The takeout menu is already open on the phone when someone remembers the flank steak in the refrigerator and the packet of noodles in the cupboard. Beef lo mein made at home takes about 25 minutes, which is often less than the delivery estimate on a busy evening, and it costs a fraction of the price.
Speed comes from preparation, not from rushing at the stove. Slice the beef, mix the sauce and cut the vegetables while the noodle water heats. Once the pan is hot, everything cooks in under 10 minutes, in a set order, with no stopping to look for an ingredient.
The 25-Minute Beef Lo Mein Plan
Read the timeline once before starting. The beef rests in its coating for 10 minutes while the water boils and the vegetables are cut, so that wait is built into the plan rather than added to it.
Lo mein means tossed noodles, and that is the whole idea: cooked noodles go into the pan at the end and are tossed with the sauce until every strand is coated and glossy. Unlike chow mein, which is often fried until parts of the noodles are crisp, lo mein stays soft and chewy.
Slicing and Coating the Beef
Flank steak has long, visible muscle fibers running in one direction. Cutting across those fibers into thin slices shortens them, so each piece is tender to chew. Cut with the fibers and the same steak turns stringy. Slice the steak in half along the grain first, then cut each half across the grain into strips about 1/8 inch thick.
Ten minutes in the freezer makes thin slicing much easier. The meat firms up enough that the knife glides through rather than pushing it around. Put the steak in the freezer as soon as you walk into the kitchen and it will be ready by the time the water is on.
Toss the slices with a teaspoon each of cornstarch, soy sauce and oil. The thin cornstarch coating protects the surface of the meat from the intense heat of the pan, helping it stay juicy, and it browns quickly. Skirt steak or sirloin can replace flank; slice them the same way.
A Lo Mein Sauce From Five Bottles
The sauce is soy sauce, oyster sauce, a little sugar, toasted sesame oil and water. Mix it in a small bowl or measuring cup before you start cooking. Adding the ingredients one by one into a hot pan means some will burn while you find the next bottle.
- Soy sauce brings salt and savory depth. Low-sodium soy sauce gives more control.
- Oyster sauce adds body, gloss and a rounded sweetness.
- Sugar balances the salt and helps the sauce cling.
- Toasted sesame oil adds aroma. It burns easily, so it goes into the sauce rather than the hot pan on its own.
- Water loosens the sauce so it spreads through the noodles instead of sticking to the first ones it touches.
Taste the sauce before it goes in; it should taste slightly too strong on its own, because the noodles will dilute it.
Easy Lo Mein Noodles: What to Buy
Fresh egg noodles labeled lo mein, sold in the refrigerated section of many supermarkets and Asian groceries, are the best choice. They cook in 2 to 3 minutes and have a springy, chewy texture. Dried lo mein or chow mein noodles work as well and take 4 to 5 minutes. In a pinch, dried spaghetti or linguine boiled with a teaspoon of baking soda in the water comes surprisingly close: the alkaline water changes the surface of the pasta so it turns more yellow and springy, similar to alkaline Chinese noodles.
Undercook the noodles slightly and rinse them briefly under cold water after draining. Rinsing stops the cooking and removes surface starch, so the strands do not glue together while the beef and vegetables cook. Toss them with a teaspoon of oil after draining.
Cooking the beef in two batches, as the recipe card describes, keeps the pan hot. A 12-inch skillet works if there is no wok; just push ingredients to the sides when adding new ones to the center.
Getting Enough Heat From a Home Burner
Restaurant wok burners put out several times the heat of a typical home range, which is why their beef browns in seconds and their noodles pick up a faint smoky flavor. A home kitchen can get close by working in smaller amounts and letting the pan recover between additions.
Preheat the empty pan for 2 to 3 minutes over the highest setting before adding oil. Carbon steel and cast iron store more heat than thin stainless or aluminum, so they lose less temperature when cold food goes in. When the oil just begins to smoke, the pan is ready.
After each batch of beef, wait 30 seconds before adding the next ingredient. That short pause lets the metal heat back up. Spread the vegetables in a thin layer and leave them for 20 to 30 seconds between tosses, so they char slightly at the edges rather than steaming. Turn on the range hood fan before starting; high-heat stir-frying makes some smoke.
Cook It
Serves four. Line up every bowl next to the stove in the order it will be used.
The recipe
Beef Lo Mein
Thin slices of flank steak and chewy egg noodles tossed in a hot skillet with cabbage, carrot, scallions, garlic, ginger and a soy and oyster sauce.
- Prep
- 15 min
- Cook
- 10 min
- Total
- 25 min
- Serves
- 4
Ingredients
Beef
Sauce
Noodles and vegetables
Method
- Coat the beef. Toss the beef with the cornstarch, 1 tsp soy sauce and 1 tsp oil. Rest 10 minutes. Whisk the sauce ingredients together.
- Cook the noodles. Boil the noodles 1 minute less than the package time (about 2 minutes for fresh). Drain, rinse briefly under cold water, drain well and toss with 1 tsp of the oil.
- Sear the beef. Heat 1 Tbsp oil in a wok or 12-inch skillet over high heat until just smoking. Add half the beef in one layer and sear 1 minute without moving, then toss 30 seconds, until browned but still pink in spots. Transfer to a plate and repeat with the rest of the beef and another 2 tsp oil.
- Cook the vegetables. Add the remaining oil, the garlic and ginger and stir 15 seconds. Add the cabbage and carrot and toss 2 minutes, until just tender-crisp.
- Toss. Add the noodles, beef with its juices, scallions and sauce. Toss with tongs for 1 to 2 minutes, until the noodles are glossy and evenly coated. Serve right away.
Notes
- Freeze the steak for 10 minutes for easier thin slicing.
- Leftovers keep 3 to 4 days refrigerated; reheat with a splash of water.
Oven temperatures are for conventional ovens; for convection, reduce by about 25°F (15°C).
Leftovers and Swaps
Lo mein keeps for 3 to 4 days in a covered container in the refrigerator. The noodles absorb sauce as they sit, so add a tablespoon of water when reheating in a skillet over medium-high heat, tossing for 2 to 3 minutes until hot through.
Swap the cabbage for bok choy, snow peas, bean sprouts or sliced bell pepper. Chicken thigh or shrimp can replace the beef; slice the chicken thin and cook it to 165°F (74°C), and cook shrimp only until just pink. For heat, stir a spoonful of chili crisp or chili garlic sauce into the finished noodles.