What Is Chow Mein: Discover the Classic Dish

After working overtime, the comfort is actually a plate of chow mein. What exactly is chow mein? Let's take a look!

What is Chow Mein?

Chow mein is a traditional Chinese dish. Its characteristic is to quickly stir-fry noodles and various ingredients over high heat, giving the noodles a rich flavor.

Basic Components

Noodles: Fine noodles are mainly used as they absorb the sauce more easily and have a smoother texture. You can also choose thick noodles.

Side dishes: The ingredients for chow mein are very rich. Vegetables include bean sprouts, onions, carrots, etc. Meats include pork, chicken, shrimp, and you can also add eggs.

Seasonings: Seasonings are the soul of delicious chow mein. They are mainly light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, sugar, etc. If you like spicy food, you can also add some chili sauce.

Reasons Why Chow Mein is Popular:

Simple and quick: The method is simple and fast. Usually, it only takes 10 - 15 minutes, making it suitable for busy office workers.

Balanced nutrition: It has rich ingredients, including vegetables, meat, and noodles.

Versatile and delicious: You can adjust the ingredients and sauce according to your own taste.

Is Chow Mein Crispy or Soft?

Chow mein can be crispy and fragrant or soft.

When making chow mein, you can adjust the texture according to your preference. If you like them crispy and fragrant, you can stir-fry for a longer time until the surface of the noodles turns slightly brown. Such noodles are fragrant, chewy, and have a rich texture.

If you prefer a softer texture, when choosing noodles, you can choose fine noodles, cook them for a longer time, and stir-fry for a shorter time to maintain the soft texture of the noodles.

What Noodle Is Chow Mein?

There are many types of noodles that can be used for chow mein. The common ones are as follows:

Pulled noodles:

They have a chewy and springy texture. When used to make chow mein, they can absorb the flavor well. When stir-fried with side dishes in the pot, they can fully absorb the aroma of the seasonings, making them very satisfying to eat.

Dried noodles:

A common choice for making chow mein. Wheat dried noodles are smooth. After being stir-fried, they have a soft texture. They can be cooked quickly, saving cooking time, and are suitable for making chow mein in daily life.

Oil noodles:

They already have a certain amount of oil. When stir-fried, they have a unique oily aroma, a chewy texture, and can maintain good toughness after being stir-fried, not easily breaking or becoming mushy.

Instant noodles:

Instant noodles are also very suitable for making chow mein. They have a unique flavor. After being cooked and drained, when stir-fried, they have a texture that combines crispness and softness. Stir-fried with side dishes, the taste is great.

Udon noodles:

If you like a thicker texture, udon noodles are a good choice. They can blend well with various sauces, absorb the strong flavor of the sauce, and have a mellow and satisfying texture when eaten.

Buckwheat noodles:

Buckwheat noodles have a relatively rough but chewy texture and a unique wheat aroma. When used to make chow mein, they can add a strong flavor of whole grains.

Is Chow Mein a Junk Food?

Chow mein is not a junk food.

Junk food refers to foods that are high in calories, fat, sugar, and salt but low in nutritional value.

Chow mein is made by stir-frying noodles with various vegetables and meats. As long as the combination is reasonable, chow mein is a very healthy food.

Many people think chow mein is unhealthy because some oil and salt are added during the stir-frying process. However, these can be controlled. You can replace ordinary cooking oil with olive oil, and use light soy sauce, oyster sauce, etc. instead of common salt.

At the same time, if you are worried that ordinary noodles have a high carbohydrate content, you can replace them with whole wheat noodles or buckwheat noodles. These not only provide a strong sense of fullness but also reduce the burden on the stomach and intestines.

How Many Calories Are There in 1 Plate of Chow Mein?

The calories in chow mein depend on the type of noodles used, the amount of ingredients, and seasonings, etc. A regular bowl of chow mein contains 300 - 600 calories.

Noodles: Taking ordinary noodles as an example, every 100g contains 130 - 150 calories.

Ingredients: Usually, vegetables have relatively low calories, while meats have more calories. Taking pork as an example, every 100g contains about 242 calories. Sometimes eggs are added. Every 100g of eggs contains about 165 calories.

Seasonings: Seasonings such as soy sauce, oyster sauce, and cooking oil added to chow mein all have calories. Every tablespoon of cooking oil contains about 120 calories.

That is to say, if you add more vegetables as ingredients, the calories of chow mein will be lower. If you add more meat and use more oil at the same time, the calories will be higher.

Can I Eat Chow Mein on a Diet?

You can eat chow mein during weight loss, but you need to pay attention to the cooking method:

Reduce the amount of cooking oil used: Use less oil when stir-frying chow mein to avoid excessive calorie intake.

Increase the proportion of vegetables: Add fewer meats and more low-calorie, high-fiber vegetables such as bean sprouts and greens as side dishes.

Choose healthier noodles: Compared to ordinary noodles, you can choose whole wheat noodles or buckwheat noodles, which are more beneficial for weight loss.

Control the portion: Remember not to eat too much to avoid exceeding the calorie limit.

Add protein: You can appropriately add lean meat, shrimp, or eggs to increase nutrition.