Conference turris::cooks

    I, too, am a great fan of lo mein.  I found the real secret is in
    the lo main noodles.  I get mine at my supermarket.  Then I sautee
    mushrooms with whatever meat/chicken I plan on using, add bean sprouts
    and water chestnuts, and sometimes those frozen Oriental mix veggies.
    Add soy sauce to taste and a little sesame oil (used for flavoring,
    NOT frying).  I also add almonds or cashews for a change of taste.
    Oh, I forgot the onions! You need onions!  AS you can tell, it's
    not a set recipe, but it works every time! Next time you get it
    at your favorite CHinese restaurant, make a list of what's in it,
    then go ahead and throw it together. You will probably prefer your
    own to a restaurant's once you get the hang of it. 
    Sarah
    

    3/4 lb Chinese roast pork, shredded (buy this or roast your own)
    1 lb Chinese egg noodles, cooked (use thin spaghetii if you are
         desparate, but the real noodles are much better)
    1 c Chinese black mushrooms, soaked and cut into strips
    2 c bok choy, shredded
    1 c celery, sliced long and thin
    1 small can bamboo shoots, shredded
    2 c snow peapods, sliced in half
    4 T peanut oil
    1 t salt - I omit it
    1/2 t MSG - I omit this too
    8 T (1/2 c) oyster sauce
    4 stalks of scallions, sliced long and thin
    
    Preheat wok and add oil; heat until it sizzles.
    Add roast pork and stir fry for 1 minute.
    Add oyster sauce and mix well.
    Add mushrooms and cook for one minute.
    Add celery and bok choy and mix well.
    Add bamboo shoots, snow peapods, and scallions and stir-fry again.
    Add noodles and mix well over medium heat (so that they will not
    burn onto the bottom of the wok).
    Add seasonings.  Add some sesame oil if you want.
    Add more oyster sauce if too dry.
    
    Serves 4 to 6 people.

Try the Pad Thai recipe (its in here somewhere) and omit the spices...

/. Ian .\

    Roast Pork Lo Mein
    
    1/2 lbs. Chinese roast pork
    1 cup bean sprouts
    2 tblsp. oyster sauce (I think I would skip this, I don't like oysters)
    l tblsp. light soy sauce
    1/2 tsp. sugar
    Dash of pepper
    1 lb. Chinese egg noodles
    2 tblsp. Peanut oil
    3/4 tsp. salt
    2 cups shredded Chinese cabbage (bok choy)
    1/4 cup water
    
    Preparation
    Shred the pork into pieces aporoximately the same size as the bean
    sprouts.  In a small bowl combine the oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar
    and pepper.
    
    Cooking
    Bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil.  Add the noodles and
    boil until the noodles have reached the al dente stage.  Drain under
    running water to stop cooking.
    
    Heat a wok or skillet over high heat until a drop of water immediately
    sizzles into steam.  Add the oil and salt,  Just before the oil begins
    to smoke, add the cabbage, bean sprouts, and the pork.  Stir-fry
    for 2 minutes.  Add the water.  Add the noodles and mix with the contents
    of the pan.  Cover and cook for 2 minutes longer.  Add the oyster
    sauce mixture and stir to mix.
    
    Note: 1/2 lb. of boiled chicken breast,. cooked shrimp, or roast
    duck may be substituted for the roast pork
    
    Yield:  4-6 servings.
    
    Hope its good - Flo

    Oyster sauce is yummie, and doesn't taste like oysters to me.  It's
    also very good in stir-fry like with beef and broccoli.  MMMM I say
    get some and check it out.
    
    Peigi who also hates oysters

I concur with .4.  Oyster sauce, although it is made from fermented oysters,
doesn't taste anything like oysters.  It's more in the same camp of flavors
as soy sauce, hoisin sauce, bean sauce, and ketchup.

