Longevity noodles with chicken and shiitake
35 min · 39 g protein · 525 cals / serving
Long, uncut egg noodles for a long life: the dish on every Lunar New Year table. The noodles are boiled only briefly so they stay springy, then tossed in a hot wok with silky velveted chicken, shiitake, bok choy and a big handful of chives in a glossy soy and oyster sauce with sesame oil and white pepper. Serve the noodles whole; cutting them is said to shorten your luck.
Ingredients
Chicken
- 1 lb chicken breast, thinly sliced across the grain
- 1 tbsp cornstarch
- 1 tbsp soy sauce, light soy sauce
- 1 tbsp sherry, dry sherry or Shaoxing wine
Noodles
- 10 oz dried egg noodles, yi mein or long egg noodles
Sauce
- 2 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp reduced sodium soy sauce
- 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 1/4 tsp white pepper
- 3 tbsp water, hot
Wok
- 1 1/2 tbsp canola oil
- 1 tbsp ginger, julienned
- 8 large shiitake mushrooms, stems removed, sliced
- 8 baby heads bok choy, quartered lengthways
- 1 large bunch fresh chives, garlic or Chinese chives if you can find them, in 5 cm (2-inch) lengths
- 3 green onions, in 5 cm (2-inch) lengths
Steps
- Toss the chicken with the cornstarch, soy sauce and sherry and set aside for 10 minutes while you prepare everything else.
- Boil the noodles in plenty of water for 1 minute less than the packet says (about 3 minutes for yi mein), until just tender with a firm bite. Drain, rinse briefly under cold water, shake dry and toss with a few drops of the oil so they do not stick.
- Stir together the oyster sauce, reduced-sodium soy sauce, sugar, sesame oil, white pepper and hot water.
- Heat a wok or large skillet over high heat until smoking. Add half the oil and the chicken in one layer; leave it 1 minute, then stir-fry 2–3 minutes until just cooked through (165°F). Lift out. Add the rest of the oil, the ginger and shiitake and stir-fry 2 minutes, until the mushrooms soften and brown.
- Add the bok choy and 2 tablespoons of water and toss for 1–2 minutes, until the stems are just tender.
- Add the noodles, the chicken and the sauce and toss with tongs for 1–2 minutes until every strand is glossy and hot. Toss in the chives and green onion for the last 30 seconds, until just wilted. Serve straight away, without cutting the noodles.
Good to know
Where do I find yi mein?
In Chinese and Asian grocers, sold dried in round cakes. Any long egg noodle or lo mein noodle works; avoid thin instant noodles, which go soft.
Can I make it with tofu?
Yes: use firm tofu in thick slices, dusted in the cornstarch and browned first, and a vegetarian oyster sauce, at about the same score.
No dark soy sauce?
Classic yi mein uses a splash of dark soy for colour. Add 1–2 teaspoons if you have it; otherwise the oyster sauce gives enough colour and sweetness.
Alternatives
Per
- Calories
- 108
- Protein
- (31%)
- 8 g
- Fat
- (24%)
- 3 g
- Carbohydrates
- (45%)
- 13 g
- of which sugar
- 1 g
- Fiber
- 1 g
- Sodium
- 188 mg
About 75% of the alcohol remains after cooking; the label counts only that.
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Computed from the ingredients with our published formula, not yet kitchen-tested. How
As written, 2100 kcal goes into the pot and 1757 g of ingredients comes out as about 1940 g of food: 108 kcal per 100 g. Cooking moves water and energy density is the score's biggest lever, so the dish is scored as cooked, not as an average of its parts. Every ingredient links to its food page, with the same data and score. The label's percentages are each macronutrient's share of the calories. The full formula.