Vegetable Chow Mein Recipe - Dish Ditty (2024)

FAQs

What is the difference between vegetable chow mein and vegetable lo mein? ›

The sauce: Chow mein is more of a dry noodle dish with an extremely light and delicate sauce — if any sauce at all. Lo mein is a saucy noodle dish that depends on a rich sauce for much of its flavor. The texture: Chow mein noodles tend to be crunchier than lo mein noodles due to the way they are cooked.

Chow mein gets its signature flavor from the thick, dark homemade sauce the noodles are tossed with. It's the perfect balance of sweet and salty and makes putting down your chopsticks absolutely impossible.

Chow mein vs chop suey are both popular Chinese dishes that are often confused with each other. Chow mein is a stir-fried noodle dish that typically includes vegetables and meat, while chop suey is a dish made up of meat, vegetables, and sometimes noodles that are cooked in a thick sauce.

Crispy chow mein is usually topped with a thick brown sauce, while steamed chow mein is mixed with soy sauce before being served. There is a regional difference in the US between the East and West Coast use of the term "chow mein". On the East Coast, "chow mein" is always the crispy kind.

A great Chow Mein comes down to the sauce, made of soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, sugar and cornstarch for thickening. Slippery noodles slick with the savoury sauce is noodle heaven! One of my favourite noodles, up there with all time greats Pad Thai, Pad See Ew and Singapore noodles.

Largely this is a matter of personal taste since both dishes can be made to your preference. If you prefer lightly sauced noodles with some crunch and vegetables with some snap, chow mein might be the way to go. If you like a more comforting noodle with richly flavored sauce, lo mein may be the better option.

CHICAGO CHOW MEIN: Slices of vegetables in a dark sauce with mushrooms, water chestnuts, and pea pods.

There are actually two kinds of chow mein: a crispy version and a saucy version. Calling one crispy is kind of confusing because both versions should be crispy, but the main difference is how the sauce is incorporated into the dish.

The main difference is that noodles labeled "Hong Kong" or "pan-fried noodles" are par-cooked in boiling water, which makes them ready to stir-fry. Use this variety for dry stir-fried noodle dishes, like this stir-fried chow mein with four vegetables and whenever you want the noodles to be slightly (or very) crispy.

Lo mein sauce

It's a simple umami filled mix of light and dark soy sauce, toasted sesame oil, sugar, and a hint of ginger. It's super easy to make a batch of lo mein sauce and keep it in the fridge so you can easily make lo mein whenever the craving hits.

Is Singapore style chow mein the same as chow mein? ›

Singapore noodle is made of thin rice noodles, chicken, shrimp, roast pork, eggs, and veggies. The main flavoring is curry powder. Once of the biggest difference between the two is that Singapore noodles is made of rice noodles, while chow mein is made with thin egg noodles made of wheat flour.

From a nutritional standpoint, lo mein is better than chow mein, hands down. "Lo mein would be considered more nutritious because the noodles are not fried and there is less oil used in the cooking," Jaelin says. "Lo mein has less than half the calories and fat found in chow mein.

Vegetable lo mein is a Chinese stir-fried noodle dish made with vegetables and cooked pasta. The vegetables can vary but this dish usually includes carrots, bell peppers, broccoli, and snow peas. The dish is typically seasoned with a savory sauce made from soy sauce, garlic, ginger, and sesame oil.

Out of which carbohydrates comprise 183 calories, proteins account for 31 calories and remaining calories come from fat which is 40 calories. One serving of Vegetable Chow Mein provides about 13 percent of the total daily calorie requirement of a standard adult diet of 2,000 calories.

Actually, the main distinction between these two popular dishes lies in how the noodles are prepared. Mein or mian is simply the Chinese word for noodles. Lo mein means "tossed noodles," while chow mein or chao mian means "fried noodles."