You might not be willing to admit it, but everyone has at least one fast food joint that’s their guilty pleasure. That type of restaurant which you know sucks, yet for some reason, you keep getting drawn back to it. Maybe it’s Wendy’s, maybe it’s Del Taco, or even Arby’s. Whatever that place might be, I won’t judge. That is at least as long as you don’t judge me. You see my guilty pleasure fast food joint is none other than Panda Express. Yes, folks that bastion of super authentic Chinese food, where they cook up dishes in huge batches and deep-fried chicken bits soggy and warm for your dining pleasure. And while I’ll admit that a lot of the things they serve at the “Panda” sort of suck, I keep going back there for one specific reason. The vegetable chow mein.
It would be an understatement to say that I’m an absolute sucker for vegetable chow mein. Not only do I love it for its simplicity, but also because it’s one of the few vegetarian dishes that can actually leave me feeling full. In fact, I’ll go on the record stating that I would happily eat it by itself for a meal any day of the year.
Now no offense to the Panda, but I’m pretty sure we can make a better vegetable chow mein than them. The first thing we’re going to do is add in more veggies. I mean it’s vegetable chow mein for pity’s sake, you should be able to have a vegetable in every bite. I say no more mouthfuls of just noodles.
Secondly, we are going to get more sophisticated with our choice of vegetables. I say keep the celery and onion but swap the cabbage with bok choi. And while we’re at it let’s add in some mung bean sprouts for good measure. Okay, this is making me hungry, so enough talking let’s get to making our vegetable chow mein.
Tips, Tricks, & Suggestions
- One of the ingredients we are using today is Shaoxing wine. It’s sort of hard to come by outside of Asian markets and the internet. If you can’t find it then a good substitute would be either a dry white wine or dry sherry.
- The vegetables I am using today are just what I prefer. Please feel free to sub them out with whatever type of vegetables you like.
- Try and find either chow mein noodles or thin Chinese egg noodles. If you can’t find those then you can use either udon or spaghetti.
- Pair this up with either our kung poa chicken, bell peppers & beef, or orange chicken
Vegetable Chow Mein Recipe
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 15 to 18 minutes
Servings: 4
Ingredients
8 oz. of Chow mein noodles, dry
1 Baby bok choy, sliced into 1 inch sized pieces
1 Small onion, sliced into thin strips, should be about 1 cup
1½ cup of Mung bean sprouts
2 Sticks of celery, sliced on an angle
1 to 2 Cloves of garlic, minced
4 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
For the sauce:
¼ cup of chicken stock, vegetable stock, or water
3 Teaspoons of soy sauce
2 Teaspoons of Shaoxing wine
2 Teaspoons of oyster sauce
½ Teaspoon sesame oil
¼ Teaspoon of sugar
¼ Teaspoon of white pepper
Instructions
- Get a large pot of water boiling on your stove
- Make the sauce: While the water is coming to a boil, mix all of the sauce ingredients in a bowl until the sugar dissolves.
- Boil the noodles: Add the noodles to the boiling water. The cooking time will differ depending on the type of noodles you have. Just cook them according to the instructions on their packaging. Once they have cooked, strain them in a colander and rinse with cold water.
- Fry the noodles: Place 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil into a wok and place it over high heat. Then toss in the noodles and stir fry them for 4 to 6 minutes. We just want some of the noodles to brown and crisp up a little. Once you’ve done this, take the noodles out and set them aside.
- Fry up the onion, celery, and bok choy: With the wok still hot add the remaining 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Toss in the garlic and quickly saute for 30 seconds. Make sure to not burn the garlic! Then add in the onion, celery, and bok choy, and stir fry these ingredients until they begin to brown up, should be about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Finish the chow mein: Return the noodles to the wok, and add in the sauce. Stir, scoop, and lift the noodles, vegetables, and sauce together. Do this for 2 minutes. Finally, add in the bean sprouts, and mix it into the chow mein, for 30 to 60 seconds.
- Serve the vegetable chow mein and enjoy!
Vegetable Chow Mein Recipe
Ingredients
- 8 oz. of Chow mein noodles dry
- 1 Baby bok choy sliced into 1 inch sized pieces
- 1 Small onion sliced into thin strips, should be about 1 cup
- 1½ cup of Mung bean sprouts
- 2 Sticks of celery sliced on an angle
- 1 to 2 Cloves of garlic minced
- 4 Tablespoons of vegetable oil
For the sauce:
- ¼ cup of chicken stock vegetable stock, or water
- 3 Teaspoons of soy sauce
- 2 Teaspoons of Shaoxing wine
- 2 Teaspoons of oyster sauce
- ½ Teaspoon sesame oil
- ¼ Teaspoon of sugar
- ¼ Teaspoon of white pepper
Instructions
- Get a large pot of water boiling on your stove
- Make the sauce: While the water is coming to a boil, mix all of the sauce ingredients in a bowl until the sugar dissolves.
- Boil the noodles: Add the noodles to the boiling water. The cooking time will differ depending on the type of noodles you have. Just cook them according to the instructions on their packaging. Once they have cooked, strain them in a colander and rinse with cold water.
- Fry the noodles: Place 2 tablespoons of the vegetable oil into a wok and place it over a high heat. Then toss in the noodles and stir fry them for 4 to 6 minutes. We just want some of the noodles to brown and crisp up a little. Once you’ve done this, take the noodles out and set them aside.
- Fry up the onion, celery, and bok choy: With the wok still hot add the remaining 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil. Toss in the garlic and quickly saute for 30 seconds. Make sure to not burn the garlic! Then add in the onion, celery, and bok choy, and stir fry these ingredients until they begin to brown up, should be about 5 to 7 minutes.
- Finish the chow mein: Return the noodles to the wok, and add in the sauce. Stir, scoop, and lift the noodles, vegetables, and sauce together. Do this for 2 minutes. Finally, add in the bean sprouts, and mix it into the chow mein, for 30 to 60 seconds.
- Serve the vegetable chow mein and enjoy!
Inspiration from other blogs
From The Woks of Life
From A Spicy Perspective
