Chow Mein

Easy·20 min

Stir-fried wheat noodles tossed in a savory soy-based sauce with shredded vegetables and often a little meat. The noodles are either tossed soft or pan-fried into a crackly nest, then sauced.

Egg

The name is simply 'stir-fried noodles' in Cantonese, and the dish travelled the world in the bundles of Taishanese cooks from Guangdong who poured into California during the 1850s gold rush. Their portable, endlessly adaptable wok noodles became the cornerstone of America's earliest chop-suey houses, splitting over time into a crispy East Coast version and a soft West Coast one, while Hong Kong kept its own two-sides-browned style.

Springy noodles slicked with glossy, savory-sweet soy sauce, threaded with sweet onion and crunchy bean sprouts. The crispy version shatters at the edges then turns tender where the sauce soaks in. Smoky wok aroma, called wok hei, lingers on every strand.

Parboiling then drying the noodles lets a screaming-hot wok flash-sear their surface, producing wok hei aroma instead of steaming them limp. A thin cornstarch-free sauce coats without gluing the strands together.

Variations

Hong Kong two-sides-brown (liang mian huang), soft West Coast style, chicken or shrimp or beef chow mein, vegetable chow mein

On the Palate

Where Chow Mein sits in the American-Chinese flavor cloud

Ingredients

Serves 4

400 gEgg

2 cups, shreddedCabbage

1, juliennedCarrot

1 cupBean Sprout

1, slicedOnion

3, in segmentsScallions

2 tbspSoy Sauce

1 tbspOyster Sauce

How it's made

8 steps · 20 min

1
6 min
Boil fresh egg noodles until just tender, drain, and toss with a little oil to prevent sticking.
2
5 min
For crispy style, spread the noodles in a hot oiled pan and press into a cake; fry both sides until golden and set aside.
Watch out
Press the noodle cake and leave it alone until the underside is deep golden and lifts in one crisp sheet — flipping early tears it and it steams instead of crisps.
3
2 min
Mix soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and a splash of stock into a sauce.
4
4 min
Heat a wok very hot, add oil, and stir-fry sliced onion, carrot, and cabbage until crisp-tender.
Watch out
Wok must be smoking-hot before the vegetables go in — that fierce heat gives the wok-hei aroma; a cool wok just sweats them soft and watery.
5
1 min
Add bean sprouts and scallions and toss for thirty seconds over high heat.
6
1 min
Return the noodles (or set the crispy cake on a plate) and pour in the sauce.
7
2 min
Toss soft noodles vigorously to coat, or ladle the saucy vegetables over the crispy cake.
Watch out
Toss soft noodles fast and hard just to coat — the longer they sit in the sauce the more they gum together, so keep them moving.
8
1 min
Finish with a few drops of sesame oil and serve immediately while hot.