Chicken Chow Mein with Cabbage and Egg Noodles
By Ethan Parker
Prep
15 min
Cook
15 min
Total
30 min
Servings
4
Level
Easy
Chicken chow mein skillet meal takes 30 minutes. Noodles are lightly crisped as the sauce thickens around them. Cabbage and carrot provide additional texture. I make chicken chow mein when I don't want to order delivery and prefer to make skillet noodles at home.
I chop and measure ingredients, including green onions, in advance of cooking. I use a bowl to hold the sauce so I don't have to interrupt cooking while the chicken cooks in the wok. I precook noodles 1 minute less than the recommended time on the package, rinse them under cold water, and finish cooking noodles in the wok to avoid overcooked noodles. I don't use the stove to cook noodles.
Use a big wok or frying pan and preheat it before adding the chicken. Don't overcrowd the pan with food; the steam from overcrowding will prevent the vegetables from crisping and will prevent the noodles from browning. Take the chicken out of the pan once it's browned and cook the cabbage and carrots in the same pan, adding garlic and ginger toward the end of cooking.
The chicken and noodles are added back to the wok. Other ingredients, including bean sprouts, are added and cooked to coat the noodles with sauce. Chopped green onions are added near the end of cooking. Some noodles may stick out of the wok and not be covered with sauce, while other noodle surfaces are covered with sauce.
What makes this special
- Thirty minutes: fifteen minutes of prep time and fifteen minutes of cooking time.
- A wok or similar pan is used to prepare the stir-fry dish. A small bowl is used to hold sauce for the stir-fry dish.
- No special tools are needed, only common cooking utensils, as described in this answer.
- Substitute beef or shrimp for chicken. Other options include pork and tofu.
- High heat causes crisp spots on the noodles. The sauce thickens in the same pan.
- Serve right away, with green onions served in the noodles.
Ingredients
- •8 oz chow mein egg noodles (or yakisoba noodles)
- •1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breast (thinly sliced)
- •1 tbsp vegetable oil (plus more as needed)
- •2 cloves garlic (minced)
- •1 tsp fresh ginger (grated)
- •2 cups green cabbage (shredded)
- •1 cup carrots (julienned)
- •1 cup bean sprouts
- •3 green onions (sliced)
- •¼ cup low-sodium soy sauce
- •2 tbsp oyster sauce
- •1 tbsp brown sugar (packed)
- •1 tsp toasted sesame oil
- •1 tsp cornstarch
Instructions
- 1
Cook the chow mein noodles according to the package directions, undercooking them by 1 minute. Drain well and rinse with cold water.
- 2
Whisk the soy sauce, oyster sauce, brown sugar, toasted sesame oil, and cornstarch together in a small bowl. Set the sauce aside.
- 3
Heat the vegetable oil in a large wok or skillet over high heat. Add the chicken and cook, stirring occasionally, until browned and cooked through. Remove the chicken and set it aside.
- 4
Add a bit more oil to the hot wok. Stir-fry the cabbage and carrots for 2-3 minutes until tender-crisp. Add the garlic and ginger, then cook for 30 seconds more until fragrant.
- 5
Return the chicken to the wok. Add the drained noodles and bean sprouts, then pour in the sauce. Toss constantly for 2-3 minutes until the sauce thickens and coats everything and the noodles are heated through. Remove from the heat.
- 6
Stir in the sliced green onions and serve immediately.
FAQ
Nutrition (per serving)
Calories
450
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