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Rach shares a new MYOTO (make your own takeout) recipe: an easy, flexible recipe for lo mein, which is cause for excitement as she shelters at home in the Adirondack mountains (read: takeout isn't an option!). 

"Lo Mein translates to stirred noodles in Cantonese. I use beef flank steak in this take-out-style, big-flavor, fun-to-eat meal, but it can be made with any protein: lean pork, boneless chicken breast, shrimp or sliced extra-firm tofu. I buy fresh and dried lo mein or thin Chinese noodles in 500 gram packages online, or you can substitute egg spaghetti, wheat spaghetti or thin spaghetti if Chinese noodles prove difficult for you to find." –Rach 

For more ideas from our Galentine's Day episode, check out Camila Alves McConaughey's Bacon Rose Bouquet, Heart-Shaped Egg-in-a-Hole, and these British Scones With Jam & Clotted Cream.

Ingredients

For the Protein and Marinade:
  • 1½ teaspoons cornstarch
  • ½ teaspoon baking soda
  • 1½ tablespoons light soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon peanut or canola oil 
  • 12 to 16 ounces flank steak or other protein such as pork or boneless chicken breast, pounded to even thickness, then thinly sliced (if using tofu, buy extra-firm and skip pounding before slicing; if using shrimp, use medium, peeled, deveined and tail-off
For the Sauce and Noodles:
  • 2 tablespoons light soy sauce
  • 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
  • 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
  • 1 tablespoon dark sesame oil
  • 1½ teaspoons cornstarch (make a slurry with splash of water)
  • ¼ cup Shaoxing (Chinese rice wine) or dry sherry 
  • ¼ cup beef stock (or vegetable if using tofu)
  • 1 teaspoon white pepper
  • ½ teaspoon sugar
  • 1 package fresh or dried Lo Mein-style Chinese noodles, cooked to directions
  • 3 tablespoons peanut or canola oil 
  • 2 to 3 baby bok choy, thinly sliced, or 1 small Napa cabbage, quartered and shredded
  • One 12-ounce package mung bean spouts, about 3 cups
  • 1 carrot, peeled and shredded or cut into matchsticks
  • 1 parsnip, peeled and shredded or cut into matchsticks, or 2 watermelon radishes, same preparation 
  • 1 red field pepper or bell pepper, seeded, quartered and thinly sliced
  • 2 chili peppers, red or green, thinly sliced with seeds for spicy lo mein or seeded for milder
  • 2 inches ginger, minced or grated
  • 4 cloves garlic, chopped
  • 1 bunch scallions, whites and greens thinly sliced on a bias

Yield

Serves: 4

Preparation

For the protein and marinade, combine the cornstarch and baking soda with a splash of water to make a slurry, add to a plastic bag with soy sauce and oil, add protein and coat evenly, then refrigerate a minimum of 30 minutes and up to a few hours. 

For the sauce and noodles, whisk up sauce: soy and oyster sauces, sesame oil, cornstarch, Shaoxing, stock or broth, white pepper and sugar.

Bring water to boil and cook noodles, then leave in strainer in sink.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high to high heat with 1 tablespoon oil, add protein and brown, remove from pan, wipe, add remaining oil and cook vegetables and peppers first a minute or 2, add ginger, garlic and scallions, toss a minute more, then add sauce and protein to pan. Rinse noodles under water to loosen, shake and add to pan, toss a minute or so more. Serve from pan.