Crispy Chow Mein
Discover the perfect blend of crunch and flavour with Crispy Chow Mein! Make this Hong Kong style, classic noodle dish at home. So delicious!
Equipment
- Frying pan or wok
- Cutting board
- Knife
- Measuring spoons and cups
- Pot
- Slotted spoon
- Colander
Ingredients
Shrimp
- 300 g shrimp 16/20 size, peeled and deveined
- ¾ tsp fish sauce
- ¼ tsp sugar
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- white pepper dash
Vegetables
- 75 g snow peas
- 1 carrot
- 1 celery rib
- 5 mushrooms
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 slices ginger
- boiled water for blanching
- 1 tsp oil
- 1 tsp salt
Chow Mein
- 500 g chow mein thin
Sauce
- ⅓ cup water or unsalted chicken stock
- 4 tsp fish sauce
- 4 tsp sugar
- 2 tsp Shaoxing wine
- 2 tsp cornstarch
- 1.5 tsp salt
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- white pepper to taste
Instructions
- Prepare and cook the shrimp. Marinate the shrimp with fish sauce, sugar, white pepper and starch for 10 minutes.
- Prepare the vegetables. Wash all vegetables. String the snow peas. Both sides of the snow peas have a tough fiber. Slice the celery at an angle. Peel and slice the carrot on the diagonal. Slice the mushrooms. Be sure to chop all ingredients to the same thickness. Mince garlic and slice ginger.
- Blanch the vegetables. In a pot or wok, bring water to a boil with salt and oil. Blanch everything in the same wok, adding in this order: celery and carrot for 30 seconds, then snow peas for 30 seconds, finally mushrooms for 10 seconds. All vegetables should be brightly coloured. Remove with slotted spoon and set aside.
- Cook the chow mein. Cook noodles in vegetable water for 30 seconds and strain immediately into colander.
- Make the sauce. Meanwhile, add water or unsalted chicken stock, fish sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, starch, sugar, salt and pepper into a bowl. Stir altogether.
- Stir fry. Everything comes quickly in this step. In a pan or wok, over medium heat, add enough oil to cover the bottom. When the oil starts to shimmer, add noodles and fry until golden and crispy. You may need to do this in batches. Flip halfway through. Optional, place the crispy noodles on paper towels to remove any excess oil then, place crispy noodles on a plate. Set aside. Next, saute shrimp over medium heat until they turn white, about one minute. Set aside. Third, saute garlic and ginger until fragrant, about 30 seconds. Stir in blanched vegetables, about 10 seconds. Give the sauce a quick mix, then pour it in, and stir-fry for 20 seconds until sauce thickens. Add cooked shrimp and mix, about 10 seconds.
- Assemble the dish. Pour the sauce and stir fried ingredients over crispy noodles. Enjoy! Serve immediately.
Notes
Choose the right noodles: Look for thin, fresh egg noodles or chow mein noodles at your local Asian market.
Fry in small batches: Overcrowding the pan will cause the noodles to steam instead of frying. Fry them in small batches, allowing each batch to cook evenly. Be sure to spread them out evenly so you don't end up with a hard pancake.
While the classic recipe features shrimp, you can substitute it with different protein such as chicken, beef, tofu, or a combination of these for a different flavor profile.
For a vegetarian version, omit the meat and use a variety of mushrooms or tofu as your protein source.
Did you make this? Tag @cookwith.chopsticks and #cookwithchopsticks to share or leave a comment on the blog!