Today, we’re gonna learn how a Chinese chef
makes this take-out classic…
Beef Lo Mein.
It only takes 30 minutes from start to finish,
and you can’t go wrong with thick chewy noodles,
the most tender beef,
and a delicious sauce to tie it all together.
Thanks to Tippsy Sake for sponsoring this video!
More on them later,
but first my dad will teach us
how to prepare the most succulent vegetables.
We have about 6 oz of napa cabbage.
Separate the stems and the leaves.
With the napa cabbage, we’ll separate the stems from the leaves
with two angled cuts.
If you separate the stems and the leaves,
they'll be easier to stir-fry.
Usually, I just tear it like this.
You get a different texture from tearing
rather than cutting the leaves.
Give it a try!
Cut the cabbage into strips.
With the stems,
we’ll slice them into roughly 1/4 inch thick pieces.
Put it aside.
Snow peas.
Just over 2 oz.
Tear it here.
Go down the middle.
With the snow peas,
we’ll tear off the string and stem all around the pod.
My dad has already done this with the rest of the snow peas.
We don't need to cut the snow peas.
Cut up the sweet peppers,
and remove the cores.
We have about 2 oz.
We’ll cut the peppers in half vertically,
remove the seeds and core,
then slice into roughly 1/2 inch wide pieces.
Green onions.
I like to use 3-4 stalks of green onions.
We’ll cut the green onions into 2-inch long pieces.
Separate the green and white parts.
2 cloves of garlic.
Now we’ll roughly mince 2 cloves of garlic.
Cut the carrots into thin strips.
When you cut carrots,
slice off one side first.
This way, it won't move around as much.
First, we’ll cut the carrot into thin slices.
Then cut them into thin strips.
Then lay them down and cut those slices into strips.
This is about 2 oz.
Did you divide the green onions?
The whites are going into the stir-fry.
We sprinkle the greens on top last, and then mix them in.
With all of our vegetables chopped,
my dad shares his 3-step approach
to preparing the most tender bites of beef.
This is New York steak.
Cut away this tough gristle on the edge.
Is this a little frozen?
Yes, it's partially frozen.
Step 1: Partially freeze the meat.
Why?
It's easier to cut.
This is 1/2 a lb.
New York steak is great because it's not too tough when you stir-fry it.
Cut it in half.
Can you see the lines of the grain?
We'll cut horizontally across it.
Step 2: Cut perpendicular to the grain.
With our partially frozen beef,
we’ll cut it first into smaller chunks.
Then cut perpendicular to the grain of the meat
into 1/8-inch thick slices.
When you look at the grain,
you’re seeing which way the muscle fibers are running.
You want to cut those fibers short,
because if you don’t cut those fibers with your knife now,
then your teeth will be working overtime
to cut them later when you’re chewing.
That’s what we mean by meat being tough.
When you put the meat on your cutting board,
align those grain lines to run from left to right,
and set your knife perpendicular to those lines
to cut your slices for stir-fry.
On your completed slice,
you shouldn’t see any long grain lines.
Angle your knife, so the pieces are wider.
We’ll continue slicing and put the pieces into a bowl for
Step 3: Massaging the beef in water
They're a little hard, so add some water.
Soak them in some cold water.
This will soften the beef up,
and also pull out some of the myoglobin.
Then the beef will taste fresh and look beautiful.
"What are some good cuts of beef you can use?"
If you can cook it well, it doesn't really matter.
What do you like best for stir-fry?
Flank steak.
Pour the water out.
Now, let’s drain the water from the beef.
See that red liquid?
Soaking that out
will result in crisp-tasting beef.
As the beef continues to drain,
we’ll create our beef marinade with 1 tbsp of light soy sauce,
1 tsp of oyster sauce, 1/4 tsp of white pepper,
2 tsp of cornstarch, 1/2 tsp of sugar, and 2 tbsp of water.
Then we’ll mix.
We have all of these ingredients listed on our blog at madewithlau.com
along with step-by-step instructions and video clips
to guide you as you make the recipe at home.
This meat isn't coarse or tough,
so we don't need to add any baking soda.
We don't need baking soda for this New York steak,
because it's naturally quite tender.
Flank steak and other cuts do need baking soda.
Squeeze the excess water out.
We’ll squeeze out any water left in the beef.
Bring it over here.
Mix it up.
Mix it until the meat has absorbed all the marinade,
then when we're about to cook it, we'll add oil.
