Chicken Lo mein

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Chinese Lo mein noodles are not readily available in our local stores. I was shopping at the Food Pyramid yesterday and was delightfully surprised when I found a box of China Boy Lo Mein Noodles at their specialty food section. The recipe at the back of a box called for pea pods, water chestnuts and baby corn. I only had bok choy, carrots and red bell pepper so I used them instead.

Grace Young, author of The Breath of a Wok quotes Martin Yan that the secret to restaurant chinese cooking is fierce heat which seals in the flavor of food. "Chinese restaurant stove has at least five times the heat of an American restaurant stove (at 15000 to 30000 BTUs)", says Martin Yan.

I have a regular gas stove so the final dish did not have the intense "restaurant wok-hai" flavor which is achieved only by stir frying over extremely high heat allowing the flames to actually enter the wok and impart a distinct smoky aroma to the dish. Still, this Chinese Lo mein dish was very good.

1-8 oz box China Boy Lo mein noodles, boiled 3-4 minutes and drained well
1 1/2 lb chicken tenders, cut into strips
2 Tbsp canola oil
1 small onion, chopped fine
3 cloves garlic, minced
1 bunch baby bok choy
1 carrot, cut into strips
1/3 cup red bell pepper, cut in strips
SAUCE:
3 Tbsp cornstarch
5 Tbsp soy sauce
5 Tbsp sherry or chinese rice wine
4 Tbsp brown sugar
3/4 c chicken stock
4 tsp sesame oil
a dash of red pepper flakes

Combine sauce ingredients and set aside. Place 1 tbsp oil in wok. Stir fry chicken strips, garlic and onions until chicken is almost cooked. Add remaining oil and stir fry carrots, bell pepper and bok choy. Mix 1/2 of the sauce into the vegetables and transfer this to a dish and set aside. Place the rest of the sauce into the wok and add cooked noodles. Stir fry until noodles are coated with the sauce. Plate noodles and top with the chicken and vegetable mixture. Garnish with green onions.