Bearbeiten - Lo mein

Zubereitung

This is a special one for our family: my dad made this as part of his 75th birthday feast, and days before, my sister got engaged! So much to celebrate!

Here's the [video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrjNFtgSXks&&list=PLvd5bo3J-_kq4FcYVCOK6ZR87dCGDqrSH&index=2&t=0s) for a walkthrough.

In Chinese tradition, noodles are a symbol of longevity, and it’s typical to celebrate birthdays, weddings, and big life milestones with noodles. The connection is simple - noodles are long, so they’ve become a metaphor for a long life, a long marriage, and longevity.

This dish will always hold a special place in my heart, and will always remind me of birthdays and my dad's epic 12-course feasts.

**𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙎𝙏𝙊𝙍𝙔**

I've always wanted to honor my parents and capture the hundreds of recipes that my dad's perfected over 50 years as a Chinese chef. I want to celebrate their legacy and epic journey of making something of themselves here in America, and pass it down to our kids.

**𝙏𝙃𝙀 𝙍𝙀𝘾𝙄𝙋𝙀**

* Prep Time: 15 min
* Total Time: 30 min
* Yield: 4 servings

**𝙄𝙉𝙂𝙍𝙀𝘿𝙄𝙀𝙉𝙏𝙎**

𝙄𝙉𝙎𝙏𝙍𝙐𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉𝙎

**Step 1 - Cook noodles**

Cooking our **fresh egg noodles** should take about 10 minutes in total. There's a lot of waiting involved, so we'll be doing this in tandem with chopping our veggies and mushrooms.

* Set your stove on high heat, and boil at least 4 cups of water in a pot. The amount doesn't need to be exact, as long as it's enough to eventually submerge your noodles.
* When the water is boiling, add the noodles to the pot and stir constantly for 30-60 seconds to prevent the noodles from sticking to the bottom of the pot. Cover the pot, and wait for it to boil again (about 3 minutes).
* When the noodles are boiling, remove the lid, set the stove to a simmer, and stir the noodles for about 30 seconds. Cover the pot again, and cook for another 5 minutes.
* Once the noodles are done, drain the pot into a colander, and rinse the noodles in cold water for 10-15 seconds.

**Step 2 - Wash vegetables & mushrooms**

In a bowl of water, gently scrub all of our mushrooms and veggies to wash away the dirt and impurities.

For our **enoki mushrooms** (3 oz), we'll chop off the roots before we wash them. All we need to do prepare is separate them from one another.

**Step 3 - Chop vegetables & mushrooms**

We'll chop our **shiitake mushrooms**, **king oyster mushrooms** (2 oz), **carrots** (1.5 oz), **broccoli** (2.5 oz), **celery** (2.5 oz), **red bell pepper** (2 oz), **green onion** (1 piece), and **garlic** (1 clove).

For most of these, my dad is cutting them into slices. Refer to the video to see exactly how he does it.

**Step 4 - Heat wok, add oil when hot**

Set the stove to its highest heat, and let the wok heat up for 2-5 minutes (depending on the strength of your stove). When it's hot enough, add vegetable oil, and swirl it around the wok.

If you want to save a bit of time, you can start boiling **water** (1 cup) for later.

We dive into this a lot more in our video, but it's important to let your wok heat up.

* There's a concept in Cantonese cooking called "Wok Hei", and one of the main prerequisites is extreme heat (generally hotter than what our home stoves can output.)
* The Cantonese word "hei 气" is more commonly known by its Mandarin equivalent, "qi", which we all know as our breath, our energy, our life force.
* Wok Hei has a lot of different meanings, but author Grace Young puts it beautifully as "The Breath of the Wok" (also the name of her amazing book on the subject)
* [/u/J\_Kenji\_Lopez-Alt](https://www.reddit.com/u/J_Kenji_Lopez-Alt/) also has some great writing and videos on the subject:
   * I can't post more than one link, but these are worth Googling:
      * "The Elements of Wok Hei"
      * "Kenji - Vegetable Lo Mein" - Kenji makes Vegetable Lo Mein with a blow torch!

**Step 5 - Cook garlic, vegetables**

Add the garlic, and cook for about 20-30 seconds until you start to smell the garlic's aromas.

Then, add the vegetables and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes.

**Step 6 - Add boiled water, cover wok, prepare slurry**

Add **boiled water** (1 cup) to the wok, and cover for 2-3 minutes until it starts boiling again. While we wait, we'll mix **cornstarch** (1 tbsp) and **water** (3 tbsp) into a slurry.

**Step 7 - Add flavors, noodles, cover wok**

Uncover the wok, and add **light soy sauce** (0.50 tbsp), **dark soy sauce** (0.50 tbsp), **oyster sauce** (1 tbsp), **sugar** (1 tsp), and **salt** (1 tsp) into the wok.

The dark soy sauce gives noodles a slightly darker color, as well as a subtly different taste profile.

Stir the flavors around with the vegetables for a few seconds, then add the noodles.

Cover the wok for about 3 minutes, just until it's about to boil again.

**Step 8 - Add cornstarch slurry**

Stir the cornstarch slurry for a few seconds, and slowly pour it into the wok.

This step is what differentiates my dad's lo mein recipe from a lot of other chefs, who would typically add the cornstarch to the vegetables before adding the noodles.

By letting the noodles stew in the juices and flavors for a few minutes, we're essentially marinating the noodles and allowing the noodles to absorb more of the flavor internally. If you add cornstarch early, it acts as a thickener and binding agent that prevents the noodle from absorbing the flavors.

**Step 9 - Add bean sprouts, green onions, sesame oil**

Add **bean sprouts** (3 oz), chopped green onions, and **sesame oil** (1 tsp). Stir everything around for 60-90 seconds.

**Step 10 - Plate the noodles!**

We're ready to eat! Plate the noodles into your favorite dish and call your loved ones over.

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