The recipe in .3 is a very good general recipe for lo mein.  There are endless
variations.  You can add chinese dried mushrooms (soaked in boiling water
until soft, squeezed out, then cut into shreds to match the other
ingredients), canned button mushrooms, and/or pea pods (sliced into shreds).
I've seen onions (sliced into shreds) used in place of the bok choy.

--PSW

    What is the difference between Chinese egg noodes and regular egg
    noodles?

    To go back one or two replies, I also concur that one should _try_ oyster
    sauce before condemning it  --  because one doesn't like oysters.  It
    IS great with stir-fried broccoli, etc.
    
    What tipped me off to looking beyond the name, was when I finally found 
    a recipe for shrimp with lobster sauce -- there wasn't any _lobster_ 
    in lobster sauce!
    
    I think there _are_ oysters in oyster sauce, but it sure doesn't
    _taste_ that way.
    
    --chris johnson  

RE: .6

>    What is the difference between Chinese egg noodes and regular egg
>    noodles?

Not much.  Spaghettini are a perfectly valid substitute for Chinese egg
noodles.


RE: .7 (lobster and oyster sauce)

There are a lot of Chinese dishes and ingredients that take their names from
the principal way that they are used in other dishes.  For example, lobster
sauce is the sauce used in Lobster Cantonese Style.  The sauce is made with
eggs and black beans and is added to the lobster at the end of the stir-fry.
If you use the same egg-and-black-bean sauce with shrimp, you get Shrimp with
Lobster Sauce (i.e., with the same sauce also used for lobster).  Another 
example is the combination of black beans, chili paste, garlic, shredded ginger,
and shredded black mushrooms commonly used with steamed fish in Sichuan.  If
you use the same ingredients with chicken or pork, you get dishes whose names
are variously translated as "chicken with fish flavor" or "pork with fish
ingredients."  These dishes have no fish in them at all, nor do they taste
even vaguely of fish, but they are made with ingredients commonly used when
cooking fish.  "Duck sauce" is yet another example.  It's a plum-based (in U.S.
Cantonese restaurants, usually apple-based) sauce often served with duck.

Oyster sauce, it turns out, really is made from fermented oysters.  However, it
doesn't taste at all like oysters or any other sort of seafood or shellfish (any
more than soy sauce tastes of beans).  It has a unique and very tasty flavor
all its own.

--PSW

    .-1  I beg to differ.  Chinese egg noodles are very different from
         regular spaghetti in texture.  It is usually fresh, of medium 
         yellow color.  They usually come in two sizes: thin and round,
         like spaghetti, and large and flat, like linguine (sp?).
      
         The ones used for lomein is the thin and round type.  The way my
         mother made it is to boil the noodles, rinse under COLD water,
         drain, then fry in hot oil so that the 2 sides are crunchy, but
         the middle of the noodle mess is soft.  The noodles are then set
         aside until the toppings are cooked.  Then she will spoon the
         toppings over the noodles.
    
         Some supermarkets, such as Stop and Shop, sell Chinese egg noodles
         in the fresh produce and veggie section, near the beancurds.  
         Of course, grocery stores in Chinatown will definitely carry them.
         In a pinch, I will use FRESH italian pasta, such as Catadina's
         regular egg pasta.  BTW, the fresh chinese noodles can keep for
         a long time in the freezer, but less than a week in the fridge.
    
    Stella (who hated rice as a kid but loved noodles)

    I thought the difference was the flour-are Chinese noodles made from
    rice flour, whereas common noodles are from wheat?
    
    This is something I came up with after watching the Frugal Gourmet one
    day and trying to find a way for my husband to like pasta - he changed
    the name from Lo Mein to Yo, Maniac!
    
    Fresh pasta (I use 1 carton Eggbeaters and 3 cups flour, then use half
    the batch)
    
    Combine in a bowl 1 can chicken broth, 2 generous tablespoons
    cornstarch, 5 or 6 shakes of red pepper flakes and of soy sauce.
    
    Cut boneless skinless chicken breasts in small chunks, marinate in soy
    sauce while chopping veggies.
    
