Chicken Chow Mein

A few weeks ago I read a book about Chinese American food.  The author discuses the history of Chinese American foods like chop suey and chow mein.  It was fascinating to see how Chinese foods were created to appeal to the American palate.

She also wrote about fortune cookies.  She believes that fortune cookies were actually created by Japanese Americans, but they gained prominence by the efforts of Chinese American producers.  

According to Wikipedia,  chow mein is a popular Chinese cuisines in the United States, United Kingdom, Nepal, and India.  The world means fried noodles, and is an anglicized version of the original Taishanese.  

In America, there is crispy, fried chow mein or steamed chow mein.  I think that chow mein is supposed to be made with thiner noodles, but I used a thicker noodle because that is what I found at the store.

I found chicken chow mein recipe on a blog called Life Made Sweeter.  It is a fun site, and I have read posts on it more than once.

I ended using a different combination of vegetables.  I used carrots, baby corn, sugar snap peas, and mushrooms.  I didn't use napa cabbage of mung bean sprouts.  

The ingredients for the sauce are 3 tablespoons oyster sauce, 4 tablespoons soy sauce, 1 teaspoon honey, 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch, 2 teaspoons sesame oil, 1/8 teaspoon red chili flakes, salt, black pepper, and 2 teaspoons Sriracha.

The other ingredients are 8 ounces fresh chow mein noodles, 1/3 pound chicken breast, 2 tablespoons cooking oil, 2 minced garlic cloves, 1/2 teaspoon minced ginger, 1/2 cup thinly slices carrots, 1/2 cup chopped baby corn, 1/2 cup sugar snap peas, 4 ounces mushrooms, and 2 green onions,

I first made the sauce.  I added the oyster sauce, soy sauce, honey, and corn starch into small bowl.

I added the red chili flakes, Sriracha,  sesame oil, salt, and pepper into the same bowl.  I stirred the sauce together.

I chopped the chicken into 1 inch chunks.  I measured a half of a tablespoon of the sauce and mixed it into the chicken.

I added the oil to the skillet.  I stirred stir-fried the carrots over medium high heat for two minutes.

I added the baby corn and sugar snap peas.  I stir-fried these vegetables for another 4 minutes or so.

I added the minced garlic and finely grated ginger.  I stir-fried the mixture for about a minutes.

I added the mushrooms and chicken.

I continued to stir-fry this until the chicken was completely cooked.  This took about seven minutes.

I added the noodles and the sauce.

I stir fried the noodles until everything was hot and the sauce and evenly coated the noodles and vegetables.

I added the chopped onions, mixed it into the chow mein, and took the dish off the heat.

I served myself a portion and dug in.

It was delicious.  The flavors were rich, caramelized, and savory.

The sauce and a salty, briny flavor.  

The chicken was tender and flavorful.

The vegetables were tender, bright, and toothsome.

The noodles were good.  They absorbed the flavors of the sauce and browned in the hot wok.  I think it would be fun to try a thinner noodles, but these wide udon noodles worked well too.  The flavor and texture would be different.

It had a wonderful and inviting aroma.  

It was scrumptious and tasty.

The ingredients were perfectly cooked.  The vegetable combination was spot on.

I would definitely make this again.  I give this recipe two enthusiastic thumbs up.