Slippery Lo Mein Noodles tossed in a Lo Mein Sauce with tons of veggies and protein of your choice. This takeout mainstay comes down to the right sauce and the right noodles – then you’re just 6 minutes away from noodle heaven!
Lo Mein Noodles
The actual noodles pictured above were my dinner last night, albeit I was a little heavy handed with a big dollop of chilli sauce that had me gasping and sweating (and swearing) through every bite.
Don’t fear, it was self inflicted torture. Those red strips you see are capsicum / bell peppers, not chilli. There is no sign of chilli in this recipe – Lo Mein is not spicy!!!!
What goes in Lo Mein Noodles
Here’s what goes into the noodles (see below for sauce):
• Lo Mein noodles – for takeout style, use fresh yellow noodles (usually labelled “egg noodles”) that are about 3mm / 1/8″ thick. By “fresh”, I mean the ones you get in the fridge section of grocery stores (Aussies – Coles, Woolies etc, find it in the pasta section of fridge). These noodles have the chewy, slippery texture you love about take out.
Next best is dried egg noodles, or vac packed “fresh” egg noodles.
But really, you can also totally make Lo Mein with any noodles – thick, thin, fresh, dried, egg or rice – or ramen noodles, or even spaghetti or other long pasta. Lo Mein doesn’t judge! This is going to be delish with ANY type of noodles (or pasta – trust me, no one will know!).
• Protein – use either chicken, pork, beef, turkey, prawns/shrimp or tofu. Directions on how to cut and cook with each of these included in the recipe (PS hard tofu is so delish in this!)
• Vegetables – I used capsicum/bell peppers, carrot and green onion. Use 5 cups in total (packed) of whatever vegetables you want. Plus 1/2 an onion and garlic – these are part of the flavour base!
Lo Mein Sauce
A gold standard Lo Mein calls for a great Sauce – and here’s what you need for truly takeout grade Lo Mein! You see these ingredients in virtually every one of my stir fries and noodles – they’re the holy grail of Chinese cooking!
Dark soy sauce is labelled as such on the bottle, and sold at most large grocery stores nowadays. It adds colour and flavour to the dish – notice how my noodles are nicely bronzed? Thank you Mr Dark Soy!
Soy Sauce – the other one can be any generic soy sauce or light soy sauce (bottle will be labelled as such). This soy sauce adds salt and some flavour to the dish, but it doesn’t stain the noodles like dark soy.
Chinese cooking wine (Shaoxing wine) is an essential ingredient for making truly “restaurant standard” Asian noodles. Substitute with Mirin, cooking sake or dry sherry. Non alcoholic substitute – sub both the cooking wine AND water with low sodium chicken broth/stock, reduce light soy sauce to 1.5 tbsp.
Lo Mein making TIPS!
The making part is a breeze – and moves super fast, so make sure you have all the ingredients ready to toss into the wok!
Here are some tips to make your Lo Mein cooking life a breeze, even if you’re a first timer:
Be prepared! As with all stir fries and noodles, have everything chopped and ready to toss straight in because once you start cooking, it moves FAST! You’ll be done 5 – 6 minutes.
Double duty sauce – whatever protein you use, season it with some of the Sauce before cooking. Makes it extra tasty!
TWO wooden spoons will make your tossing life a whole lot easier
Wok or skillet – you don’t have to cook stir fries in a wok, but it does make it easier to toss enthusiastically, as is called for with stir fries. If you don’t have a wok, just use a very large skillet, preferably one heavy based that holds heat well.
Keep things MOVING! Once you start cooking, keep stirring for the whole time otherwise things will start stewing i.e. leeching liquid. This will make your vegetables soggy and your noodles watery.
CRISP tender vegetables – all stir fries and noodles are supposed to have “crisp tender” vegetables, meaning the vegetables are just cooked but are still a tiny bit raw inside. This not only retains their flavour, colour and nutrients better, but also is integral to the dish because overcooked vegetables leech water which waters down the flavour of the sauce.
These Lo Mein Noodles have enough vegetables in them to make it a complete meal, but if you’re really busting for some extra greens, you can either cram in another 2 cups or so of vegetables (ideally something like shredded cabbage, spinach or bean sprouts that are “noodle shaped” once cooked so they kind of disappear into the noodles), or add a Side Salad like one of these:
Side salad suggestions
And with that, I get to sign off. It’s your turn. Go forth and be a Noodle Master! And remember, toss with abundance! That is the very essence of stir fried noodles. Toss, toss, toss!! – Nagi x
Watch how to make it
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Lo Mein Noodles
Ingredients
- 1.5 tbsp vegetable or peanut oil
- 2 garlic cloves , finely minced (Note 1)
- 1/2 onion , finely sliced
- 300g / 10oz chicken or other protein , sliced 0.5cm / 1/5″ thick (Note 2)
- 2 medium carrots , peeled and cut into 4 x 0.75cm / 1.75 x 1/3″ batons
- 1 large red capsicum / bell pepper , sliced (or 2 small)
- 6 green onions , cut into 5 cm/2” lengths
- 500g / 1lb Lo Mein, Hokkien or other medium thickness egg noodles, fresh, , prepared per packet (Note 3 for dried)
- 1/4 cup (65ml) water
Sauce:
- 4 tsp cornflour / cornstarch
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce (Note 4)
- 2 tbsp soy sauce or light soy sauce (Note 4)
- 1 tbsp Chinese cooking wine or Mirin (Note 5 subs)
- 1 tsp white sugar (omit if using Mirin)
- 1/2 tsp sesame oil , toasted, optional (Note 6)
- 1/4 tsp white pepper (sub black)
Garnish (optional):
- Green onion , finely sliced
Instructions
- Sauce: Mix cornflour and dark soy until lump free, then add remaining Sauce ingredients.
