Shrimp Chow Mein (Chinese Stir-Fried Noodles)

Shrimp chow mein, which essentially is Chinese stir-fried noodles, is probably one of the most popular take-out dish, and with good reason. It's obviously yummy, it's easy to make and can be ready in 30 minutes, it's filling and can be a well-balanced meal with the right ingredients. It's such a great dish to make at home since you can use any staple-pantry ingredients you have in your fridge.

Homemade Chinese stir-fried noodles is such an easy meal to make that you'd probably won't even need a recipe to make one. Most people just use any noodle they have available in their pantry, throw in some soy sauce, veggies, and a protein, stir-fry everything and done! It's also so much healthier than ordering takeout. And although this is a perfectly good way to make chow mein, we'd like to share with you guys our favourite way to make these stir-fried noodles based on our own personal experience of cooking them so often at home!

What is Chow Mein (炒面)

Chow mein literally translates to fried noodles in the Cantonese dialect. It was a dish made popular by Chinese immigrant from the province of Guangdong. Depending on which North American city you're from, chow mein can mean different variation of the dish, but essentially, it's an egg noodle dish stir-fried with vegetables and protein, such as chicken, shrimp, beef, or tofu. It's the perfect opportunity to hide all your leftover veggies in a one-pot meal.

Fried vs Steamed

You can either have fried crispy chow mein, or steamed soft chow mein. They're both so delicious! The fried version is often referred as the Hong Kong-style, or Cantonese-Style. In this recipe, we chose to stir-fried our noodles, instead of pan-frying them.

Shrimp chow mein can be eaten as a meal alone, or you can pair it with our stir-fried Chinese green beans with garlic, easy Chinese-style braised pork belly, or our egg tofu with mushroom gravy sauce.

What noodles to use

The type of noodles you use in your shrimp chow mein is quite important for the overall texture of your dish. We suggest using fresh egg noodles that can often be found in the refrigerated section of our Asian grocery store, next to the tofus and wonton/dumpling wrappers. These noodles are often called "Chinese egg noodles", "chow mein noodles" or "steamed noodles" and are not dried. They have this incredible, bouncy and chewy texture that'll bring your chow mein to the next level and they're so addictive! The noodles are usually thin and crinkly, although there's many different types and you can simply chose your favorite. Since it is a pack of fresh noodles, you cannot really order them online. But most Asian/Chinese supermarkets usually carry these noodles in their refrigerated section. We've included some pictures below of some examples of how the packages look like!

If you really can't find the fresh version, you can resort to the dry egg noodles that you can usually find in Western markets, such as these.

The secret is in the sauce

As with other Chinese and Asian cooking, soy sauce is one of the main flavouring element of our shrimp chow mein recipe. And though soy sauce alone would make a yummy chow mein, there are some other sauces you can add to give your homemade stir-fried noodles that extra umami flavor. For our homemade version of shrimp chow mein, on top of soy sauce, we also like to add:

• Oyster sauce for an earthy, salty addition
• Kecap manis/Indonesian sweet soy sauce for sweetness and color
• Chicken broth powder for extra umami and depth in flavour
• Sugar to keep the flavours balanced
• ABC chili sauce for a nice, slight, smooth spiciness

You can definitely choose to omit some of these flavouring ingredients if they are not readily available where you live, but just make sure to adjust the quantity of sugar accordingly. You want to add enough sugar not to make the sauce sweet, but to kind of tame the saltiness and to make "smoothen" out the flavours of the soy sauce and oyster sauce and keep the taste well-balanced. And we also suggest adding hot water to the sauce mixture to better dilute the chicken broth powder and sugar. Most importantly, don't forget to taste your sauce mixture before adding it onto the noodles and adjust to your liking!

Chow Mein vs Lo Mein

Both terms are often used interchangeably, and can sometimes mean the same thing. As previously said, chow mein means fried noodles, whereas lo mein means tossed noodles. Chow mein are always fried (or stir-fried), but lo mein are simply tossed in a sauce. So essentially, the main difference lies in how the noodles are prepared.

Variations

This dish is so versatile and any ingredient can easily be replaced by another to adjust to any diet, restriction, or preference.

• Chow mein egg noodles: you can easily swap for any egg noodle, such as yakisoba, or even italian pasta if you would like.
• Vegetable: we used onion and bean sprout, but feel free to use whatever you have available in your fridge, such as carrots, celery, or cabbage.
• Shrimp: we love to eat our chow mein with shrimps, but it is also very popular to be served with chicken, charsiu, or beef. If you're vegan, use tofu!

FAQ's

Ingredients

Main Ingredients

• Chinese egg noodles or chow mein noodles: if you can't find them, use any egg noodles,
• shrimp: use good quality shrimps for the best flavor, we also like to buy them already deveined,
• beansprouts: or your favourite vegetable, but make sure to chop it in bit size pieces,
• medium shallot,
• medium onion,
• green onions,
• canola or vegetable oil,
• salt,
• cornstarch: this will help make the shrimp more tender and juicy!

Stir-Fru Sauce Ingredients

• Soy sauce,
• oyster sauce
• sugar: don't skip the sugar, it will help balane the flavors in the dish,
• kecap manis or sweet soy sauce: our secret ingredient,
• chicken broth powder and hot water: you can also use fresh broth if you have some on hand, or swap for vegetable broth,
• ABC chili sauce: although optional, we love to add a little bit a spice.

Instructions

1. Prep the sauce. In a small bowl, combine the ingredients for the stir-fry sauce and mix well until the sugar and chicken broth powder and well dissolved. Set aside.
2. Cook the shrimps. In a bowl, put the shrimps, salt, and cornstarch and combine well. Heat pan over medium high heat and add 1 tbsp of oil. Put in the shrimps and stir-fry until completely red and cooked, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and set aside.
3. Cook the noodles. Boil about 4-5 cups of water in a pot over high heat. Add the noodles into the boiling water and cook for about 1 minute, while continuously swirling and separating the noodles. Pour the pot content into a strainer and run cold tap water through the noodles. Set aside. Note that the cook time might vary depending on the type and brand of noodles. Please check package for instructions.
4. Make your chow mein! Heat a large pan over medium high heat and add 2 tbsp of oil. Add in the onions and stir-fry for about 1 1/2 minutes. Put in the beansprouts, cook for another 30 seconds. Add in the green onions, and stir-fry for another 30 seconds. Add in another 2 tbsp of oil into the pan, and add the shallots. Stir-fry for 30 seconds, until shallots and slightly golden. Put in the noodles and combine well using tongs or chopsticks. Pour in the sauce mixture and mix well. Add in the cooked shrimp and mix well. Continue stir-frying the noodles until there is no more sauce at the bottom of the pan and all the sauce is absorbed into the noodles. Cook for another 30 seconds and remove from heat.