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How To Make King Prawn Chow Mein – An Easy 15 Minute Recipe
Say hello to this delicious king prawn chow mein recipe, a Chinese takeaway favourite. Made with prawns (shrimp), noodles and vegetables stir-fried in a delicious homemade sauce. What’s even better is that you can make it in just 15 minutes!
Who can say no to takeaway style king prawn chow mein? Well, definitely not me; this recipe right here is a crowd pleaser!
Chow mein is amongst one of my favourite Chinese takeaway recipes. Alongside chicken chow mein, king prawn chow mein is differently up there in my family’s top 5. It’s unbelievably easy to make at home and only takes 15 minutes, way quicker than ordering takeaway and spending around an hour waiting for delivery.
What Is Traditional Chow Mein?
Chow mein in Chinese literally means stir-fried noodles. Traditional chow mein is stir-fried noodles with vegetables such as beansprouts and cabbage (like my plain chow mein recipe). A chow mein stir-fry can include the addition of proteins such as meat, prawns and tofu.
Why You’ll Love This Recipe
First things first, prawns with noodles taste so good! That’s one of the main reasons why I love to make this. Below are 4 other reasons why I love to make king prawn chow mein and reasons why you’ll love it too:
- Packed with vegetables: It’s a great way to add in a load of vegetables into one dish. Authentic king prawn chow mein recipes always has beansprouts, they’re my favourite vegetable in this recipe.
- Great For Left-Overs: You can completely customise this recipe by using leftover vegetables in the fridge. This recipe allows you to work with what you’ve got and with whatever vegetables you prefer.
- A super quick recipe: I feel like I need to keep mentioning over and over again that you can make this prawn chow mein in 15 minutes. This recipe is perfect if you’re in a rush or when time is limited.
- One-Pan Recipe: You only need one wok or frying pan to make this dish; it will save you heaps of washing-up to do! You simply stir-fry each ingredient in the wok before adding the next ingredient.
What Is The Difference Between Lo Mein And Chow Mein And Chop Suey?
There are many Chinese takeaway meals that sound or are quite similar but have different names.
Lo mein and chow mein are very similar noodle dishes. The main differences between lo mein and chow mein is down to how they are cooked and served. Both are egg noodles but lo mein noodles are boiled and served tossed in a sauce, they’re also softer in texture. In comparison, authentic chow mein noodle recipes are traditionally fried until crispy before being served with a sauce.
Whereas Chop suey is an American Chinese dish containing eggs and meat that is cooked with vegetables in a thickened sauce, this is usually served on rice.
Watch How To Make It
Prawn Chow Mein Recipe Ingredients
To make Chinese style prawn chow mein you’ll need prawns with noodles, vegetables and also a homemade sauce. The ingredients mentioned below can be found in supermarkets (particularly in the worlds’ food section), online or in Asian food shops.
- King Prawns: Big and tasty king prawns are used. The king prawns are peeled and cleaned before being fried with the rest of the ingredients. You can buy king prawns that have been peeled and cleaned beforehand or you can do this manually yourself.
- Noodles: This recipe uses egg noodles to make king prawn chow mein, it’s coated in a homemade Chinese style sauce. I like to use pre-cooked also called fresh egg noodles from my local supermarket. That’s what makes this recipe so quick and they only need to be fried for a few minutes to warm them up.
Noodle Variations – Which Is Best?
Egg noodles are commonly used in Chinese takeaways, they’re the preferred choice and the best noodles to use for a prawn or shrimp chow mein takeaway style recipe. But if you can’t get your hands on fresh egg noodles than you can use dried egg noodles that will need to be boiled in hot water for around 5 minutes to soften.
If you can’t find either fresh or dried egg noodles than you can get dried noodles as an alternative. They’re usually white in colour so the end result would not look as brown as takeaway style chow mein but it will still taste good.
- Vegetables: This recipe is packed with beansprouts, shredded cabbage and carrots like an authentic king prawn chow mein takeaway. Also, there are sliced spring onions and garlic added for even more flavour.
- Chow Mein Sauce: The chow mein sauce is made from a mixture of dark soy sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, chilli sauce and salt. The sauce gives the chow mein and king prawns in this dish an authentic Chinese takeaway style taste.
How To Make King Prawn Chow Mein
Ready to make prawn chow mein? Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to make king prawn chow mein with this fakeaway recipe. Full recipe instructions are on the recipe card at the bottom.
Step One:
Put the king prawns into a mixing bowl and add the marinade ingredients: garlic paste, ginger paste, black pepper, salt and dark soy sauce into the mixing bowl. Mix until evenly distributed and the prawns are fully coated in the marinade.
Set the prawns aside for later use and chop your vegetables (carrot, cabbage, garlic and spring onions) for later use.
