Our Better than Take Out Vegetable Lo Mein is a quick 20 minute Chinese noodle stir fry recipe packed with vegetables and a delicious spicy soy sauce. Try it with a side of our spicy garlic cucumber pickles for an easy vegan weekday meal.
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Easy Meatless Monday Idea
A little savory, a little sweet, a little spicy and a little earthy flavor will have your mouth excited to keep on slurping these delicious Lo Mein noodles.
Meatless Mondays are for sure going to get a run for their money with this dish on your menu plan. The best part is essentially this recipe is that it is a “Clean Out Your Refrigerator Moment”. Just like in our Hong Kong fried rice recipe, you can use any vegetables you have in your crisper.
However, you need to cut them all up about the same size and best thinly sliced julienned. We used mushrooms, carrots, bell peppers, snap peas and green onions as that is what we had in our refrigerator. Feel free to use whatever you have on hand. If you can get your hands on fresh mung bean sprouts, it is really delicious in this recipe.
Dietary Modifications
When you eat out, you can't control the ingredients. Many places use lots of oil, MSG and other additives that really make us feel sick. When we cook at home, we know exactly what is placed in the food we are preparing and eating. This easy lo mein recipe is completely adjustable.
If you have someone with a gluten-free allergy, you can use tamari and gluten rice noodles to keep it just the way you like it. Try these other noodle recipe modifications to achieve your desired taste preference.
- Adjust the soy to sugar ratio and heat level to get it to just where you like it. If you like it more spicy, increase the amount of garlic chili (Sriracha sauce) and white pepper.
- Do you like it more sweet? Add a dash more sugar or sugar alternative.
- More or less savory? If you like it more or less salty adjust the soy sauce to your liking.
- Bring on the heat with a little extra garlic chili sauce or chili oil.
- Add more vegetable to noodle ratio. Great way to get kids to eat their veggies.
Asian Ingredients that we Cannot Live Without!
There are just a handful of ingredients that are survival ingredients when it comes to making any Asian recipe. Here is our basic list...
- sesame oil
- soy sauce (tamari)
- chili sauce (Sriracha)
- Shaoxing Rice Wine (or a dry sherry)
- fresh garlic and ginger
You can make so many recipes with these base ingredients. If you would like to add protein to this Better Than Take Out Vegetable Lo Mein recipe, be sure to check out our Spicy Beef and Longevity Noodles or try How to Cook Tasty Gluten Free Job Tears. The great news is these basic ingredients are pretty mainstream at a standard western grocery store too.
Dark Soy Sauce and Regular Soy Sauce
Dark soy sauce is actually not as salty as regular soy sauce but it is dark and thicker and has almost a molasses type of texture as it is preserved longer.
On the other hand regular soy sauce is lighter in texture and is saltier than dark soya sauce. If you have access to dark soy sauce, then use half regular soy sauce and half dark soy sauce for this recipe.
However, we were trying to keep it simple for you and using only ingredients that are easy to find in your local Western grocery market.
Chinese New Year
With life being so busy, there is no better way to enjoy longevity and long life than with long Better than Take Out Vegetable Lo Mein. In just about 20 minutes, this delicious recipe can be on your table.
Eating extra-long Noodles is an auspicious dish around Chinese New Year as the long noodles represent a long life and longevity and good health. Do not cut the noodles to fit them into the pot or on to a plate, leave the noodles extra-long and lovely. Perfect for slurping. If you are looking for more CNY recipes be sure to check out our 10 + Fun and Easy Chinese New Year Recipes.
Lo Mein Noodles vs Chow Mein Noodles
Chow Mein means stir fried noodles. “Chow” means to fry and “mein” is noodles. In Hong Kong, these thin egg noodles can be deep fried and served crispy with stir fried chicken, shrimp, pork and veggies on top. The noodles are really crispy. Delicious of course but a lot of extra oil and a bigger mess in your kitchen. Sometimes you see those little prepackaged chow mein deep fried noodles in a package in the grocery store.
Lo Mein in Cantonese means stirred noodles. “Lo” means stirred and “Mein” means noodles. This is generally referred to noodles that are boiled until al dente and then tossed in a wok with seasonings, veggies and maybe proteins. The noodles are al dente and "slurpingly" delicious with a little bit of soy and seasonings. These noodles are not crispy. Lo Mein noodles is the technique we will be making today.
Cantonese Style vs other Noodles
If you can get your hands-on Cantonese Style thin Lo Mein “Egg” noodles, that is fantastic. We were not so we used a wheat based no egg Chinese lo mein noodles.
Feel free to use spaghetti, soba, udon or any noodle you desire in this recipe. Traditionally, in Hong Kong, they would be prepared with a thin egg based lo mein noodle. Please note do not use Fried Chow mein noodles. Those are the short-deep-fried noodles and these are usually used on top of salads and such.
More Delicious Chinese Recipes
5 Minute Stir Fried Garlic Pea Shoots
Spicy Beef and Longevity Noodles
How to cook Tasty Gluten-Free Job Tears
Top 18 Healthy Stir Fry Dishes
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Better than Take Out Vegetable Lo Mein
Ingredients
- 12 oz Lo Mein Noodles
(we used wheat-based noodles but can use Hong Kong style thin egg based noodles, soba, spaghetti, udon, rice (gluten-free) noodles or whatever your little heart desires.) - Water
enough to boil your noodles and salted - 1 tablespoon Sesame oil
- 1 tablespoon Oil
- 2 cloves Garlic
peeled and minced - 1 teaspoon Ginger
1-inch knob peeled and grated fresh (or ½ teaspoon ground dried ginger) - 1 teaspoon Garlic chili sauce
or to taste- can substitute with sriracha sauce - ½ cup Carrots
julienned or grated - 1 cup Mushrooms
(we used button mushrooms, but shiitake or other mushrooms are also fabulous) - 1 tablespoon Shaoxing Rice Wine
or dry sherry - 1 cup Bell peppers
sliced thinly - 1 cup Snap peas julienned
- 2 tablespoon Soy sauce (tamari)
2-3 tablespoons depending on your preference - 1 teaspoon Sugar
or sugar alternative - ¼ teaspoon White pepper
- 3 Green onions sliced long on an angle
Instructions
- Bring a large pot to boil with water. Once boiling add your lo mein noodles and cook per package directions or until just aldente. Drain. Rinse with cold water and add sesame oil and toss to coat well. Set aside
- In a wok or frying pan, add oil, garlic, ginger, garlic chili paste or Sriracha sauce and stir fry just until aromatic. Add carrots and mushrooms and stir fry for 1-2 minutes. Add bell peppers, snap peas and fry for 1 minute until turn bright green.
- Add cooked lo mein noodles to the vegetables in the wok. Add soy sauce (tamari), sugar or sugar alternative and white pepper and toss until well coated. Add green onions and give a quick toss and serve hot. Enjoy!
Notes
Nutrition
Eha Carr says
Thought I had been a 'pest' and commented on ALL your recipes - no, this one seems to have escaped my scrutiny until now. Easy and tasty and fast and so healthy . . . love the vegetables you have used - mushrooms ALWAYS, peppers and my beloved snap peas with all the stuff which make them memorable. And I had never thought what 'lo mein' meant 🙂 ! Happy New Year from a pig !!!
HWC Magazine says
Your visits and comments make our day, Eha! This easy vegetable lo mein is one of our favorite Chinese recipes because it's a great way to clean out the little bits and bobs of veggies. Lo mein is saucy whereas a chow mein is dry fried noodles. Both are delicious, it just depends on what you have a tasting for. Kung Hei Fat Choi!
SweetNothings says
Now you make me so hungry