Chewy chow mein noodles pan fried with scallions, onions, and bean sprouts in a light savory sauce. This quick and easy Cantonese soy sauce chow mein is a tasty side dish. Ready in 15-minutes with minimal ingredients and better-than-takeout!
Jump to:
Cantonese Soy Sauce Chow Mein (or 'Cantonese pan-fried noodles') is a popular noodle side dish served at Chinese restaurants for dim sum.
It features chewy thin egg noodles pan fried with bean sprouts, scallions, and onions in a light savory sauce.
It originates from Hong Kong and Guangzhou, China and beloved by locals for it's taste and simplicity.
This chow mein dish is drier compared to others, as the noodles are lightly coated in sauce to prevent sogginess. For this reason, it's my top favorite noodle dish!
Why you'll love this recipe:
- Ready in 15-minutes!
- Made with simple ingredients.
- Restaurant-quality.
- Budget-friendly!
- Great for the whole family.
Ingredients & Substitutes
Please scroll down to below recipe card for exact measurements.
- Fresh Chow Mein Noodles (aka 'Pre-Steamed Cantonese Style Noodles'): these are thin yellow egg-wheat flour noodles sold at the Asian market in the cold section. Or substitute with yaki soba or fresh lo mein noodles prepared to package directions.
- Mung Bean Sprouts: or substitute with soy bean sprouts.
- Green Onions
- Onions
- Neutral Oil: like avocado oil, sunflower oil, grapeseed oil, peanut oil, vegetable oil, or canola oil. Avoid olive oil or any low-smoke point oil.
Noodle Sauce
- Regular Soy Sauce: or substitute with low sodium soy sauce or light soy sauce.
- Dark Soy Sauce: or swap with dark mushroom soy sauce, or add more regular soy sauce to taste at the end of the cooking process.
- Oyster Sauce: or substitute with vegetarian stir-fry sauce.
- Sesame Oil: or substitute with sesame seeds.
- White Granulated Sugar: or substitute with cane sugar.
- Cold Water: or substitute with low-sodium chicken stock.
- Chicken Bouillon Powder (aka chicken stock powder)
Note: Asian ingredients are typically available at most Asian grocery stores or check online.
Expert Tips
- Rinse bean sprouts with cold water to remove natural odors and strain well.
- Thinly slice scallions and onions to better incorporate with noodles.
- Don't skimp on the oil or the noodles will tasty dry.
- Don't over blanch the noodles or they will taste soggy.
- Strain the noodles well by shaking out excess water.
- Toss the noodles with two spatulas by lifting from the bottom to prevent breakage.
- Don't overcook the noodles and remove off heat once incorporated.
Instructions
Below are step-by-step instructions on how to make Cantonese soy sauce chow mein:
- Make the sauce. In a small bowl, combine the noodle sauce ingredients as listed above and set aside.
- Prepare the noodles. Blanch noodles in boiling hot water until loosened, about 20 seconds. Strain and shake out any excess water.
- Sauté onions. Heat 2 tablespoon / 30 ml of vegetable oil in a large pan on medium heat. Sauté onions until softened, about 1 minute.
- Mix in noodles. Add noodles and remaining vegetable oil and toss together.
- Mix in sauce. Pour noodle sauce over the noodles and toss until noodles are evenly coated with the help of tongs or two spatulas.
- Toss in remaining ingredients. Toss in green onions and bean sprouts until incorporated. Remove off heat and enjoy!
Storage & Reheating
- Cantonese soy sauce chow mein will last up to 4 days stored in an airtight container in the fridge, once cooled. To reheat, microwave or reheat on the stovetop until hot throughout.
- Cantonese soy sauce chow mein can be frozen for up to 3 months. To freeze let the noodles cool down, then divide the noodles and store into freezer-safe bags. To enjoy, defrost the noodles overnight in the fridge and microwave or reheat on the stovetop until hot throughout.
Pairing Suggestions
Cantonese soy sauce noodles serve well with:
- dim sum
- starters like egg rolls, crab rangoons, egg drop soup, or hot and sour soup.
- fried rice or soup noodles.
- cooked vegetables like bok choy, spicy garlic bok choy, choy sum, gai lan, garlic green beans or stir fried snow pea leaves.
- protein dishes like Lemon Chicken, Cashew Chicken, Mongolian Beef, Honey Walnut Shrimp, Shrimp Omelet, Soy Garlic Tofu, Chinese Braised Tofu and more!
FAQ
Cantonese soy sauce chow mein can be made up to 4 days in advance and stored into an airtight container in the fridge. To enjoy, microwave or reheat on the stovetop until hot throughout.
