Hong Kong-Style Chow Mein (Golden Pan-Fried Noodles with Chicken and Shrimp)
Thin egg noodles steamed, then pan-fried slowly into one cake that is golden and crisp on both sides, topped with chicken, shrimp, bok choy, mushrooms and carrot in a light oyster sauce gravy.
Chow mein means stir-fried noodles, and Wikipedia says the English spelling came from Taishanese, the dialect of most early Chinese immigrants to the United States; "chow mien" is recorded in 1890 and "chow mein" in 1903. In America it split into two styles: soft, steamed noodles mixed with soy sauce in the West, and crisp fried noodles under a thick brown sauce in the East. The crisp kind has a cousin in Hong Kong, and it is the one most Americans have never had.
Made With Lau, the family channel built around Daddy Lau, a Cantonese chef with more than 60 years of cooking behind him, says the name "Hong Kong-style chow mein" is a little misleading: the dish is not stir-fried, and it is not originally from Hong Kong. Its old name, leung min wong, means "golden on both sides," and Made With Lau says it came from the Suzhou and Shanghai area and arrived in Hong Kong in the 1950s with a wave of Shanghainese immigrants, where Hong Kong chefs made the slow-crisped noodle cake their own. Restaurants deep-fry the noodles in a lot of oil; this home version uses 2 tablespoons and patience.
Why it works the kitchen science
Steam first, fry slowly
Steaming cooks the noodles through, and a long, gentle fry with little oil turns the outer layer crisp while the inside stays tender and chewy, a texture Made With Lau describes as crispy outside and tender inside.
Gravy last, on top
Pouring the saucy topping over the finished cake, not cooking the noodles in it, keeps most of the crunch until the plate reaches the table.
Step by step
- Step 1
Set a steamer rack in a wok over boiling water on high heat. Spread the noodles loosely on the rack, cover and steam 10 minutes (2 to 3 minutes more on a solid plate). Dip the noodles in water for 15 to 30 seconds, drain, fluff them apart with chopsticks for 1 to 2 minutes and let cool 3 to 5 minutes.
- Step 2
Cut the vegetables. Mix the chicken with the cornstarch, water and salt for about 30 seconds, until coated.
- Step 3
Heat a large skillet over high heat for 2 to 3 minutes (medium-high for nonstick). Add 1 tbsp oil, heat until shimmering and spread the noodles into an even cake. Cook 7 to 10 minutes, turning the whole cake now and then without stirring it, until the bottom is golden and crisp.
- Step 4
Flip the cake, add 1 tbsp oil around the rim and cook the second side 7 to 10 minutes, until golden and crisp. Slide it onto a platter.
- Step 5
In the same pan, cook the chicken about 1 minute, push it aside, add the ginger and scallion for 45 to 60 seconds, then add the shrimp and cook about 1 minute, until it starts turning orange. Transfer everything to a bowl.
- Step 6
Add the bok choy, mushrooms, carrot and the boiling water to the pan, cover and cook 4 minutes.
- Step 7
Return the chicken, shrimp and aromatics. Add the salt, sugar, bouillon and oyster sauce, stir in the slurry and simmer 1 to 2 minutes, until the gravy thickens, the shrimp is opaque and the chicken reads 165°F. Stir in the sesame oil.
- Step 8
Spoon the vegetables, meat and gravy over the noodle cake and serve at once, before the noodles soften.
