So, living in Japan. You’d think we have access to great Chinese food, right? Well, we do!
The only problem is, real Chinese food is waaaaaaaaay different than American-style take out. And some days, that’s what you really, really want.
So, here is my recipe for take out style chicken lo mein.
Sam’s notes:
Some of the ingredients may be a little different, mix them up as you will. I’m working with what I can find here in Japan, which is probably way different than what you have in other parts of the world. Seasonal vegetables are a big deal here, so no peas, because they’re expensive at the moment, and my plants are still growing. Plus, I kind of just made it up as I go, following three different recipes I found and doing what I wanted in between.
Also, measurements are really guesses, since I don’t measure quite as carefully as I should. I use those little glass measuring cups for setting everything up, so that’s why some measurements are in cups instead of grams or whatnot. Sorry. And Chris and I usually split one chicken breast for whatever we’re eating, if you want more, add more.
Final note, I put a shitload of ginger in everything. If you don’t like ginger as much, then add less. Same with garlic.
Ingredients:
Noodles (I used yakisoba noodles, precooked, that you find in the grocery store here, and they worked wonderfully. You can use lo mein noodles or even spaghetti I guess. I used 3 packets of cheapo yakisoba noodles, which is about half of a package of spaghetti noodles.)
1 large chicken breast
1/2 cup of carrots, matchstick cut
1/2 cup of bamboo shoots, matchstick cut
1 medium white onion, rough chopped
2/3 cup of spinach, rough chopped
2 tablespoons garlic, minced
2 tablespoons ginger, grated (I may have added more of this and the garlic, though.)
oil for cooking
Sauce:
1/3 cup soy sauce (I use low sodium and it worked fine)
2 tablespoons sesame oil (I like the taste, use less if you don’t)
4 tablespoons oyster sauce
1 tsp hoisin sauce
2 tablespoons dark brown sugar (Okinawa black sugar if you can find it)
1 tablespoon flour (most call for cornstarch, which I couldn’t find at the store, but flour worked well)
Sriracha to taste (I’m allergic so none for me 🙁 )
2 tablespoons oil for cooking
Sesame seeds for garnish
Directions:
- Cut chicken into thin strips, roughly 1/4″ x 3″ long. If your chicken breast is thick, butterfly it first. Marinate the strips in soy sauce for 15 minutes or more (just dump soy sauce on top of it, probably about 1/4 of a cup or so).
- Cook your noodles, if you’re using dried. Set them off to the side. If not, skip this.
- Mix all of the sauce ingredients together, making sure everything dissolves by whisking it with a fork.
- Cook your chicken in a large skillet, wok, or teppan. Use about 1 tablespoon of oil and heat it to medium-high. Chicken should brown on both sides, especially from the soy sauce, in about 5 minutes. Remove and set aside.
- Add the rest of the oil to the teppan, and toss in the garlic and ginger. Let it do it’s aromatic thing for 30 seconds to a minute. Then, add in the onion, carrot, and bamboo shoots and cook them until they’re medium (I like mine a little crunchy still, so I only cooked them for about 4 minutes). When you have about a minute or so left, throw in the spinach.
- Toss the chicken and noodles into the teppan. Pour the sauce over everything and make sure to toss it a lot, to coat everything with sauce. I use long chopsticks for cooking, or tongs.
- Turn the heat up to high to start to caramelize the sauce, still mixing it. If the sauce is too thick, add a bit of water to thin it out.
- Serve sprinkled with sesame seeds and a can of beer.