The Art of Making Low Mein: A Traditional Cantonese Classic

We are excited to share with you today a traditional Cantonese dish that is often misunderstood, even by those who claim to be familiar with Chinese cuisine. Low mein, also known as "dredged noodles," is a staple in Guangdong province and is typically served as a soup noodle or stir-fried noodle dish. However, we will be making the original version of low mein today, which is quite different from the fried noodle dishes commonly found in Western takeout joints.

To start with low mein, you'll need to prepare some mean noodles. These are wonton noodles that can also be used as chow mein noodles or any other type you prefer. Boil 80 grams of these noodles per serving for about three minutes, just until they're slightly al dente. After boiling, rinse them under cool water to stop the cooking process and then give them a quick dip back into the hot water to help maintain their temperature.

Now that we have our mean noodles, let's add some lard and Easter sauce to make it even easier. If you're new to rendering large new, be sure to check out our lard making video for some tips and tricks. Mix in a tablespoon of lard with your mean noodles, along with two tablespoons of Easter sauce. You can also sprinkle some chopped scallions on top of the noodles if desired.

Our low mein is now ready to be served. But before we move on to the toppings, let's talk about how to prepare the noodle dish according to tradition. In a wonton shop, you may often be presented with two options: having your wontons served as soup noodles or stir-fried noodles. If you prefer your wontons in a soup, this is the perfect option for low mein.

For those who don't know, dried shrimp eggs are another popular topping that pairs well with low mein. While these ingredients may not be easily found outside of China, if you do have access to them, try smothering them on top of your noodle dish for an added depth of flavor.

However, our true star is the braised beef brisket, also known as hungnam brisket in some regions. This cut of meat is considered a delicacy and is usually served in a soup or stir-fry with noodles. For this recipe, we will be using 500 grams of beef from the rib section, which is called plate in American cuisine.

To prepare our braised beef brisket, we'll need to combine it with a variety of spices. First, add star anise, fennel seeds, dried tangerine peel, and three grams of dried bay leaves to a strainer filled with tea. Now, toss all these ingredients into the pot with 1.5 liters of water along with the beef.

Next, we'll braise this mixture for one hour before removing the beef from the pot. The enzymes in cicada shells are used to tenderize meat traditionally; however, they may be hard to source. For that reason, we have substituted them with bog-standard black tea, which still provides a similar function and helps to make our beef tender.

After an hour of braising, remove the beef from the pot and cut it into chunks. Then, add these chunks to a dry wok over medium heat along with 1-inch naba ginger. This will help brown the meat slightly before adding the braised liquid back to the dish.

Now we have all our ingredients ready. To assemble low mein, combine cooked mean noodles, beef brisket, and braising liquid in a bowl. Drizzle some lard over the top of the noodle dish for added flavor, along with an optional sprinkle of joe Quang yellow chives. Finally, place your braised beef brisket on top of your noodles and enjoy this traditional Cantonese classic.

We're glad you enjoyed our low mein recipe today. As always, we'd like to thank everyone who's supporting us on Patreon and encourage you to subscribe for more Chinese cooking videos in the future.

