This Shrimp Chow Mein is a no pain, no fuss, easy one-pot meal that gets ready under 30 minutes. Take away? Say “No!” to them and enjoy this Cantonese style, Chow Mein, like a Boss at your home this weekend! Here is how to make it.
If you love Noodles, here are some of my other favorite recipes – Drunken Noodles, Pad Thai Noodles, Hakka Noodles, Chilli Garlic Noodles, and Peanut Sesame Noodles.
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About This Recipe
Shrimp Chow Mein is a classic Chinese (Cantonese Style) dish made with egg noodles, shrimp, and a plethora of veggies and sauces.
Simple, stir-fried, and just in one single pan, this toss it all up fried noodles are very tasteful. Rightfully so! Because it has a bit of everything.
Right from green onions, bean sprouts, sauce mixture like soy sauce, oyster sauce till protein like shrimps and fresh veggies like carrots, bell peppers, one bite from a small bowl of this Chow Mein and you are surely eating a great meal!
A good one serving of this chow mein has 350 Kcal. It is a well-balanced meal with carbs, proteins, and required amount of fat.
Some restaurants serve it crispy while some serve it soft, but you can choose how you would like to make it home.
The secret to making great noodles at home is to keep all the ingredients handy and use a light wok or pan on high heat.
The reason behind doing so is that you get to maintain the nice flavor and color of veggies. Also, the noodles don’t turn lumpy then.
Now Chow Mein to most people around the world is crispy noodles stir-fried with veggies. But in India, it’s cooked noodles tossed with sauces and veggies and shrimps or chicken.
I am not sure about what you should call this homemade recipe but I can promise that this one tasted awesome and you should definitely try it.
Also do not restrict yourself to only shrimp in this recipe. Use any seafood and make a mix of seafood chow mein instead of only shrimp chow mein.
This Chow Mein is
- Quick
- Fridge Cleaning
- One Pot
- Minimum Prep
- Flexible
- Better than takeouts
- A complete meal with carbs, proteins, and veggies, all in one pot
Ingredients
This recipe requires basic Asian ingredients that are available in most pantries.
Noodles – You will need noodles for the base of Shrimp Chow Mien. I have mentioned which noodles you can use to make this dish below.
Shrimp – I have used medium-sized shrimp which I have cleaned properly and removed their veins. You can also choose chicken, pork, or beef in this recipe.
Vegetables – Add vegetables like bell peppers, cabbage, mushroom, bean sprouts, etc for a nice crunch in shrimp chow mein.
Sauce – Sauce like dark soy sauce, vinegar, red chili sauce, oyster sauce, etc adds a nice Asian flavor to this dish. You can add more Asian Sauces of your choice, to experiment with the taste of this dish.
Other Ingredients – Apart from this, you will need chopped ginger and garlic, honey, little sesame oil for flavor and salt & pepper.
Step By Step Recipe
Add all the ingredients for marinating the shrimps in a bowl and mix well. Keep aside for 15 minutes.
Mix all the sauces in a bowl and keep aside.
Heat vegetable oil in a wok. Once the oil is hot, add ginger and garlic and fry for a few seconds.
Add the shrimps and cook for 2 minutes..
Add carrot, cabbage, bean sprouts and bell peppers and fry for a minute.
Now add the noodles and sauce mixture and toss well to mix everything together.
Add salt to taste and cook for a minute. Garnish with spring onion greens.
Frequently Asked Questions
Egg noodles are the best to make Chow Mein. You can also go for packets labeled with Hongkong Noodles, Chow Mein Noodles, Hakka Noodles, or Thin Wonton Noodles.
These noodles are par-cooked and you just have to cook them again in boiling water for a minute. As a matter of fact, any variety of noodles will work great in this recipe. You can even try using gluten-free noodles.
Make sure to toss the noodles in some oil after cooking. This will make sure they don’t stick to each other.
The two dishes are quite similar with some minor differences. Here is an article that explains it nicely.
