I don't know where this craving came from, but I recently decided I wanted chow mein. Something with lots of veg and lots of flavour. It's the first time I made it, so I looked around at other recipes but none was really what I wanted, so I made my own up as I went along, and it came out great. Below I've listed the ingredients I've used, but the veg is definitely able to be substituted with whatever you have on hand or would prefer. The meat can also be swapped out entirely for a vegetarian version of this dish, or swapped for something else that you'd rather. Here it is!
Ingredients:
Marinade:
3-4 tbsp Oyster sauce
3 tbsp peanut oil
4 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp cooking sake
1 chilli, chopped
1/2 head garlic, minced or crushed
3" ginger, minced
1 Tbsp brown sugar
1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
3/4 c chicken stock
For the Stir fry:
2 tbsp peanut oil
300-400g pork, cubed
2 onions, sliced
1/2 head garlic, minced
1 yellow pepper, chopped
2-3 carrots, chopped
200g mushrooms
1 - 2 head bok choi shredded
1 bunch coriander, chopped
1/2 c cashews, toasted
Noodles, cooked
1) Mix together all the ingredients for the marinade and stir in pork cubes. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes, but the longer the better.
2) In a wok, heat the peanut oil and fry onions on medium-high heat for a few minutes. Add garlic and fry for another 2 minutes, but don't allow the garlic to brown.
3) Using a slotted spoon, remove the pork from the marinade and add to the wok. Cook, stirring regularly, until the pork is cooked about halfway through, then add the veg except for the bok choi. Continue to fry for a few minutes, then add the marinade juice and stir. Cover the wok and lower the heat, allowing the carrots to cook until tender and the pork to cook through.
4) When the carrots are about 1-2 minutes shy of being done, add the bok choi and the noodles and mix well. Serve topped with fresh coriander and toasted cashews.
I really enjoyed this and am happy with how it came out. I feel that we hit the right flavour notes. as with most things recently, I would normally have made it hotter, but Little Bit's spice tolerance isn't very high. Feel free to add more heat, or add a couple of drops of hot sauce once it's served up so everyone can have it at their desired heat level. As with a lot of the food I make, I enjoy the versatility of a dish like this. Tweak the ingredients and it can be vegan, vegetarian or carnivorous. Use gluten-free noodles and soy sauce and it is gluten-free. Play around with heat or tweak veg to suit your tastes, a dish like this offers so much possibility! Certainly though, as is this was very popular with the three of us!