(Originally published on July 17, 2013 MMM Foodies)

The Lo Mein is served!

This is one of my “go to” recipes for a quick dinner my finicky kids will eat. Very often, I will make a double batch of thin spaghetti noodles and later find out that someone had too many after school snacks and I have a bunch of leftover noodles. This is a great way to use them! (Obviously, use Lo Mein noodles, if you have them or prefer them! )This meal can come together very quickly, especially if you have your veggies and/or meat prepped in advance. You can keep them in storage bags or containers in the refrigerator a day or two ahead.

To make this recipe friendly to my kids, I have used just a few veggies, but good ones that they will eat. Feel free to add, subtract or substitute whatever suits your tastes. If this were just for me, I would be adding water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, onions, scallions, broccoli, baby corn (my kids like that, but I was out!), tofu, etc. This recipe is very adaptable! If you prefer, you can skip the noodles and serve over rice. I used a piece of flank steak from a local Asian market, but you could just as easily use chicken, pork or some other cut of meat or even shrimp. I put my flank steak in the freezer for about half an hour and that made it easy to slice very thin. If you want to add a little more authenticity, you could add a teaspoon of sesame oil to the sauce. In our family, we have a severe sesame and shrimp allergy, so I never have them in the house, but there are endless possibilities for you to make this the “Mein” dish at your house tonight! Enjoy!

Dad’s Lo Mein Matt Miller July 17, 2013

Lo Mein ingredients

Ingredients:

¾ lb Beef Flank Steak, sliced very thinly

4 T. Soy Sauce, divided

3 t. Rice Wine Vinegar, divided

1 T. All-purpose Flour

¼ cup Vegetable oil, divided, for wok frying

1 small Yellow Squash, diced

1 Lg. rib Celery, diced

½ cup Carrot, diced

1 lg clove Garlic, minced

1 T. fresh Ginger, minced

2 T. Ketchup

1 small pinch Five Spice powder

1 T. Plum Sauce (or Hoisin)

1/3 cup water

1lb Lo Mein Noodles or thin spaghetti, cooked

Thinly sliced flank steak

Directions:

Get all of the chopping, slicing and dicing done first. In a mixing bowl, add the meat, 2 T. of the soy sauce, 1 t. of the rice wine vinegar and the flour. Mix well and set aside. In a smaller bowl, mix the other 2 T. soy sauce, 2 t. rice wine vinegar, the pinch of Five Spice powder, ketchup and water. Stir to blend well and set aside.

Partially cooked meat

Heat your wok over high heat until screaming hot and add half of the oil. Add meat to wok and cook, constantly moving until almost all the pink is gone. Dump contents into a mixing bowl, set aside and rinse wok. Reheat the wok and add the rest of the oil.

Add carrot to the wok first and sauté. Add the celery next and then the squash, ginger and garlic about a minute later.

Thickening the sauce

Add the meat back in, form an open spot in the middle of the wok and add the sauce mixture. Bring to a boil to thicken and add noodles.

Stir everything together and continue until the noodles are coated with the sauce and heated through. Serve hot! Enjoy!

Toss to combine