Si
Here’s one sent by a reader named Jen from Australia – thanks again! So chow mein – very curious how this will translate. Indeed I’ve had chow mein that tastes like yakisoba, chow mein that’s just salty and soy, chow mein that’s very bland. But this one looks like it will be chow mein with a small amount of broth and vegetables which sounds odd. But wait – is it odd? As a matter of fact. Australia has it’s own take on Chinese food – here’s a little about it from wikipedia:
Traditional chow mein is made with egg noodles which are boiled then strained and left to dry.[citation needed] They are then stir fried and finally left to sit at the bottom of the wok and pressed down, this crisps the noodles at the edges and underside. Chow mein is made with either seafood, often just prawns, chicken, beef or barbecued pork. Restaurants will serve a combination chow mein or a single type. Chicken and beef are often softened with a little bicarb of soda. The sauce is made from garlic, rice wine, light stock, MSG, salt and corn flour. Vegetables are usually one green such as bok choy or choy sum plus a little chopped carrot, but also other green vegetables are acceptable. This stir fry is poured onto the noodles. Chow mein is unique as its noodles are both soft in part but also crispy.
Well, let’s find out what this chicken chow mein is all about.
Fantastic Noodles Chicken Chow Mein Flavour – Australia
Detail of the side panels (click to enlarge). Looks to be meat free but check for yourself. To prepare, add in sachet contents. Then, add enough boiling water to cover noodles. Finally, let steep 3 minutes. Then stir and enjoy!
Detail of the lid (click to enlarge).
The noodle block.
The powder base.
Chunky from high moisture content I’m guessing.
The vegetables sachet.
Looks like corn, peas and spring onion.
Finished (click to enlarge). Added spring onion and baked chicken. The noodles are standard gauge and hydrate nicely in three minutes, but nothing super special. As far as the broth, the noodles suck most of it up. The flavor was pretty good; indeed, it didn’t remind me of chow mein really but tasted nice and chickenny. Veggie hydrated alright – the peas were kind of meh. 3.5 out of 5.0 stars. EAN bar code 9310155002141.
Australian Womens Weekly Cookbook
One of the first things my wife cooked for me was almost identical to this – wonder if she knew she was cooking Australian style?
