It’s no secret that I love cooking with Quorn! Although I’m not a vegetarian I find it’s quick and easy to prepare, tastes great and is conveniently available in a variety of forms ie. Quorn mince, Quorn Chicken Style Pieces etc. I love cooking Chow Mein using Quorn for my kids when they come in from school and need something filling and need it quickly. Chow Mein is a stir fried noodle dish which has meat, chicken, seafood or vegetables added to it and in essence, is of a dry consistency. This is one of my daughter’s favourite dishes, which is quite surprising as she’s the fussiest of my children but will happily eat this when I make it. This is a great dish to make for mealtimes after a long day at work and needs very little preparation, it’s also suitable for vegetarians which is perfect if you’re entertaining vegetarian friends! I also make a really easy and tasty Quorn Pie using this ingredient which I’m hoping to post on the blog soon!

If you want to use something other than Quorn you can always replace it – chicken, beef/lamb strips or prawns work just as well, try marinating them in some fish/oyster sauce beforehand to add some depth of flavour and follow the recipe through. I always have garlic and ginger prepped in my fridge so this makes throwing this dish together a lot faster, grate or finely slice some if you don’t have any prepared. When I don’t have sesame oil to hand, I add crushed sesame seeds to the oil and brown them to infuse the oil with sesame flavour; this is a good substitute for sesame oil and is in fact how they make it. I use both dark and light soy sauce for this recipe, dark soy sauce adds colour and is richer in flavour but light soy sauce has more saltiness to it, so combining both means you get the best of both ingredients.

Using frozen stir fry vegetables saves on time slicing them myself, use fresh vegetables if you have the time (they definitely have a better texture than frozen), just make sure you prepare them before you start cooking. This recipe works well with egg noodles or rice noodles, use whatever you have available at home. If you want the Chow Mein to be spicier add some hot chilli sauce to the soy sauce mixture or throw in some finely sliced green chillies a la Bengali Style! Should you find the noodles too dry whilst cooking, add a splash of water or some extra soy sauce.

I hope you all enjoy all the flavours of the Far East in Afelia’s Quorn Chow Mein!

You will need for Afelia’s Quorn Chow Mein

For the soy sauce mixture:
3 tbsp dark soy sauce
3 tbsp light soy sauce
3 tsp cornflour

For the Chow Mein:
1 bag of Quorn Chicken Style Pieces
1 pack of egg noodles (or noodles of your choice)
1 large onion
1 scotch bonnet pepper (this isn’t a spicy dish if you’re accustomed to eating chilli, reduce if you are uncertain)
sesame oil, use as desired (alternatively use plain oil and add 2 tsp crushed sesame seeds)
1 tsp crushed ginger
1 tsp crushed garlic
150 – 200g of fresh/frozen stir fry vegetable mix
1 – 2 spring onion(s) to garnish

Method:

Start by bringing to boil a cold pan of water, add 1/2 tsp of salt and a splash of oil. The salt helps to season the water and the oil helps to prevent the noodles clumping together.

Do not add the noodles yet, only add when the water is rapidly boiling!

In a small clean bowl add 3 tbsp dark soy sauce, 3 tbsp light sauce and dissolve 3 tsp of cornflour in the soy sauce mixture. Leave to one side until required.

To make mixing the noodles easier and less stringy, break up the noodles in the bag before adding to the water using your hands.

Once the water is boiling, add the noodles and follow the manufacturers instructions on cooking times, this is usually between 4 – 5 minutes. Don’t overcook the egg noodles!

Peel and roughly chop one onion as shown (bottom left photo) and 1 whole scotch bonnet pepper. Cut the pepper into 4 large pieces, this way they are easily identifiable and can be picked out should anyone not want to eat them.

In a large wok heat a generous amount of sesame oil. If you are using normal oil just add 2 tsp of crushed sesame seeds and fry till light brown to infuse the oil.

Once the oil is hot add 1 tsp of ginger and 1 tsp of garlic, fry till golden brown and the rawness of the ginger and garlic has been removed….

….then add the chopped scotch bonnet pepper to the wok and fry for a minute to infuse the oil with the heat of the pepper.

Next add 1 bag of Quorn Chicken Style Pieces – there is no need to defrost, add from frozen and cook over a high heat till the pieces are thawed and heated through. Leave to cook over a high flame, stirring occasionally to prevent burning.

The egg noodles should be cooked at this point, drain in a colander….

….after draining the noodles run under cold running water to prevent clumping together. Leave to one side till required.

Next add the chopped onion to the wok along with 1/2 tsp of salt, cook for 1 minute.

Next add 150 – 200g of fresh/frozen sliced stir fry vegetables…..

….cook over a high heat for 3 – 4 minutes, stirring to ensure the ingredients cook evenly, till you can see the vegetables are no longer ‘icy’.

Next add the cooked egg noodles followed by the soy sauce mixture prepared at the start of this recipe.

Stir everything together, it helps to use two spoons and mix by tossing the ingredients from either side.

Whilst this cooks for a further 3 – 4 minutes, slice 2 spring onions for garnishing.

Transfer the noodles to a dish and garnish with the sliced spring onions, serve immediately.

 

Drizzle more soy sauce over the top if you want more flavour or a little more juice!

Bon Appetit!

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