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I love chow mein. And I love that it only takes about 15 minutes to make it and all you need is a wok. For me, it also brings back fond memories of home. In Hong Kong, we have noodles for lunch and dinner so often it’s like an equivalent of pasta to Italians.

I have to say though, the takeaway chow mein is a little bit different from what we eat back home, so I’ve written this recipe based on the takeaway here. Trust me, it’s so easy.

Prepare the ingredients

Fresh egg noodles are what you need for chow mein as they are ideal for sopping up the soy sauce. You don’t even need to go to an Asian shop for this, just go to your local supermarkets like Waitrose, Morrisons, M&S, Sainsbury’s or Tesco. They all sell it.

An authentic Chinese chow mein will most likely have shredded pork in it, but it’s usually made with chicken or duck here in the UK Chinese takeaways. They’re all delicious. I love duck chow mein.

The perfect chow mein sauce

As you can guess, the sauce is the essence of a good chow mein. The good news is that there’s no secret ingredient in it – all you need are dark and light soy sauces, and a pinch of sugar to bring out the flavour. You can use just light soy sauce, but it’s the dark soy sauce that gives the noodles a deep, rich, dark brown colour. Again, you can find dark soy sauce in most supermarkets but my go-to brand is Hong Kong-based Lee Kum Kee. It’s got an authentic richness and colour which I think is missing in most supermarket soy sauces in the UK.

You may also like Difference between light soy sauce and dark soy sauce

After trying so many times, I’ve finally worked out the ratio of soy sauce to sugar for the perfect chow mein sauce is 4 to 0.5. This will make your chow mein taste like it’s from your favourite Chinese takeaway down the road. You can add more sugar to the sauce, but if you make it too sweet, it’ll taste more like the Japanese teriyaki sauce, which is also made with just soy sauce and sugar but with a roughly 1:1 ratio.

Use a good wok

Like many other Chinese stir-fries, the secret to a good chow mein is to use a good wok. Carbon steel is what the Chinese chefs will go for as the material is light and can retain high heat, allowing you to STIR and FRY.

See my review of the School of Wok 12” Heavy-Duty Carbon Steel Wok where I also share my tips on choosing a good wok.

Ingredients

Serves 2 

400g fresh egg noodles
175g duck breast, beef, pork or chicken, sliced
1 small onion, sliced
A handful of spring onion, chopped
A handful of beansprouts, rinsed
1+1 tablespoons dark soy sauce
3 tablespoons light soy sauce 
½ tablespoon sugar 

Method

1. In a small bowl, mix together 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce, 3 tablespoons light soy sauce and sugar.
2. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a wok over high heat, add the sliced meat and 1 tablespoon of dark soy sauce. Stir fry for 1-2 minutes until the meat is browned. At this stage don’t worry if it’s not cooked through. Set aside.
3. In the same wok over medium-high heat, stir in the onions and beansprouts and cook until they are soft and caramelised, about 5 minutes.
4. Add the noodles, the soy sauce and sugar mixture, the spring onion and the meat. Toss everything together until well combined and heated through, about 2 minutes. Taste and, if needed, add a pinch of salt. Do this step in high heat and toss fast, toss the noodles until there’s no sauce left at the bottom of the wok.
5. Serve hot.
   

Variations

You can pair this sauce with pretty much any meat and any noodles. This one was made with beef, sliced onions and some chopped up pak choi.

For a complete Chinese night-in, try these takeaway favourites.

What’s your favourite chow mein? Share with me in the comments below!

Janice xx

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