Lo Mein

Once again, this recipe comes (only slightly modified) from the America's Test Kitchen Healthy Family Cookbook.  The original recipe called for Pork and certain vegetables that I didn't have on hand so I improvised.  Primarily I was interested in tasting the seasoning and the rest is always flexible.

If you are OK with Fish, then this recipe is easily adapted for a flexible vegetarian meal without an animal for the protein. 

This recipe is cooked over high heat so it comes together quickly.  The bulk of the time is in prepping the ingredients, which should happen before your pan goes over the heat.  Since you will be cooking over high heat, use either a heavy bottomed stainless steel pan (the biggest/widest you've got) or a heavy cast iron Dutch/French oven.

Try to shove in as many vegetables as you can.  This is a great recipe to use up any straggling veggies in your crisper.  When you cook, just put in the heartier veggies first to cook longer before the cabbage, or any of the veggies with a higher water content.

The Sauce:

• 4 1/2 T Soy Sauce (or Tamari)
• 3 T Oyster Sauce
• 3 T Hoisin Sauce
• 1 1/2 T Toasted Sesame Oil
• 1/4 t Five-spice Powder (I totally love this stuff!)
• 3/4 C Chicken (or Vegetable) Broth
• 1 1/2 t Cornstarch (or Kudzu)

In a small bowl, mix together the first five ingredients (Soy, Oyster, Hoisin, Toasted Sesame Oil, 5-Spice Powder).  If you are using a protein such as Chicken, Pork, Beef, Shrimp, Tofu, etc., take 1/4 C of this mixture and marinate the protein for 30 min in the fridge.

Add to the remaining mixture the Broth and Cornstarch.

I didn't measure the ingredients and tend to like a bit more sauce so I likely made about 50% more than what was called for.  You'll want to bump up these amounts if you will be serving this over rice instead of with the noodles as the rice will absorb significantly more.

The Noodles:

• 1 lb of your favorite noodle
• Whole Wheat Spaghetti
• Rice Noodles
• Udon
• Buckwheat Soba
• Large Stock Pot 3/4 filled with water
• 1 T Salt (to season the pasta as it cooks)

Bring water to a boil, add salt and pasta and cook according to manufacturers directions.  Stir occasionally to prevent clumping.  Drain and leave in colander.  If using Rice noodles, drizzle the barest amount of oil and toss lightly to prevent sticking.

The Stuff:

• 4 1/2 t Canola Oil
• Thinly sliced Protein
• We used thinly sliced Chicken, but you easily can use Tofu, Pork, Shrimp, etc.
• freeze the meat for 15 minutes to make slicing easier
• 6 T Chinese Rice cooking wine or Dry Sherry
• I used Sherry
• 1 lb Mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
• Shiitake, Cremini, Portebello, or other hearty variety
• 1/2 head cabbage, thinly sliced
• called for Napa, but I used regular green cabbage
• 3 Carrots, cut on the bias into oblong rounds
• 8 Scallions, sliced thin
• 1 T Ginger, grated
• 3 Garlic cloves, minced fine or garlic pressed
• 1 t Sriracha Sauce (think Rooster sauce)

In a large Dutch Oven or saute pan, over high heat, cook the protein (Beef, Chicken, or pork) in batches using the canola oil and Sherry.  Do not cook the meat through, but make sure there is no remaining pink and you do want some browning.  (Approximately 3 minutes per batch.)

If using Shrimp, these take no time at all to cook, so watch their color change closely

If using Tofu don't slice too thin; I recommend firm or extra firm texture and either 1" cubes or 1/2" to 1/4" slices.  Do not use high heat as you may scorch rather than lightly brown and you may need to use more oil to prevent sticking.  I also love the texture created with Tofu coated in corn starch and fried.  If you would like to use this method, don't marinate the tofu first.

Set aside the Protein, cover with foil, to cook the vegetables in the same pot.  It was at this point I realized I'd forgotten to use the Sherry, so I used it with the vegetables to deglaze the pan. 

Use a bit of the canola oil, and cook the mushrooms and carrots over high to medium high heat.  (approx. 4 to 6 minutes)  Add in the cabbage and cook until wilted, (approx. 2 minutes more) Add most of the scallions, reserving some for garnish.  Also add in the garlic and ginger.  Stir to combine and cook for one minute. 

Re-wisk the sauce and add to the vegetables.  Add back in the protein and any accumulated juices.  Bring to a simmer and cook until sauce has thickened slightly and the protein is heated through.  Add the cooked noodles and the srircha saucee and toss until hot and combined.

Serve with scallion garnish.

Enjoy!