Noodles in Sauce (乾撈麵, Gon1 Lou1 Min6)

This recipe was updated on 19 Mar 2015. Some instructions and ingredient quantities were changed, and metric measurements added.

This is also one of the first dishes I ever learned how to cook, so it is really simple to prepare. In its simplest form, the ingredients are just noodles, oyster sauce, and green onions (this version adds chicken and eggs), so the dish is really just stir fried noodles with oyster sauce. The name of this recipe - Noodles in Sauce (乾撈麵, Gon¹ Lou¹ Min⁶) -  is more the result of the direct translation from Cantonese and is somewhat of a misnomer since there isn’t much sauce in the dish. There’s also another similar recipe for Chicken and Chinese Broccoli Noodles (芥蘭鷄乾撈麵, Gaai³ Laan⁴ Gai¹ Gon¹ Lou¹ Min⁶).

Enjoy!

Ingredients

¾ lb.	375 g.	Chicken thigh or breast meat (雞肉, gai1 juk6), cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Baking soda (蘇打粉, sou1 daa2 fan2)
½ in.	15 mm.	Knob of ginger (薑, goeng1), crushed in a garlic press
2 cloves	2 cloves	Garlic (蒜, syun3), crushed in a garlic press
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Corn starch (粟粉, suk1 fan2)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Soy sauce (豉油, si6 jau4)
1 Tbs.	15 ml.	Hoisin sauce (海鮮醬, hoi2 sin1 zoeng3)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)
1 lb.	500 g.	One package chow mein noodles (炒麵, caau2 min6)
3-4	3-4	Eggs (雞蛋, gai1 daan6), scrambled
4 stalks	4 stalks	Green onions (葱, cung1), cut into 2-inch (5 cm.) lengths
		Oil for cooking

Sauce Ingredients

2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Oyster sauce (蠔油, hou4 jau4)
2 Tbs.	30 ml.	Shaoxing rice wine (紹興酒, siu6 hing1 zau2) or dry sherry
½ tsp.	2.5 ml.	Ground white pepper (白胡椒, baak6 wu4 ziu1)
1 tsp.	5 ml.	Sesame oil (麻油, maa4 jau4)

Equipment

14 in.	35.5 cm.	Wok or pan

Preparation Instructions

1. Prepare the chicken thigh or breast meat by removing any skin or bones, and cut into 1-inch (2.5 cm.) pieces. Add the baking soda to the chicken, allow to tenderize for 10 minutes, and then wash the baking soda from the meat. The baking soda can be omitted but results in the tender meat experienced in restaurant dishes.
2. Marinate the chicken for at least one hour or overnight in the refrigerator with the ginger and garlic crushed in a garlic press, corn starch, soy sauce, hoisin sauce, Shaoxing rice wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. If marinating the chicken overnight, take it out of the refrigerator at least one hour before cooking.
3. In a small bowl, add and mix the sauce ingredients together – oyster sauce, Shaoxing Rice Wine or dry sherry, ground white pepper, and sesame oil. You can only use oyster sauce (poured straight from the bottle) without the other ingredients and the dish will still taste good.
4. Scramble the eggs in a bowl.
5. Wash and cut the green onions into 2-inch (5 cm.) pieces.

Cooking Instructions

1. Cook the noodles according to the instructions on the package and until the noodles are al dente. Drain the noodles and set aside. If ready-made or fresh noodles are used, “fluff” the noodles to separate them (i.e. you don’t want put a single mass of noodles into the wok). Heat the wok or pan over high heat before adding oil.
2. Quickly scramble the eggs while the wok is heating up and then set aside in a bowl.
3. Reheat the wok or pan over high heat before adding more oil. Stir fry the chicken until all surfaces of the pieces are browned. You want to remove the rawness from the surface of the chicken. You may need to stir fry the chicken in batches, in which case, make sure to allow the wok to reheat over high heat before adding oil and the next batch of chicken. Transfer the browned chicken to the bowl with the eggs.
4. Reheat the wok over high heat, add more oil, and then add the noodles. The wok should be very hot before adding the oil and then the noodles. Noodles cooked in a restaurant wok (over much higher heat than that available in your kitchen) is served slightly burned, which gives the noodles an extra added flavor.  To try to emulate slightly burned noodles, try to put the noodles in one layer in the hot wok and add a small amount of liquid (water, stock, or Shaoxing Rice Wine – but not too much liquid otherwise you’ll steam the noodles) to facilitate the heat transfer from the wok to the noodles, and leave the noodles alone for a while before stir frying.
5. Add the contents of the bowl with the cooked chicken and eggs, together with the green onions, back into the wok and stir fry the ingredients together. Add the sauce to the wok and combine the ingredients. Put the cooked ingredients into a serving dish and serve immediately.