Vegetable chow mein noodles are a very cozy dish that’s often eaten in every family in China or Taiwan. I want to share with you this vegetarian chow mein recipe that I inherited from my grandmother. It’s full of mushrooms and soy sauce, less greasy and a low carb version. It’s very quick and can be prepared in 15 minutes.
Veggie Chow Mein recipe
This recipe is just like the Panda Express Chow Mein. Delicious egg noodles stir-fried with vegetables and chow mein sauce. So simple and easy, but it’s our family’s favorite noodle dish. If you want to eat chow mein with chicken, please read my previous article.
The most important and secret thing about this dish or any fried noodles is to toss the noodles with the sauce before you add the other ingredients. This way the noodles can fully absorb the flavor of the sauce. This way the noodles will be extra tasty and delicious.
Ingredients
- Chow Mein Noodles – In this recipe I use the thin yellow noodles, but you can use any yellow noodles, they usually taste the same.
- Shiitake mushrooms – It’s best to use shiitake mushrooms, they’ve a strong flavor. If they’re fried in oil, they can release their fragrance. Or button mushrooms, whatever you like.
- Scallions – Add them in the last step. If it’s fried too early, it’s too rotten and has no scallion flavor.
- Cabbage – shredded or you can use coleslaw mix. This is a quick and easy method.
- Bean sprouts – Add them at the end, they just need to stir a little to enjoy the crisp taste of bean sprouts.
- Carrot – Since it doesn’t soften easily, it needs to be pan-fried first.
- Onion – Cut the onion along the grain so it’ll be sweeter when fried. They need to be sautéed with the carrot at the beginning to release their flavor.
How to make
- Combine oyster sauce, soy sauce, and water in a medium bowl. Set aside. This way you can pour it into the pot and cook it all at once, which is more convenient and faster.
- Cook the noodles and drain them. Then add the sesame oil and stir evenly so that the noodles don't stick together.
- Fry the shiitake mushrooms with oil in a pan over medium heat. Then add the carrots and fry them for about 2 minutes.
- Add the onions – stir-fry them for 1 minute, then cover the pan for 1 minute to soften them a bit. Transfer them to the plate and set aside.
- In the same pan, bring the sauce to a boil, add the noodles and toss for 1 minute.
- Add ingredients in this order -〉Add cabbage and toss for 1 minute, then add mushrooms, carrots, and onions and stir for 1 minute. Finally, add bean sprouts and scallions and stir everything evenly.
Chow Mein vs Lo Mein
The difference between Chow Mein and Lo Mein is quickly explained: both are egg noodles (yellow noodles), but Chow Mein noodles are usually thinner than Lo Mein. They also taste the same. Chow Mein means “fried noodles,” in Chinese, while Lo Mein means “tossed noodles.”
If you don’t know how to tell yellow noodles from chow mein noodles, you can look at the pictures in this chicken chow mein article. If you can’t get them, ramen noodles, spaghetti, linguine, fettuccine, or even angel hair are good substitutes.
Recipe substitution and variations:
- Vegetables: mushrooms, bok choy, or a wider variety of vegetables.
- Protein: chicken, beef, or shrimp. You may try our yummy Chicken Chow Mein.
- Spicy: Make it spicy by adding some heat with homemade chili oil sauce or small dried chili de Arbol peppers.
More Chinese Noodles Recipes:
Ingredients
Stir Fry:
- 300 g chow mein noodle or egg noodle
- 2 tablespoons sesame oil
- 1 cup cabbage ,sliced
- half onion ,sliced
- half carrots ,sliced
- 1 cup bean sprouts
- 3 scallions ,cut into 1 1/2-inch (4-cm) pieces
- 5~6 shiitake mushrooms , or any kind of mushrooms
Sauce:
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1.5 tablespoons soy sauce
- 90 ml water
Instructions
- Mix the sauce – Combine oyster sauce, soy sauce, and water in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Prepare vegetables – Wash and slice the vegetables and set aside.
- Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the noodles package. Drain them and toss them in a bowl with sesame oil to coat them. Set aside. (Note 1)
- Sauté the aromatics- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the shiitake mushrooms and carrots for about 2 minutes. Stir-fry the shiitake mushrooms first to release their fragrance. (Note 2)
- Add the onions – stir-fry them for 1 minute, then cover the pan for 1 minute to soften them a bit. Transfer them to the plate and set aside.
- Bring the sauce to a boil in the same pan, add the noodles and toss for 1 minute. (Note 3)
- Add cabbage and toss for 1 minute, then add mushrooms, carrots and onions and stir for 1 minute. Finally, add bean sprouts and scallions and stir so everything is evenly mixed.
- Serve hot as a main dish or side dish.
Tips & Notes:
- After the noodles are cooked and drained, add some sesame oil and stir evenly so the noodles don’t stick together. When they’re added to the pot for stir fry, you can also fry them quickly so that the noodles don’t get too soft from cooking too long.
- The shiitake mushroom must first be sautéed in oil, and then other materials can be added so that the flavor of the mushroom can play its fragrance.
- Let the noodles stir-fry with the sauce first so that the noodles can fully absorb the flavor of the sauce and become tasty. This skill is used for all stir-fry noodles. If you sauté the noodles with other ingredients before adding the sauce, the whole plate of noodles will be tasteless because the noodles cannot fully absorb the flavor of the sauce.
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