I must admit that this is the first time that I cooked Chow Mein at home. Since we live in Croatia, we do not have a big selection of international restaurants – there are several Chinese, Mexican, etc., and all of them are in the bigger cities, and most of them are in Zagreb, the capital, but no restaurant has delivery :(.
The first time I ate Chinese food was in 2007 when I was working as a student in the United States. And the first takeout was Chinese noodles – Chow Mein. Since we did not have time to cook, most of the food we were ordering from the restaurants, and at least twice a week was Chinese food – Wontons, Fried Rice, Sweet and Sour Pork, etc. And it really was delicious. But unfortunately, when I came home a few months later, there was no Chinese delivery (but actually I don’t mind, since our, Croatian, cuisine has a big variety of dishes which are so much better than Chinese).
From 2007 to 2012, when I was the second time in the United States, I didn’t eat Chinese food, but our first restaurant on the second day of the trip was of course – a Chinese restaurant. Then again in 2014 when we visited the United States for the 3rd time, what to say – Chinese food was on the menu. Funny, till 2014, I ate Chinese food every few years.
Last year I got from my dad a Chinese cookbook for my birthday. Since then, at least once in two months some kind of Chinese dish it can be found on our table, and I have to admit that my husband is also thrilled with the idea.
This recipe is adapted from the three recipes that I found, one is from the blog Rasa Malaysia, and the other two recipes are from some of the many food magazines I have stored on my PC.
Chinese Noodles with Chicken
Ingredients
- 250 g egg noodles (8.8 oz) fresh or dried
- 2 tablespoon sesame oil divided
- 150 g boneless (5.3 oz) skinless chicken breasts, cut into fine shreds
- 2 tablespoon cooking oil
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 50 g green beans or snow peas (2 oz)
- 1 medium carrot shredded
- 2 spring onions finely chopped
- 3 tablespoon soy sauce divided
- 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar
- salt and freshly ground pepper
Instructions
- Cook the noodles in a large pan of boiling water for 3-5 mins, then drain and put them in cold water. Drain thoroughly, toss them with 1 tbsp of the sesame oil and set aside.
- Combine the chicken with 1 tablespoon soy sauce, 1 tablespoon sesame oil and 1/2 teaspoon salt, mix well and then leave to marinate for about 10 mins.
- Heat a wok over high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the cooking oil and, when it is very hot add the chicken shreds. Stir-fry for about 2 mins and then transfer to a plate. Wipe the wok clean.
- Reheat the wok until it is very hot, then add the remaining cooking oil. Add shredded carrot, and stir fry for 2-3 minutes, add garlic and stir-fry for another 10 secs. Then add the green peas (snow peas) and stir-fry for about 1 min.
- Add the noodles, soy sauce, pepper, sugar, spring onions, and 1 teaspoon salt. Stir-fry for 2 mins. Return the chicken and any juices to the noodle mixture. Stir-fry for about 3-4 mins or until the chicken is cooked. Add 1 tsp sesame oil and give the mixture a few final stirs.
- Put on a warm platter and serve immediately.
Leave a Reply