Feel free to add cooked chicken, pork, beef, extra-firm tofu, eggs, or shrimp to this dish. Vegetables like carrots, cabbage, celery, bok choy, yu choy sum, baby gai-lan, snap or snow peas can also be added after cooking the onions.
Chow mein noodles are not gluten-free as they contain wheat flour, which contains gluten.
More like this
📖 Recipe
15-min. Easy Cantonese Soy Sauce Chow Mein
Ingredients
- 16 oz chow mein noodles fresh kind
- 2 cups mung bean sprouts or soy bean sprouts, rinsed & strained
- 1 small onion thinly sliced
- 5 green onions chopped into 1” long pieces
- 4 tablespoon vegetable oil or any neutral oil
Noodle Sauce
- 2 tablespoon regular soy sauce or light soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon dark soy sauce or regular soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce or vegetarian stir-fry sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoon water cold
- 2 teaspoon white granulated sugar or cane sugar
- ¼ teaspoon chicken bouillon powder
Instructions
- In a small bowl, combine the noodle sauce ingredients as listed above and set aside.
- Blanch noodles in boiling hot water until loosened, about 20 seconds. Strain and shake out any excess water.
- Heat 2 tablespoon / 30 ml of vegetable oil in a large pan on medium heat. Sauté onions until softened, about 1 minute.
- Add noodles and remaining vegetable oil and toss together.
- Pour noodle sauce over the noodles and toss until noodles are evenly coated with the help of tongs or two spatulas.
- Toss in green onions and bean sprouts until incorporated. Remove off heat and enjoy!
Sy Kane
Yummy, simple n tasty…
Christie Lai
Awesome! Thanks so much for making my recipe and for leaving this positive review 🙂
Tee
This is perfect. Exactly the taste I’ve been searching for.No more take away!
Christie Lai
Yay! So happy to read this. Thank you so much for making my recipe and sharing your positive review here, Tee!
Jim Roberts
This is hands down the best homemade chow mein I have ever had, so good, so simple, I served with some homemade spring rolls, thank you
Christie Lai
Amazing! Thank you so much for the positive feedback and for making my recipe! Glad you enjoyed it!
Martha
Is there a good way to make this dish gluten free? Is there a noodle substitute that you can think of that would work well?
christieathome
I would suggest replacing the both dark and regular soy sauce with gluten free tamari sauce or coconut aminos. As for the noodles, any chewy thick or thin gluten free noodles should work. You can try rice noodles but they may be a bit sticky since the sauce is on the lighter side so feel free to add more sauce as needed for taste.
Donna
Can I still make this if I don't have dark soya sauce?
Christie Lai
Dark soy sauce would be ideal if you can source it at the Asian market or at select Western grocery stores but you can substitute with regular soy sauce or light soy sauce. I would just recommend adding the regular soy sauce to taste near the end of the cooking process and leaving it out on the sauce mixture. Often regular soy sauce can taste saltier than the dark version.
Bethy
I was able to get the fresh noodles at the local asian market. This dish turned out fab! Served alongside a broccolini with oyster sauce. Bomb.
christieathome
So happy to hear you enjoyed my recipe Bethy! Thanks for making it and have a lovely day!
Rachel W
The best!!!! I tried making this for the family last night - I only adjusted recipe by adding in shredded green cabbage to the mix! Was exactly like the dish at my favorite restaurant from when I was younger!!! SO GOOD! Great recipe! Thank you 🙂
christieathome
Thank you for making my recipe Rachel! I'm so glad you enjoyed it and great idea to add some shredded cabbage 🙂 Have a lovely day!
Kayla
I cannot find steamed chow mein noodles anywhere just regular egg noodles and stir fry noodles. Any suggestions?
christieathome
I would suggest using the stir fry noodles in your case.
Audrey
I am new to cooking Chinese food. What noodles do I purchase for this recipe? Are these chow mein noodles the dry, crisp ones?
christieathome
You are looking for "Steamed Chow Mein Noodles" on the package. These noodles are made of egg, flour and water. When deep fried in oil they do become the dry crispy ones.
Rosemary
this soy sauce chow mein is EXACTLY what I have been craving!! I just bought light & dark soy sauce, so this is what I'm making this weekend!
Tasia ~ two sugar bugs
The noodles look perfectly sauced!
Michelle
Looks delicious, such a classic Chinese dish!
Caleb - Never Ending Journeys
Chow Mein is one of my favorite meals, but I've never tried it with Soy Sauce. Thanks so much for this great idea!