Lo Mein with Chinese Broccoli and Shiitakes

Ah, noodles. Who doesn’t love noodles? No-one in my house, that’s for sure.

Aviva, especially, is a noodle fanatic. She craves them, asks for them – udon, lo mein, soba, spaghetti, pad si ew. She rejoices when we get take out, knowing that she’ll get a good carb fix when the food arrives.

Her favorite noodle dish is Chinese lo mein. The only problem is that Chinese food isn’t exactly my favorite. I grew up in a small town full of pizza places, donut shops, and churches. We had to drive to the nearest city, Providence RI, for halfway decent Chinese food, so I rarely ate it growing up. When a Chinese restaurant did eventually open in my town, it was mediocre at best and very Americanized. They served bread on the table and all of the main dishes tasted exactly the same – salty and over-sauced. Plus, a few of my friends worked there during high school and, well, the more you know about the inner workings of a restaurant, the less you want to eat there.

By the time I tasted somewhat authentic Chinese food, I was an adult, a mother, a wife. I liked it, but I not as much as I’d already grown to love Thai and Japanese cuisines. It’s OK, though. I’ll play along with the occasional dinner in Chinatown or dim sum brunch, but it will never, ever be my first choice.

Aviva, on the other hand, would eat Chinese food everyday if she could. So, when I came across fresh lo mein noodles at my favorite local market, I bought a few bags, figuring I could make my own take-out and make Aviva really happy at the same time. While I was there, I also grabbed some yummy Chinese broccoli and shiitakes. That’s the best thing about cooking meals that you’d normally get from a restaurant – you can use as much of your favorite ingredients as you want!

When I got home, it dawned on me that I’d only ever made lo mein once before. I was 17 and had a boyfriend who could eat an entire order of it straight out of the take-out carton! So, I found a “lo mein style” pasta recipe from one of my mom’s many cookbooks and decided to surprise him by making it for dinner (instead of just ordering our usual pizza). He seemed to enjoy it, but he was 17 and growing. He probably would have eaten just about anything and liked it. It was the early 90s, too, so things like fresh ginger, rice wine, and hoisin sauce were not readily available in my small suburban supermarket. Consequently, I remember that lo mein tasting exactly like what it was – spaghetti with soy sauce, sesame, scallions, and mushrooms. Not terribly awful, but not really lo mein either.

So, with fresh ingredients waiting in the fridge, I went scavenging for recipes online, hoping to update my lo-mein-making skills. I ended up finding a few promising recipes and combining them to make my own version, an effort that proved to be much more satisfying and delicious than my first lo-mein-making experience. It’s a snap to make: just assemble your mis en place, heat the wok, and go! Taste-wise, it’s pretty close  to the lo mein you’d order at your favorite Chinese restaurant. It’s fresh and light, but the hoisin, soy, sesame, and shiitakes pack enough of an umami punch to satisfy that lo mein craving you have right now.

Grab your wok and get to it.

Lo Mein with Chinese Broccoli and Shiitakes

• 1 pound of chicken breasts (you could also use flank steak, pork tenderloin, shrimp, or tofu), cut into bite-sized strips

• 1 pound lo mein noodles or spaghetti, fresh or dried, prepared to package directions, drained, and set aside (do not rinse after draining!)
• 1 pound Chinese broccoli or broccolini, washed, dried, and julienned
• 8 ounces shiitake mushrooms – wiped clean, stems removed, caps thinly sliced
• 3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 teaspoon fresh ginger, minced
• vegetable or peanut oil

Marinade:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon dry sherry or rice wine
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch

Sauce

• 1 cup chicken stock, homemade or store-bought (if using store-bought, use the low sodium kind)
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1 tablespoon dry sherry or rice wine
• 2 tablespoons hoisin sauce
• 1 teaspoon fresh minced ginger
• 2 teaspoons brown sugar
• a couple pinches of red chile flakes (optional)

Whisk together all of the marinade ingredients and add the chicken. Toss to coat. Set aside. Allow to marinate for 15-20 minutes.

Whisk all of the sauce ingredients together and set aside.

Heat a couple tablespoons of oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat. Add the chicken, stir-frying until cooked through. Place it on a separate plate and set aside. Wipe the skillet or wok clean.

Add another tablespoon or two of oil to the wok/skillet and place back on the heat. Add the Chinese broccoli, shiitakes, garlic, and ginger. Stir-fry until the broccoli is wilted, but still crisp-tender.

Add the sauce and noodles. Let cook for a minute or two so that the noodles can absorb the sauce, then fold in the chicken. Enjoy!

Ginger-Glazed Scallion Meatballs

I know I promised you more Superbowl snacks. So, since I already posted about hummus and nuts, I thought you needed something more substantial to get you through the game. Meatballs definitely fit the bill.

These are not your mother’s party meatballs. You know which ones I mean – the ones swimming in a sauce made of grape jelly and ketchup, the ones that only taste good if you’re really, really drunk.

Yeah, these meatballs are so much better than that. First of all, they’re going to taste great whether you’re drunk or sober, which is an excellent quality when it comes to party food. Secondly, their gingery-salty-herbaceous flavor goes great with beer, so they might actually HELP you get buzzed, which is also an excellent quality in party food. Thirdly, Chinese New Year is upon us, so making this Asian-inspired dish would be a great – and very tasty – way to celebrate. Kung Hei Fat Choi! Go Packers!

They’re a cinch to make, too. The sauce can be done up to two days ahead of time and the meatballs come together pretty quickly, so you won’t be trapped in the kitchen if you have guests coming by. They’re also a cinch to serve. All you need are toothpicks and napkins.

As if all of those reasons weren’t good enough to make you want to try this, I’ll give you another. My absolute favorite thing about this recipe is that it also works well as a quick, relatively easy main dish. So, if you’re not interested in watching the Superbowl or won’t be having a party anytime soon, make them anyway. Glaze them with lots of sauce and serve them over rice with stir-fried veggies for an easy weeknight dinner. Yum.

Ginger-Glazed Scallion Meatballs

(adapted, just barely, from the NY Times)

For the sauce:

• 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
• 1/2 cup reduced sodium soy sauce
• 1/2 cup mirin (sweet rice wine)
• 1/4 cup chopped peeled ginger
• 1 teaspoon Chinese 5-spice powder
• 4 whole black peppercorns

For the meatballs:

• 1 pound ground turkey
• 4 large or 6 small scallions, finely chopped
• 1 bunch cilantro, finely chopped (about 1 cup)
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 2 tablespoons sesame oil
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 1/2 teaspoon sriracha
• Freshly ground black pepper
• Vegetable oil.

Make sauce: Bring sugar and 1/2 cup water to a boil in a saucepan over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar melts completely. Reduce heat to medium-low and add soy sauce, mirin, ginger, 5 spice, and peppercorns. Simmer, stirring occasionally, until reduced by half, about 30 minutes. Strain through a sieve. (Can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated.)

Make meatballs: mix turkey, scallions, cilantro, egg, sesame oil, soy sauce, sriracha, and several grindings of pepper in a bowl. Roll tablespoons of mixture into balls.

In a skillet over medium-high heat, generously cover bottom of pan with vegetable oil. Working in batches to avoid crowding, place meatballs in pan and cook, turning, until browned all over and cooked inside, about 8 minutes per batch. Arrange on a heated platter, spoon a little sauce over each meatball, and serve with toothpicks and lots of napkins. Keep warm in a 200-degree oven until ready to serve.