Chinese · Quick Meals

Chicken Lo Mein

Soft egg noodles tossed rather than fried, coated in a glossy soy and oyster sauce with chicken and crisp vegetables. The gentler cousin of chow mein, and a twenty-minute weeknight dinner.

27 min total Serves 4 servings Easy
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Chicken Lo Mein

Photograph credit: Lo mein noodles · CC0 1.0 · Rawpixel

Chicken Lo Mein, Step by Step

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  1. Toss the chicken with the cornflour and 1 tablespoon of the soy sauce and leave 15 minutes — this velvets it and keeps it tender.

  2. Whisk the remaining sauce ingredients together and set within reach of the hob.

  3. Boil the noodles until just tender, drain, rinse under cold water, and toss with a teaspoon of oil.

  4. Heat a wok until smoking, add the oil, and stir-fry the chicken in a single layer for 3 minutes until browned at the edges and just cooked. Remove.

  5. Add the garlic and ginger for 15 seconds, then the carrot and cabbage for 2 minutes, then the mangetout for 1 minute. Keep everything moving.

  6. Return the chicken, add the noodles, and pour the sauce around the edge of the wok so it sizzles as it hits.

  7. Toss with tongs for 90 seconds until every strand is coated and glossy. Add the spring onions, toss once more, and serve.

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Notes for Getting It Right

  • Have everything cut, mixed and lined up before the wok gets hot. There is no time to chop once you start.
  • Undercook the noodles by a minute — they finish in the wok and turn to mush otherwise.
  • Pour the sauce down the side of the hot wok rather than into the middle. It caramelises slightly on the way in.

Swaps and Variations

  • Out of spring onions? A small regular onion, finely sliced, or a few chives stirred in at the end both cover the job.
  • If you only have ground ginger, a quarter-teaspoon for each tablespoon of fresh is the ratio usually given; it tastes warmer and less bright than the fresh root.
  • An eighth of a teaspoon of garlic powder per clove is the stand-in usually given when you are out of fresh garlic; it will not brown the same way, and it burns easily, so add it with the liquid.

Serving Suggestions

  • Spring rolls or hot and sour soup
  • Chilli oil at the table
  • Cold beer or jasmine tea

Sides from the same cuisine on this site: Stir-Fried Water Spinach.

Keeping and Reheating

Refrigerate up to 3 days. Reheat in a hot wok with a splash of water; the noodles soften but stay good.

What's in a Serving

Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.

646Calories
35gProtein
86gCarbs
18gFat
6gFibre
8gSugar
1230mgSodium

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Compiled by Turab

Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.

First published ; last changed .