Chow Mein

Chances are if there is only one ethnic restaurant in your town it is a Chinese restaurant (or Italian) possibly one that also serves hamburgers or fish and chips.

In honor of some of my favorite Chinese American Restaurants here is a recipe for Chow Mein. A much maligned dish that does have its roots in traditional Chinese noodle dishes. Its leaves and branches are very much  in America.

Personally I hated Chow Mein when I was young because it always came with those crispy short noodles. However on the west coast of the US A it is served often as a stir fried noodle dish.  Stir fried noodles? I’m in! I’ve enjoyed many plates and cardboard containers of Chow Mein since then.

Recently I began thinking back to the days of the crispy noodle dish and that I should revisit it. So many things that I disliked a quarter century ago have grown on me (Not literally that would be gross). I decided in my beer induced wisdom, that I should try to make it the way my American Grandmother made it (She was Italian and Transylvanian not Chinese) a big platter of steaming crisp veggies and meat in a cornstarch thickened sauce with a hint (Just a hint mind you) of soy sauce and surrounded with a border of crispy noodles out of a can. Mmmm fried food in a can…whoever came up with those French fried onion things , that people buy by the crate at Thanksgiving, should get a knighthood, I’m just saying…

Well I found the crispy noodles in the soup aisle at the local supermarket and went ahead and made my Grandmothers Chow Mein, or at least tried to with the help of a 1943 Fannie Farmer and a darn good memory for stuff I ate a quarter century ago.

The result was rather nice. I most certainly do not hate the crunchy noodles anymore. Though I am sure if you are gluten free it would be fine over rice or quinoa.

Ingredients for four to six peeps:

1 Pound of chicken breast meat skinless and boneless cut into bite sized pieces (Or cubed tofu, beef, pork)

3 Tablespoons of peanut oil

1 Small onion chopped

1 Inch piece of ginger chopped very fine

2 Cloves of garlic chopped

2 Celery ribs sliced at and angle

¾ Cup of chicken or vegetable stock

1 Tablespoon plus one teaspoon of soy sauce

2 Tablespoons of sherry

1 Teaspoon of sugar

1 Tablespoon of cornstarch

1 Green pepper seeded and cut into squares

1 Red pepper seeded and cut into squares

1 Small can of water chestnuts sliced drained

½ Pound of bean sprouts washed and trimmed

1 Teaspoon of sesame oil

2 Green onions sliced to garnish

1 Can of those crispy Chow Mein noodles

How you do this, I tell you now!

First mix the stock, soy sauce, sherry, sugar and cornstarch together. Set aside. Heat the peanut oil in a wok or large heavy bottomed skillet. Add the chicken and stir rapidly till the chicken has turned white but has not yet browned, add the onion, garlic and ginger and stir 2 minutes till onion is glossy.  Add the celery stir fry a minute more. Stir the stock mixture and then add to the pan, toss in the peppers, water chestnuts and bean sprouts. Cook for 3-4 minutes till the sauce is thickened. Place on a platter and surround with the crispy noodles just before serving, and drizzle with the sesame oil and sprinkle with the green onions.

Note: To make the west coast version, add enough cooked Chinese egg noodles for four people, along with an additional tablespoon of peanut oil, when adding the celery. Increase the stir frying time to two minutes before adding the stock.  Omit the crispy noodles.