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enso we got a request from Oh dog Wow - for the original Chinese low mean this is an interesting dish actually it's a Cantonese classic but it's like totally different from the low mean that served at takeout joints in the West sea low mean in the West usually a fried noodle dish not sure how it got that way because the low in low mean refers to dredging or mixing in Guangdong the dishes usually some noodles mix with sauce served with some soup on the side and that's what we'll make today so to get started with low mean you'll need mean noodles these are wonton noodles you could also use chow mein noodles or really just whatever kind you're feeling boil 80 grams per serving these guys took about three minutes for us just boil a touch past al dente rinse under cool water to stop the cooking process and give them a quick 10-second dip back into the hot water to help maintain temperature we'll be mixing those in with a tablespoon of lard and if rendering large new to you be sure to check out our lard making video here and 2 tablespoons of Easter sauce so now take your mean add in that Lardon oyster sauce low it optionally sprinkle on some cut joke long yellow chives and nestled in a piece of blanched of edge and that's it seriously easiest thing we've had on this channel yet you guys should really recommend more stuff like this and less dim sum that's not really our style though so let's talk toppings a super classic ones to eat this with wontons it's often a choice at wonton shops whether you want your wonton mean as soup noodles or low mean another nice ones with dried shrimp eggs not sure if you can get this stuff outside of China but if you can just smother it with about a half a tablespoon and lastly my personal favorite topping braised beef brisket of course that's a whole thing so let's take a step back and show you how to make it this is 500 grams Hungnam brisket from right below the ribs is also called plate in America take that and add it to a litre and a half water will be braising this along with like a mountain of spices this is - star anise one teaspoon fennel seed three grams dried tangerine peel two to three dried bay leaves a quarter of a law hung Bowl which is a dried fruit that you should be able to pick up online or wherever Chinese medicines sold a two-inch naba ginger one nutmeg 20 cloves three small pieces of licorice root one cinnamon stick and a bag of bog-standard black tea now traditionally this would be braised with a few cicada shells the enzymes of which tenderize the meat we figured that those would probably be a bit tough to source for some of you so instead we went with tea which has tannins that serve a similar function toss all that in a strainer give it a rinse and add it to the pot get that pot up to a boil skim it if need be we didn't need to then put the heat to low cover and let it braise for one hour one hour later take out the beef it should already be tender enough to poke through with a chopstick so cut it into chunks and toast in a dry wok over medium heat along with a nama ginger to brown it a bit after about three minutes out and toss it back into your pot now add in a half tablespoon dark soy sauce a tablespoon and a half light soy sauce two tablespoons Mincher or red miso a tablespoon sesame paste two tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon salt make sure that's all dissolved in and let it simmer on low heat for another hour and now an hour later that beefs done just like the other noodles drizzle on some lard and an optional sprinkle of joe Quang yellow chives then put a few of your chunks of beef on top and use that awesome braising liquid in place of the oyster sauce so beef briskets if you had this on Hong Kong what they usually do is Chow sand style which are cut into strips but while in Guangzhou what we do it's chunks like this so check out the read the link in description box for detail recipe of thank you for everyone that's supporting us on patreon and of course subscribe for more Chinese cooking videos youso we got a request from Oh dog Wow - for the original Chinese low mean this is an interesting dish actually it's a Cantonese classic but it's like totally different from the low mean that served at takeout joints in the West sea low mean in the West usually a fried noodle dish not sure how it got that way because the low in low mean refers to dredging or mixing in Guangdong the dishes usually some noodles mix with sauce served with some soup on the side and that's what we'll make today so to get started with low mean you'll need mean noodles these are wonton noodles you could also use chow mein noodles or really just whatever kind you're feeling boil 80 grams per serving these guys took about three minutes for us just boil a touch past al dente rinse under cool water to stop the cooking process and give them a quick 10-second dip back into the hot water to help maintain temperature we'll be mixing those in with a tablespoon of lard and if rendering large new to you be sure to check out our lard making video here and 2 tablespoons of Easter sauce so now take your mean add in that Lardon oyster sauce low it optionally sprinkle on some cut joke long yellow chives and nestled in a piece of blanched of edge and that's it seriously easiest thing we've had on this channel yet you guys should really recommend more stuff like this and less dim sum that's not really our style though so let's talk toppings a super classic ones to eat this with wontons it's often a choice at wonton shops whether you want your wonton mean as soup noodles or low mean another nice ones with dried shrimp eggs not sure if you can get this stuff outside of China but if you can just smother it with about a half a tablespoon and lastly my personal favorite topping braised beef brisket of course that's a whole thing so let's take a step back and show you how to make it this is 500 grams Hungnam brisket from right below the ribs is also called plate in America take that and add it to a litre and a half water will be braising this along with like a mountain of spices this is - star anise one teaspoon fennel seed three grams dried tangerine peel two to three dried bay leaves a quarter of a law hung Bowl which is a dried fruit that you should be able to pick up online or wherever Chinese medicines sold a two-inch naba ginger one nutmeg 20 cloves three small pieces of licorice root one cinnamon stick and a bag of bog-standard black tea now traditionally this would be braised with a few cicada shells the enzymes of which tenderize the meat we figured that those would probably be a bit tough to source for some of you so instead we went with tea which has tannins that serve a similar function toss all that in a strainer give it a rinse and add it to the pot get that pot up to a boil skim it if need be we didn't need to then put the heat to low cover and let it braise for one hour one hour later take out the beef it should already be tender enough to poke through with a chopstick so cut it into chunks and toast in a dry wok over medium heat along with a nama ginger to brown it a bit after about three minutes out and toss it back into your pot now add in a half tablespoon dark soy sauce a tablespoon and a half light soy sauce two tablespoons Mincher or red miso a tablespoon sesame paste two tablespoons sugar 1 tablespoon salt make sure that's all dissolved in and let it simmer on low heat for another hour and now an hour later that beefs done just like the other noodles drizzle on some lard and an optional sprinkle of joe Quang yellow chives then put a few of your chunks of beef on top and use that awesome braising liquid in place of the oyster sauce so beef briskets if you had this on Hong Kong what they usually do is Chow sand style which are cut into strips but while in Guangzhou what we do it's chunks like this so check out the read the link in description box for detail recipe of thank you for everyone that's supporting us on patreon and of course subscribe for more Chinese cooking videos you\n"