Recipe: ChowMein for Lunch

This week’s cold lunch salad is a little late – it’s been a crazy week with all my craft projects.

I try to always keep a package of fresh pancit canton noodles on hand. They’re easy to find in the Bay Area and make the perfect foundation for odds and ends in your fridge. Like many Chinese dishes, this tastes great cold the next day. Here’s my basic chow mein recipe:

Veggie Chow Mein
1 package of fresh Pancit Canton noodles
1 large carrot
1 yellow squash
1 stalk of celery
1 cup of shredded cabbage
2 green onions
1 1/2 cups of cooked chicken (rotisserie is fine, other proteins will also do well)
1/4 cup of soy sauce
2 cloves of minced garlic
1/2 a lime or equivalent with other citrus
Tablespoon of olive oil
Few drops of hot chili oil and/or sesame oil
Pepper and ginger

Soak the noodles in warm water for 5 minutes and drain. Chop your vegetables while soaking. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet on high. Cook the drained noodles until slightly browned – season with a bit of soy sauce and pepper during cooking. Remove the noodles to a pan.

Mix the soy sauce, lime, garlic and chili oil in a small bowl and dilute with a tablespoon of water. Brown the vegetables and chicken in the same hot skillet. Add the soy sauce mixture and cook until barely softened. Return the noodles to the pan and mix together.

Let the chowmein sit off the heat for a few minutes and season to taste. You may need to add more oil, soy sauce, etc at this point depending on your preferences. Top with the fresh diced green onion.