Here’s a quick little recipe in honor of Lunar New Year next week. It’s true that technically speaking, we should be eating chang shou mian, but it’s also true that supreme soy sauce chow mein is impossibly delicious and impossibly easy, and far and away my new favorite noodle dish, so in my humble opinion, we’re just fine if we decide to make this instead.
Supreme soy sauce chow mein is not something that I’d actually had growing up, as it’s a traditional Cantonese dish. We grew addicted to it only after trying it at Ho Kee Cafe this summer, but from now on, I’ll be making up for lost time–it’s one of those dishes that is perfect in its simplicity, packed with flavor but from only a handful of ingredients. It starts with a tangle of thin yellow egg noodles, cooked for only a few minutes to preserve a bouncy, firm texture that I adore more than anything. The noodles are fluffed out to dry them briefly, then added to a hot wok with onions and bean sprouts for crunch, and sautéed on high heat to add smokiness. Once there’s a bit of burnished char on everything, it’s drizzled with a salty-sweet soy sauce mixture that coats every strand, vigorously tossed together to combine, and then you’re done. Savory, chewy, saucy but not soggy, and my perfect noodle dish.
supreme soy sauce chow mein
Made with help from Hetty McKinnon in her latest cookbook, To Asia, With Love, and Made with Lau. As with the best things, these noodles are endlessly riffable. You can add the protein of your choice, as an easy start, and I’ve done one with black bean broccoli and sesame-glazed tofu that the kids loved. Hetty also has, as always, some wonderful ideas for vegetarian twists. Her version in To Asia, With Love also adds a fried egg to lean into the breakfast dish that this is usually served as, and she also suggests (as you might have seen given its immense popularity) several versions that are made on a sheet pan if you’re short on hands-on time, here and here.
Ingredients
For the sauce:
1 tablespoon water
1 tablespoon light soy sauce (or more, to taste)
1 tablespoon dark soy sauce
2 teaspoons oyster sauce or vegetarian stir-fry sauce
2 teaspoons sesame oil, plus more to finish
1 teaspoon sugar (or more to taste)
For the rest:
7 ounces dried or 14 ounces fresh thin egg noodles (here are two options that were available at the 99 Ranch near me)
3 tablespoons vegetable or other neutral oil
½ cup scallions, finely sliced (from about 4–6 scallions)
½ cup thinly sliced onions (from about ½ medium onion)
2 cups (about 6–7 ounces) bean sprouts
2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds
Salt and pepper, to taste
Instructions
- First, mix together the ingredients for the sauce (water, light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and sugar) and set aside.
- Next, cook your noodles according to the package directions until just tender and slightly underdone. Made with Lau has detailed instructions depending on the type of noodles you have. Drain very well and let the noodles sit over a sieve for a few minutes to let them dry out, fluffing with chopsticks to help remove moisture. Drizzle a tablespoon or two of vegetable oil over the noodles and toss to coat.
- Heat a large wok over high heat for 2-3 minutes, or until a drop of water sizzles when it hits the wok. Add 1 tablespoon vegetable oil and heat until shimmering. Add the sliced onions and the scallions and season with a little salt and pepper. Cook for 2-3 minutes over high heat, until the green onions wilt and the onions begin to soften, and remove from heat. Some charring is fine and good.
- Wipe out the wok and return to heat. When the wok is hot, add another tablespoon of oil and heat until shimmering. Add the drained egg noodles. Fry without touching for about 2-3 minutes, or until the bottom of the noodles gets a nice crisp. Turn the heat down if the noodles start to burn. Use chopsticks to toss the noodles around or flip them, then let them crisp up further, another 1-2 minutes.
- Add the bean sprouts and toss again to combine. Cook for another 2 minutes, or until bean sprouts just lose their bite.
- Add back the cooked onions and green onions. Drizzle half the sauce over the noodles and toss until combined. Add the remaining sauce and continue to toss over medium-high heat, taking care to separate the noodles with chopsticks (which work better than a spatula), until the sauce is fully absorbed and the noodles are dry. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Remove from heat and garnish with sesame seeds. Enjoy. This also keeps well for several days.
Chef Mimi
Oh goodness I could eat this every day! Interestingly enough, I was copying a pad see ew recipe and it has the same ingredients, minus the sesame oil. Of course it’s also Thai, but because I wanted to make it, I now own dark soy sauce. I also ordered new oyster sauce because mine was old, but it broke in transit. I will also make these noodles when I get another one!
Enelye
Loved this recipe! It’s simple but so tasteful, thank you, will be doing this again (instead of takeout😉).
★★★★★
tworedbowls
That makes my day! Thank you and so happy to hear, Enelye.
Rosse
I tried this recipe and it turned out really good. Thanks for the recipe.
★★★★★
Trudy Wodinsky
Hi! I’m new to your blog. I came by it when The NY Times locked me out of a recipe for stir-fry lettuce with egg (they have a paywall) and I did a search of my own. I’m seeing so many wonderful choices here, and lots of other vegetarian dishes as well! I have a couple of questions: (1) when you list vegetarian stir-fry sauce, is there a particular kind you’d recommend and (2) a number of recipes list sugar as an ingredient. My son is diabetic so that’s an issue for us. Should I just leave it out, or is there something you’d recommend as a substitute? Thanks so much!