While the beef marinates,
we’ll create the signature lo mein sauce
with 1.5 tbsp of light soy sauce, 2 tbsp of oyster sauce,
1 tbsp of dark soy sauce, 1/4 tsp of white pepper,
1 tbsp of sugar, 1 tbsp of cornstarch, and 2 tbsp of water.
Then we’ll mix it all together.
Apart from lo mein,
this sauce is also great with a bunch of other stir fries.
Now that all of our ingredients are prepared,
it’s time to cook the noodles.
Noodles have been a staple of Chinese cuisine
for thousands of years.
The first written record of noodles appeared about 2000 years ago
in a book written during the Han Dynasty,
and in 2005, archaeologists unearthed
a fully preserved 4000 year old bowl of noodles
in northwestern China.
In Chinese tradition, noodles symbolize longevity
because they’re long,
and it’s commonly served during birthdays, weddings,
and other big life milestones.
There are countless types of Chinese noodle dishes,
but today, we’re making lo mein,
or 捞面 lou1 min6 in Cantonese,
which means stirred or mixed noodles,
referring to the way it’s made.
It’s often confused with another popular noodle dish:
chow mein, or stir-fried noodles,
which generally has thin noodles, no sauce,
and highlights the aromatic stir-fried flavors and textures.
Lo mein, however, generally has thicker noodles
and features a delicious gravy-like sauce,
which, in our opinion, is the star of this dish.
Now, my dad’s gonna show us
how to perfect the texture of the noodles.
First, we’ll need a pot of water.
Turn on the heat and boil the water.
Then we'll add the noodles.
I have about 8 cups of water.
Is it bad if you have more water?
It's better to cook with more water.
It cooks faster in more water.
If you have less water, you have to cook it for longer,
and then the noodles get too soft.
All right, the water's boiling.
Put the noodles in.
1 lb of noodles.
When the water boils,
we’ll gently add our noodles being careful not to splash.
"What type of noodles do you use for lo mein?"
Any kind of noodles work,
but thick noodles are better.
Even pasta could work.
Does it have to have egg?
Noodles with egg don't break as easily.
Do you have to stir it?
Yes, it's better to stir it a bit
to keep it from sticking to the pot.
"Do you prefer wet, fresh noodles or dry noodles?"
Fresh noodles.
Would dry noodles work?
Yes.
Boil water, add noodles, let them loosen, and take them out.
Then you can stir-fry them.
Once it's boiling, lower the heat to low.
Let them cook slowly and soften up.
When the water comes back to boil, or after about 90 seconds,
we’ll turn to heat to low.
Cook the noodles,
until they feel soft when you pinch them.
Here’s an easy way to check if the noodles are fully cooked.
For example, if you take a noodle,
if the center is bright white,
it's still raw.
But if there's no white in the center,
that means it's fully cooked.
We don't want noodles that aren't fully cooked.
We want them fully cooked.
But also not overcooked!
After two more minutes of cooking on low,
the noodles are done.
Turn off the heat.
Pour the noodles out.
Then we’ll strain the noodles.
After boiling the noodles, do you have to shock them in cold water?
No.
Not for lo mein, right?
If you're not stir-frying right away and they have to sit, then shock them.
If you're stir-frying right away, don't shock them.
That's the case for both lo mein and chow mein.
The process my parents are talking about here is called
過冷河 gwo3 laang5 ho4,
or shocking something in cold water.
It’s often done with noodles to stop the cooking process.
My dad also does this with his sticky rice ball or tong jyun recipes.
The cold water will cause the noodles to contract a bit,
which results in a chewy, more al-dente texture.
My dad explains that we don't need to shock it today for this dish
because we're going to stir-fry the noodles in just a few minutes.
But if there’s a long delay between parboiling the noodles
and adding them back into a dish,
then you may want to shock them in cold water
to ensure you get that perfect chewy texture.
Put them here and let them drain.
This video’s sponsor is Tippsy Sake,
the largest online sake store in the US.
My dad doesn’t get to drink sake very often,
so it was pretty cool to share this experience with him.
Tippsy Sake has over 400 sake labels online
that you can buy a la carte,
as well as their Tippsy Sake Club membership program
where you’ll receive a special curated Sake Box every 3 months.
This is what we got,
and each box comes with six 10-oz bottles
along with sake tasting cards,
QR codes for virtual tasting videos,
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My dad and I aren’t as familiar with
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Drinking sake is still relatively niche in the US,
and Tippsy Sake’s mission is very similar to Made With Lau’s,
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Everything is ready, so we can start stir-frying the noodles.
