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Homemade Chicken Chow Mein
If you were ordering Chicken Chow Mein for delivery, you probably would add a few more classics like Orange Chicken, Fried Rice, and Chinese Dry-Fried Green Beans and Vegetable Stir Fry or Chicken Stir Fry to round out the tasting menu. Don’t forget a pot of fluffy White Rice, too! We like to do this at home too, so everyone gets a few bites of their favorite dishes. Whether it’s part of a feast of many dishes, or just an easy weeknight dinner, chicken chow mein is an easy recipe to make at home.
What Is Chow Mein?
Chow mein falls solidly into the category of Chinese-American cuisine—it is not an authentic Chinese dish. It’s likely derived from a few different stir-fried noodle dishes, but was created in American Chinese restaurants to cater to Western palates. What’s the difference between lo mein and chow mein? A lot of people in America use these two terms interchangeably, but the most consistent differences are the type of noodles used and the order in which things are cooked. Chow mein is usually made from dried noodles, whereas most lo mein recipes call for fresh egg noodles (the kind you’d find in a refrigerated section of a grocery store). Chow mein recipes (like ours) call for the noodles, veggies and chicken to be stir-fried together, while many lo mein recipes have the noodles tossed in right at the end or even call for the veggies and/or meat to be served on top of cooked noodles.
Ingredients You’ll Need To Make This Easy Chicken Chow Mein
Chicken breast
Cornstarch
Soy sauce
Dried chow mein noodles
Garlic
Ginger
Oyster sauce. If you’re not familiar with oyster sauce, it’s time to get familiar! This classic Chinese sauce is indeed made from oysters (just like it sounds like it is) and is the key to the super savory goodness of chow mein (and lots of other beloved takeout classics).
Rice vinegar
Brown sugar
Chili sauce
Sesame oil
Canola oil
Veggies: carrots, celery and cabbage
How To Make Chicken Chow Mein
There’s a lot of “into the pan, then out of the pan, then back into the pan, then back out of the pan” work to do here, so it’s helpful to have a few plates set near the stovetop while you work. Here’s how to make it:
Season the chicken—salt, soy sauce, cornstarch.
Boil the chickenand the dried chow mein noodles separately. We use one medium pot and one large pot.
Stir-fry the chicken. Stir-fry the boiled chicken pieces for a few minutes in a combo of sesame and canola oil in a large wok or skillet.
Stir-fry the veggies. Stir-fry the veggies in that same sesame-and-canola oil mixture.
Make the chicken chow mein sauce. Whisk together oyster sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, chili sauce and rice vinegar to make a sauce.
Stir-fry the noodles! Fry the cooked chow mein noodles with the sauce until the noodles are caramelized and crispy in places.
Stir-fry it all together! Add the chicken and veggies and toss it all together.
Serve! Garnish with sliced green onions.
How to Store Chow Mein Leftovers + Tips
Leftovers can be stored in the fridge for 3-4 days, and frozen for up to 2 months. We prefer reheating leftovers in a skillet on the stovetop.
A note on noodles: Our recipe calls for one 12 ounce package of dried chow mein noodles. These noodles are made with wheat, and are sturdy enough to hold up to being first cooked, then stir-fried.
Stir fry is a technique that loves high heat, and constant stirring. It also helps to have a wok, but is definitely not necessary.
Save yourself some prep time, and buy pre-cut vegetables.
We often use this recipe as a way to do a fridge cleanout–everything from peas and corn and spinach have made their way into our chicken chow mein.
More Better-Than-Takeout Recipes From The Modern Proper
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