Cook the noodles in a pan of boiling water for 3-4 minutes (until just cooked through). Drain and rinse in cold water to prevent them from sticking together and put to one side.
200 g (7 oz) dried fine egg noodles
Meanwhile, heat the oil in a wok. Add the chicken and cook for 5-6 minutes until cooked through.
3 tbsp oil, 3 chicken breasts
Add the sliced onion and cook for a further 2 minutes to slightly soften.
1 onion
Add the garlic, carrots, red pepper, sugarsnap peas, and spring onions (scallions). Stir and cook for 1 minute.
2 cloves garlic, 1 large carrot, 1 large red pepper, 20 sugarsnap (snow) peas, 10 spring onions (scallions)
Add in the noodles, oyster sauce, soy sauce, kecap manis, and white pepper. Fry on a high heat, tossing everything together until warmed through - about 3-4 minutes.
4 tbsp oyster sauce, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 2 tbsp kecap manis, ¼ tsp white pepper
Serve topped with chopped spring onions (scallions), sesame seeds, and chilli flakes.
NoodlesI like to use fine egg noodles for this recipe, but you can use medium noodles, wholewheat noodles, rice noodles. Even cooked spaghetti and tagliatelle works well (sounds strange to use pasta in a Chinese recipe, but it absorbs the flavours really well).You can also use ready-cooked noodles, but you may need to run them under some hot water first to separate them. Kecap ManisKecap Manis is a thicker (syrup-like in consistency), sweeter Indonesian soy sauce. You can find it in most larger supermarkets and Asian stores. It makes a great addition to stir fries, or as a dipping sauce, so it's well worth having it as a store-cupboard ingredient. If you don't want to buy it, you can replace with an extra 1+1/2 tablespoons of soy sauce and a tablespoon of light brown sugar. It's not quite the same, but will still taste delicious.White PepperI'm using white pepper in this dish rather than black pepper. White pepper is often used in Chinese cookery and it has a very different taste to black pepper. White pepper is hotter, spicier and with a slightly smoky taste.VegetarianLeave out the chicken, or replace with tofu, mushrooms or quorn pieces.Gluten freeIt's a little difficult to make this recipe gluten free, as the noodles and most of the sauce ingredients contain gluten.You can:
Replace the egg noodles with rice noodles
Replace the soy sauce with tamari
Use gluten free Oyster sauce (Lee Kum Kee do a version)
Remove the Kecap Manis (I haven't seen a gluten free version of this) and replace with 1+1/2 tbsp tamari and 1 tbsp light brown sugar.
.Make aheadI don't recommend making this recipe ahead to reheat and eat later, as the noodles will become dry and the vegetables will lose their crunch. However... I think this Lo Mein tastes great cold the next day for lunch. Add a few salad leaves for an easy meal prep noodle salad. Once cooked, cool quickly, and then cover and refrigerate. Serve straight out of the fridge the next day. .Nutritional information is per serving.