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Make your takeout favourite Shrimp Chow Mein at home in less than 30 minutes. Easy, foolproof recipe with authentic results! Juicy shrimp tossed with flavour packed vegetables and noodles. This dish is nutritious, easy and affordable.
Seafood lover? Take a look at our Honey Garlic Shrimp!
I’ve challenged myself lately to recreate our favourite Asian takeout recipes, and my family has been loving the results of that challenge.
The order-in meals, usually loaded with fat and sugar, get a healthier makeover in my kitchen. Vegetable-centric dishes are very authentic to many Asian countries. It’s a shame it’s not the case here.
The Chinese food that I had on a visit to China a few years back was fresh and absolutely loaded with vegetables. Meat and tofu were only used in very small quantities for flavour. So in my recipes I attempt to emulate that authentic fresh taste!
Chow Mein Recipe
Chow mein is a Chinese vegetable and noodle stir fry that could also be flavoured with pretty much any protein: chicken, beef, shrimp or tofu. I’m using shrimp in my recipe as it cooks so fast, but thinly sliced chicken or pork could also be used.
Chow mein literally means “fried noodles” but don’t let the word “fried” mislead you into thinking it’s a heavy dish. You don’t need a lot of oil for the job!
When it comes to vegetables, let you imagination guide you! We all have our favourites. And for my shrimp chow mein recipe I chose broccoli, snow peas, carrots, cabbage and green onions.
I also love using bok choy, cauliflower, bean sprouts or green beans in my chow mein recipes.
Recipe Tips and Notes
- The key to the authentic taste is to cook vegetables briefly in a hot pan until they soften slightly but remain firm to the bite. Then remove them from the pan before the noodles and the sauce are added. Everything comes together eventually. But this way we will keep the veg from getting overcooked and soggy.
- Apart from perfectly cooked vegetables, much of the flavour comes from the sauce. This is where the fear might creep in. Many think it’s difficult to achieve that delicious taste we crave from a takeout menu. Fear not all ingredients are readily available!
- For the sauce you will need a combination of This is an affiliate link.oyster sauce, This is an affiliate link.Shaoxing wine (Chinese cooking wine), This is an affiliate link.dark soy sauce, sesame oil and a touch of honey or sugar for balance. All these ingredients are easy enough to find due to Chinese food’s extreme popularity in the West. Take a good look at the Asian aisle of your supermarket. They should all be there. Together they bring that taste we crave!
- It makes a difference how you prepare your vegetables. Since both cabbage and carrots are quite dense they take a while to cook. Make sure you slice them as thinly as possible. I use This is an affiliate link.mandoline for this task but a This is an affiliate link.sharp knife will do! Broccoli needs to be blanched before adding to the main dish, so it will cook within the same amount of time.
- For convenience I cook the noodles and broccoli in the same pot.
- Make sure your shrimp is of decent quality. You don’t need a lot, just one pound will easily feed 4 or 6 people.
What noodles to use
I used medium egg noodles, that are available in the Asian aisle in all major supermarkets in the UK. They often go by the Chow Mein Noodles name in the US.
If you can’t source the egg noodles, opt for spaghetti or linguine as they are made very similarly. However, Asian egg noodles usually only require 3 minutes to cook, while Italian spaghetti will take more than double of that. Read the instructions on the package carefully.
Serving suggestions
This is a whole meal in a bowl, so no need to make anything to serve alongside. I do like to add a sprinkling of sesame seeds before digging in.
If you want to make the meal a little bigger, I’d add an appetiser that keeps a similar flavour profile. And for that, I would recommend crispy air fryer tofu bites or Asian air fryer chicken wings.
Storage and leftovers
Leftover chow mein can be stored in refrigerator and This is an affiliate link.airtight container for 3-4 days. Because of the shrimp, you really don’t want to try to push it beyond that.
Leftovers can also be frozen for 2-3 months, although it will affect the texture of the noodles. However you plan to store the leftovers, do it within 2 hours of cooking.
