Vegetarian Lo Mein all recipes

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Vegetarian Lo Mein

Why this recipe works: anyone who’s ever been to a Chinese restaurant is probably familiar with lo mein, a stirred noodle dish often containing some type of meat or seafood. We wanted a quick, tasty vegetarian version that would be on the table in less time than it takes for takeout to arrive. We use a simple combination of Asian pantry ingredients(Hoisin, soy sauce, and chili – garlic sauce) to give our homemade lo mein a robust, spicy flavor. Scallions we use both the whites and greens at different points give our dish a bit that is simultaneously sweet and peppery. Just 2 teaspoons of cornstarch is enough to make the sauce cling to the noodles without making them stodgy.

Vegetarian Lo Mein

Ingredients: serve 4

9 ounces fresh Chinese noodles or 8 ounces dried linguine

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

3 tablespoons Hoisin sauce

3 tablespoon soy sauce

1 tablespoon chili garlic sauce

2 teaspoons cornstarch

¼ cup water

1 tablespoon vegetable oil

1 bunch scallions, white and green parts separated, both parts cut into 1 inch pieces

8 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced thin

1 red bell pepper, mushrooms, seed and sliced thin

1 medium head bok choy, sliced crosswise into ¼ inch strips (about 4 cups)

Procedures:

1. bring 4 quarts water to boil in pot. Add noodles and cook, stirring occasionally, until noodles are just tender, about 4 minutes for fresh noodles or 10 minutes for dried linguine. Drain noodles, rinse with cold water until cool, then toss noodles with sesame oil and set aside.
2. Meanwhile, whisk Hoisin, soy sauce, chili garlic sauce, cornstarch, and water in small bowl; set aside
3. Heat vegetable oil in large nonstick skillet over medium high heat until shimmering. Add scallion whites, shiitakes, and bell pepper and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in bok choy, scallion greens, and noodles. Whisk Hoisin mixture to recombine, then add to skillet and cook, tossing constantly, until sauce is thickened and noodles are heated through, about 1 minutes. Serve.

Kitchen know how scallion green vs. whites

To find out if there were any differences between the parts of scallion, we started by tasting raw scallions. Tasters described distinctly different flavor profiles for the white and green parts. The white section has a delicate, sweet taste similar to shallots, while the green portion has grassy notes and peppery bits. When we used the raw scallions in salsa, tasters were still able to identify the same distinguishing characteristics; which worked better depended on individual taste. Finally we cooked scallions in a pork stir – fry. The whites softened nicely while the green wilted, taking on a limp texture that some tasters didn’t like. If texture is an issue(it isn’t in the recipe), cook only the white part and reserve the green portion to use as a garnish.