Need Lo Mein secrets, please

C

colleenmomof2

Well-known member
Had amazing Lo Mein while out of town. We have tried three - 3! - local Lo Mein offerings at our nearby Chinese restaurants since but none are close to wonderful. I bought the noodles and am ready to do-it-myself. Have researched "authentic" recipes, copied and have all of the suggested ingredients except dark soy. Anyone have a favorite combination you're willing to share? Colleen

 
"Authentic"

Everyone purports to have "authentic" recipes these days, even those like food comedian Rachael Ray have "authentic" lo mein recipes.

I think the biggest secret is how they're cooked.

When I lived in NYC and walked down Columbus Avenue, the scent of sesame oil, garlic, chili, and smoke always hung heavy in the air from the 1-2 per block Sichuan restaurants.

When I watched the lo mein being prepared, there were huge tongues of flames dancing up and around the wok. That intense heat added the missing element we can't get with our polite little woks sitting on our polite little American stoves: Smoke. I think that is the missing ingredient you're going to miss in any recipe prepared at home on a conventional American cooking range top.

 
I agree with the smoke/heat thing--think "Wok Flavor" . . .

best fried rice I ever had was at a hole-in-the-wall Chinese joint a few minutes from our house. I talked to the girl at the register and she said that great flavor came from a big-a** wok atop a burner with jets the diameter of my little finger. Flavor comes from both the smoke from the flame and the contact between the food and the cooking vessel. I have been able to replicate the flavor by cooking on a propane campstove outside, with the burner on as high as it will go and then cook in an extremely well pre-heated cast iron frying pan on that burner--and cook smaller amounts rather than larger!

I think most people tend to try to cook too much at one time in a wok (or giant cast-iron skilled) when stir frying. That cooking pan has to be hot, searingly hot, and if it cools too much from the food you are trying to cook, well, the food will not be as good and tasty as it might be if cooked super-fast and super-hot.

 
Yes, the turkey fryer propane set up with a good steel wok does it well. My

wok is now a wonderfully seasoned black interior and at 14" is a nice size.

 
(slapping forehead) and a question

Smoke! Yes! Thank-you!
Dh and I watched a YouTube video featuring a super high heat burner and flames licking.

And other suggesters clarified that the very high heat necessary for "authentic" is impossible without a commercial heat source. But we plunged forward anyway and have made 2 batches of lo mein with slightly different sauce ingredient combinations. Both batches were differently exceptional - better than carryout - but not THAT flavor we were seeking.
Smoke! Yes! So what about a drop or two of liquid smoke? Colleen

(Forehead Slap - I had Stubbs liquid smoke in my hand as I removed bottles from the fridge door - why didn't my addling brain say, "Hey, Colleen, add some?")

 
No substitute for high heat. I borrowed a turkey fryer from a friend a few years back...

...and did a complete Chinese dinner using the burner.

Truth be told, it takes some skills to manage the high heat, and my results were mixed. We did get the smoky taste and were quite happy with that.

One thing for sure: Cook outdoors!

Liquid smoke probably won't give you the flavor you seek. I haven't tried it in a stir-fry, but I've used it in barbecue sauces, etc., and it tastes like the wood it is made from. Wood smoke flavor is different from the charred noodles and vegetables in a stir fry.

Michael

 
Will need to widen our circle of Chinese restaurants

and eventually find one that makes the lo mein the way we liked on vacation. Or, we can always head back out across the state for more smileys/smile.gif Colleen

 
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