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This chow mein is not really a Japanese dish – it is strictly Japanese Canadian. Japanese food generally doesn’t use onions (other than green onions) or celery. Our dad’s side of the family is Japanese Canadian – our great grandparents came to Canada in the early 1900s and our grandparents were born in BC. They made Japanese-style dishes with whichever ingredients were available at the time.
Chow mein is pure comfort food for us – there is always a platter piled high with these noodles at our annual family reunions, and for the past few years it has been Karlos and myself who churn out wokfuls of this classic dish. It tastes just as good cold as it does hot, so you can make it ahead of time and keep it covered in the fridge until ready to serve.
The brown mein noodles are precooked and so they really only need to soften in the steam from the cooking vegetables. The noodles themselves are made in a small factory in Mississauga, Ontario, and I’m not sure if they are available elsewhere. We bring packages to our aunt in New York City and our cousins in rural Ontario, since we have easy access to the Japanese and Korean grocery stores in Toronto that carry them.
This chow mein recipe is the meatless version I make most often now, but we grew up with chicken thrown in the mix. Just add the sliced chicken breast to the hot pan and stir fry until 80% cooked before adding the onion and celery. You can also add other ingredients like shrimp or julienned carrots, but for us, the onion-celery-bean sprout combination is a must.
- 1 Tbsp oil
- 2 onions, sliced lengthwise
- 5 stalks celery, chopped diagonally
- 4 garlic cloves, minced
- ½ tsp pepper
- 2 packages brown mein noodles
- 3 cups mung bean sprouts
- 2 Tbsp shoyu (Japanese soy sauce - we use Kikkoman)
- 2 tsp sesame oil
- 2 eggs
- ½ tsp shoyu
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1 tsp oil
- Depending on the size of your wok, you might need to cook this in batches.
- In the largest wok you have, heat the oil over medium high heat.
- Add the onions and celery and stir fry until translucent but not browned, about 5 minutes.
- Add the garlic and cook for 1 minute more. Add the pepper.
- Break the mein noodles into 5-cm pieces and add to the wok. Add the mung bean sprouts.
- Add the shoyu and stir everything carefully (bits of noodle might break off and fly everywhere).
- Cover with a lid and cook for 2 minutes.
- Stir everything until noodles are softened and sprouts are mostly cooked, about 3 more minutes. Drizzle with sesame oil.
- Top with sliced omelet strips.
- Whisk the eggs, shoyu and sugar in a medium bowl.
- Heat the oil in a large frying pan over medium heat.
- Pour about half the egg mixture into the pan and swirl so that there is an even layer of egg on the bottom of the pan. Let cook until cooked through. Remove and place on a cutting board. Repeat cooking the remainder of the egg.
- Roll the thin omelet sheets and slice into strips.
What a wonderful recipe. We always order chow mein when getting take out and I love that I can now make it at home. I’m featuring you this week, over at Simple Supper Tuesday. We hope you can join us again, starting Monday night at 8pm EST.
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Hi!! Thanks for posting this…mi was wondering if you can share the brand of brown chow mein you use and where you can buy it in Canada! I’m based in Toronto 🙂 thanks!n
The only brand we know that makes these noodles is called Marufumi Foods, from Mississauga. You can buy these Mein Noodles at Sanko on Queen St W, at PAT on Bloor, and sometimes at T&T. Let us know if you have trouble finding them!
Went to the local Korean foodstuffs store yesterday in London Ontario, (only way to get Japanese related products here) to purchase this mein for our 72 consecutive family picnic ( virtual this year) However I was told the Japanese supplier in Toronto was now closed.
Besides driving to Toronto, does anybody know where one can purchase this mein in the London area. I’ve made it before with substitute , but not the same. If no luck getting it locally, I will see if the above suppliers ship.
I’m not sure! I heard the noodle factory might close because the owners want to retire, and I’m really worried that we won’t have these noodles ever again!
I just wondered if anyone ever found the Marufumi noodles in London, Ontario? I know this is an old thread from 3 years ago but I’m desperately trying to find some. Happy Holidays:)
I am not familiar with what’s available in London, sorry. We have to ship the noodles to all our relatives who don’t live in the GTA! You could try contacting the manufacturer and see if they’d ship?
Virtually the same recipe as what my mother-in-law, and all the other ladies at the Steveston Buddhist Church use. Back in the ’50s when Japanese noodles were impossible to find in B.C., Farkay Chinese style Steam Fried Noodles were used and became the norm.
Wow, this recipe reminds me of my childhood. It certainly brings me down memory lane. My grandma (born in Steveston BC) made her chow mein the same way. Thank you so much for posting this.
Nice to meet another Japanese Canadian! Do you have any other family dishes? The older generation of mine love red rice (with adzuki beans)
Nice to meet you as well! My grandma used to make a sweet and sour pork recipe, a bacon and onion fried rice and beef stew that was to die for! She used beef bones as the foundation of the stew and added stew beef later with potatoes, onions and carrots. She also used S&B brand Golden Curry. I miss her cooking. Thank you for your blog. Definitely brings back amazing memories!