Chicken Chow Mein (aka Chinese Fried Noodles)

May 26, 2020June 11, 2020 by edaciousone In mains Leave a comment

I bought a head of lettuce at least 6 weeks ago. It weighed close to 4kg. At time of writing, there is still a small wedge left in my fridge. I have of course, cut off the greyish edges a few times, and it’s as good as new. I have no idea if it is mould or not, but my suspicions lean more towards the cells reaction to oxygen and iron/ copper (present in your metal knives). Anyway, if CSIRO reckon you can cut the mould off hard vegetables and it’s still safe for use, who am I to argue.

I tend to add a lot of vegetables to this recipe because like a kid, vegetables need to be sneaked into my dishes, but you can cut the vegetables by 1/4 and add up to 500g of noodles.

Ingredients

Serves 3-4

• 1 onion, sliced
• 3 cloves garlic, finely diced
• 2 carrots, julienned
• 400g finely sliced cabbage (almost half a medium sized cabbage)
• 250g chicken thigh fillets, cut into strips and seasoned with some salt and pepper
• 1 capsicum/ bell pepper, julienned (optional)
• 100g bean sprouts (optional)
• 5 sprigs of spring onion, cut into 2 inch strips
• 375g chow mein noodles (I used this brand. It comes in a smaller pack of 375g. )
  
• 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
• 2-3 tbsp soy sauce (to taste)
• 2 tbsp oyster sauce/ vegetarian stir fry sauce
• 1 tsp sesame oil
• 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine
• 1/4 cup water
• salt and pepper to taste
• 2 tbsp cooking oil
• sesame seeds and finely sliced spring onions (optional)

Method

1. Pour a kettle full of boiling water over noodles and leave to drain.
2. Add cooking oil to fry pan/ wok and heat on high heat
3. Add chicken and cook for 2-3 mins until lightly browned and cooked through. Remove from pan and set aside
4. Reduce heat to medium and add onions. Fry for 3-5 mins till soft, then add garlic and fry for 1 min.
5. Add carrots, cabbage and capsicum and fry for 2 mins.
6. Add all remaining ingredients including chicken and noodles and fry for 3-4 mins, stirring frequently. It can be challenging to mix evenly so I usually use a pair of tongs and my spatula to lift and toss the noodles.
7. Add salt and pepper to taste and garnish with sesame seeds and spring onions