Vegetarian Shanghai Chow Mein

Serves: 3-4

Prep Time: 10 min

Cook Time: 15-25 min

Shanghai chow mein is a Chinese classic. It is all about the thick noodles and the delicious sauce. This dish is customizable with whatever meat and vegetables you would like. Within 15 or so minutes, you can have a drool worthy main course.

Ingredients

4 servings of noodles, homemade or pre-cooked udon

2 tbsp vegetable oil

2-3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped

6 large shiitake mushrooms, sliced (optional)

1 cup sliced Chinese cabbage

1 cup sliced bok choy (optional)

Green onions, for garnish (optional)

Sauce

2 tbsp soy sauce

1 tbsp dark soy sauce

1 tbsp oyster sauce

1 tsp sugar

Instructions

1. Combine the ingredients for the stir-fry sauce, mix well and save for later.

2. Heat a large pot of water over high heat. When boiling, add the noodles and use tongs or chopsticks to help gently shake the noodles apart. Turn the heat down to medium high and cook, drain and set aside to add into the skillet later.

3. Heat the vegetable oil in a large wok or frying pan over medium high heat. Add the garlic and the vegetables. You can add a tablespoon or two of water to help make more of a liquid sauce (this will cook down). Cook the mushrooms until they are playable and the bok choy and napa cabbage are translucent and limp. You may add in ¼ teaspoon chili flakes at this stage. I will also add 1 tablespoon of the sauce at this stage to help bring more flavor directly to the vegetables but it's not necessary.

4. Add in the cooked noodles and the stir-fry sauce and mix until everything is well combined. Cook for an additional 1-2 minutes to let the sauce really soak into the noodles and vegetables.

5. If the sauté pan has a lot of liquid you can continue to cook it for a little longer (1-2 minutes) to thicken if you desire. If it's really dry, you can add a splash of water. We don't want the noddles to be so dry that they start to crisp and stick to the pan.

6. Garnish with optional green onion.

7. Serve immediately and enjoy!