I love Asian food, but I used to shy away from cooking it at home because it usually didn’t turn out well! For some reason, I just couldn’t get things to taste as good or better than I what I bought at a restaurant, so I shrugged it off as a waste of time. But if you know me, I hate being bad at something. So naturally I would always try again every once in a while!
After a little practice, I figured out that the key to cooking Asian at home is to have several common ingredients handy and practice often so that you know which flavors work best together! It also doesn’t hurt to eat different kinds of Asian food and experience new flavors, so you can recognize particular ingredients in your favorite dishes!
One major advantage to cooking pan Asian dishes at home is a good wok! My favorite wok is this Cast Iron Preseasoned Wok from Carolina Cooker. Carolina Cooker is a product line created by Agri Supply, a locally founded farm supply store with several locations across the southeast. They gave me this wok as a gift to cook with and it’s quite effective. The thing I love about this wok is the cast iron material which provides even heating and cooking. It’s also a great size for cooking a large dish like this lo mein! I could have easily fit 2 more servings in this wok.
This wok comes pre-seasoned so I don’t have to worry about doing that myself, and it also comes with a detachable a steam rack, a set of wooden chopsticks, and wooden tongs. It can be used indoor or outdoor, which makes it ideal for camping or tailgating. I love that it also comes with instructions for care and cleaning, which I definitely needed because I’m not the most experienced with cast iron! Here’s the link to this particular wok if you’d like to check it out!
https://www.agrisupply.com/carolina-cooker-preseasonedccast-iron-wok-set/p/101657/
Here’s the link to their main page with all of their other awesome products:
https://www.agrisupply.com/carolina-cooker/c/8000015/
What noodles to use for lo mein: This is totally up to you and what you prefer, but the best noodles to use are those specifically labeled for lo mein. Just look in the Asian section of your grocery store and there should be at least a few to choose from! This is the brand I used:
The easiest way to put this dish together is to prep all of your ingredients first. The actual cooking time is fast, so it helps if you have all the veggies already chopped and prepped. I chopped most of mine by hand which was time consuming, so I recommend picking out your favorite vegetables you want to include, and purchasing them already chopped. For example, you could buy the pre-shredded carrots and pre-shredded cabbage instead of doing that yourself. I love that many grocery stores have a pre-cut section where they sell fresh cut veggies. Take advantage!
Once you have your veggies prepped, heat oil in the wok and start cooking the chicken. You don’t want to over cook it, so remove the chicken from the wok once it’s done before starting on the veggies.
Add the heartiest veggies first. For me, this was the broccoli and onions. At this point you can go ahead and boil the water for the noodles as well.
Once I add all my veggies in and they are cooked to the right tenderness, I add the chicken back into the wok and pour half the sauce on top.
Then you can throw the noodles in last, the rest of the sauce and there you have it! A one-dish wonder as my mom would call it.
If you’d like to make this dish healthier, you can totally substitute the lo mein noodles for zucchini noodles. You can also purchase those pre-cut at the grocery store! I put zucchini noodles in my portion of this dish and I thought it tasted awesome. Whatever you decide to do with this versatile dish, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did!
Chicken and Vegetable Lo Mein
Ingredients
- 1 large vidalia onion, sliced
- 2 cups broccoli florets, raw
- 1/2 cup carrots, shredded
- 1 red pepper, sliced thin
- 1/2 cup purple or regular cabbage, shredded or sliced
- 1 cup mushrooms, sliced
- 1 lb chicken breast, chopped
- 2 tbsp canola oil
- 2 tsp salt
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- 8 oz chinese lo mein noodles
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 cup green onions, sliced thin – for garnish
Sauce Ingredients:
- 3 tbsp hoisin sauce
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 3 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 tsp fresh ginger, grated
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tbsp chili sauce (omit if you don't want any spicy flavor)
Instructions
- Prepare the veggies and mix together all ingredients for the sauce. Set aside.
- In a wok or large skillet, heat canola oil over medium heat. Add chopped chicken, sprinkle with salt and pepper. Cook until the chicken is done, then remove from pan and set aside. Leave the oil in the pan.
- Boil the noodles according to package directions. When they are done, drain and stir in a tsp of sesame oil to keep them from sticking together.
- In the same pan as the chicken, add the broccoli and sliced onions and start cooking. Cook for about 5 minutes, then add in the rest of the vegetables and cook until they reach desired crispness. This took about 10-15 minutes for me.
- Add the chicken back in and half the prepared sauce. Then add the cooked noodles and the rest of the sauce. Toss to coat and distribute evenly. Add salt and pepper. Taste and adjust if more is needed. Garnish with green onions (optional). Serve hot.
