Chicken Lo Mein

I think I managed to make it look pretty close to the picture in the book. 🙂

A few weeks ago I ventured out to a thrift store and found an Asian inspired plate that I instantly loved. I believe it originally came from Home Goods… anyway, I needed a reason to use it. I flipped through my Taste of Home Cookbook and found a dish: Chicken Lo Mein. Purrrfect.

I always order lo mein when we get take-out from East China Inn so I it was a no-brainer. I picked up the ingredients a few weeks ago and have been anxiously waiting to make the dish. The only reason I put it off so long is because my boyfriend wasn’t too thrilled with the idea of me making it. He’s not a lo mein fan. Actually, he wasn’t a lo mein fan… but this dish changed all that. 🙂

It was delicious! I don’t use that word often. But this dish totally blew my mind. I did omit the rice vinegar and replaced it with extra soy sauce (I forgot to get vinegar) but aside from that I followed the recipe exactly. Wait, I left out the peanuts too. Using pre-cut and pre-washed carrots and broccoli made the process a lot easier too.

Kikkoman is my absolute favorite soy sauce… for me, this made the dish really stand out. 

Mmm.. lo mein aka angel hair pasta.

Like I said, the precut veggies made this part super easy. I also used a garlic masher for the garlic and the ginger root to cut down prep time.

The finished product. Soooo flavorful! I think the plate made it taste just a smidgen better. 😉

If you like lo mein or just want a new quick and easy Asian dish to try I would definitely recommend this recipe. It tasted SO good. I can’t say enough about this dish. Even my picky babies enjoyed it!

Ingredients:

• 4 ounces uncooked angel hair pasta
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger root
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 pound boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips
• 2 tablespoons canola oil, divided
• 2 cups fresh broccoli florets
• 1 cup julienned carrots
• 1/4 cup salted peanuts, finely chopped

Directions:

• Cook pasta according to package directions. Meanwhile, in a small bowl, combine the cornstarch, soy sauce, vinegar, hoisin sauce, ginger and garlic until smooth: set aside.
• In a large skillet or wok, stir-fry chicken in 1 tablespoon oil for 5-8 minutes or until no longer pink. Remove with a slotted spoon. Drain pasta and set aside.
• Stir-fry broccoli and carrots in remaining oil for 5-6 minutes or until crisp-tender. Stir cornstarch mixture and add to the pan. Bring to a boil: cook and stir for 2 minutes or until thickened. Stir in chicken and pasta: heat through. Sprinkle with peanuts.

Yields: 4 servings

Recipe Courtesy of Taste of Home Cookbook