- Season Chicken: Transfer 2 tsp Sauce into bowl with chicken. Toss to coat.
- Heat oil in a wok or large heavy based skillet over high heat until smoking.
- Add onion and garlic, stir 30 seconds.
- Add chicken, stir until white on the outside, still raw inside – 1 minute.
- Add carrot and capsicum/bell peppers, cook 2 minutes or until chicken is cooked.
- Add noodles, Sauce and water. Use 2 wooden spoons and toss for 30 seconds.
- Add green onions, toss for another 1 minute until all the noodles are slick with sauce.
- Serve immediately, garnished with extra green onions if using.
Recipe Notes:
- Beef, pork, turkey – slice and cook per recipe
- Ground / mince meat – cook garlic and onion per recipe, then cook ground / mince. Once cooked, add 1 tbsp sauce, stir, then proceed with next steps in recipe.
- Hard tofu – cut into 1 x 4cm / 1/3 x 1.5″ batons, cook per recipe.
- Prawns/shrimp – use small peeled, cook per recipe.
- More veggies – use another 2 1/2 cups chopped veggies.
- Dark soy sauce is labelled as such, provides colour and gives more flavour to the sauce than other soy sauces. Sold at Aussie grocery stores nowadays. Fallback: sub with more ordinary or light soy (below)
- Soy Sauce – ordinary all purpose soy sauce, they just say “soy sauce” on the label (eg. Kikkoman). Can also use Light soy sauce – bottle is labelled as such.
Nutrition Information:
Noodle Lovers – wait!
Your life will not be complete without these noodles too!
Life of Dozer
You wouldn’t believe how often people ask me if I crimp his ears…. NO I DO NOT!!! 😂
(Though I cannot blame anyone for asking, being the crazy Dog Lady that I am)
Hi nagi , can I used cooked chicken for this dish , and if so should I still marinate it first .?
Hi Kevin, I’d just throw it in at the last minute, no need to marinade – N x
Hi Nagi , I had already tried this dish before your reply and added the cooked chicken after all the other veg was cooked and before the noodles , worked great , yet again another great dish from you .👍
Perfect Kevin!!
Omg Nagi, you’re going to put take out restaurants out of business. Just made this and omg, I am never buying restaurant lo mein again. Thank you!
And homemade is SO much more satisfying!
I love your recipes and how detailed you are providing extra tips for the best results! I haven’t been able to find fresh egg noodles but I know everything needs to be sitting ready so I can keep things moving. If I cook some dried noodles beforehand will they stay good while I cook the chicken and veg? Or do you have any tips there? Thanks so much either way.
Hi Rachel! Yep – that’s right, cook your dried noodles first then once drained, move onto cooking the dish 🙂 If you’re using dried rice noodles (white) then make sure you don’t leave the cooked/rehydrated noodles sitting around for ages because that makes them more prone to breaking when cooking. But if they’re egg noodles, they can be waiting around for longer – hours!! 🙂 N x
Thank you so much! I also swear by your shepherds pie recipe – I’m from Ireland and yours is the best I’ve found so far. Thanks again 🙂
This was so good! I used tofu and it turned out so yummy (The tip to use hard tofu is a life changer! 🙏🏼)
Hard tofu is awesome!!! I use it in all my stir fries as a meat free protein alternative! N x
Hard tofu is awesome!!! I use it in all my stir fries as a meat free protein alternative! N x
Others I’ve tried in the past pale in comparison to this! STRAIGHT to my recipe folder, THANK YOU NAGI!!! We love you!
Glad you enjoyed it Lauren! N x
Made it. Loved by all. Will be a repeat soon!
Oh wow, that was fast! So glad you enjoyed it Michael 🙂 N x
Hi! This looks SO good! I have been craving dishes like this as it is winter here and I feel the need to pack it on and hibernate. 🙂 I’ve been reading about the fires in AU, how is it where you are?
YOU ARE WITHOUT DOUBT THE BEST FOR DETAIL … SO HELPFUL ! RECIPES HAVE NEVER, EVER FAILED ! THANKS !!!
Thank you Toni, that’s quite a compliment! N xx
I mentioned this before,
Can you use american measurements, instead of grams, TY
oh yikes! I always do – I just forgot last night 😂 Just updated! N xx
We use grams in Australia which is where Nagi is based. There are lots of good measurement converters online though. Or Nagi, maybe you could add a converting tool for our American friend? 😉
Thanks Tristan!! I just forgot to add ounces in this particular recipe, I’,m usually pretty good at remembering! N xx
Hi, Nagi!! (And Dozer, too!) I love your blog and have made many recipes that have been a hit with my family, so thank you!! We also love the Life of Dozer segments as we are dog lovers, too! :0) This looks great but I have one, perhaps silly, question. Do you cook the noodles before adding them to the sitr fry? I’ve never used fresh pasta and most of my stir fries have been with rice; albeit I have done some with leftover cooked (from dried) pasta. Thanks, so much!! Hugs!
Hi Sheri! I’m so glad you are enjoying my recipes – and DOZER!!! Re: noodles – thanks for picking that up! Yes, cook / prepare the noodles according to packet directions. Most just require soaking in boiling water, some even just say to soak for 1 minute in tap water! If using pasta then yep, cook per the pasta packet! N x
Thank you, Nagi! I suspected as much but didn’t want to assume. (Assuming has gotten me into “trouble” in the past. ;0) ) So, I thought it best to check. Thanks, again! I’m planning on trying this!