A microwave can be simplest way to reheat leftovers, but you can also add them back to the wok with a little oil. Use medium heat until everything is warm throughout.
More Asian Noodle Recipes
Shrimp Chow Mein
Equipment
- This is an affiliate link.Carbon steel wok
- This is an affiliate link.Mandoline
Ingredients
- 250g / 1/2 lbs Asian medium egg noodles , or spaghetti
- 2 tbsp This is an affiliate link.oyster sauce
- 2 tbsp This is an affiliate link.Shaoxing wine, (Chinese cooking wine) or dry sherry
- 1 tbsp This is an affiliate link.dark soy sauce
- 1-2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 tsp honey , or sugar
- 1/2 tsp white pepper
- 2 tbsp vegetable oil
- 450g / 1 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 tsbp This is an affiliate link.ginger paste , or grated ginger
- 1 carrot , cut into matchsticks
- 200g / 7oz broccoli, 1 small head, broken into florets
- 70g / 1/2 cup cabbage, shredded
- 50g / 1/2 cup snow peas, cut in half lengthwise
- 4 green onions, white parts sliced, and green parts cut into 3 inch pieces
Instructions
- Boil noodles with broccoli, drain, rinse the noodles and set aside. (Dried egg noodles take approximately 3-4 minutes to cook.)
- While the noodles are boiling prepare the vegetables. Cut the carrots into matchsticks, slice the cabbage and cut the green onions in 7½ cm/3 inch pieces, cut the snow peas in half lengthwise.
- Make the sauce by mixing together the oyster sauce, Shaoxing wine, dark soy sauce, honey, white pepper and sesame oil.
- Take 2 tbsp of the sauce and marinate the shrimp in it until needed. Reserve the rest for later.
- Heat 1 tbsp vegetable oil in a large frying pan or a wok. Cook the shrimp on medium-high until just done, 1 or 2 minutes on each side depending on the size. Remove from the pan to a separate plate.
- To the same pan add another tablespoon of oil, then add the chopped white part of the onions, garlic, and ginger, stir fry for about 30 seconds over medium heat. Then add the carrots, broccoli broken into florets, cabbage, snow peas and green onions, stir fry for 2-3 minutes until the vegetables are cooked but still firm to the bite. Remove to the same plate with shrimp.
- Add the noodles with the green onions to the pan and pour in the sauce. Toss the noodles with the sauce until even coated and heated through. Then bring the shrimp with the vegetables back to the pan and toss to combine, allow the stir fry to heat through, then serve.
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Shrimp chow mein recipe was spot on, and the sauce recipe was spot on delicious. Fresh chow mein noodles are the way to go if you can find them. I doubled the recipe as I had guests. Everyone raved, this is going into my meal rotation!
This recipe was great! We both loved it! A definite keeper! Thank you!
I have made this recipe twice because Shrimp Chow Mein is a favorite of my husband’s. I will definitely make this again, but next time I will add more veggies. This time I used too many noodles, not the fault of the recipe, but mine. I will certainly be more careful with this next time.
I am so glad you enjoyed it, Kathy!
This recipe is spot on! Very tasty and filling… my husband says the flavors and the spice is perfect! Followed it to the T. For the left overs I made a small amount of the sauce to marinade some shrimp!!! Wow! Will use the in our monthly rotation, and I have shared with my cooking buddies! Thank you for such an amazing recipe!
Thank you so much for your feedback, Barbara!
This Shrimp Chow Mein recipe is delicious! I used Kikkoman Naturally Brewed Tamari Soy Sauce for a yummier twist of taste.
Oh my goodness, this chow mein was INCREDIBLE. My husband and I couldn’t get enough! 10/10 from us!
Fantastic!
Who needs takeout? This meal was so incredible!
Awesome!! So happy to hear it, Amy!
This quickly became a favorite meal at my house! So tasty and easy to make!
Thanks so much Toni!!