per side.
Let the fried Chow Mein noodles to drip of excess oil. Top it up with the cabbage and chicken then spoon sauce on top as desired.