CRISPY Chinese Chow Mein Noodles I can't live without!

On today's menu, a delightful noodle recipe I make all the time. Cantonese style crispy chow mein. Hello everyone, how's it going in Cantonese? Welcome to Young Man Cooking, I'm Will Young. This recipe is an absolute classic and I hope you'll love this as much as I do. As always, if you enjoy today's episode, be sure to give it a thumbs up, leave a comment below. Let's begin. Bring some water to boil for the noodles. I'd say this recipe is good for about two good portions. Chop half an onion into bite-sized pieces. I'm using a red onion but you can use another type of onion if that's what you have on hand. One to two pieces of garlic, finely chopped. Finely chop a small piece of ginger. Slice down about a quarter of a carrot. Quarter one large bok choy. The bok choy can get a little sandy so be sure to rinse it with some water. Straw mushrooms are a little bit more traditional but today what I have on hand are these shimeji mushrooms and fresh shiitake mushrooms. About 100 grams or so. Two tablespoons soy sauce. Plant-based oyster sauce is sometimes called vegetarian oyster sauce or mushroom sauce or shiitake mushroom stir-fry sauce. This one is called oyster flavored sauce so there you go. One tablespoon plant-based oyster sauce. Half a teaspoon toasted sesame oil. One cup veggie stock. Stir in one tablespoon of potato or cornstarch. The sauce is simple and it's done. Simply set aside for now. All right, chow mein. In Cantonese it directly translates to sort of saute noodles or stir-fry noodles. In this episode I'm using fresh chow mein noodles and if you're able to find them, I would highly recommend it. If you can't, try to find frozen chow mein noodles and let them completely thaw out first before using because we're literally going to be blanching these for about 30 seconds. Place the noodles in the boiling water. I'm using half a pound, about 225 grams of noodles. Give the noodles a good stir. Carefully drain the noodles and shake out as much excess water as you can. Non-stick pan. Medium heat. Just crisp up those noodles. Traditionally you would just use some neutral flavored oil but why use neutral flavored oil when you can use some smoky spicy chili oil? This was made in a past episode. I'll definitely leave a link in the description box below for you to check this out. Make it easily at home. One tablespoon chili oil. Swirl the oil to ensure it covers the entire pan. Then gently slide in the chow mein. Let the noodles cook in the pan for about three to four minutes. You can check for that golden brown color by very carefully lifting it with a spatula. Drizzle over another tablespoon of chili oil. Very carefully flip the noodles and cook on the other side. Allow the other side to cook for another three minutes. Take your time with it as these crispy noodles is the iconic part of the dish. When the noodles are beautifully golden brown and to your desired crispiness, carefully slide onto the serving plate. So simple and you have this crispy pillow of noodles. We're not going anywhere without that crispiness test. So good. Pan back on medium heat. By the way, if you love easy and delicious recipes like I do, be sure to check out or pick up your copy of one of the four Youngman Cooking cookbooks. A lot of love and enjoyment went into making these books throughout the years and you can find a digital or print copy down the link in the description box below or you can visit youngmancooking.com. As always, thank you very much for supporting the cooking show. One teaspoon avocado oil. Carefully place in the red onions. Sauté for a couple of minutes. Add in the carrots and sauté for a couple of minutes. Add in the garlic and ginger. Shimeji and shiitake mushrooms. Sauté for another couple of minutes. Add in the bok choy and sauté for another couple of minutes. This is a very popular Cantonese restaurant dish. Admittedly, as a child, I would only want to eat the crispy noodles. Give the sauce a good stir then add into the pan. The sauce will thicken up quickly and turn into a glossy gravy for the vegetables. Give the pan a good stir and cook for another couple of minutes. Proudly plate those glossy vegetables on top of the crispy noodles. You can now enjoy this popular noodle dish with absolute confidence. I cannot wait to dig into this. It's with good reason this style of chow mein is so popular. It is just so so delicious. It's visually rustic and inviting. It has a really delightful combination of colors. And right from that first bite, you really fall in love with the contrast and texture. Just the noodles themselves have that combination of saucy and crispy. And you have the freshness and the earthiness from those delicious veggies. The sauce is packed with this nice salty umami from the soy sauce. The veggie stock gives the sauce that body. And you really taste the garlic and the ginger as it adds so much aroma. And of course it really wraps around those noodles and just makes them beautifully glossy. The mushrooms add a lot of earthy flavor and of course that nice umami. The bok choy adds this nice fresh crunch. The carrots add this nice natural sweetness. It's quite subtle but there is that hint of spicy smoky flavor from that chili oil that's cooked and baked into the noodles. This dish is heavenly for me. What's not to love? It's saucy. It's rich. It's crispy. And you can really load it up with veggies making this a really nice robust noodle dish. Like I always say, it's simple delicious recipes like this that makes it so much fun and exciting to cook and dine in at home. If you love easy delicious recipes like I do, be sure to check out or pick up your copy of one of the four Young Man Cooking Cookbooks. There is a print or digital version available at the link in the description box below. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to give it a thumbs up. Leave a comment below. If you're not already subscribed with that notification bell clicked, be sure to do so so that we can cook together again in the next episode.