Chinese Chow Mein Noodles

Chow mein - the classic Chinese comfort dish. Chow mein is a Chinese term for a dish of stir-fried noodles, of which there are many varieties. The pronunciation chow mein comes from the Taishan dialect of Chinese, spoken by immigrants from Taishan to America. In Taishanese, it is pronounced chāu-mèing. The lightly pronounced Taishanese, resembling the end of a Portuguese nasal vowel, was taken to be by English speakers.

 These egg and wheat flour noodles are used to make chow mein, in which the cooked noodles are formed into a pancake and fried on both sides.  Substitutes:  Hong Kong noodles OR Chinese egg noodles OR Chinese wheat noodles

Wh- what?  The oldest historical mention of noodles is the third century A.D. in China. The earliest Chinese noodles, though, don't appear as strands of dough -- they were shaped into little bits, formed from bread dough, and thrown into a wok of boiling water. That kind of noodle, called mian pian, is still eaten in China. This was one of the most interesting pieces of research -- that noodles in China actually began with its tradition of bread, something that is still widely eaten across northern China. 

Chinese noodles have a long and well-established history.  It was recorded as early as in Eastern Han Dynasty, which was over 1,900 years ago, that noodles were originally called "cakes", with "water boiled cake" being the ancestor of Chinese noodles.  According to Liuxi's "Shi Ming" ("Meaning of Names"), "cake" was a generic name of any food made out of the combination of water and flour, including water boiled flour strips or flour blocks. Another early mention of noodles has been traced to the Jerusalem Talmud, dating back to the fifth century A.D., and was called itrium -- and several centuries later, a string-like pasta called itrium made of semolina and dried before cooking is described by Syrian physicians.

Wh- how? 

Ingredients
2 teaspoons soy sauce (I use low sodium)
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into very thin slices
12 ounces chow mein noodles (the soft kind found fresh, not the hard crunchy ones)
2 tablespoons cooking oil
1 small napa cabbage, sliced into 1 inch strips
2 baby bok choy, sliced into 1 inch strips
5 ounces water chestnuts, sliced
2 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons oyster sauce
2 green onions, chopped

Directions:
1 Marinate the chicken: Combine the 2 teaspoons soy sauce, rice vinegar, and sesame oil in a small bowl. Add the sliced chicken, and toss to completely coat. Set aside while you cook the noodles.
2 Cook the chow mein noodles according to package directions, drain well, and set aside.
3 Heat half of the oil (1 tablespoon) in a very large skillet or wok. When is is very hot, but not smoking, add the chicken mixture, and stir fry until the chicken is cooked through. Remove the chicken to a plate, set aside and keep warm.
4 Add the rest of the oil to the skillet, then add the cabbage, bok choy, water chestnuts and garlic; stir fry for a couple of minutes until the vegetables begin to wilt. Add the noodles, and continue to cook until the noodles are hot, and

well combined with the vegetables.
5 Add the soy sauce and oyster sauce, toss to combine. Add the chicken, toss to combine.
6 Transfer the chow mein to a serving platter, and top with the chopped green onions. Serve immediately.



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