Sheet Pan Chow Mein

This best selling cookbook author grew up in her Chinese mother’s kitchen. In 2011 she established Arthur St. Kitchen from her home in Sydney Australia, where she delivered home-made salads to locals on her bike! In 2015 the family moved to New York where her culinary career took off. This is her 4th well received cook book , and she keeps busy with a podcast, and contributing to numerous journals. She has a passion for plant based recipes, and tries to recreate her mother’s cooking in less traditional ways. Lauren James of Epicurious said ” We cannot publish a Hetty McKinnon recipe without it ending up as the most popular recipe of the week!” Almost any vegetables would work in this – great for cleaning out the remnants of your produce drawer.

1 bell pepper (any color), finely sliced

1 carrot, peeled and finely sliced diagonally

1 head of broccoli, cut into florets

Kosher salt

olive oil

9 oz. package dried thin egg noodles (or any other noodles on hand)

1 small can baby corn, drained

6 ounces asparagus, sugar snap peas, or snow peas, trimmed and cut into 1-2 inch segments

1 medium shallot or 3 scallions, thinly sliced

Handful of cilantro

2 Tbs. toasted sesame seeds to finish

1 Tbs. toasted sesame oil

Soy Seasoning:

1 Tbs. toasted sesame oil

3 Tbs. soy sauces, tamari, or coconut aminos

1 Tbs. vegetarian stir fry sauce, such as oyster or hoisin

1/4 tsp. ground white pepper

1 small clove garlic, grated or minced

Heat oven to 425 degrees. On a large baking sheet, toss the pepper, carrot, and broccoli with a splash of olive oil and season with salt Roast for 10 minutes, until the vegetables start to soften.

Meanwhile, make the noodles: Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the egg noodles, and cook according to the packet instructions, or al dente, about 4 to 5 minutes. Drain and cool under cold running water. Drain well again and pat dry with a clean tea towel.

Combine the soy seasoning ingredients in a small bowl.

Remove the baking sheet and push the vegetables to the side. Add the noodles, corn and asparagus. Drizzle the noodles with sesame oil, season with more salt, and toss well to coat. Return the tray to the oven and bake for another 15-18 minutes until noodles are crispy on top and bottom. Remove from oven, drizzle over soy seasoning and toss. Scatter shallot or scallions, sesame seeds and cilantro over and serve. Serves 4.

Note: Wanting to add some protein to this dinner, I sautéed some shrimp in a little oil and tossed them with the noodles. Perfect. 3 days later the leftovers were still delicious. Love the baby corn!

*

WHAT I USED (ADAPT BASED ON WHAT YOU HAVE ON HAND)

If you choose to use land protein, I would ‘velvet’ the meat first by slicing into thin slices and marinating with shaoxing wine, cornstarch, and soy sauce for ~15 minutes. And then cook the meat first and remove, and add it into the gravy later.

• 2 cloves garlic, minced⁠
• 2 scallion⁠s cut into 2-inched pieces
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 baby bok choy, halved⁠
• 1 carrot, sliced diagonally⁠
• 1 king trumpet mushroom, cut into bite-sized pieces⁠
• 3 rolls of dried egg noodles, cooked, rinsed under cold water, and patted dry⁠
• 4 oz. shrimp⁠
• 1/4 lb squid, sliced⁠
• shaoxing wine⁠
• sauce: 2 cups of chicken bone broth, 1 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tbsp soy sauce, drop of sesame oil, a few dashes of white pepper powder, and a pinch of sugar⁠
• cornstarch slurry: 1 tbsp cornstarch, 1 tbsp water⁠
• garnish: cilantro, toasted sesame seeds⁠
  

TO MAKE:

• Spread wonton noodles across your sheet pan, leaving some room for the bok choy. Toss bok choy with olive oil and salt. Bake together at 425F for ~15-18 minutes until noodles are crispy⁠
• Add oil to pan over medium heat and add in garlic, scallion whites, and carrots, mushrooms and cook until mushrooms are softened⁠
• Then add in the shrimp and squid along with a splash of shaoxing cooking wine and saute until the shrimp is mostly cooked⁠
• Add in the sauce, cover and let simmer until shrimp is cooked, salt to taste⁠
• Mix in scallions greens and cornstarch slurry (given it a stir to loosen any that might have settled)⁠
• Serve gravy over noodles and veggies⁠. Garnish with cilantro

* The vegetables I used, but feel free to use what you have for all or some. Chinese broccoli or other greens would be great here, or shredded cabbage. Thinly sliced mushrooms, too. Dried (or fresh) thin egg noodles will crisp up best for chow mein, but if you’re okay with it being less crisp, use whatever noodles you have on hand, including rice noodles, if wheat is an issue.