Hong Kong-Style Chow Mein (Golden Pan-Fried Noodles with Chicken and Shrimp)
Serves 4 · 1 large noodle cake · 1 hr total
Noodles
- 12 oz fresh Hong Kong-style pan-fried noodles (thin egg noodles, raw and unsteamed)
- 2 tbsp corn oil or other neutral oil
Chicken and shrimp
- 4 oz boneless, skinless chicken, sliced across the grain
- 1 tsp cornstarch
- 1 tsp water
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 6 oz shrimp, peeled and deveined
Vegetables
- 8 oz bok choy, halved or quartered
- 3 oz white mushrooms, stemmed and halved
- 1 oz carrot, thinly sliced
- 2 slices fresh ginger, cut into small triangles
- 1 scallion, white part only, cut into 1-inch pieces
- 1 1/2 cups (12 oz) boiling water
Gravy
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 3/4 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp chicken bouillon powder
- 1 tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 1/2 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 1 tbsp water
- 1 tsp toasted sesame oil
Method
- Set a steamer rack in a wok over boiling water on high heat. Spread the noodles loosely on the rack, cover and steam 10 minutes (2 to 3 minutes more on a solid plate). Dip the noodles in water for 15 to 30 seconds, drain, fluff them apart with chopsticks for 1 to 2 minutes and let cool 3 to 5 minutes.
- Cut the vegetables. Mix the chicken with the cornstarch, water and salt for about 30 seconds, until coated.
- Heat a large skillet over high heat for 2 to 3 minutes (medium-high for nonstick). Add 1 tbsp oil, heat until shimmering and spread the noodles into an even cake. Cook 7 to 10 minutes, turning the whole cake now and then without stirring it, until the bottom is golden and crisp.
- Flip the cake, add 1 tbsp oil around the rim and cook the second side 7 to 10 minutes, until golden and crisp. Slide it onto a platter.
- In the same pan, cook the chicken about 1 minute, push it aside, add the ginger and scallion for 45 to 60 seconds, then add the shrimp and cook about 1 minute, until it starts turning orange. Transfer everything to a bowl.
- Add the bok choy, mushrooms, carrot and the boiling water to the pan, cover and cook 4 minutes.
- Return the chicken, shrimp and aromatics. Add the salt, sugar, bouillon and oyster sauce, stir in the slurry and simmer 1 to 2 minutes, until the gravy thickens, the shrimp is opaque and the chicken reads 165°F. Stir in the sesame oil.
- Spoon the vegetables, meat and gravy over the noodle cake and serve at once, before the noodles soften.
Adapted from Made With Lau (Daddy Lau and Randy Lau), "Hong Kong Style Noodles" (published July 2021, updated October 2026), serves 4. We follow it as written: 12 oz fresh, unsteamed Hong Kong-style pan-fried noodles steamed 10 minutes, dipped in water 15 to 30 seconds, fluffed 1 to 2 minutes and cooled 3 to 5 minutes; 7 to 10 minutes per side in 1 tbsp oil each; 4 oz chicken, 6 oz shrimp, 8 oz bok choy, 3 oz mushrooms and 1 oz carrot; about 1 minute for the chicken, 45 to 60 seconds for the ginger and scallion, about 1 minute for the shrimp and 4 minutes covered for the vegetables in 12 oz boiling water; and a gravy of salt, sugar, chicken bouillon, oyster sauce, a cornstarch slurry and sesame oil. Made With Lau gives no time for the gravy; the 1 to 2 minutes and the 165°F check are ours. Made With Lau. Ingredient list follows the source; the method is in our own words.
All sources (2)
Tips
- Use thin chow mein noodles labeled for pan-frying, not thicker lo mein or eggier wonton noodles, Made With Lau advises.
- Already-steamed fresh noodles need only about 2 minutes in boiling water; dried ones should be boiled al dente and rinsed cold.
- Turn the cake occasionally while it fries: most pans heat unevenly.
- Divide and freeze fresh noodles in portions if you buy a big bag.
The rules people argue about
What the sources agree on, what they don't, and what is just a good story.
- Hong Kong-style chow mein comes from Hong Kong. Documented as false by Made With Lau's account: it came from the Suzhou and Shanghai area in the 1950s. We found no second source either way.
- Chow mein must be stir-fried. Folklore: the name means stir-fried noodles (Wikipedia), but this dish is pan-fried in a cake.
- Crispy chow mein is East Coast and soft chow mein is West Coast. Documented as Wikipedia's account, which also says the East Coast calls the soft style lo mein.
- Restaurant chow mein is deep-fried. Documented as Made With Lau's account of restaurant kitchens.
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