This is definitely a takeout style copy cat recipe. It is very easy to put together on a week night (if you have all the ingredients) and even easier if you have leftover already cooked broccoli, as I did. One thing the recipe itself does not direct you to do, although it is strongly suggested in the write-up preceding the recipe, is prepping the shrimp with some baking soda, salt, and sugar before blanching. I skipped this (and actually ended up doing a quick, off recipe marinade of sherry, soy sauce, and cornstarch, so I could just proceed to stir frying - I gave it a partial cook and removed it from my wok and proceeded with the recipe as written).
With the simplicity of this recipe in terms of ingredients, everything really does benefit from taking the time to:
clean and blanch (or pass through oil) the shrimp
blanch the broccoli
have all ingredients, including sauce and cornstarch slurry ready to go
have your rice ready
If you used leftover broccoli like I did, the texture will suffer, but you pick your battles (and how many pans you want to deal with) on a weeknight.
Use a light hand with the cornstarch slurry. I added a touch too much and needed to thin the sauce with a little water and add a little salt to even out my seasonings.
Consider increasing the white pepper a touch and adding some fresh ginger slivers to the garlic in the recipe. It takes it away from the full on “takeout” flavor, but gives the overall profile some oomph (IMHO). The Chinese Cooking Demystified Substack (and video) include ginger in their version (and it is a great explainer about qian, the technique of thickening a sauce with a starch slurry).
This is another one that is pretty easy to knock out on a busy night. You partially cook some shrimp, fry up aromatics, add a sauce that is based on chilli-garlic sauce and ketchup, add the shrimp back until cooked though, and you’re done. This is a good recipe to consider if you have cilantro languishing in your crisper that needs to be used. If you aren’t keen on chilli-garlic sauce, you can swap in whatever hot sauce/condiment appeals to you. I think chilli bean paste would be good here.
I made the Asian Garlic Noodles … instead of a 12 oz package of noodles, I used a 1 lb box of thin spaghetti and upped all the other ingredients. I still think it could have used more green onions (especially on top for visual appeal) and parm. I didn’t have a skillet big enough for a lb of spaghetti so used my wok.
When I was sauteing those garlic slices in butter, used the very lowest flame, didn’t want to burn it. The package said to cook for 7-9 minutes, I did 7 and it finished cooking in the wok with a little pasta water and soy sauce, etc.
I can’t put my finger on why this is not a repeat for me.
I just made a second batch of this with my doubanjiang trying to add fluid ahead to melt any crystals and reduce the saltiness of the finished product, waiting to apply sauce to bean curd. I found a second (older) jar of the doubanjiang in my closet and threw together a batch with that, too. it tasted a little different and didnt have all the crystals. I combined the two batches and put some on my this-time cold silken beancurd I think the wait to let the flavors develop and the dilution and extra sugar to offset the extreme saltiness of the soy and beansauce helped the dish quiete a bit.
I was going to make the CHICKEN CHOW MEIN with fresh skinny noodles, picked up a package at Ranch 99 … it didn’t have a sell by date on it. When I had all the other ingredients, I opened the package and there were many dots of blue mold so I had to toss it. Yesterday I went to Ranch 99 again and bought a different brand of fresh noodles, the package says to use immediately and for boiling instructions says “until thoroughly cooked”, not much help. The recipe says to put in boiling water for 1 minute, I did a bit longer, then rinsed in cold water.
I shouldn’t have attempted a double recipe in my wok, could not get the boiled and drained noodles crispy but they still tasted good. I’d planned to add a sliced onion but got tired and didn’t bother, would have been better with onion.
At Costco there were no organic chicken breasts so I bought organic tenderloins … never again. Each tenderloin had a hard white tendon that was very difficult for me to cut out. I’m a bit squeamish about handling raw meats; next time I will just but from a good butcher. Instead of doubling the chicken, I used 20 oz instead of 24 oz.
I added more green onions, more garlic. Recipe said to briefly saute ginger (I shredded) and garlic, then add carrots (photo only shows one slice, there were more!!) … my ginger and garlic was sticking like mad. I added almost a can of water chestnuts that I sliced into two, snow peas, celery, baby bok choi (next time I’ll add more), bean sprouts. I didn’t add mushrooms.
I liked this, at end I thought it could use more salt or soy sauce.
We’re getting our next box from our seafood subscription some time next week, so I have a few more things to use up in the chest freezer before it arrives. This included a pound of cleaned squid, so that was on the menu for tonight.
If you click through to the recipe, the method is pretty straight forward. This is another stir-fry, finished with a broth simmer and thickened with a cornstarch slurry (qian). I deviated in the following ways:
Again, I parcooked by passing through oil rather than blanching the squid.
I sliced the garlic and julienned the ginger (and doubled the amount in general).
I broke the chiles in half and removed the seeds, so that we could more easily enjoy them and not remove them when eating (not that I would have, but BF is not a whole dried pepper guy in stir fries).
Cut the mustard greens in half and added some fresh bok choy (bringing the sodium down a touch).
Used half mustard oil with my cooking oil for the stir fry.
We had this with jasmine rice. If you can get the squid already flower cut from your fish counter, it will be an even faster meal. I did my own, since I was working from whole squid bodies. I like the flower cut because it helps to keep the squid tender and the scoring helps to hold the sauce. Cutting the bodies into rings would be fine though, honestly.
I don’t know which book this is from, but my teenage son and I found this recipe online and made it for dinner tonight as we had the right size of chicken to fit in our steel pot.
It turned out really well. I made the chicken and rice components and my son made the 3 sauces.
I had half a jar of Tean’s Gourmet brand ‘Paste for Hainanese Chicken Rice’ left in the fridge so I used that in the rice (instead of minced garlic).
Hand torn cabbage stir fry. Fast, easy, delicious. It was a last minute veg addition to some other leftovers. I didn’t use any meat in the dish and used napa cabbage because that’s what I had. This is going to be one of those back pocket recipes that is so handy to have.
I’ve had this dish on my wish list since I ate it in flushing chinatown last year.
Simpler than I expected, and very flavorful.
My changes:
— Turkey instead of pork, but 10% fat, not lean).
— Added black mushrooms which were in some other recipes.
— No egg, just cornstarch to bind.
— Instead of deep frying, I used my appe pan.
— I wanted a soupy outcome rather than a sauce, so I used chicken bone broth instead of water and skipped the cornstarch.
After eating some and giving a pint to my daughter, there was a lot left so I gave to my hairdresser (Chinese) and nail lady (Vietnamese), they loved it.
Additionally I don’t think of these noodles as crispy at all. Toothsome, sure, but if I think of crispy chow mein I’m thinking this:
However, if you are using fresh noodles, perhaps steaming the noodles as in this video might help you, as well as his method. I think this is the kind of crispness @Aubergine is referring to:
(Definitely only like 15 seconds when he gives them a dunk in water. I’ve done this and it really does work great.)
ETA: I just went back and saw you rinsed in cold water after boiling. I find it’s better to not do that for this type of noodle. Even if you boil them, you’ll get better texture if you spread them out to cool rather than rinsing.
Yes, recipe said to boil for one minute (I do two) drain, rinse in cold water. I was only trying for crispy noodles because that’s what my daughter prefers, the way she gets from Chinese restaurants. I like it just fine not crispy.
How is it called on the menu when she gets it? Because that goes back to what type of chow mein is being ordered. The crispy kind (liangmianhuang aka Hong Kong style chow mein) is usually called “pan-fried crispy noodles” or something similar, whereas stir-fried chow mein like what you’re making isn’t known for being particularly crisp. You’re making the second dish they mention on the website and it sounds like your daughter is getting the third one.
