Veggie lo mein
Whenever I crave Chinese takeout, I'm afraid my choices are a little boring. I tend to go with either wonton soup, dumplings or veggie lo mein. The problem is that usually my stomach doesn't agree with my choice. I'm not exactly sure what is in there that bothers me (maybe I don't want to know); I'm going to tell myself it's just garlic.
I have found the cure - make it myself! No mystery ingredients, definitely no garlic cloves, and hey, no stomach ache. It's not rocket science; when you control the dish, you can always tweak out things you either don't like (ahem, ginger), your kids (or you) refuse to eat, or things that your stomach just hasn't figured out how to digest. Remind me of this next time we pick up the phone to order Chinese, will ya?
I did tempt fate by keeping the chile-garlic sauce in the mix for some heat - it's not *that* garlicky (have I mentioned how much I wish I could eat garlic like any normal Italian girl????). And for the record, my stomach was just fine, thank you very much. Maybe I can train my stomach after all...
Anyway, enough about my allergies! I chose to make this dish with just veggies, but it would be great with pork or chicken. Other things that would go well in here: water chestnuts, baby corn, bamboo shoots, broccoli, peppers, bean sprouts...I could go on but I think you get the idea. Throw in things that are local and seasonal (or the things you find in your fridge/cabinets).
Speaking of things you find around the house, I had a hodgepodge of random noodles in my freezer and this was the perfect recipe to use them up. Using fresh, less broken up noodles would have made it easier to eat with chopsticks, but I can promise you the taste is just the same.
Veggie lo mein
Adapted from Food & Wine
Time: 45 minutes
Level: Easy
Ingredients
1/2 cup chicken stock
3 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon mirin
1/2 teaspoon toasted sesame oil
1 teaspoon Chinese chile-garlic sauce
Pinch of Chinese five-spice powder (if you have it; really adds a nice aroma and flavor but is certainly not essential)
12 ounces fresh noodles (linguine or spaghetti work well)
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, stems discarded (these are not edible) and caps thinly sliced
6 ounces snow peas, ends trimmed (amounted to a few handfuls)
2 carrots, cut into matchsticks
3 scallions, cut with kitchen shears (or sliced)
Directions
Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil.
In a small bowl, mix together the chicken stock, soy sauce, mirin, sesame oil, chile-garlic sauce, and five-spice powder.
Cook your noodles al dente according to the package directions. Drain and rinse them under water.
In a wok or large nonstick skillet, heat the vegetable oil over moderately high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, for about 5 minutes, or until they are browned and tender.
Add in the noodles, snow peas, and carrots and cook, tossing everything around, for about 2 minutes.
Stir in the sauce as well as the scallions and cook until most of the sauce is absorbed, about 5 minutes; serve it up in bowls.
Mangia!