Lo Mein
Soft egg noodles stir-fried with vegetables and protein in a glossy, savory sauce built on oyster sauce, light and dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, and sesame oil. Lo mein (捞面) translates from Cantonese as 'stirred noodles' — the name describes the cooking method, a scooping, tossing motion that coats every strand. Unlike chow mein, where the noodles are fried until crispy, lo mein noodles stay soft and slippery, coated in a thick, glossy sauce. The dark soy sauce is the detail that gives the dish its characteristic deep mahogany color; without it the dish looks pale. The sauce is premixed before the wok goes on — lo mein moves fast.
Ingredients
- 300 gfresh lo mein or egg noodles
- 200 gprotein: chicken breast, shrimp, or firm tofu
- 2 tbspoyster sauce
- 1.5 tbsplight soy sauce
- 1 tspdark soy sauce
- 1 tbspShaoxing rice wine
- 1 tspsesame oil
- 1 tspsugar
- 1 tspcornflour, dissolved in 2 tbsp water
- 2 tbspneutral oil
- 3 garlic cloves
- 1 tspfresh ginger
- 150 gvegetables: cabbage, carrot, bok choy, bell pepper, bean sprouts
- 3 scallions, whites and greens separated
Method
- Velvet the protein and mix the sauce. For chicken or pork: slice thinly against the grain, toss with 1 tsp soy sauce, 1 tsp cornflour, and 1 tsp oil. Let sit 10 to 15 minutes — this velveting technique keeps the meat silky and tender in the wok. Mix the full sauce in a bowl: oyster sauce, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, Shaoxing wine, sesame oil, sugar, and cornflour-water slurry. Stir until combined. Taste it — the sauce should be deeply savory and slightly sweet. Everything is premixed because once the wok goes on, there is no time to measure.
- Prepare the noodles. Cook fresh noodles for 1 minute in boiling unsalted water; dried noodles 1 minute less than the package says. Drain thoroughly. Immediately toss the hot noodles with 1 teaspoon of sesame oil — this coats each strand and prevents them from sticking together while you finish cooking everything else. Do not rinse them in cold water; they will lose the surface starch that helps the sauce cling. If they cool and clump before you are ready, a quick rinse under warm water will loosen them.
- Sear the protein. Heat 1.5 tablespoons of neutral oil in a wok over high heat until just smoking. Add the velveted protein in a single layer. Do not move it for the first 30 to 45 seconds — let it sear and pick up color on the first side. Flip and finish cooking. Remove from the wok and set aside. Keeping the wok hot, add the remaining oil. Add the spring onion whites, garlic, and ginger and stir for 20 seconds until fragrant.
- Stir-fry the vegetables and add noodles. Add the harder vegetables first (carrot, bell pepper, bok choy stalks) and stir-fry 2 minutes. Add softer vegetables (cabbage, bok choy leaves) and stir-fry 1 minute more. Add the noodles to the wok. Add the sauce evenly over everything. Toss and fold using a scooping motion — lifting from the bottom and turning over — for 1 to 2 minutes over high heat, until the sauce is evenly distributed and the noodles are glossy and coated. Scrape the bottom of the wok frequently to prevent sticking.
- Finish and serve. Return the protein to the wok. Add the spring onion greens and bean sprouts if using. Give one final toss — 30 seconds — so everything is mixed and the bean sprouts just wilt. Taste and adjust: more oyster sauce for depth, soy for salt, sugar for sweetness. Serve immediately in bowls. Lo mein is best eaten hot, directly from the wok; as it sits, the noodles continue absorbing the sauce.
FAQ
Lo mein (stirred noodles) and chow mein (fried noodles) use the same type of egg noodles but cooked differently. In lo mein, the noodles are boiled until just tender and then tossed in sauce in the wok — they stay soft and slippery. In chow mein, the noodles are pan-fried until some are crispy before being tossed with sauce — they have a contrast of crispy and chewy textures. American Chinese restaurant chow mein is sometimes served with crispy deep-fried noodles on top, which is a further American adaptation.
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Comments (1)
Salt your cooking water generously for lo mein — about 1 tablespoon per liter. This is the only chance to season from inside. No amount of sauce compensates for bland, under-seasoned pasta or grains.