Silky Cantonese Chow Mein Food

CANTONESE CHOW MEIN

Steps:

• Immerse egg noodles into boiling water for 30 seconds, then remove and set aside.
• Heat your wok at high heat, keep it dry. Add 5 tbsp oil and coat the wok evenly with oil.
• Fry the noodles for about 2 minutes, and keep shaking it back and forth, until the noodles turn golden brown. Flip and repeat.
• The outer noodles should be golden, inner ones are soft. Remove noodles and arrange in center of a plate.
• Blanch the vegetables in boiling water (30 seconds). You can arrange the bok choy in a circle around the noodles if you like.
• Put some oil and fry minced garlic in the work, then add the blanched vegetables and stir fry. Add the meat ingredients, 1 tbsp water, cover the wok and steam for 1 - 2 minutes.
• Add the flavouring ingredients, the water with corn starch, and fry gently. Add a bit more water if you want more sauce.
• Pour the veggies and meat over the noodles.
• Note #1: Char xiu (Honey BBQ pork) is available in Chinatown or a good Chinese grocery store, as well as baby boy choy (also known as Shanghai bok choy).
• Note #2: Ideally you should use a large non-stick wok for frying noodles. Traditionally, Chinese people use a carbon steel wok, which is baked in the oven after purchase, and then rubbed with oil after washing each time to protect it. It turns black over time, and is pretty much non-stick. You could also use a non-stick pan, but non-stick coatings are poisonous and will accumulate in your body. Non-stick pans should generally be only used with medium or low heat. If you like them, get a professional grade non-stick pan for high heat cooking, it feels like ceramic.
• Note #3: I often add a dash of rice wine (sake) to the meat and vegetables. It just gives it a little extra flavour and isn't salty like most cooking wines.

BEEF CHOW MEIN

Steps:

• Place sliced beef in a small bowl.
• Add dash of salt, dash of pepper and 1/2 tsp minced garlic.
• Refrigerate for 2 hours.
• In a small bowl, combine next 5 ingredients.
• Set aside.
• Heat skillet or wok over high heat.
• Stir-fry beef until cooked throughout.
• Add next 6 ingredients.
• Stir and shake pan constantly for 2-3 minutes more until vegetables just start to become aromatic.
• Blend in fish sauce mixture.
• Add onion, cabbage and oyster sauce.
• Continue to stir-fry approximately 1 minute or until crisp tender.
• Serve over hot rice.

CHICKEN-PEANUT CHOW MEIN

Steps:

• Cook carrots, snow peas, and noodles in boiling water 3 minutes; drain.
• Heat 2 teaspoons oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat.
• Cut chicken crosswise into thin strips.
• Add chicken and 1 tablespoon soy sauce to pan; stir-fry 3 minutes.
• Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.
• Combine remaining 2 tablespoons soy sauce, broth, oyster sauce, sugar, and pepper, stirring well.
• Heat remaining 1 teaspoon oil over medium-high heat.
• Add mushrooms and ginger to pan; stir-fry for 3 minutes.
• Add broth mixture, and cook for 1 minute.
• Add noodle mixture and chicken to pan; cook 1 minute, tossing to combine.
• Sprinkle with onions and peanuts.

CANTONESE PORK CHOW MEIN

Steps:

• Brown meat in oil. Push meat aside, add garlic, onion, pepper, saute until onion is soft.
• Combine corn starch, low-sodium soy sauce and broth, add to skillet. Cook until thickens and add stir-fry or chow mein vegetables to heat.
• Serve with chow mein noodles or fried rice, or also in flour tortillas for pork fajita tacos, if you prefer and enjoy.