Easy Leftover Baked Chicken Chow Mein Recipes

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When my parents owned a Chinese takeaway and my friends and I would get hungry after a night out – they would always ask my parents to bring us chicken chow mein. And it was always a delicious choice. Of course, Chinese food is, part of my heritage – so I love it all. But when I'm pressed to name my favourite Chinese dish, chicken chow mein is right up there. Alongside dumplings, prawn toast and braised pork belly.

I mean what's not to love? Noodles coated in delicious soy, oyster sauce with ginger and garlic, alongside the crunch of carrots, beansprouts and cabbage. It is simplicity at its finest. But you really don't need to pay £s to eat chicken chow mein at home. You can whip up an authentic chicken chow mein in your own kitchen and with no hassle. The whole family will enjoy it – just like mine do.

How to make this chicken chow mein recipe

The actual cooking portion of this chicken chow mein recipe with beansprouts is very quick. The prep of cutting the chicken pieces, thighs or breast meat, chopping the vegetables – including Chinese cabbage and carrots, is the most time-consuming part. If you don't want to grate ginger, you can also use lazy ginger to save time.

To make the sauce, combine all the marinade ingredients together – soy sauce, oyster sauce, sugar, soy sauce, Shaoxing cooking wine, pepper and cornflour. The cornflour helps thicken the sauce. I like to marinate the chicken in half the sauce for 20 minutes so that it really takes on the flavour. However, if you want to make the chow mein quickly, you can skip this part. It will still taste just as amazing.

Where can I find Shaoxing cooking wine?

Shaoxing wine is a traditional Chinese wine made by fermenting glutinous rice, water and wheat-based yeast. It is a staple flavour in all Chinese cooking. You can find this Chinese rice wine in all good Asian supermarkets or here online. If you can't get any, you can also substitute it with mirin – which is available in all good supermarkets.

What if I don't have all the vegetables?

This is the beauty of this recipe. Many families have different variations of authentic chicken chow mein. Sometimes I don't have green cabbage or carrots to hand, so I may add more spring onions or beansprouts, even peas, broccoli, baby sweetcorn or finely chopped mangetout or green beans. My husband isn't a fan of onions, so I leave them out, but if you fry slices of onion alongside the garlic and ginger, this makes a tasty addition. If you're not a veggie fan, then leave them all out! Totally up to you.

You can also use leftover chicken, too.

When I have cooked leftover chicken, I find it works really well in this chow mein dish. Shred cooked chicken and instead of marinating it, throw it all into the wok alongside the sauce and the noodles. It will not take as long to cook. But will still taste just as delicious.

How to store leftovers

Honestly, there is nothing better than leftover chow mein, which is why I probably make a huge portion – so I can save some! You can put any leftovers in a suitable container and refrigerate for up to three days before reheating again in a microwave.

Servings 4

Prep Time 15 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Total Time 25 mins

• 600 g of chicken thigh fillets or chicken breasts cut into bite-sized pieces
• 400 g of medium egg noodles
• 3 spring onions finely chopped
• 200 g of Chinese leaf or green cabbage chopped
• 1 carrot peeled and julienned [cut into fine strips]
• 250 g of beansprouts
• 2 cloves of garlic finely sliced
• 1 thumb of ginger grated
• 2 tablespoons of cornflour
• 2 tablespoons of light soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
• 2 tablespoons of Shaoxing cooking wine or mirin
• 1 pinch of white pepper
• 1 teaspoon of sugar

• To make the marinade for the chicken, combine the soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, Shaoxing wine or mirin, cornflour, pepper and sugar. Mix well. Then pour half over the chicken and let it marinate for 20-30 mins or so.

• If you don't have time to marinate the chicken, you can skip this step.

• Cook the medium egg noodles for around 10 minutes, and then drain. Let them sit in a colander so that they can dry out for 10 minutes or so.

• In a wok or large deep pan, heat the vegetable oil on high heat, then add the chopped garlic and ginger, and saute quickly.

• Then, add the chicken, stir around the wok quickly. Fry the chicken for a few minutes until the pieces start to brown.

• Next, add the carrots and the cabbage. Continue to keep cooking all the ingredients until you see the cabbage wilting, around 2 to 3 minutes.

• Add the noodles, as well as the rest of the sauce, and combine everything in the wok thoroughly. Make sure the noodles are mixed well and coated in the sauce. If you need a little more moisture, you can add a splash of water.

• After a few minutes, add the spring onions and bean sprouts, and continue to stir well for another minute until the bean sprouts soften.

Want extra spice? If you'd like the noodles to be spicy, you can drizzle chilli oil or sauce over the top. Alternatively, you can add a chopped fresh red or green chilli to the wok, at the same time as the garlic and ginger.

Calories: 554 kcal

Did you make this easy chicken chow mein recipe?

Please let me know if you have tried this recipe for chicken chow mein? Leave a comment below and tag @cooksimplyathome on Instagram. You can find other delicious meal ideas here.

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Source: https://cooksimply.co.uk/easy-chinese-chicken-chow-mein-recipe/

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