• 1 bell pepper (any color), finely sliced
• 1 carrot, peeled and finely sliced diagonally
• 1 head of broccoli, cut into florets, or bundle of broccolini, cut into 1- to 2-inch segments
• Kosher salt
• Olive oil or a neutral oil
• A 250-gram or 8.8-ounce package dried thin egg noodles
• 1 small can baby corn, drained
• 6 ounces asparagus, sugar snaps, or snow peas, trimmed and cut into 1- to 2-inch segments
• 1 medium shallot or 3 scallions, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, to finish
• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

SOY SEASONING

• 1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil
• 3 tablespoons soy sauce, tamari, or coconut aminos
• 1 tablespoon vegetarian stir-fry sauce, such as vegetarian oyster or hoisin sauce (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground white pepper
• 1 small clove garlic, grated or minced

Heat oven to 425°F. On a large baking sheet, toss the pepper, carrot, and broccoli with a splash of olive oil and season with salt. Roast for 10 minutes, until the vegetables start to soften.

Meanwhile, make the noodles: Bring a large saucepan of salted water to the boil. Add the egg noodles, and cook according to the packet instructions, or al dente, about four to five minutes. Drain and cool under cold running water. Drain well again and pat dry with a clean tea towel.

Combine the soy seasoning ingredients in a small bowl.

Remove the baking sheet and push the vegetables to the side. Add the noodles, corn and asparagus. Drizzle the noodles with sesame oil, season with more salt and toss well to coat. Return the tray to the oven and bake for another 15 to 18 minutes, until the noodles are crispy on the top and bottom. We are looking for a combination of crispy and non-crispy noodles.

Remove the tray from the oven, drizzle over the soy seasoning and toss well. Scatter over the shallot and sesame seeds and serve.

*** Ominovore

8 oz (225 g) fresh Hong Kong pan fry noodles (or 6 oz / 170 g dried egg noodles)

Sauce

2 tablespoons vegetarian oyster sauce (or regular oyster sauce)

1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 teaspoon dark soy sauce (Optional) (Footnote 1)

1 tablespoon toasted sesame oil

1 teaspoon sugar

1 tablespoon grated ginger

3 cloves garlic , minced

Roasting

1/2 lb white mushrooms , halved

3 carrots , peeled and sliced

1 small batch (6 oz / 170 g) broccolini , cut to bite size pieces

3 tablespoons peanut oil

1 small batch (8 oz / 225 g) asparagus , tough ends removed

1/2 cup green peas , thawed if using frozen

1 red bell pepper , sliced

4 green onions , cut to 2” (5 cm) pieces

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C). 

Prepare the noodles

• Bring a pot of water to a boil. Cook the noodles according to instructions until al dente. I found it’s best to reduce cooking time by 1 minute. If using Hong Kong pan fried noodles, you only need to briefly boil the noodles, 30 seconds or so. Once done, drain the noodles. Rinse with cold tap water a few times to stop cooking. Drain very well by tossing the noodles with your hands. Then set aside.

Sauce

• Mix all the sauce ingredients together in a medium-sized bowl.

Roasting

• Add the mushroom, carrots and broccoli into a big bowl and drizzle with 1 tablespoon of peanut oil. Toss to coat well and transfer to the lined baking sheet. Roast for 6 minutes until the vegetables just start to soften.
• Remove the baking sheet from the oven and move the vegetables to one side. Add the noodles into the big bowl you used earlier and add 1 tablespoon of oil. Toss to coat well and transfer to the sheet pan. Add the asparagus, green peas, bell pepper and green onions. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and toss to coat. Roast for 6 minutes or so, until the noodles just begin to turn golden.
• Remove the sheet pan from the oven. Drizzle the sauce over the noodles and toss everything together. Roast for another 6 minutes, until the vegetables have turned soft but are still crisp, and the noodles have lightly browned. Serve hot as a main or side dish.

Notes

1. Dark soy sauce adds a beautiful dark brown color to the dish with a light caramel color. You can skip it if you do not have it.