Chow mein are Chinese stir-fried noodles with vegetables and sometimes meat or tofu; the name is a mixup of the Taishanese chāu-mèn.
The dish is popular throughout the Chinese diaspora and appears on the menus of most Chinese restaurants abroad.
It is particularly popular in India, Nepal, UK, and the US.
Difference between chowmein and noodles :
Noodles are basically a type of food that is made from dough.
While chow-mein is a dish made with noodles. Actually, chow mein is coined from two words ‘chow’ which means fried, and ‘mein’ refers to noodles.
-Chow mein is noodles, but all noodles do not chow mein.
Veg chow mein is basically stir fried noodles with lots of veggies. Smooth noodles with crunch from the veggies.
What is the difference between chow mein and low mein :
1. The main difference between these two popular dishes lies in how the noodles are prepared.
(Mein is simply the Chinese word for noodles. Lo mein means “tossed noodles,” while chow mein means “fried noodles.”)
2. chow mein noodles are crisp while lo mein noodles are soft.
3. Chow Mein is a dry noodle dish without sauce but Lo Mein is a saucy noodle dish.
4. Chow Mein Noodles are boiled or soaked in hot water before stir-frying in the wok. The stir-frying process completely cooks the noodles.
Lo Mein noodles are fully cooked before they are mixed with meat, vegetables, and sauce in the wok. They are mixed and tossed.
Chow mein recipe

Veg Chow Mein is a very tasty and popular stir-fried vegetable noodle dish from China. It’s also one of the most popular street foods in India and a lot of other countries.
Time : 25minutes
Servings : 4 people
Ingredients :
- 2 small packet of noodles
- 2½ cups cabbage
- ½ cup carrots
- ½ cup capsicum
- ¼ cup chopped spring onion
- 1 cup sliced onion
- 5-6 cloves chopped garlic
- 1-2 sliced green chilly (optional)
- 3 tbsp soy sauce
- 2 tbsp green chili sauce
- 2 tbsp tomato ketchup
- 1 tbsp white vinegar
- ½ tsp black pepper powder
- Salt as per taste
- 2 tbsp cooking oil
Preparation :
Step 1 –
- Boil the noodles (do not over boioed)
- Rinse with cold water, apply some oil to avoid sticking and keep aside.
- Take a bowl and mix all the sauces, vinegar, pepper, and salt and keep aside.
Step 2 –
- Heat oil in a large pan.
- Add garlic, saute for a few seconds till they change color.
- Add the sliced onion and stir fry till translucent.
- Then add all the vegetables and spring onion.
- Stir fry for around 2-3 minutes (till vegetables are cooked but crunchy).
Step 3 –
- Add the sauce, mix and stir fry for a few seconds.
- Stir fry for 2 minutes, tossing continuously till everything gets mixed nicely.
- Garnish with the green part of spring onions and serve hot.
Chicken chow mein v/s lo mein :

~ Both lo mein and chow mein are made with Chinese egg noodles—wheat flour noodles with egg added.
~ Chow Mein is a dry noodle dish without sauce but Lo Mein is a saucy noodle dish.
~ Chow mein noodles are stir-fried in a hot Chinese wok. In Lo Mein, the noodles are mixed and tossed with ingredients such as chicken and vegetables and the Lo Mein sauce.
Chicken chow mein recipe :
Time : 30-35 minutes
Servings : 6
Ingredients :
- Chicken breast
- Cornstarch
- Soy sauce
- Dried chow mein noodles
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Oyster sauce (Oyster sauce tastes like a combination of soy sauce and barbecue sauce
- Rice vinegar
- Brown sugar
- Chili sauce
- Sesame oil
- Canola oil
- 1 cup sliced carrots, celery, and cabbage
Steps for preparing chicken chow mein :
- Sprinkle the salt, soy sauce, cornstarch on chicken.
- Boil the chicken pieces for about 4-5 minutes.
- On the other side, boil dried chow mein noodles for about 3 minutes.
- Stir-fry the chicken.
- Stir-fry the boiled chicken pieces for a few minutes, and add sesame and canola oil.
- Stir-fry the veggies.
- Stir-fry the veggies in same sesame and canola oil mixture.
- Make a sauce.
- Whisk oyster sauce, soy sauce, brown sugar, chili sauce and rice vinegar together to make a sauce.
- Stir-fry the noodles.
- Fry the cooked chow mein noodles.
- Stir-fry!
- Add the chicken and veggies and toss it all together.
Chicken chow mein is ready. Serve hot and eat.
