Cantonese chow mein

By Trevor Lui

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SERVES

35 Mins

Ingredients

1 pound chow mein egg noodles
1/2 cup snow peas
4 tablespoons canola oil (divided)
1/2 carrot, thinly sliced diagonally
1/2 yellow onion, thinly sliced
6 (31 /40) shrimp, shelled and deveined
5-1/2 ounce sliced BBQ pork (char siu)
2 spring onions, cut into matchsticks
1 tablespoon soy sauce or tamari
1 tablespoon oyster sauce
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Chopped cilantro, for garnish
Chili oil or sauce, to serve

Directions

Bring a large saucepan of water to a boil. Add noodles and cook for two minutes, then drain in a colander and rinse under cold running water.
Bring a small saucepan of water to a boil. Add snow peas and cook for two minutes. Drain, then rinse under cold running water.
Heat two tablespoons oil in a large frying pan over high heat. Add noodles and pan-fry, untouched, for three to four minutes, until crisp. Turn over and pan-fry, untouched, for another three to four minutes, until crisp and slightly browned. (Note: the centre of the noodles can remain soft, if desired.) Transfer noodles to a serving platter.
Heat the remaining two tablespoons oil in the same pan over medium-high heat. Add carrots and yellow onions and sauté for three to four minutes, until onions are slightly translucent. Add shrimp and BBQ pork and sauté for another three minutes, until shrimp turns just opaque.
Add spring onions and snow peas and cook for a minute. Stir in soy sauce (or tamari), oyster sauce, and 1/2 cup water. Bring mixture to a simmer.
In a small bowl, combine cornstarch and three tablespoons water. Add cornstarch mixture to the pan, a tablespoon at a time, and stir until thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon. If necessary, add more cornstarch mixture.
Pour sauce over noodles, then garnish with cilantro and serve immediately, with chili oil (or sauce) on the side.

Excerpted from The Double Happiness Cookbook: 88 Feel-Good Recipes and Food Stories by Trevor Lui. Photographs by Suech + Beck. Copyright © 2020 by Trevor Lui. Excerpted with permission from Figure 1 Publishing. All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.