====== Chow Mein ======
We got a wok! This is more of a chow mein template than a chow mein recipe--it works so many ways! Based on [[https://damndelicious.net/2019/05/17/easy-chow-mein/print/|damndelicious.net easy chow mein]]

===== Ingredients =====
  * ~1lb noodles (Nanka Seimen chow mein egg/udon noodles are my favorite but they got hard to find. Any noodle with a nice bite will work.)
  * Veggies chopped or sliced
  * Sauce

=== Veggie Options ===
I like to select 3-4 of these or whatever else sounds good:

  * 1 large carrot cut into matchsticks
  * 4 baby bok choy, coarsely chopped
  * a fist-size hunk of green cabbage, coarsely chopped
  * 1 cup bean sprouts
  * 1 cup peas
  * 1 bell pepper, thinly sliced
  * 1 medium onion, thinly sliced
  * a few oz mushrooms, sliced

=== Sauce Options ===
Original sauce recipe:

  * 1/4 cup oyster sauce
  * 1 T soy sauce
  * 3 cloves garlic, minced
  * 2 t freshly grated ginger
  * 1 t sriracha

I first replaced the oyster sauce with brown braising sauce, which is mostly corn syrup and msg, and it was so delicious. We ran out and I tried veggie oyster sauce, which is mushroom based. It wasn't as sweet as I wanted and has some other flavor I'm not as fond of, so when using that I do something more like:

  * 2-3 T mushroom not-oyster sauce
  * 2-3 T soy sauce
  * 1-3 t brown sugar
  * garlic and ginger as above

===== Directions =====
  - Pre-cook the noodles and then fry them alone using ~1T oil in the wok for a few minutes, until they reach your desired level of browned and crisped. Move noodles to the eventual serving bowl and set aside.
  - Heat more oil in the wok and briefly sautee any of the veggies that need to soften (carrots, onion, mushrooms, pepper...).
  - Add veggies that you want to wilt (bok choy, cabbage...) for just a minute.
  - Stir in the noodles and sauce to fry for a minute or two longer.
  - Toss in any veggies staying crisp (bean sprouts, maybe peas...) and serve.


originally submitted by jes_p on Jul 16, 2020
{{tag>jes_p}}