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Chow mein vs. lo mein in Chinese cuisine: What is the real difference?
Chow mein vs. lo mein! Learn the difference between chow mein and lo mein along with a few tasty recipes for both types of Chinese noodles.
Chow mein vs. lo mein: are there any differences between the two or they are similar? Both lo mein and chow mein are widely known Chinese noodle dishes, and on some food menus in Western countries, they are considered synonymous.
Let us unfold the mystery - lo mein and chow mein are both delicious but are far apart from each other, so make sure you know which one you want to order.
Chow mein vs. lo mein: The actual difference
Do you want to know the main difference between chow mein and lo mein? Here it is - the types of Chinese noodles used to cook the dish and the method to prepare them are two significant factors that differentiate lo mein noodles from chow mein noodles.
In this topic, chow mein vs. lo mein, before we get to the subtle differences between the two popular traditional Chinese food dishes, let us understand all about lo mein and chow mein.
What is lo mein?
There are different types of noodles in China, and lo mein is one of the most popular Chinese dishes. The name 'lo mein' originates from Cantonese where Lo means tossed, stirred, or mixed and mein means noodles.
Simply put, Lo mein refers to stirred, mixed, or tossed noodles.
In Mandarin, these noodles are called Lāo Miàn. The Chinese way of cooking lo mein noodles is very different from other countries as they use relatively thin noodles to prepare this tasty dish.
Lo mein noodles include vegetables and some sources of protein including seafood, chicken, beef, tofu, or pork. You can have lo mein with chicken as well as lo mein with vegetables.
How are lo mein Chinese noodles prepared?
There is one question that goes on every foodie's mind and that is - 'how to make Chinese noodles?' Well, different noodle dishes have different recipes - to make lo mein noodles, one must first boil noodles in water and then drain them. Lo mein is made with fully cooked noodles. These fully cooked noodles are then added to a wok with other stir-fried ingredients (vegetables and proteins) and tossed in the lo mein sauce. It is important to toss all the ingredients together gently until the lo mein noodles are heated through. You may also pour some extra lo mein sauce on top of the lo mein noodles to give a rich taste to the dish.
The specialty of lo mein noodles is their sauce. Lots of rich sauce is tossed with the soft lo mein noodles to make them finger-licking good.
Here are some tips that will help you make sure that you are eating lo mein noodles, and not chow mein noodles. Look for these clues in the dish:
Lo mein noodle is always coated with lo mein sauce to give it a rich, delicious, bold, and addictive flavor. The second thing is that lo mein noodles are a bit softer and not greasy. Lo mein noodles always have a generous amount of proteins and vegetables that are tossed and mixed with the noodles and lo mein sauce.
What is chow mein?
Simply put, chow mein means fried noodles, and there are two types of chow mein dishes:
• Crispy chow mein - In this, the noodles are a bit crispy, and the additional sauces and ingredients are layered on top of the noodles.
• Steamed chow mein -To prepare steamed chow mein, the noodles are first fried at a high temperature, and then chow mein noodles are stir-fried with additional ingredients like vegetables or meat. They are tossed gently together and coated in a light chow mein sauce.
Be it chow mein (Chinese crunchy noodles), or steamed chow mein, the real star of the dish is the noodles.
How are Chow mein noodles prepared?
Do you want to know 'how to make chow mein/veggie chow mein?' - the answer is here! Chow mein noodles are usually stir-fried with tofu, onion, meat, bean sprouts, and other vegetables. Also, chow mein noodles are usually added at the beginning of the cooking and they are stir-fried along with the other ingredients and oil. They are cooked until they get crispy. A major feature of chow mein noodles is that the vegetables and protein ingredients are kept to a bare minimum so that they don't take away the flavor of Chinese crispy noodles.
Only after the noodles have been properly boiled and fried, these additional ingredients (vegetables and proteins) are added. In fact, the chow mein sauce in the chow mein recipe is used sparingly.
Sometimes, a dark, thick sauce is served with chow mein noodles to help soften the crispiness of the noodles.
Chow mein vs. lo mein - here are some clues that will help you know if you are eating chow mein or lo mein:
Chow mein noodles are crispy and oily. Also, vegetables in chow mein are very less, and they are not heavily coated with chow mein sauce. The sauce is lightly drizzled and does not overpower the flavor of the crispy Chinese noodles.
The best thing is that you can enjoy both vegetable chow mein and non-vegetable chow mein, as you can add ingredients of your choice.
What is vegan chow mein?
Vegan chow mein does not contain any ingredient that comes from animals, including eggs and dairy products.
Chow mein vs. lo mein: Differentiating factors
Many people think 'what's the difference between lo mein and chow mein.'
As already mentioned above, the factors that differentiate the two noodles from each other are the type of noodles used, and the method to prepare the dish.
Let us understand these differentiating factors in detail:
1. Method of cooking
Although both Chinese noodle dishes use the same ingredients, the method of cooking is slightly different.
Chinese noodles are soaked in hot water first so that they get soft for stir-frying process, and then they are stir-fried properly with the other ingredients. They are stir-fried until cooked properly. Lo mein noodles, on the other hand, are first completely boiled, and then drained to get fully cooked noodles. These cooked noodles are then mixed with the additional ingredients and lo mein sauce and tossed gently together.
2. Usage of sauce
Lo mein vs. chow mein: what's the difference? One basic difference between lo mein and chow mein is that in lo mein noodles, the chef drowns the entire dish in a savory dash to make it look like soup. In contrast, chow mein is a dry noodle Chinese dish that uses a delicate amount of sauce.