    Prepare clean and chop whatever vegetables or tofu you have - we use
    lots of very coarsely chopped onions (halved, then each half sliced
    thru 2 or 3 times).
    
    Cook and drain the pasta, then put in skillet or griddle with a little
    oil, fry, turning till surfaces are crispy.
    
    Fry chicken in a little oil in separate skillet, remove from skillet, 
    add garlic and fresh
    ginger, then add vegetables in order of density; carrot, cauliflower,
    then peas, broccoli, zucchini, tofu, etc.
    
    Add sauce, stirring till thickened, add chicken back in.  Either mix
    together with pasta, or spoon over top of pasta.
    
    No claims of authenticity, but we like it!
    
    Terry
    

    Some chinese noodles are indeed made from rice flour, but I think the
    egg noodles for lo-mein is made from egg (of course), wheat flour and
    water.  It must be on the ingredient list on the package somewhere.
    
    The types of chinese 'pasta' that I know of:
    - egg noodles: egg, wheat flour, water
    - egg noodles with shrimp eggs: beats me! 8)
    - flat noodles (usually for noodle soup): wheat flour, water
    - cellophane noodles: mung bean flour and water
    - rice sticks (aka fun, as in chow-fun): rice flour and water
    
    I was, and still is confused about lo-mein and chow-mein.  I think
    chow-mein in U.S. is the stuff where one sprinkles fried noodles over
    some glutinous mess of unidentified pieces of meat, whereas lo-mein is
    what is termed as 'chow-mein' at H.K.:  stirred-fried food on top of
    noodles.
    
    -Stella                                                  

"Chow Mein" is a US invention... (Los Angeles?) and has only modest connections
with genuine Chinese food.

/. Ian .\

    
    
    
    I realize I'm a little late in the conversation, but I'd make sure
    you use the Chineese Egg Noodles for your lo-mein.  I've tried a
    number of different noodles and none of them come close to the egg
    noodle taste.  I have to go to a chineese market that is out of
    the way in order to get the egg noodles but it's definitely worth
    it.
    
    Steve
    
    BTW,  I know of a good Cantonese Scallions and Ginger Lo-Mein recipe
    if you want it.
     
    

    
    8 cups cold water
2 tsp salt
1/2 lb fresh egg noodles
2 tbls peanut oil
4 tbls fresh young ginger, shredded (if unavailable, use 3 
       tbls regular ginger shredded
1 cup scallions, washed, dried, with both ends trimmed, cut into 1 1/2
      inch pieces, and white pieces quartered

Make a saice-combine in a bowl:

1 1/2 tbls oyster sauce
1 1/2 tsp light soy sauce
3/4 tsp sugar
3 tbls chicken broth
1 tsp sesame oil 
   Pinch of white pepper


1) Place the water and salt in a large pot and bring to a boil.  Add the 
noodles and cook for 30 seconds or until a la dente. stirring and loosening 
them with a chopstick or a fork as they cook.  Turn off heat, run cold 
water into pot and drain noodles immediately trough a steamer.  Place 
noodles back in pot and fill with cold water.  Mix with your hands and 
drain noodles again.  Repeat one more time.  Allow to drain for 10 minutes, 
loosening with chopsticks to assist draining.

2) Heat wok over high heat for 45 seconds.  Add peanut oil and coat wok 
with spatula.  When a wisp of white smoke appears, add ginger and stir fry 
for 30 seconds.  Add noodles and mix with ginger until noodles become very 
hot.

3) Add the scallions and mix well and cook for 1 minute.  Make a well in 
the center of the wok, stir the sauce and pour into the well.  Cook for 1 
minute mixing well, making certain the noodles are well coated.  Turn off 
heat, transefer to a preheated serving dish and serve immediately.
 

    Sounded good.  Is that really 4 tablespoons of shredded ginger?
    
    Flo

RE: .18

Yes, it really is 4 tablespoons.

--PSW