If you’ve ever had Chinese takeout, you’ve probably tried shrimp lo mein or some sort of variation. You can use whatever vegetables you like for this dish and the sauce only uses very common Asian pantry ingredients. Give this a try for your next meal idea and you will not be disappointed.
Noodles have always been an essential part of Chinese cooking and often have symbolic meaning. For example, longevity noodles represent celebrating a long and healthy life. More often than not, the only ingredients necessary to flavor noodles is soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, and sugar. These are some essential Asian pantry items that I refer to and highly recommend having at all times.
Shrimp lo mein is another simple noodle dish that is perfect when you want to clear out the vegetables in your fridge. Shrimp just happens to be the protein of choice for this dish, but you can use chicken, pork, and even beef.
Key ingredients/steps for the perfect shrimp lo mein
Noodles: I see a lot of recipes using thick egg noodles for lo mein which is really good. However, I prefer to use a type of Chinese noodle called yau mein. This literally translates to oil noodles. I will post a picture of the packaging in the recipe card. They come pre-cooked, so all I had to do was soak them in hot water for 1 minute to get them softened.
Dark soy sauce: Usually, when dark soy sauce is involved in a recipe, it is used for color. So if I see the noodles are not as dark as I would like, I usually just add some more dark soy sauce until my desired color. Since dark soy sauce is mild and not very salty, it will not change the flavor of the dish.
Vegetables: The beauty behind this is that you can really use any vegetables you like. I would highly recommend cabbage and broccoli because they absorb the sauce very well and are very flavorful.
Maggi seasoning: Maggi seasoning is optional but I would highly recommend it and a few drops go a long way. It is a flavor enhancer the same way MSG is.
Shrimp Lo Mein
Ingredients
Sauce ingredients
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 tsp sugar
- ½ tsp white pepper
- ½ tsp maggi seasoning
- 2 tbsp water
Noodles
- 1 lbs yau noodles or egg noodles
- 1 lbs shrimp (U16-22)
- 1½ cup cabbage
- 1½ cup broccoli
- 1 onion
- 5 cloves garlic
- 1 cup edamame
Instructions
- Season shrimp with salt then heat up a pan or wok over high heat and cook your shrimp for 1-2 minutes and remove to add back later.
- Prepare your noodles according to the packaging. Usually they are pre-cooked so I just needed to soak my noodles in hot water for 1-2 minutes then drain.
- Cut all your vegetables, I thinly slice onions, rough chop garlic, broccoli and cabbage.
- Heat your wok over high heat with 1 tbsp of oil then add all your vegetables and cook until softened about 5 minutes.
- Add your drained noodles along with the pre-mixed sauce and continue to mix until the sauce has been fully absorbed by your noodles.
- Add the shrimp and cooked edamame at the very end, give it a quick mix and enjoy! I top with sesame seeds and green onions.
If you enjoyed this, check out some more easy noodle recipes here:
