No, this post isn't about how to decipher what Desiigner is trying to say, it's to talk about one of my favorite items off the Panda Express menu- chow mien! So the other day I was hit hard with a craving, as per usual, for Panda Express chow mien but didn't feel like going to the mall and having the judging eyes of the food court seeing this girl buy mounds of chow mien for later enjoyment... not that I do that or anything. So I did what I do best and found a bunch of recipes to piece together to end up with what I thought was best. Ladies and gentlemen... I think I've found the closest I could get to the authentic Panda Express taste! Andddd this is what makes me excited, doesn't take much.
Noodles
-1 lb. lo mien noodles (you can use spaghetti if you can't find lo mien- this makes me sound like Ina Garten, I know.)
-1/2 head of cabbage cut into one inch wide strips
-1 stock celery thinly sliced
-2 cloves of garlic finely minced
-1/2 inch ginger root finely minced
-1 medium sweet onion thinly sliced
Sauce
-1/2 cup soy sauce
-1/4 tsp sesame oil
-1 tbs hoisin sauce
-2 tbs oyster sauce
-2 tbs rice wine vinegar
-1/4 cup sugar
1. Mix all of the sauce ingredients in a small bowl and set aside.
2. Cook your choice of noodles until they are almost done, we will finish the cooking later on, drain, and put aside.
3. In a large sauté pan or a wok on medium high heat, heat 2 tablespoons vegetable oil.
4. First toss in the garlic and ginger, stir for a few seconds, but don't let it burn!
5. Next toss in the sliced onion and sauté to soften.
6. After a few minutes, toss in the celery and cabbage to sauté. You can leave these as long as you'd like or as little as you like depending on how crunchy you want everything.
7. When the veggies are at your desired doneness, toss the noodles into the pan with the vegetables and cook everything for a further 2-3 minutes to finish the cooking of the noodles and to marry the flavors.
8. Add half of the sauce to start with, toss, and add more if desired. (This is where I went wrong. I went whole hog and threw it all in and it was swimming in sauce. No big deal, it was still really good, but I would have preferred a little less. I obviously ate it anyway...)
9. Give it a final toss, remove from the heat, plate, and get right in there and eat!
Now you can go ahead and add whatever you want to this for extras or take everything out and just have some noodles- the world is your pickle!
So how does it taste? How does it compare to the real thing? Did I eat the entire pound of noodles right then and there? Well. Sorry to disappoint, but I didn't eat the entire pot. Howeverrrrrr, if I could have... I would have. I wouldn't say this is an exact duplicate, but it was pretty darn close. I didn't hate it, let's just say that. Good thing I didn't eat it all at once because it's been a couple days and I'm still eating it and it tastes even better as it sits, even when cold! I'm definitely the type to have cold Chinese for breakfast so it doesn't bother me one bit. The veggies stay surprisingly crunchy and the sauce just marinates everything even more, it's amazing!
Give it a try, I promise you won't be disappointed!
Meaghan
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