Easy Chicken Chow Mein

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Easy Chicken Chow Mein

How to make easy chicken chow mein! This recipe tastes exactly like the chow mein recipe at my parents’ Chinese restaurant. 

At my parent’s Chinese restaurant, we would make this dish for almost every customer and I would always want the chef to make extra so I can always eat some too! I fell in love with this chicken chow mein with bean sprouts, cabbage, carrots, and tender chicken! Can you tell that I love to eat or what? 

This Chinese chicken chow mein recipe definitely has the same restaurant quality taste that you’ve eaten! If you want the same restaurant quality taste, you will need all the ingredients listed. Make sure to check out this easy chicken chow mein recipe because the flavors are on point and taste even better than take-out. 

To make a spicy chicken chow mein recipe, you can add chili flakes when you fry the onions or top the noodles with your favorite chili oil! 

Marinade

The chicken marinade for this easy chicken chow mein recipe is to die for! The chicken is flavorful and tender, which makes a huge difference! For the shaoxing cooking wine, you can substitute with dry sherry or sake. If you cannot have alcohol, you can also omit this. 

I recommend marinating the chicken for at least 15 minutes up to 1 hour to have maximum flavor. 

Lo Mein Noodles

I love the lo mein noodles you can buy in the refrigerator sections in Asian grocery stores. They are so springy and they are the same noodles we used at the restaurant. 

If you can’t find these lo mein noodles in your local Asian grocery store, you can sub with fresh ramen noodles. We are looking for thick, long and fresh yellow noodles. 

Cook the lo mein noodles until al dente and rinse under cold water until all starch is rinsed off. Strain the noodles until there is no water dripping. Add these noodles in the stir fry and it will result in a chewy and springy noodle.

The chow mein sauce recipe also works perfectly with these lo mein noodles because the noodles soak up the salty sweet sauce!

Heat of the pan/wok

To make the chicken chow mein even more delicious, I recommend using a wok. The high heat on the wok gives the chow mein a ‘wok hei’ flavor. ‘Wok hei’ in cantonese means the smokey flavor coming from the heat and caramelization of the sugars and sauces. 

If you don’t have a wok like me, you can use a pan. Turn the heat to medium-high when frying the chicken, veggies and lo mein noodles. Considering that the temperature is high, you will need to work fast to fry the chicken, veggies and lo mein noodles. 

Make sure to heat the pan until you can see smoke before adding your oil and frying your food. If the oil and pan is not hot enough, the chicken will soak some of the oil and the chicken will taste oily. Also, keep in mind that the chicken has water content because of the marinade. Please be careful when frying the chicken because the oil will start to splatter.

Substitute with other protein

The chow mein recipe is also very versatile. You can substitute the chicken with other types of protein such as beef, pork, and shrimp. The marinade for the chicken can also be used for the other types of proteins. Marinate the other proteins for at least 15 minutes to an hour before cooking. 

To make a vegetarian chow mein, you can sub the chicken bouillon with salt and the oyster sauce with vegan oyster sauce. Also you can substitute the protein with a vegetarian protein of choice or omit protein and add a little bit more vegetables. This vegetable chow mein recipe will be just as good with extra firm tofu as well!

Ingredients you need for your chicken chow mein recipe:

• Lo mein noodles
• Green onions
• Carrot
• White onion
• Bean sprouts
• Chicken 
• White pepper
• Salt
• Soy sauce
• Sugar
• Shaoxing cooking wine
• Cornstarch 
• Light virgin olive oil
• Oyster sauce
• Chicken bouillon

Steps to make the easy chicken chow mein recipe:

Step 1. Slice the chicken in thin strips. Marinate with a pinch of white pepper, 1 tsp salt, 1 tbs soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar, 1 tsp shaoxing cooking wine, ½ cornstarch and 1 tbs oil for 15 minutes.

Step 2. Make sauce by mixing 1.5 tbs oyster sauce, 1 tbs soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar, ½ tsp chicken bouillon, and 3 tbs water. 

Step 3. Cook lo mein noodles according to package directions. Then strain the noodles and wash with cold water to get off the starch. 

Step 4. In a large pan on high heat, add ¼ cup of oil. Then fry chicken until chicken is cooked through and set aside.

Step 5.  Slice green onions, white onion, and carrots thinly. Next, using the same pan with the same oil that you fried your chicken, fry the white onion and carrots first. Then, add the bean sprouts and green onions. Finally, add the chicken and lo mein noodles.

Step 6. Pour the sauce in the pan and mix well. Turn off the heat and enjoy this easy chicken chow mein recipe.

This easy chicken chow mein recipe is really filling and tasty. This quick and easy chicken chow mein recipe goes perfectly with another dish—Mongolian Beef. You will have the perfect Chinese takeout at home with these dishes! You can find the recipe here. Hope you get to try this easy chicken chow mein recipe!