Step Two:
Make the chow mein sauce by mixing together oyster sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, sesame oil, chilli sauce and salt in a small bowl.
Step Three:
Heat the wok or frying pan on a medium to high heat and add oil. When hot, add the garlic and spring onions and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add the prawns and stir-fry for 2 minutes before adding the vegetables and stir-frying for a further 1 to 2 minutes.
Step Four:
Add the egg noodles to the wok or frying pan and mix for 1 minute. Add the chow mein sauce and mix until the sauce is evenly distributed.
And it’s done! That’s how to make Chinese takeaway king prawn chow mein.
What Other Vegetables To Add To King Prawn Chow Mein
There are so many vegetable variations you can make to this dish. Below is a list of vegetables perfect for stir-fry dishes like this:
- Tenderstem Broccoli (you can either add them in or roast them and add as a side)
- Mushrooms
- Bell Peppers
- Bamboo Shoot
- Baby Sweetcorn
- Onions
- Water Chestnuts
My Top Tips For Making Prawn Chow Mein
Here are my top tips to use for this recipe:
If you don’t have ginger paste or garlic paste, then that’s okay! It can be quite costly to buy the paste in comparison to getting fresh garlic cloves and ginger. To make the paste yourself, simply chop the garlic cloves and/or ginger into small pieces. Then place in a pestle & mortar with a drop of water and grind until broken down. It does take a little time and some elbow grease.
I remember making stir-frys at school, my teacher would always scream “it’s not stare fry it’s stir-fry, keep stirring!“ I remember this every time I’m making stir-fry. Remember the wok or frying pan you’re using for this recipe is going to be hot, you need to pay close attention and keep stirring to prevent any burning. It’s not stare fry it’s stir-fry, keep stirring!
The biggest time saver is to have everything prepped and ready to cook. This includes chopping your vegetables and cleaning and peeling the prawns. If you’re not using fresh egg noodles but dried noodles, a great tip would be to have them boiling whilst you’re preparing the vegetables.
Make this dish vegetarian by taking out the prawns, you can replace with tofu or leave out any protein replacement.
If you want king prawns with crispy noodles, then you can fry the noodles in a separate wok or frying pan before adding to the prawns and vegetable stir-fry.
FAQs
How Many Calories Are In King Prawn Chow Mein?
This king prawn chow mein recipe has 692 calories per serving, full nutritional information is in the recipe card at the bottom. Nutritional information is automatically calculated, so should be used as an estimate.
How Long Does Prawn Chow Mein Last?
Prawn (shrimp) chow mein will last in the fridge for around 3 days. Allow the chow mein to cool down completely before storing in an air-tight container. When reheating, place in a microwaveable container with the lid loosely fitted. Microwave until piping hot throughout.
More Delicious Recipes
Below are more Chinese style fakeaway recipes like this king prawn chow mein that you’ll love:
- Chicken Vermicelli
- Yaki Udon Noodles
- Chinese Crispy Beef
- Honey Chilli Chicken
- Salt And Pepper Chicken
- Salt And Pepper Chips
- Dirty Fries
- Special Chow Mein
- Char Siu Chow Mein
King Prawn Chow Mein
Ingredients
- 300 g Egg Noodles
- 200 g King Prawns
- 1 Carrot
- 50 g Beansprouts
- 50 g Shredded Cabbage
- 2 Garlic Cloves
- 4 Spring Onions
- 3 tbsp Vegetable Oil
Marinade
- 1 tsp Garlic Paste
- 1 tsp Ginger Paste
- 1 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 1 tsp Black Pepper
- ½ tsp Salt
Chow Mein Sauce
- 2 tbsp Oyster Sauce
- 2 tbsp Dark Soy Sauce
- 2 tbsp Vinegar
- 1 tbsp Brown Sugar
- 1 tbsp Sesame Oil
- 1 tbsp Chilli Sauce
- ½ tsp Salt
Instructions
- Put the king prawns into a mixing bowl and add the marinade ingredients: garlic paste, ginger paste, black pepper, salt and dark soy sauce into the mixing bowl. Mix until evenly distributed and the prawns are fully coated in the marinade.
- Set the prawns aside for later use and chop your vegetables (carrot, cabbage, garlic and spring onions) for later use.
- Make the chow mein sauce by mixing together oyster sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, sesame oil, chilli sauce and salt in a small bowl.
- Heat the wok or frying pan on a medium to high heat and add oil. When hot, add the garlic and spring onions and stir fry for 30 seconds.
- Add the prawns and stir-fry for 2 minutes before adding the vegetables and stir-frying for a further 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add the egg noodles to the wok or frying pan and mix for 1 minute. Add the chow mein sauce and mix until the sauce is evenly distributed.
Video
Notes
Nutrition
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