Anyone out there make authentic lo mein?

[lovecooking]

I love the stuff, eat it at quickie places with a bit of meat usually on the side when I need a quick and satisfying meal on the fly. I have spent too much time today online and in cookbooks looking for a typical lo mein. I know basically what I'd do to make them taste great but wonder what others do. I want to do the vegetable kind, no meat, I'll add that on the side of dinner if I want. Don't mind broth if it needs to be added as a liquid.

Here's what I'd do.
Regular noodles, like speghetti, cooked.
Saute some carrot peels, cabbage sliced thin, onions sliced thin, bean sprouts, ginger and garlic minced in some good quality Greek or Spanish olive oil then add some sesame seeds some oyster sauce and soy sauce, some broth mixed with a little corn starch and sesame oil and make shift it.

[kcma]

olive oil in chinese food is odd :p and if you visit 99 ranch, they sell both fresh and dry lo-mein ;)

[jcl]

This is a common way to do it at home in Hong Kong.

1 - Very finely julienned ginger and green onion (scallian).

2 - fresh egg noodle (chinese grocer should have it) or the dried egg noodle I prefer the shrimp flavoured version); if these are not readily available, spaghetti is fine.

3 - if dried noodle is used, boil it first in water or chicken stock with a little peanut oil added until it is soft but not cooked through. Rinse in cold water and reserve.

4 - toast penut oil on a pan and add a few slices of ginger

5 - put the noodle into the pan and toss it well while adding chicken stock or water until noodle is "Al Dente".

6 - after turning off the flame, toss in the julienned ginger and green onion, oyster source, a little fish source, (hot pepper flakes if you like), and a touch of sesame oil.

This can be served either hot or cold.

[lovecooking]

I have peanut oil but will use that next time. Although I know olive oil is out there for Asian dish I love it when it's real high quality which is all I buy. Great results the other night. Let me ask does fish sauce or tahini paste enter into this meal at all?

[jcl]

In HK, typically only oyster sauce is used for lo mein (may be some light and dark soy sauce). I got upset at the increasing amount of MSG in oyster sauce, so I started cutting it down and adding fish sauce, which is supposed to be all natural (no MSG), to intensify the taste and it came out great. You have to take it easy though as it is very salty and strongly flavoured. The sliced ginger does however, counteract the fishy tone effectively. Tahini is not used in lo mein. It is however used in the Northern Chinese cooking. For example, there is a sauce for noodle that is basically Hoi Sin + Tahini + peanut butter + hot miso + shitaki mushroom + dried tofu etc. all toasted in oil in a wok. This however, is simply poured over hot white wheat noodle which is not stirred up and cooked with the sauce in a wok.

[kcma]

fish sauce naturally has msg :p not added, it's just a naturally occuring product ;) soy sauce too.

[rogue108]

I have peanut oil be will use that next time. Although I know olive oil is out there for Asian dish I love it when it's real high quality which is all I buy. Great results the other night. Let me ask does fish sauce or tahini paste enter into this meal at all?

The olive oil is a bit little out there for asian cooking and I find the smoke point a bit low for most wok cooking. Typically tahini and fish sauce aren't used in traditional lo mein, but do what taste good to you.

[lovecooking]

I think I'll do this tonight with the chicken that is defrosting.
I feel like something light and this should fill the bill.