Takeout Chow Mein

When I was an omni (shit, that was a good nine years ago now - where does time go?!), I used to love going for Chinese food. Simple picky-eater fare like chicken with cashews, BBQ pork and - my favourite - chow mein. Meat, crisp veg and a warm thick brothy sauce over crispy fried noodles. I've tried to recreate it a thousand times and finally tonight's dinner was a success. If you miss simple Chinese takeout dinners, try this. It'll bring back memories.

Simple Junky Chow Mein

1 x large carrot, sliced roughly

1 x pack fresh baby corn, rinsed, cut in half

1 x small head of broccoli, cut into generous florets

a cup of bean sprouts, rinsed

2 tbsp. frying oil of choice, divided

Optional: mushrooms, mock chicken, peanuts, cashews.. whatever you have on hand! I used mock chicken, but smoked tofu would also be lovely.

250g chow mein noodles. Found in the refrigerated section of most Asian grocers. Read the ingredients - some have egg but some don't - the ones I buy look a bit like these but are vegan suitable and Aussie made (link).

1.5c veggie beef stock (I used Massel)

1.5 tbsp vegetarian oyster sauce

1 tsp. sugar

1/2 tsp salt

2 tbsp cornflour

Preheat a large frying pan to high and add a tbsp of oil. Remove noodles from packet. Do not soak, parboil, etc. Just chuck them in. Separate gently with a fork or chopsticks, and gently fry until you get a few crispy bits - watch it carefully, they will burn if you let them. This will only take 3-5 minutes. Once done, remove from pan and set aside.

Re-heat your original frypan to high with the other tbsp. of oil in it. Stirfry (or steam-fry if that's your jam) until your veg are tender-crisp. Pour in your sauce and stir to coat. You should have more sauce than you think you need.

Serve by layering your crunchy noodles on a plate, then ladling your veggies and sauce over to soften the noodles up. Let everything soak in for a couple of minutes while you grab utensils and a drink and dig in!