Street Style Chowmein Recipe: Make a Delicious Snacks at Home
Chowmein is one of the most popular Asian dishes that is well-known worldwide. You can find roadside Chowmein not only in Asian countries but even in the USA, Europe, and even in India.
Here, we will show you one of the simplest methods of making this popular dish at home. This recipe, if followed correctly, will help you make the best Chowmein that you have ever tasted, even better than from some good Asian restaurants.
Chowmein takes only a few ingredients to make and very basic cooking skills to put together so anyone can very easily make this dish at home.
Ingredients
Here is the list of ingredients you will need to make a Street Style Chowmein.
To cook the chow mein:
- Chow mein noodles 500 gm or one pack
- Red onion- 1 large
- Carrot- 2-3
- Cabbage- half of a large cabbage
- Green onion- 5-6
- Garlic- 3-4 cloves
- Bean Sprouts- 100 gm
- Chicken thigh- 400 gm
- Corn oil- 4 tablespoons
To make the sauce:
- Oyster sauce 2 tablespoons
- Light soy sauce 2 tablespoons
- Dark soy sauce 2 teaspoon
- Sugar- 1 teaspoon
- Chicken bouillon powder- 1 teaspoon
- Sesame oil- 1 tablespoon
To marinate the chicken:
- Oyster sauce- 1 tablespoon
- Corn starch- ½ tablespoon
- Water- 3 tablespoon
- White pepper- ¼ teaspoon
- Lemon juice- half of a lemon
Cooking Process
In a nutshell, you have to prepare the vegetables, chicken, sauce, and noodles, and combine everything together to make the Chowmein. These steps are discussed thoroughly below.
Preparing the Vegetables
The first important part of the cooking process is preparing all the vegetables that you will need to cook the chowmein. This includes cutting onion, garlic, carrot, cabbage, and all the other vegetables that you might add to the Chowmein.
You have to remember two things while choosing and cutting the vegetables to cook a chowmein. The first is size, and the second is sturdiness.
Since the chowmein noodles are of thin and string shape, the vegetables should be cut in the same manner as well. This will help to cook better and mix well with the noodles.
Since the chowmein will be cooked on high heat and without much liquid or steam, the vegetables you choose should be hard like carrots and celery, not soft like tomatoes.
Slice all of the vegetables into thin slices and keep them near you to use while cooking.
Preparing the Chicken
Marinate the chicken with oyster sauce, cornstarch, water, white pepper, and lemon juice. Use your hand to mix the chicken well. Thai pieces are the best for this recipe but breast pieces will work as well. Debone the thighs if you do not buy deboned chicken thighs.
Marinate the chicken for at least 15 minutes. This will help to get the flavors in the meat.
Preparing the Sauce
Mix oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, sugar, chicken bouillon powder, and sesame oil in a separate bowl to prepare the sauce. Chicken bouillon powder is optional and you can skip this ingredient if you do not have it in the pantry. Mix it well to create a homogenous mixture and set aside.
Cooking the Noodles
Thick noodles make the best chowmein but you can also use thin noodles, ramen noodles, or even pasta if you do not have thick noodles near you. Thick Chinese noodles can be found at your nearest Asian market.
Cooking the noodles over steam is the best method to make chowmein but you can cook the noodles in boiling water if you do not have a steam cooking set up. You can cook it over steam with slow cookers as well. Steam helps to cook the noodles without causing them to hold too much moisture which means that they don’t easily get soggy while cooling.
Cook the noodles in the steam bath for 12-15 minutes or until they are cooked. The noodles are cooked if you cut a noodles string and it shows no white dot inside the noodles. You can also use a sieve to steam the noodles like you steam dumplings.
Make sure that the top side and the bottom side of the ramen are cooked properly. Flip it if necessary.
Heating the Wok
Heat up a large to medium-sized wok on a stove. Set up the heat on high or medium-high and coat the bottom of the pan or wok with vegetable oil. Heat up the oil to reach a temperature, you can start the cooking process.
Cooking the Chicken
The next step is preparing the chicken. Chicken meat is considerably harder than noodles or vegetables. Marinate the chicken and keep it near the counter hoping. Dry the access moisture and pour the chicken into the wok or pan.
Stir for a few minutes until the meat has formed sliver skins and then you can take them out from the pan and keep it on a piece of paper napkin to help it dry better.
Cooking the Vegetable
The vegetables also need to be cooked before we start to combine everything together to make the Chowmein. Heat a large wok or pan with vegetable oil and out the heat on medium-high. Add the onions and stir for a minute. Now add the garlic, carrot, cabbage, and other greens that you have available near you. Stir fry all of the vegetables for 3-4 minutes to give all of them a nice color and release the aromatics.
Stir-Frying the Noodles
Take out the vegetables from the wok and keep them on a plate or on a paper towel to get rid of the excess fat and grease. Keep all the ingredients ready and close to the pot to start the cooking process. Heat the wok or pan on high heat and throw in the cooked noodles.
Adding the Sauce
As the noodles get stir-fried, start adding the sauce to the mixture. Mix all the different types of sauce together. This will work to enhance the flavor of the chowmein.
Combining Everything
Now add in the vegetables one by one. Start with the onion, garlic, carrots, and celery. Stir continuously to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot or wok. Add in the bean sprouts and the chicken thighs and keep stirring. Stir until all of the ingredients are mixed together and the noodles are getting light golden brown colors.
Garnishing and Serving
Turn off the heat after cooking everything together for 10-12 minutes. Serve the Chowmein on a plate and garnish with coriander leaves or the greens of your choice.
