Takeaway style chicken chow mein recipe

This recipe is a request from @rachaelireland on the Recipes & Stuff Facebook page (hope it works for you!)

The recipe is an adaptation of one that my partner found online and cooked for me a few times, after getting the recipe from her i made a few slight adjustments to personal taste.

She got the recipe from a YouTube video which claimed it was an authentic takeaway chow mein recipe but i can’t say 100% if it’s how it’s actually done in a chinese takeaway or not, it looked legitimate enough though and either way it’s still delicious!

The trick is plenty of soy sauce, as it contains natural MSG which really opens up the flavour.

It only takes about 20 minutes to make so let’s get cooking some chow mein! I’ll get some pictures uploaded the next time i make some (or send your own!)

Ingredients (serves 2-4)

• 2 blocks of dried noodles
• 2 chicken breasts, sliced into small strips. You can use more or less if you want and it doesn’t have to be breast meat
• Chicken stock/stock cube (optional)
• 1 onion, sliced (i prefer to slice it like this for Asian dishes)
• Beansprouts (as many or as little as you wish)
• Light soy sauce
• Dark soy sauce
• Worcestershire sauce
• Garlic paste

Equipment

• A wok is nice, but a frying pan works fine
• A small/medium saucepan
• Knife
• Chopping board
• Wooden spoon
• A pair of scissors
• A sieve or pasta spoon
• Ideally this comes out best cooked on a gas hob as it gives the pan a higher heat all around but electric works fine.

Prep and cooking (10-15 minutes)

1. Start by cooking the chicken, fill the saucepan about 3/4 full with chicken stock or water & stock cube(s) and put it on to boil, as it boils add the chicken then turn the heat down to low. This is where you want the chicken strips to be nice and small so they cook quickly, it should only take about 5 minutes. When it’s ready remove it with a slotted spoon onto a plate and turn the heat but up full.
2. Put the wok/pan on a high heat.
3. When the stock is boiling add the noodles, when they come back upto the boil reduce the heat to medium.
4. While the noodles are cooking wait until the pan/wok starts to smoke, then add a little oil (about 1tbsp), ground nut/peanut oil has a higher smoking point and a nice flavour, but any oil is fine.
5. Add the onion and toss the pan (if you’ve got the hang of it) and/or stir with a wooden spoon constantly. After about a minute add the bean sprouts and cook for another minute or so still stirring, then add the garlic and cook for another minute (still stirring, it is a type of stir fry!)
6. Add a dash of Worcestershire sauce (i use about 1 tbsp) and keep cooking and stirring for another minute or so.
7. The noodles should now be ready, so either transfer them from the saucepan to the wok/pan with a pasta spoon, or drain them and add the the pan. If you are draining them keep 1/2 tbsp of the stock to add to the wok/pan as you add the noodles.
8. Get your scissors and snip up the noodles in chunks in the pan, make sure to be careful if it’s a non stick pan so not to scratch it. We do this so when we mix the noodles they actually incorporate with the rest of the chow mein, rather than sitting in the middle with everything else around the edge.
9. Add the chicken, light soy sauce (4-6 tbsp) and dark soy sauce (2-3 tbsp) and get stirring while it cooks away at full heat, when most of the liquid has gone (should be 2-3 minutes) serve and eat! (Don’t burn your mouth)

Quick and easy chicken chow mein recipe (and cheaper than a takeaway)

Hope you enjoy! If it looks dry just add more soy/stock, it shouldn’t need any salt due to the amount of soy sauce, but I still usually put a few flakes of sea salt over the top 🙄

Costing this dish it comes in at about 90p a serving, or £1.80 for a size similar to that you’d get from a takeaway.

According to the internet, chow mein is a Romanized version of the Taishanese word chāu-mèn and it’s enjoyed mainly in Nepal, America, India and sunny old England.

From what I can find Westernised chow mein is nothing like they would have it in China, it seems over there is more of a soft noodle broth, kind of like a wonton soup but with no wontons.

But who cares!

Yum.

Keep an eye out for more recipes, I’ll try and get some more takeaway style ones up soon.