A balanced marinade helps to tenderize meat as well as provide superior browning characteristics and better flavor.
Par-cooking the noodles gives them optimal texture when they're fried.
The ingredients are cooked in batches so as to maximize wok hei, the smoky effect of a hot wok.
From crispy pan-fried noodles to a bowl of wonton noodle soup, fresh Chinese egg noodles are a staple of Chinese restaurants. Just like Italian pasta or ramen, when cooked properly, they should have a firm bite and springy texture, and the wide variation in thickness and springiness makes Chinese egg noodles some of the most versatile to cook with.
Beef and broccoli might only be a classic combination in the American Chinese repertoire, but that doesn't make it any less delicious. In most restaurants, you'll find it served with rice, but I like to stir-fry it with hearty lo mein noodles.
The thickest variety of egg noodles, lo mein is great for stir-fried dishes with hearty flavors and rich sauces. Because the noodles are thick and dense, they're never as springy or bouncy as thinner noodles, which can be a good thing if you plan on making this dish ahead: lo mein's biggest advantage is that it holds up well to time, making it the perfect option for a buffet, a potluck, or when traveling.
The recipe starts with marinating beef in my basic meat marinade, which includes soy sauce, corn starch, Shaoxing wine, sugar, salt, and sesame oil. It's designed to help improve browning and bring out the meaty flavors of the beef.
While the beef marinates in the fridge, I par-cook my noodles. All egg noodles should be par-boiled in water before stir-frying (though be careful, some brands sell their noodles pre-boiled and ready-to-fry). Lo mein noodles take about three minutes. After they're cooked, I briefly run them under cold water to chill them rapidly.
When they're ready to cook, I start with the beef, stir-frying it in a couple tablespoons of smoking hot vegetable oil just until it's browned all over and mostly cooked. Then I remove it to a separate bowl to let my wok re-heat for the broccoli.
You can stir-fry the broccoli in just oil, but I like to add a little bit of water so that the broccoli steams and turns bright green. A couple minutes and it can join the beef in the bowl.
Finally, I stir-fry the noodles, making sure to get the wok hot again. You can use a spatula to stir-fry, but chopsticks will work better, allowing you to separate any clumps of noodles that stick together without breaking them. Once the noodles are hot, I add a simple sauce made of sesame oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, sugar, and wine, before tossing all the ingredients back in together.
Give it a few more tosses, and it's ready to serve. Chewy, al dente noodles in a rich sweet-and-savory sauce, along with tender marinated slices of beef and bright green broccoli florets. So much better than take out!
For the Beef: Combine beef, salt, sugar, pepper, wine, soy sauce, oil, and cornstarch in a small bowl and toss with fingers to coat. Set in refrigerator to marinate.
For the Sauce: While the beef marinates, combine sesame oil, light and dark soy sauces, oyster sauce, salt, sugar, wine, and water in a small bowl. Stir with a fork and set aside.
For the Noodles: Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add noodles and cook, stirring with chopsticks, until al dente, about 3 minutes. Drain in a colander and run under cold water until chilled. Drain well and set aside.
When ready to cook, heat 2 tablespoons oil in a wok over high heat until smoking. Add beef, spread it out with a spatula, and cook without moving until lightly browned, about 1 minute. Toss and cook, stirring frequently, until almost cooked through, about 2 minutes total. Transfer to a large bowl and set aside.
Add another tablespoon oil to the wok and heat over high heat until smoking. Add the broccoli and season with a couple pinches of salt. Cook, stirring, until very lightly browned, about 30 seconds, then add 1/4 cup water. Cook, stirring, until broccoli is steamed and water has evaporated, about 2 minutes. Transfer to bowl with beef.
Heat remaining tablespoon oil over high heat until smoking. Add the noodles. Using tongs or chopsticks, cook the noodles, stirring and mixing constantly until the noodles are coated in oil, about 1 minute. Add the sauce and continue cooking, stirring constantly, until the sauce coats the noodles, about 1 minute longer. Add the garlic, broccoli, and beef and continue cooking until combined and fragrant, about 1 minute longer. Serve immediately.
