Plain Chow Mein - Khin's Kitchen (2024)

FAQs

What is plain chow mein made of? ›

Plain chow mein is a perfect combination of soft egg noodles, crisp vegetables and savoury umami chow mein sauce. A humble noodle dish that every Asian household love to have at least once a week.

Chow mein noodles can be part of a balanced diet if consumed in moderation and with consideration of the preparation and accompanying ingredients. However, they are typically high in carbohydrates and sodium and low in fiber, vitamins, and minerals.

The BEST Chow Mein Sauce:

Combine soy sauce, light sesame oil, oyster sauce, granulated sugar, cornstarch, and chicken broth to make the signature sweet and savory sauce that makes chow mein taste authentic.

The experience is somewhat different between the two. Lo mein tends to be saucier and more toothsome, with a texture some describe as “slippery” because of the noodles' softness. Chow mein tends to have a greater variety of textures within the dish, thanks to the added texture that comes from frying the noodles.

Junk food means high calories and/or fat and/or sugar with few nutrients or fiber. Good chow mein, cooked without very much fat and including lots of veg isn't bad. Cooked with too much oil and lots of fatty meat, it's not so good.

Simple sauce: While chow mein sauce is unbelievably easy to make, it still brings a complexity of flavors to the dish. The careful combination of ingredients like soy sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce and sugar results in a chow mein sauce that has hints of both savory and sweet notes.

Doctors say the vegetables used in chowmein, specially cabbage, leads to cyst in humans. This happens when uncleaned vegetables are used in the chowmein. It also affects the brain leading to fits (epilepsy).

Or the nutrition side of things? Fried rice has 570 calories (extra calories are from fat) and 900mg sodium. However, chow mien has fewer calories of 400, but a huge amount of sodium 1,060mg! Another thing that you could look at would be the number of vegetables in each dish perhaps.

The sauce is what gives chow mein all of its seasoning and addictive flavors. It's a mix of oyster sauce, sweet soy sauce, toasted sesame oil and freshly ground black pepper. It's full of sweet and savory umami and seriously SO good.

What the heck is chow mein? ›

Chow mein (/ˈtʃaʊ ˈmeɪn/ and /ˈtʃaʊ ˈmiːn/, simplified Chinese: 炒面; traditional Chinese: 炒麵; Pinyin: chǎomiàn) is a dish of Chinese stir-fried noodles with vegetables and sometimes meat or tofu.

If it's for thickening sauces or soups in Chinese cooking, I personally recommend using potato starch. I've found potato starch thickens soups and sauces the best as the quality is also stable and I've always been very happy with the results.

Chow mein is the English derivative of the word chau meing and comes from the Taishan dialect of Chinese. Chau means stir-fried and meing means noodles. The noodles are usually parboiled and then finished off in a hot wok, where they're combined with aromatics, protein, and crunchy vegetables.

Mein gon (面干 miàn-gān), informally referred to as crunchy noodles or crunchy chow mein, are a type of noodle-shaped cracker (or dried biscuit) used in American Chinese cuisine.

Actually, the main distinction between these two popular dishes lies in how the noodles are prepared. Mein or mian is simply the Chinese word for noodles. Lo mein means "tossed noodles," while chow mein or chao mian means "fried noodles."

In American Chinese cuisine, it is a stir-fried dish consisting of noodles, meat (chicken being most common but pork, beef, shrimp or tofu sometimes being substituted), onions and celery. It is often served as a specific dish at westernized Chinese restaurants. Vegetarian or vegan chow mein is also common.

Tips for the perfect chow mein

I find that flank steak works best in this recipe, but you can also use skirt steak or thinly sliced sirloin. Place your meat in the freezer for 20-30 minutes to firm it up, it makes it much easier to cut thin slices this way. The meat can marinate for up to 8 hours if you have the time.

Lo Mein and Chow Mein

Both are made from wheat flour and egg, and they're cylindrically shaped, like spaghetti, but a bit thicker, closer to 1/4 of an inch. Both lo mein and chow mein are available in fresh and dried forms, especially if you're fortunate enough to live near a large Asian grocery store.

In American Chinese cuisine, chow mein is known as a specific dish made with egg noodles, meat, and vegetables bathed in a dark, thick, soy-based sauce.