Name: Plain Chow Mein (Chinese Noodles)
Prep time: 3 min
Cook time: 7 min
Total time: 10 min
Ingredients: 300 g Egg Noodles; 100 g Beansprouts (Big Handful); 2 Garlic Cloves (Diced); 4 Spring Onions (Chopped); 2 tbsp Oil (For Frying); 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

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Takeaway-Style Plain Chow Mein

Plain chow mein with beansprouts tossed in a delicious chow mein sauce. This Chinese takeaway stir fry is utterly delicious and ready in only 10 minutes. Let’s get cooking!

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5 from 2 votes

There is nothing (and I definitely mean nothing) quicker to make than these plain chow mein noodles. Dinner in 10 minutes, including prep time? Umm… Yes! This is my go-to quick recipe and I’m sharing it with you today – you’re in for a treat!

I love how versatile this dish is, even though you can serve it by itself, you can also serve it with meat dishes like this beef with ginger and spring onions or my homemade sweet and sour chicken.

This is one of the easiest noodle recipes ever that’s BIG on taste and little on time. It’s hands down delicious and one of those recipes I end up making over and over again. It’s packed full of flavour, veggies and the homemade chow mein sauce tastes incredible.

Chinese Chow Mein

To make this plain chow mein, I’ve added classic ingredients to create a Chinese takeaway taste. There’s garlic, sesame oil, soy sauce, oyster sauce and more to create a chow mein with lots of flavour.

I’ve taken the base ingredients to make this dish from my other popular noodle dishes, such as my king prawn chow mein, special chow mein and my chicken chow mein and char siu chow mein recipes.

Recipe Ingredients

Below are the ingredients I used to make this recipe:

Egg Noodles: I prefer to use fresh egg noodles as they’re ready for cooking. You can use dried noodles, but they need to be cooked before starting this recipe.
Vegetables: For this plain chow mein, beansprouts, garlic cloves and spring onions are used to add flavour to this dish.
Chow Mein Sauce: A mixture of oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, sesame oil, chilli sauce and salt make the homemade chow mein sauce.

How To Make Plain Chow Mein

Here’s a summary of how I make plain chow mein noodles. You can get the full recipe instructions on the recipe card below:

Step One:

I start by making the chow mein sauce by mixing together oyster sauce, dark soy sauce, vinegar, brown sugar, sesame oil, chilli sauce and salt in a small mixing bowl.

Step Two:

A wok is heated to a high heat and two tablespoons of oil is added before I stir-fry the beansprouts for 1 to 2 minutes.

Step Three:

I add chopped spring onions and diced garlic and fry for an extra minute.

Step Four:

I pour the egg noodles into the wok and stir fry for 1 to 2 minutes. Then finish by drizzling the chow mein sauce on top and everything is mixed together.

I like to garnish the dish with chopped spring onions especially when I’m serving this to others. You could also garnish with sprinkled sesame seeds to make this dish even more enticing.

How To Serve Plain Chow Mein

The best thing about making plain chow mein (besides the taste) is serving it alongside other tasty Chinese dishes. A few examples are this crispy chilli chicken, crispy beef, chinese chicken And mushroom or this honey chilli chicken.

For your sides you can make sesame prawn toast or salt and pepper chips or this crispy salt and pepper chicken.

If I’m going all out, I like to make sweet and sour chicken balls, pork balls or prawn balls on the side! Or you can just keep it plain and have it by itself.

Plain Chow Mein Recipe Variations

I like to think of this recipe as a base dish as you can add a lot more vegetables like cabbage, pak choi, mushrooms and carrots to it.

If you want to add protein, try chunks of salmon, beef, chicken or prawns. There are so many variations and changes you can make to this recipe.

Equipment Needed

To make a chow mein you’re going to need a wok, it’s the main utensil for this dish and it creates that ‘wok hei’ flavour (the extra flavour that comes from cooking food in a hot wok). A wok is used in a lot of Chinese takeaway dishes, so it definitely will be used more than once.

A good wok is so important, look for a carbon steel wok as it conducts heat evenly. If you don’t have a wok, make this dish in a large frying pan or pot instead. Of course, you’ll also need kitchen basics like a sharp knife, a chopping board and mixing bowls.

My Top Tips

Prepping vegetables and ingredients in advance makes this recipe extremely quick to make.

If you’re using uncooked noodles, you’ll have to cook them first which will add more time. Buy fresh noodles if possible or pre-cook the noodles before starting this recipe.

I like to mix the sauce ingredients beforehand as opposed to adding the sauce ingredients one by one when I’m cooking. It prevents burning the chow mein and searching through every cupboard to find the soy sauce!

You’ll want your wok to be hot before adding oil or ingredients to it, as this will prevent smoking and burning.

Storing Chow Mein Leftovers

If you have any leftovers, place the plain chow mein in an airtight container and keep it in the fridge. You could also place leftovers in the freezer and reheat when you’re ready. When defrosting, make sure the chow mein is piping hot throughout.