Vegetable Chow Mein Recipe

Ingredients

  • 2 tbsp of groundnut oil
  • 2 tbsp soy sauce
  • 2tbsp sesame oil
  • 4 cloves of garlic, chopped
  • 2inch piece of ginger, sliced into thin strips
  • 2 shallots
  • 1 tbsp oyster sauce
  • 500ml vegetable stock
  • 1 packet of baby sweetcorn
  • 6 mushrooms sliced
  • 1 red pepper, sliced
  • 1 large courgette, cut into strips
  • 1 packet of beansprouts
  • 1 packet of egg noodles
  • Dried crushed chillies, as much as you can bear

I used to think that cooking Chinese food was really complicated and required a whole bunch of exotic ingredients.  Now I know that some of it is really complicated and if you’re going to get really authentic you’re going to need to either live in London or order online.  But it’s amazing what you can do with just a few special ingredients that aren’t at all hard to find.  Groundnut oil was a revelation to me. I’ve pretty much stopped using sunflower oil because there seems to quite a lot of evidence to suggest that it releases some pretty toxic cancer causing chemicals when its heated.  Groundnut oil on the other hand has got a great sweet flavour, is low in saturated fat, free from cholesterol and contains resveratrol, which apparently cuts the risk of having a stroke. Sesame oil I don’t ever fry with but if you add it to cooked noodles you’ve immediately got the sense you’re eating Chinese food.  It’s wonderful tasting stuff and it’s reputedly full of health benefits too.  My third magic ingredient is oyster sauce, I just love the look of the bottles for one thing.  In health terms this one is a little bit dodgy and almost certainly contains too much sugar and too much salt, so use sparingly.  I use it because you really notice when it’s there, it gives that oriental flavour that you’re after.  So, this is not authentic Chinese cooking, I watched a mate of mine do it once and thought, I could do that.  The last time I made it I wrote down the ingredients that I’m giving you here, but you can use whatever veg you’ve got or whatever you fancy.  It’s dead easy and it’s delicious and even better, people think you’re a skilled chef when you serve it up.

Method

  1. Fry the garlic, ginger and shallots in the groundnut oil, until soft.
  2. Then add the mushrooms, baby sweetcorn, red pepper and courgette and fry for a further two minutes.
  3. Add 500ml of vegetable stock, a tbsp. of oyster sauce and crushed chillies and soy sauce to taste.
  4. Simmer on a low heat for a further four minutes while you cook the egg noodles in a separate pan.
  5. Once the noodles are cooked, drain them and add sesame oil to taste.  Pour in the contents of the other pan and mix thoroughly to serve.

1 Response

  1. Avatar forComment Author Mum says:

    Sounds easy,and uses courgettes!
    Can you fry anything in groundnut oil even deep fat frying?
    Is it more expensive than olive oil?
    Is it healthier than olive oil?
    Is it easily available in ordinary super markets?

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Alan Cole

Alan is a Freelance Website Designer, Sports & Exercise Science Lab Technician and full time Dad & husband with far too many hobbies: Triathlete, Swimming, Cycling, Running, MTBing, Surfing, Windsurfing, SUPing, Gardening, Photography.... The list goes on.