Chicken Lo Mein

 

Chicken Lo MeinChicken Lo Mein is a Chinese noodles dish made with wheat flour noodles and chicken. Lo Mein is the Cantonese name for stirred noodles. Traditionally Lo Mein is a variation of another dish called the Wonton noodle soup. Lo Mein is a popular take-out in American Chinese restaurants. It is also sometimes called as Chow Mein but the preparation of this dish very different from that of Lo Mein since with Chow Mein, the noodles are made crispy by frying.

Chicken Lo MeinI love Chinese food but normally prefer fried rice and what not. I got hooked to noodles variety only recently. Like said in my earlier posts, I am always on the lookout for dishes from different cuisines which I can try in my kitchen. And now I had the opportunity to cook an authentic dish from Chinese cuisine. The Chicken Low Mein recipe I had given below is a very easy to make and the end result is totally worth the effort.

Chicken Lo MeinChicken Lo Mein has a slight sweetness to it because of the brown sugar but also has spiciness as well at the same time. It is an apt dish to be served for both lunch and dinner. Try this popular Chinese dish in your home and let me know your experience 🙂

Chicken Lo Mein
Recipe type: Main
Cuisine: Chinese
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2
 
Ingredients
For the sauce:
  • Sesame oil – 1 tbsp
  • Sriracha hot sauce – 1 tbsp
  • Garlic cloves, minced – 3 nos
  • Soy sauce – ¼ cup
  • Water – 2 tbsp
  • Brown sugar – 1 ½ tbsp
  • Cornstarch – 2 tbsp
For Chicken:
  • Olive oil – 1 tbsp
  • Broccoli, small – 1 no ( or 2 cups of florets)
  • Chicken thighs, cut to bite size pieces – 500 grams
  • For the Lo-Mein:
  • Lo Mein noodles – 4 oz
  • Olive oil - 2 tbsp
  • Unsalted butter - 1 tbsp
  • Eggs, large, lightly beaten - 2 nos
  • Ginger, minced - 1 tsp
  • Red chilli flakes, crushed - ½ tsp
  • Carrots, shredded - ½ cup
  • Snow peas - ½ cup
  • Garlic, minced - 3 cloves
  • Green onions, sliced thinly – 2 nos
  • Salt to taste
Instructions
  1. Step 1:
  2. In a small bowl combine and whisk together sesame oil, hot sauce, garlic, soy sauce, water, sugar, and cornstarch; set the sauce aside.
  3. In a large bowl, add many ice cubes and prepare ice bath for broccoli. So that the broccoli retain its color after blanching.
  4. Step 2:
  5. Bring water in a sauce pan along with little salt to boil. Add the broccoli and blanch them for 4 minutes. Immediately transfer them to the ice bath to stop the cooking process.
  6. Heat a large skillet with olive oil in medium high heat. Add the chicken pieces and cook until changes to white/brown color. Add the blanched broccoli, reduce the flame to medium and add the sauce. Stir to coat ingredients and cook for about 5 to 7 minutes or until the sauce has thickened. Transfer it to a bowl.
  7. Step 3:
  8. Meanwhile bring water in the sauce pan along with little salt to boil. Add the noodles and boil for 10 minutes. Simmer it and cook for another 15 minutes or until the noodles are well cooked. Make sure the noodles don’t stick before adding to the water. Drain the noodles and set aside.
  9. Step 4:
  10. Heat the large skillet and add butter in medium low flame. Add the minced ginger and sauté for few seconds or until raw smell disappears. Add the crushed pepper and cook for couple of seconds. Add in the eggs, stir gently and cook for about 3 minutes or until well done.
  11. Sauté carrot and snow peas with very little olive oil in a small flat skillet. And add it to the eggs.
  12. Add the chicken and broccoli to the eggs as well.
  13. Finally add the drained noodles to the skillet, stir until everything is coated well with the sauce. Sprinkle with green onions and serve hot.
Notes
Soy sauce has a lot of sodium, so taste before you add any to the finished product.

Chicken Lo Mein

INDO-CHINESE FRIED RICE

070Though fried rice is a Chinese delicacy, it is very popular in India as well. It is a popular street food there.  Fried rice in India is a fusion of Indian spices and Chinese method of preparation, aptly named as Indo-Chinese fried rice. Indo-Chinese fried rice has become so popular that I have seen them as a menu item in some Chinese restaurants here!080My inspiration for indo-chinese egg fried rice is my uncle. He is a very good cook and one of his specialties is egg fried rice. Whenever we visit them (Toronto, Canada), we can see it in the menu on one of the days.
068The recipe that I have given below is a tried and tested Indo-Chinese version.
Note:- Fried rice prepared in restaurants has ajinomoto as one of the ingredients but I personally don’t prefer using it and it is not healthy as well (read somewhere that it has carcinogenic properties). Also, the one time I used it, I did not notice any difference in the taste.071Delicious, right?

5.0 from 1 reviews
Egg Fried Rice (Indo – Chinese)
Recipe type: Lunch/Dinner
Cuisine: Chinese
Prep time: 
Cook time: 
Total time: 
Serves: 2
 
Indo-Chinese fried rice is a variation of regular chinese fried rice with indian spices. Check out the easy to prepare instructions and enjoy hot fried rice, Indian style!
Ingredients
  • Gingelly oil - 1 tbsp
  • Green Onion (thinly sliced, green & white separated) - ¼ cup
  • Garlic, minced - 1 tbsp
  • Ginger, minced - 1 tbsp
  • Red Bell Pepper - ¼ cup
  • Green peas - ½ cup
  • Carrots -1/4 cup
  • Cabbage - ¼ cup (optional)
  • Egg - 1
  • Cooked basmati rice (or any long grained variety) - 1 cup
  • Soy Sauce - 1 tbsp or to taste
  • White pepper – 1 tsp
  • Chilli garlic sauce – 1 tsp (I used sriracha)
Instructions
  1. Cook the rice and set aside to cool naturally or refrigerate it for at least 3 hours – Drizzle in few drops of gingely oil and mix the rice carefully until grains are easily separated. Do this once before it goes into the refrigerator.
  2. Make sure to keep all the ingredients ready before proceeding.
  3. Heat a wok or any deep frying pan (I would prefer non-stick) in high heat with gingely oil. Add in green onions(only white), ginger and garlic. Stir for 5-6 seconds or until the aroma aroma spreads.
  4. Add rest of the vegetables. Make sure nothing burns given that you are cooking in high flame. And you want the vegetables to be cooked but still crunchy (that’s the reason we chopped them into smaller and uniform pieces). Keep stirring for 40 - 50 seconds.
  5. Now it is time to add the eggs to the sides of the vegetables. Sauté the eggs until well cooked and scrambled (In restaurants they used to add the eggs once after the rice is added. But I prefer this way).
  6. Next add the cooked (refrigerated) rice. Stir until all the vegetables and eggs are combined.
  7. Next add the soy sauce, chilli sauce and white pepper. Stir for the flavors to combine. Make sure you don't stir it too much because that might make the rice mushy.
  8. Garnish with scallion greens. Serve hot with chilli chicken or butter chicken or any sides of your choice.
Notes
1. soak basmati rice in water for 20 minutes before boiling. For 1 cup of rice add 11/2 cups of water.
2. Refrigerate the cooked rice so that you can retain its texture while making fried rice.
3. Chinese foods are mostly (or as far as i know) cooked in high flame. so make sure you keep all the ingredients ready well before starting.
4. Non Vegetarian lovers could also add cooked minced meat right after the eggs are scrambled and before the rice is added. Vegetarians can skip this entire sequence.

 

078