We’ll heat our wok on high.
For stir-frying, we generally add ingredients to the wok
so they all reach the perfect texture at the same time.
Even if you don’t end up using
this exact combination of ingredients,
pay attention to the order and timing
of how my dad cooks the ingredients.
Before starting,
add some oil to the marinated beef.
1 tbsp.
Seal the juices into the beef
so they can't cook out,
and it makes the pieces of beef easier to separate.
The wok is hot enough, you can see the smoke.
The smoke means it's hot enough.
When the wok is hot, or after 1-2 minutes,
we’ll add 2 tbsp of oil and swirl it around the wok.
"How do you prevent the noodles from sticking to the wok?"
Make sure the wok is hot enough before you start stir-frying.
Then it won't stick.
You have to heat the wok until it's very hot and dry,
add the oil, let the wok absorb the oil,
so the oil is in the wok.
When you stir-fry, it won't stick.
If your wok isn't dry enough
and there's moisture left in it,
when you add oil,
the wok can't absorb the oil.
Then your food will stick.
When you're frying fish and meat, your wok has to be hot and dry
before you add the oil.
When it's smoking, it's ready.
When the oil is hot, or after 30-40 seconds,
we’ll add our beef.
We’ll spread it around, but don’t flip any pieces yet.
After 20 seconds, we’ll flip the beef to cook the other side.
Stir-fry until it's 80% cooked through.
Beef doesn't need to be cooked too completely,
especially this New York steak.
It's ready.
After another 20-30 seconds,
we’ll take the beef out and set it aside.
This is a clean bowl.
Just add a touch more oil
since there's still some oil in there.
We’ll add another tbsp of oil here.
Garlic.
Get those aromatic.
After stir-frying the garlic for 15 seconds,
we’ll add the napa cabbage stems.
Napa cabbage.
We’re adding the stems first since they take longer to cook.
After 15-20 seconds, we’ll follow with the leaves.
Leaves.
Green onion whites.
We’ll cook for another 20-30 seconds,
then add the carrot.
Carrot strips.
Make sure to mix it all together in the wok.
I also wanted to make a special shoutout to thank all of our
wonderful Patreon supporters for helping bring this video to life.
If you enjoy our videos and are interested in supporting us directly,
head on over to patreon.com/madewithlau to learn more!
Just stir-fry until the vegetables have softened.
After cooking the veggies for about a minute,
it’s time to add the foundation of this dish.
Time to add the noodles.
We’ll use tongs to separate the noodles
and mix it together well for 30 seconds.
Then we’ll add the sauce.
Time to add the sauce.
Give it a quick stir and pour it in.
Now, we’ll follow with the beef.
Add the beef, too.
Now, we’ll mix everything together.
Let the noodles soak the sauce up.
"What are some common mistakes home cooks make with this dish?"
A common mistake is boiling the noodles too much, so they get too soft.
Overly soft noodles break when you try to stir-fry them.
Do you need to choose vegetables with low water content?
That doesn't matter, because lo mein is a wet dish.
I used napa cabbage.
If your noodles aren't overly soft,
they'll be able to soak up moisture from the vegetables.
Then you have tasty noodles!
Overly soft noodles won't be able to absorb the vegetables' moisture,
and their flavor.
Then the noodles don't taste as good, and they're prone to breaking.
After 30-40 seconds of stir-frying with the beef,
we’ll add the rest of our veggies.
Add the red pepper and snow peas.
Green onion greens.
Everything goes in.
Give it a good mix.
We’ll mix in our new ingredients
and cook for another 40-50 seconds,
then we’re ready for a taste test.
Give it a taste now and see if it's seasoned enough.
See if it's flavorful enough.
Let's add another 1/2 tbsp of light soy sauce.
1 tsp of sesame oil.
Give it a good mix.
We’ll stir in the added seasonings for another 1-2 minutes,
then we can turn off the heat.
Okay!
Turn off the heat.
Now we can plate this masterpiece.
Hong Doy, time to eat!
Daddy first! He worked the hardest.
You worked hard too.
I was taking care of Hong Doy, it's not too hard.
Watching Hong Doy is like exercising,
I keep having to chase after him!
Oh my gosh!
Cam, you like it?
Mm!
Beef Lo Mein is complete!
I hope you all enjoy it!
Cheers!
Hong Doy, cheers!
Yeah!
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