Special Equipment
Wok
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Chinese Noodles 101: The Chinese Egg Noodle Style Guide
Most commonly, lo mein involves chicken, beef, pork, turkey, shrimp or tofu. Sauce components: Lo mein sauce is mainly composed of sesame oil, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, garlic, ginger, oyster sauce and a dash of sugar. If you like your noodles to have a little heat, you can sprinkle in some red pepper flakes.
Consider the following tips for adding an extra kick of flavor:
Add more soy sauce: Soy sauce is a staple ingredient in lo mein noodles. ...
Experiment with spices: Spice up your lo mein noodles by adding spices like garlic powder, ginger, crushed red pepper flakes, or Chinese five-spice powder.
To thicken beef and broccoli, you can mix 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch with a small amount of water to create a slurry. Add the slurry to the simmering sauce and stir until it thickens.
Some common names will be lo mein, chow mein, egg noodles or pancit noodles. Most markets have Japanese yaki soba noodles in the cold case, and those would work perfectly. Spaghetti or fettuccini cooked al dente and rinsed in cold water and drained in a colander will also make a great lo mein.
Beef lo mein is made of simple, nutritious ingredients. Thanks to noodles, the beef (and thus your dollar) goes a long way in this recipe. It's Flexible. Lo mein is made of noodles, a protein (usually beef or chicken), vegetables, and a sweet and savory sauce.
Cornstarch! In his book How to Cook Everything Vegetarian, Mark Bittman recommends mixing 1-2 tablespoons of cornstarch with the same amount of water, and tossing this into the stir fry just when it's almost done. It thickens in seconds, picking up the flavors of everything already in the dish and coating evenly.
This mound of noodles has about half the carbohydrates you need all day. The noodles are made from white flour, which raises your blood sugar faster than fiber-rich whole grains. Plus, they're cooked with oil and soy sauce, so you get extra fat and sodium. Can't pass it up?
The best kind of restaurant-style stir-fried lo mein is subtle in flavor, with plenty of wok hei, the smoky flavor that results from the powerful flame of a restaurant wok burner licking up and over the back of the wok, singeing the oil and noodles.
Monosodium Glutamate (MSG) is a flavor enhancer that has been widely used for roughly 100 years ( 1 ). In addition to being naturally present in certain foods, it's a common food additive in Chinese recipes, canned vegetables and soups, and other processed goods.
Chinese food and soups contain monosodium glutamate (MSG) as the main addictive ingredient. A sensitive individual may suffer from headache, giddiness, sweating, abdominal pain, and urticaria within a few hours of consumption of MSG.
Heat oil in a large skillet or wok over high heat. Cook and stir celery, carrots, onion, and green onions in hot oil until slightly tender, 5 to 7 minutes. Add spaghetti and soy sauce mixture.Cook, stirring frequently, until heated through, about 5 minutes.
Mix together the sauce ingredients and put to one side. The sauce is a combination of beef stock, light and dark soy sauce, Chinese rice wine (you can swap for sherry if you haven't got rice wine), sesame oil, sugar, white pepper and black pepper.
Depending on what you are using the beef broth for you can substitute a well made vegetable broth or chicken broth. Of course, it will change the flavor profile a bit but it is a much better solution to using cubes or powders which are sodium bombs.
Each restaurant has its secrets but I make a fair amount of Chinese food and recipes for broccoli beef sauce are basically oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar and perhaps a splash of rice wine. Since this is a deep flavored savory dish I think perhaps a bit of mushroom soy sauce is used.
The sauce is what makes this dish so addictive. It's a simple umami filled mix of light and dark soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, sugar, and a hint of ginger. It's super easy to make a batch of lo mein sauce and keep it in the fridge so you can easily make lo mein whenever the craving hits.
Chicken Broth Version: Combine 1 cup chicken broth (or chicken stock), 1 1/2 tablespoons oyster sauce, 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce, 1/2 teaspoon brown sugar, and 1 tablespoon cornstarch (or potato starch) in a saucepan. Mix evenly and make sure there are no lumps. Bring to a boil and keep stirring during cooking.
Combine soy sauce, light sesame oil, oyster sauce, granulated sugar, cornstarch, and chicken broth to make the signature sweet and savory sauce that makes chow mein taste authentic.
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