Vegetable Lo Mein

At this time of the year millions of people are preparing for the Chinese New Year and I wanted to show you how to make one of my favourite dishes, Vegetable Lo Mein. This simple recipe is easy to prepare and will feed a lot of people, however due to the large assortment of vegetables there is a lot of knife work. You could start preparing the day before as long as you cover the cut vegetables well when you store them in the fridge. Lo Mein means “tossed noodles”. I serve my vegetables separately from the noodles which I “toss” in the sauce, you could leave the noodles plain and cook the veggies in the sauce to be served over the noodles, or just toss everything in together!

Vegetable Lo Mein
Makes: a lot!
Prep time: 30 minutes
Cook time: 30 minutes
Total time: 1 hour - faster then take out!

1 package (app. 400g) Instant Chinese Noodles, cooked "al dente"
1 piece Baby boc choy sliced
1 onion sliced
2 cups broccoli crowns cut into bite size portions
2 cups snap peas
1 large green pepper sliced
1 large red pepper sliced
1 carrot cut into strips
2 cups mushrooms sliced
2 cloves garlic minced
2 tbsp. minced ginger
2 green onion sliced
¼ cup vegetable oil

For the Sauce:
1 tbsp. corn starch
1 cup Compliments Chicken Broth - 30% Less Sodium
1/4 cup Hoisin sauce
2 tbsp. honey
4 tbsp. soy sauce
2 tsp. curry powder

1. Cook noodles in a large pot of boiling water, drain rinse in cold water and reserve.
2. Heat the wok on med. Hi heat, add oil and heat. When oil is hot add the onions and stir fry until tender, add garlic and ginger.
3. starting with the carrot add the veg. in 60 second intervals mushrooms, broccoli, snap peas, boc choy, mushrooms, and green onion. Remove from the wok and keep warm. Return the wok to the heat.
4. Mix all of the sauce ingredients together and add to the wok. Bring to a boil and cook for 1 min. Add the noodles and toss until coated. Serve veg. over the noodles.

This is a great big bowl of fine tasting noodles that truly are nutritious and delicious. "Kung Hei Fat Choy” in 2009 the year of the OX!

Regards,
Chef Ian