Simply put, lo mein is a sauce noodle dish and its flavor depends a lot on the lo mein sauce, while chow mein uses a very little amount of chow mein sauce to get a crispy texture.
3. The wok technique
Traditionally, both the noodle dishes are prepared with a wok, but the way they are prepared differs a lot.
For chow mein, one needs to put a small amount of cooking oil of your choice in a very hot wok to fry the ingredients and stir gently. In the lo mein noodle recipe, the noodles are already cooked and then simply mixed and tossed with the additional ingredients, so the wok need not be kept at a very high flame when the noodles are added to the wok.
4. Texture of the noodles
'Chow mein vs. lo mein' - what's another difference? Here it goes - chow mein are Chinese crispy noodles and are quite crunchy.
Lo mein noodles are fully cooked so they have a smooth texture and are a bit chewier.
The noodles used to make a lo mein dish must also be thick and sturdy enough to support the weight of extra sauce.
5. The type of noodle used for making the dish
Both chow mein noodles and lo mein noodles are made with Chinese egg noodles.
Egg noodles typically contain eggs and wheat flour, however, there is one difference - to prepare lo mein, it is best to use fresh noodles, while to make chow mein noodles one can use either fresh or dried noodles.
Some people think that rice noodles can be used to prepare chow mein or lo mein, but it isn't true. Egg noodles give the best texture to both lo mein and chow mein.
Egg noodles vs. rice noodles - what's the difference one might think? Rice noodles are made up of rice flour and water, and egg noodles as stated above are made with wheat flour and eggs. Also, unlike egg noodles, rice noodles are vegan as well as gluten-free.
Now, that we have understood all about lo mein and chow mein noodles, let us have a look at a simple recipe for both Chinese dishes.
Easy Chow mein recipe
Before you start making chow mein, make sure you have basic ingredients like:
1. Egg noodles
2. Vegetables - To make chow mein, you can choose vegetables of your choice such as cabbage, onion, carrot, bean sprouts, and capsicum. Although chow mein doesn't contain a lot of various other veggies, you are free to add more according to your taste and preference.
3. Protein - There are various protein food items that you can add to chow mein such as chicken, tofu, or shrimp.
4. Sauce - A traditional chow mein sauce includes oyster sauce, cornstarch, soy sauce, and granulated sugar.
5. Cooking oil - You can choose sesame oil to give the perfect texture to chow mein noodles.
Chop all the vegetables finely and keep them ready before the cooking starts. Usually, to make chow mein, a wok is preferred, but if you don't have it, you can also use a regular skillet, but ensure that it's large enough to contain noodles and ingredients when you stir-fry them.
Take egg noodles and bring them to a boil. As the noodles are getting boiled, take the sauce ingredients and whisk them together properly. Now, you need to cook protein ingredients in the wok, after the protein is cooked, put the vegetables in the wok and saute them.
Once the noodles are ready, drain them, and put them on the wok to stir-fry them with the rest of the ingredients. Lastly, add a gentle amount of sauce to the work and mix it well with the noodles and other ingredients. Keep mixing and stirring until the noodles are thoroughly coated, for about a minute. Turn off the heat and serve hot with sauce. These Chinese fried noodles taste delicious and you will want to eat the dish again and again.
Lo mein recipe
Lo mein is a popular Chinese food noodle dish and its recipe is also not that difficult.
Ingredients to be used:
1. Noodles - To make lo mein noodles, it is best to use fresh egg noodles.
2. Vegetables - Lo mein noodles are generally made with vegetables like carrots, broccoli, zucchini, and bell pepper. To give the dish a unique and rich taste, you can also add green onion, onion, and garlic.
3. Protein - The most used protein ingredients used in lo mein noodles are pork, tofu, chicken, shrimp, beef, or turkey.
4. Sauce - Lo mein sauce includes dark soy sauce, sesame oil, garlic, oyster sauce, light soy sauce, ginger, and a pinch of sugar. If you like eating spicy noodles, you can also add a dash of red pepper flakes to the dish.
Once you have all the ingredients, follow this easy simple lo mein recipe. Before you start making lo mein noodles, make sure all the ingredients (protein and veggies) are finely chopped. Now, start by boiling the egg noodles. Then take all the lo mein sauce components and whisk them together. Take a wok and put the vegetables and protein items in it for stir-frying. Add some lo mein sauce to the veggies and proteins while you are frying them. Do not overcook the veggies as they will leech water which will lower the flavor of the sauce.
Make sure to cook veggies and proteins until they are cooked on the outside and are a bit raw in the center. Once you are done with cooking veggies and proteins, add noodles and a generous amount of lo mein sauce to the wok. Take two wooden spoons so that you can toss the noodles properly with vegetables, proteins, and sauce. You will need to toss quickly and stir constantly so that the noodles do not become watery or soggy. Once the noodles are coated properly, turn off the heat, serve and enjoy!
Which is crunchier - lo mein or chow mein?
Chow mein is crunchier and crispier than lo mein.
Chop suey vs chow mein
In chow mein, the noodles for chow mein are cooked in a pan, whereas in chop suey, rice is cooked separately and chop suey is served over the rice.
Chow mein vs. lo mein: Which is better?
Both chow mein and lo mein are popular dishes in China, so it is hard to pick one as they both are delicious and appetizing. If you like to eat noodles that are coated heavily with sauce, are soupy and a bit soft, then go for lo mein noodles. If you like crunchy and crispy noodles with less amount of sauce, then you can have lo mein noodles. Chow mein vs. lo mein - which one tastes better? This is a difficult question to answer, so try both of them and decide for yourself.
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