Cantonese-Style (sort of) Chow Mein

I've included "sort of" in the title of this post because I'm referring to the cooking style, not the ingredients themselves. Rather than throwing all the ingredients into the wok together, they're separated out and cooked individually, then combined at the end. This gives greater control over how each one is cooked and you're less prone to mistakes (like uneven cooking or burning). 

Dry cooking the vegetables at the start also adds a slight smokiness and reduces the changes of noodles sticking to the wok later on as they won't absorb so much oil and leave little for the noodles. 

In terms of ingredients, if you want to keep it more authentic than I have by using beansprouts, onions and pak choi or Chinese leaf. 

Serves 2

For the sauce

125g water, hot

1/2 tbsp caster sugar

1 tbsp light soy sauce

3 tsp dark soy sauce

3 tsp oyster sauce

1/2 tsp fish sauce

1/2 tsp sesame oil

For the stir fry

2 nests of dried fine noodles (approx. 100g total)

1 spring onion, cut down the middle and then into 3cm long pieced

1/2 pak choi, sliced

6 chestnut mushroom, sliced

1 shallot, finely diced

2 chicken thighs, thinly sliced

Vegetable oil - see recipe for how much

First make the sauce by dissolving the sugar into the hot water. Then stirring in the rest of the ingredients. Set it aside for later. 

Boil the noodles as per packet instructions but reduce the cooking time by 1 minute (the noodles will finished cooking later on). When ready, rinse them under cold water and leave to drain. 

For the next few steps, you'll need to use a high heat. I found that it was good to lower the heat now and again to help control the cooking. 

Heat a wok over a high heat, add the spring onion and pak choi. Keep them moving around and cook until the edges just start to catch and burn slightly. Set them aside.

Add the mushrooms, with just a splash of oil, to the wok. Again, keep them moving and cook until starting to catch. Set them aside.

Add a teaspoon of oil and fry the shallots until golden brown. Set them aside.

Add a tablespoon of oil to the wok along with the chicken. Once again, keep it moving around and cook for about 5 minutes, until it's cooked through. 

Now add back in the vegetables and noodles. Lower to a medium heat and give it all a good mix, then pour in the sauce.

Continuously move the ingredients around until the noodles have absorbed all the sauce.

Serve.