So, it was one of those days when I forgot to take something out of the freezer for dinner and I didn’t realize it until late in the afternoon (Yes, I was on deadline for The Montauk Sun). I figured I’d order Chinese food, but then I thought, “I can probably throw some kind of Chinese food together myself in just a few minutes.” So I took out my “cut up chicken bits” from the freezer and thawed them quickly in the microwave. (When I buy chicken breasts I cut off the thin ends and cut them into bite sized pieces and freeze them in a plastic bag to use in a pot pie, or whatever, later on.)
I also had half a head of broccoli and some carrots in the crisper…sounds like the makings of Chinese food! But, I had no rice in the house. What to do? How about Lo Mein? Of course, I didn’t have any Chinese noodles in the house, so I used spaghetti instead. It came out so good I couldn’t believe it. I was told, “This is better than take-out!”
The best thing about this recipe is that you can use any vegetables you happen to have in the house. As you can see from the pictures, this time I had half a green pepper hanging out. Mushrooms would as be good, as well as snow pea pods or even string beans…whatever you have or strikes your fancy. You can also substitute beef for the chicken and use beef broth if you’d prefer Beef Lo Mein. It’s so easy and quick…it took less than ½ an hour. I hope you enjoy.
Homemade Chicken Lo Mein
Ingredients:
- ½ cup Chicken Broth
- 2 tbsp. Brown Sugar
- 2 tsp. Toasted Sesame Oil
- 4 tbsp. Soy Sauce
- 1 tsp. Corn Starch
- ½ tsp. Grated Ginger Root (if using dried ginger, use ¼ tsp.)
- 8 oz. Noodles, Cooked according to package directions
- Vegetable Oil for sautéing
- 1 lb. Chicken
- 1 Large Onion
- 2 Large Carrots
- 2 cups Broccoli Heads
- 4 Large Garlic Cloves, diced
Directions:
- Whisk the brown sugar into the chicken broth until dissolved, then whisk in the soy sauce, sesame oil, grated ginger and corn starch and set it aside.
- Cut the chicken, onion, carrots, broccoli (and whatever vegetables you’re using) into bite size pieces.
- Preheat a large, heavy bottomed skillet (or wok if you have one) with oil and sauté the chicken until lightly browned. Remove the chicken from the pan and set it aside.
- Sauté the onions in the chicken drippings until soft, adding extra oil as needed. Remove the onions from the pan and set aside with the chicken.
- Next sauté the carrots until slightly softened. Add in the broccoli and garlic (along with whatever other veggies you’re using) and sauté for another 3-4 minutes until tender.
- Add the cooked chicken and onions back into the pan along with the veggies. Pour the sauce over the ingredients (you’ll probably have to re-whisk the sauce first to re-incorporate the corn starch) and simmer for about 2 minutes, or until slightly thickened.
- Add the cooked noodles to the pan, toss everything together, and enjoy!
