The Origins of Chow Mein

Chow mein comes from the Guangdong region of China. This is one of the most populous regions of China and the world, and home to the city of Canton. As a result, it is also the home of Cantonese cuisine! This cuisine is noteable for it’s use of techniques such as stir-frying, steaming, braising, roasting etc. It also makes frequent use of fresh, natural and mild flavours to accentuate these techniques. Chow mein is a really great representative dish of these styles, marrying simple vegetable flvours with rapid, high heat stir frying. Other classics from Cantonese cuisine include roast goose, siu mai and of course char siu!

The dish gets it’s name from the Chinese way of saying fried noodles. As you may expect, this is exactly what it entails! The core of the dish always revolves around fried noodles, usually with a range of other toppings for flavour. Chow mein has become so popular around the world that many regional variants exist, and any one restaurant will have a few versions on the menu. What I am making here is most like the base, “plain” chow mein you get in British Chinese restaurants and takeaways.

My Recipe

I try to keep it simple when I make this dish. I tend to use it as a side to go alongside other things, such as my char siu, although sometimes I will add a protein to make it the main dish. For this, I only add a few additional vegetables. Carrots add a subtle sweetness when cooked down, and the beansprouts give a nice earthiness and some contrasting whiteness in the noodles. Onions and spring onions both give some great allium notes, while the spring onions also inject some green into the bow!

You don’t want to add too much sauce to the noodles. This will take away from the fried texture, and also make them a bit soupy. The most important sauce to add is dark soy sauce. This gives the noodles their colour and adds a bit of sweetness. I also add some light soy sauce and shaoxing wine for flavour. A little tiny bit of sesame oil can give a delicious final touch!

The two things that give it a flavour reminiscent of restaurant and takeaway versions are white pepper and MSG. These two seasonings pack a punch and are responsible for that classic taste we all know. The recipe will not be the same without them! MSG has a bad reputation due to outdated and misinformed ideas, but it is perfectly safe and so tasty!

A Note on the Noodles

For my noodles, I tend to use fresh egg noodles. These are quite accessible from most supermarkets. They do tend to be a little thicker, so if you prefer thinner ones you can get them dried at Asian supermarkets and most big supermarkets. Cook them as per the package instructions and let dry before putting in the wok! It is definitely best to use egg noodles rather than rice noodles though. Egg noodles will fry a lot better and retain their integrity, while being able to crisp up a bit on the outside and keep some chewiness on the inside.

Easy, classic chow mein!

A simple and tasty chow mein recipe to recreate a favourite classic! This comes together so easily and will truly rival any you'll be served for a meal out!

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Prep Time 10 minutes mins

Cook Time 5 minutes mins

Total Time 15 minutes mins

Servings: 2 People

Course: Main Course, Side Dish

Cuisine: Asian, Chinese, Noodles

Ingredients Equipment Method

Ingredients

  

• 300 g Egg Noodles
• 1 Yellow Onion Medium
• 1 Carrot
• 2 Spring Onions
• 75 g Beansprouts
• 1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
• 2 tsp Light Soy Sauce
• 1 tsp Shaoxing Wine
• 0.25 tsp Sesame Oil
• 0.5 tsp MSG
• 0.25 tsp White Pepper
• 0.5 tsp Salt

Equipment

• 1 Wok Preferrable

Method

 

1. Heat your wok over a high heat.
2. Julienne your carrot and onion and cut the spring onions into 2 cm long chunks.
3. Add some cooking oil to your wok and add in the carrot, onion and whites of the spring onions. Stir fry and toss rapidly for 1 minute until softened and browning.
4. Add in the greens of the spring onions and the beansprouts and toss for another minute.
5. Add the noodles and season with the salt, MSG and white pepper. Mix well and let to sit for 30 seconds or so to let the noodles fry. Toss and leave again. Do this for 2 to 3 minutes total.
6. For the final 30 seconds, add your sauces and mix and toss to incorporate fully. Remove from the heat once the liquid has cooked away and glazed the noodles and serve!