To make crispy Chow Mein, prepare the noodles as mentioned on the pack. You will have to make individual portions if you want crispy noodles.
Heat some oil in a wok. Add an individual portion of noodles into it and spread it to make a noodle pancake. Cook on low heat until the noodles are browned and crisped from the bottom.
Turn the noodles pancake using a plate and slide it on another side in the wok again and cook until the other side is also crisped well. Now make the sauce as mentioned in the recipe below.
Keep the crispy noodle pancake on the serving plate and pour the sauce over it. Serve immediately.
Looking for a vegetarian version? Then substitute the Shrimp with some firm Tofu.
To make a low carb or healthy version of the same, you can substitute Noodles with Tofu Noodles or you can even use spiralized vegetables such as carrots and zucchini in the store fry.
Once you boil the noodles, add a little oil, give it a mix and let the cool down completely. Now, store these noodles in an air tight container and they will last for 3 days in the refrigerator.
Whenever you want to use them, you can take them out and let it sit for 15-30 minutes on the counter, before adding in the stir fry.
You can use any vegetables that you want to make this Chow Mein. Try experimenting with Mushroom, Spinach, Bokchoy, Carrots, Bean Sprouts, Broccoli, Cauliflower, Zucchini, Baby Corn, Bell Peppers, Spring Onions etc.
If using vegetables like broccoli or cauliflower, blanch them before adding them in the recipe.
Storage Suggestions
These Shrimp Noodles will last for 2-3 days when refrigerated in an air tight container. You can reheat it in a pan or in a microwave. If you feel the noodles have becomes a little dry, sprinkle some water on top of the noodles while reheating.
Serving Suggestions
These Restaurant Style Shrimp Chow Mein are full of flavour and therefore you can serve it on its own for a one dish meal. You can also serve it along with some gravies/stir fry such as Asian Chicken Meatballs, Hibachi Chicken, Hunan Shrimp, General Tso’s Chicken, Mango Chicken or any other similar recipes.
Serve some Wontons, Dumplings or even a delicious Soup on the side.
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Recipe Card
Shrimp Chow Mein Recipe
Equipment
- Wok
Ingredients
To marinate the shrimps
- 15-18 Shrimps (Cleaned)
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1/4 tsp Black Pepper Powder
- 1/2 tsp Red Chilli Powder
- 1 tsp Lemon Juice
For the sauce
- 4 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 1 tsp White Vinegar
- 2 tsp Red Chilli Sauce
- 2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
- 1 tsp Honey
- 1 tsp Sesame Oil
For the Chow Mein
- 200 g Egg Noodles (Cooked)
- 2 tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 2 tsp Ginger (Minced)
- 2 tsp Garlic (Minced)
- 1/2 cup Carrots (Julienned)
- 1 cup Cabbage (Shredded)
- 1 cup Mixed Bell Peppers (Cut nto thin stripes)
- 1/2 cup Bean Sprouts
- Salt to taste
- 1/2 cup Spring Onion Greens (Chopped)
Instructions
To marinate the Shrimps
- Add all the ingredients in a bowl and mix well.
- Keep aside for 15 minutes.
For the sauce
- Mix all the sauces in a bowl and keep aside.
For the Chow Mein
- Heat vegetable oil in a wok.
- Once the oil is hot, add ginger and garlic and fry for a few seconds.
- Add the shrimps and cook for 2 minutes.
- Add ginger, cabbage, bell peppers and bean sprouts and fry for a minute.
- Now add the noodles and sauce mixture and toss well to mix everything together.
- Add salt to taste and cook for a minute.
- Garnish with spring onion greens.
- Garnish with spring onion greens.
Sakshi
I have been following you on Instagram from few months!
I love your website and how get into each detail of the recipe!
Neha Mathur
Thnx a lot 🙂
Alina | Cooking Journey Blog
This dish looks so good, I would love to have this Chow Mein for dinner, with so many vegetables, shrimps and noodles. Truly easy and satisfying recipe!
Neha Mathur
Thnx Alina. I am sure you will love it.