Check out this recipe for Veggie Chow Mein!
As Wikipedia explains: "Chow mein (/ˈtʃaʊ ˈmeɪn/) are stir-fried noodles, the name being an English language corruption of the Taishanese chāu-mèing." Oh corruption, why do you taste so good? Delicious, delicious corruption, how you woo me with your noodley goodness.
Corruption smerruption, whatever this is, it is a damn fine dish, and I have no problem chowing down, 2 heaping bowls of this veggie packed noodle bliss. (See what I did there).
Did you know that cabbage is a super healthy food. Low in calories, high in vitamins C, and K, and receives 5 stars on both the weight loss and optimum health scales on Self Nutrition Data. Adding a monster amount of cabbage to this recipe is a sneaky deaky trick, because it's not only delicious, but it blends right into the noodles, meaning you are getting more nutritional bang for your noodle buck. Yes, bring on the veggies! This is one chow mein recipe that is good for you.
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Back to noodles. Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the chow mein noodles according to the package directions.
When you are shopping for chow mein noodles make sure to get the egg-free kind. In my grocery store, both the egg containing chow mein noodles and the egg free kind are right beside each other in the Asian section of the grocery store.
Now mince your garlic and ginger and add it to a small bowl along with all the other chow mein sauce ingredients. Then set that bowl aside. I keep the favours fairly light here as I know not everyone is as obsessed with soy sauce and Sriracha as I am. The good news is you can always set your mouth into a salty fire by choice in your own bowl, while someone else can decide not to destroy their taste buds.
Chop up all your veggies.
Now get a pan nice a hot, and sauté the cabbage and onions in a bit of oil. Am I the only one who thinks that cooking cabbage and onions smells like cooking potato pancakes for no apparent reason? I am going to go ahead and say I am the only one. When it's all delicious, golden and wilted, dump the cabbage and onion mixture into a bowl and set aside.
Add the pan back to the heat, and sauté the mushrooms, carrots, and snow peas. Cook these guys for about 5 to 10 minutes until they are cooked through and the mushrooms release their awesome juiciness. Toss in the chow mein sauce and cook for just a minute more. Add in the cabbage and onion mixture, and the cooked noodles, and toss well to combine. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds and feast your way to noodley paradise.
Veggie Chow Mein
Ingredients
- ¾ lb vegan chow mein noodles
For the sauce:
For the chow mein:
- 1 tablespoon light oil (such as canola or vegetable)
- 5 cups green cabbage, thinly sliced
- 1 yellow onion, thinly sliced
- 2 carrots, peeled and sliced
- 3 cups mushrooms, sliced
- 1 ½ cups snow peas
- ½ cup green onions, sliced
- 1 tablespoon sesame seeds
Instructions
- Bring a large pot of water to a boil and cook the chow mein noodles according to the package directions. Drain and set aside.
- Add all of the sauce ingredients to a bowl and mix together.
- Heat the oil in a large pan over high heat. When the oil is hot, add the cabbage and onion. Stir frequently until the cabbage and onion have reduced in size and are nicely browned, about 5 minutes. Remove the cabbage mixture from the pan and set aside.
- Return the pan to the heat. Add more oil if needed and then sauté the carrots, peas, and mushrooms for 5 to 10 minutes, until softened and cooked through.
- Add the chow mein sauce to the pan, and cook for about 1 minute longer. Now add back the cooked cabbage and the noodles to the pan. Toss everything to combine. Garnish with green onions and sesame seeds.
Nutrition
Feature Ingredient: Cabbage.
Bon Appetegan
Sam
Marianne says
First, I would like to say that I am a fan of your recipes! This one for me was too bland. I did have to sub coconut aminos for the soy sauce as I can’t have soy. So I realize that it would be less salty. But I think if I try it again, I might sauté the veggies in a little veggie broth as well as use vegetable broth instead of the water. And maybe add more siracha. It just needed more of something.
Kortneii says
Tastes just like takeout chowmein! Love the cabbage! Thkank you!
Sam Turnbull says
Yay!!
Kortneii Mackenzie says
Another 5 star recipe! Tasty and simple as always. Thanks much!
Nancy says
I loved this recipe. I read some of the previous comments so I added a little more Ponzo sauce which is citrus based soya sauce and a quarter of a cup less of water. I also added a little more sesame oil as I went along. One thing I did do wrong was add a little bit too much sea salt here and there. Despite all that though this was a very delicious recipe and I would never call it bland in a minute. I bought your cookbook and so far everything I’ve cooked from it Was absolutely delicious. So much so two of my friends have now bought the cookbook.
Kelly says
I made a couple of adjustments to suit our tastebuds (a little less water, a little more sesame oil and Sriracha). This was a fantastic recipe-it’s a keeper for sure! Thank you!
Ann says
Hmmm, this was very bland for me and my family. 🙁
Mandy MacKenzie says
This is a great starting point for a chow mein dish! I will add garlic and more sriracha next time because I like mine a bit more "punchy" than this, but it was delicious!
Allie says
I used the veggies I had on hand but followed your sauce recipe pretty closely and the meal turned out great. I love how much less greasy this is than traditional takeout and my veggies turned out perfectly al dente. I'm saving this recipe to make for my boyfriend sometime!
Jo says
This turned out great, thank you! Baby corns are essential to chow mein for me so I added a can of those as well!
Sam Turnbull says
Awesome!
Angela says
Made this last night for dinner, it was really good. I’m not very good at making Asian food but this was a breeze, thank you!
Sam Turnbull says
Wonderful!! Thrilled it worked out fo you, Angela 🙂
Pam says
Can you share what brand of noodles you used or like to use?
Sam Turnbull says
I can't say I remember the brand I used but any rice or wheat noodle that is egg free would work 🙂
Tracey Barry says
This was amazing!! I decided to use rice instead of the noodles yet I found some crunchy Chow Mein noodles to put on top. I also added some water chestnuts. Super yummy! Your recipes are the best. I have your cookbook and every recipe is superb! Hope you will have another one in the future! Thank you for sharing all of these delicious recipes!!!
Sam Turnbull says
Sounds delish!! So thrilled you are enjoying so much of my recipes, Tracey!! 😀
Jen says
I did the same thing and it was yummy!
Gail says
I didn’t find it to have much taste. What about sauting in a little sesame oil and not canola oil.
Sam Turnbull says
Go for it!
Mar says
Omg. This wasn’t just bad. It was disgusting. I tried it twice, thinking I must have done something wrong. Nope. The liquid with the cornflour solidified before the garlic or ginger cooked. Both times. Gross. I threw it out, both times after one bite.
Diane R says
Well, if the sauce thickened before the ginger and garlic cooked to your liking the first time, why didn't you keep them out of the sauce and cook them along with the veg the second time? Don't blame the author if you can't adapt.
Jenn says
Mmmmm. So good! Asian food is hard for me to make good but this is delicious. In eating my second serving as I write this. Should have stopped after 1 serving but couldnt resist! Ive made I think 4 of your recipes so far and shared your site with my sister in law and she made 3 recipes and verything weve made has been amazing!
Sam Turnbull says
Oh that's so awesome! Thank you for sharing and loving my recipes, Jenn 🙂