The thing I hate about ordering takeout from a restaurant is that it always takes forever for the food to arrive. Restaurants always underestimate the time it takes for the food to be ready. By the time the food gets to me, I will have eaten a mini-meal just to stave off my hunger. That’s why I prefer to make my own dinner, even when I’m exhausted and cooking seems like the last thing that I want to do. I usually keep noodles around the house, like chow mein, so I that I can whip up a meal quickly. This chicken chow mein is one that I make often. Keep in mind, I don’t always use the exact combination of vegetables described in the recipe below. Feel free to substitute the vegetables with whatever you have.
HOW TO MAKE CHICKEN CHOW MEIN
Making chow mein at home is very simple, and you can actually cook it without a recipe. Here are the general steps I usually follow:
Prepare the vegetables: For chow mein (or any stir-fried noodle dish), I typically slice my vegetables quite thinly. The vegetables are easier to cook and eat.Prepare the chicken: I chop the chicken into small 1-inch chunks. In this recipe, I used chicken breasts, but you can use chicken thighs. Once cooked, chicken breasts can be quite dense. A trick to make them more tender (if you have the time), is to mix the raw chicken pieces with 1/2 teaspoon baking soda. Let the chicken sit for about 15 minutes. Then, rinse the chicken under water and pat dry with towels. The chicken is now ready for cooking. You can definitely taste the difference in the texture of the chicken breast.
WHAT CHOW MEIN NOODLES DO I USE?
I have no brand loyalty when it comes to chow mein noodles—I grab whatever looks best at Asian supermarkets. For these photos, I am using Wyzen’s noodles, which I bought at SF Supermarket in Sacramento. Although the noodles look more authentic, the manufacturers added yellow food coloring to get that hue. If you are looking for noodles that contain more natural ingredients, you can try Fortune’s yakisoba. I made my vegetable chow mein with those noodles. My local Safeway and Raley’s sell these noodles in the refrigerated section.
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