Beef Lo Mein
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INGREDIENTS
• 1 Pound of Beef 🥩
• 16 ounce Box of Spaghetti Noodles 🍜
• 12 ounce Bag of Frozen Broccoli 🥦
• 3 Large Carrots 🥕
• 1 Large Yellow Onion 🧅
• 2 Cloves of Garlic 🧄
• 8 ounces of White Mushrooms 🍄
• 1 Can of Bean Sprouts ✨
• 1 Can of Sliced Water Chestnuts 🎇
• 2 Tablespoons of Toasted Sesame Oil ✨
• 1 ½ Tablespoons of Beef Boullion 🥩
• 3 Tablespoons of Brown Sugar 🎇
• 5 Tablespoons of Soy Sauce ✨
INSTRUCTIONS
1) Bring a large pot of water to boil, and cook the box of spaghetti noodles as instructed on the box.
2) Heat up the toasted sesame oil in a large pan on medium-high (closer to medium) heat.
3) Cut the beef into long strips with meat scissors and add to the pan.
4) Cook the meat until medium rare, then set meat aside in a bowl. Add salt and pepper to taste.
5) While the meat and noodles are cooking, you can multi-task and start chopping up the onions in long strips, julienne-ing the carrots, slicing the mushrooms, and chopping up the garlic (or using a garlic rocker press to make it even easier).
6) In another small pot, bring water to a boil and add the bag of frozen broccoli, cooking for 4–5 minutes to thaw it. When finished, strain all the water, leaving just the broccoli.
7) Place the broccoli, carrots, and mushrooms in the large pan, cooking for 2–3 minutes.
8) Add the onions, water chestnuts, bean sprouts, and garlic, cooking for 2–3 minutes.
9) Add the noodles and the bowl of cooked sliced beef.
10) Use tongs to mix the noodles, vegetables, and beef.
11) In a mixing bowl, mix the beef boullion, brown sugar, soy sauce, and a small splash of spring water. Whisk with a fork.
12) Pour the sauce over the noodles, and use the tongs to stir everything together.
13) Turn to low heat and serve, adding as much soy sauce as your heart desires!
VARIATIONS
There are infinite ways to make this lo mein!
I have tried authentic lo mein noodles, and (very much to my surprise) prefer spaghetti noodles.
You could go with whole wheat noodles to make this a bit more fibrous, but it would have a different texture and taste than something closer to a local takeout restaurant.
I have tried specifically “thick” spaghetti noodles, and also to my surprise found them way too tubular and not as good as plain, boring, simple spaghetti noodles. 😂
You can make this your own in so many ways!
Once you have the base and gist of this down, just like with my favorite fruit smoothies, you can use what you have on hand and make so many iterations of this, including:
• No meat, chicken, shrimp, pork, tofu…
• What beloved vegetables sound good with this? Add them! 🎉
My favorite version is what I listed above, but I also like adding:
• Sugar Snap Peas
And that’s about it! 😂
Sometimes I used more or less ingredients, and sometimes I use beef or chicken boullion.
ETC.
I was OBSESSED with the beef lo mein from my favorite local Chinese restaurant when I was pregnant.
Eventually, as I grew more tired and had less enthusiasm to spend extra money or leave the house (just being honest 😂😴)—I began a quest to learn to make my own since I craved it so often.
When I told my mom, she said she’d heard some people used spaghetti noodles for lo mein. I thought that sounded insane. “Spaghetti noodles?!”, I exclaimed.
Turns out: they’re pretty great.
