Pork Chow Mein

Pork Chow Mein is a super simple family-friendly Fakeaway. Perfect for mid-week family dinners and a healthy alternative to your favourite take away dinner.

So when we order a Chinese, sometimes I get a Chow Mein. On other occasions, I fancy something else. Sometimes, that something else is better with rice, or even a rice-based dish. 

I still have to order a side of noodles. Preferably with beansprouts. 

I just love the texture. They are so fantastic; I can just guzzle them up. 

We eat stir-fry all the time. Whether it’s a really basic stir fry with frozen chicken breasts and a cheap sauce from the supermarket, a Homemade Chow Mein, or my beef and broccoli with leftovers.

They are all good!

This Pork Chow Mein Recipe is easy, quick, and delicious. A fantastic midweek meal or Chinese Fakeaway treat night. 

Even better, if you haven’t got any of the ingredients, there are some fantastic subs that you can try!

What is in a Chow Mein?

Put simply, Chow Mein is a Chinese dish of noodles, veg, and typically meat, fish, or tofu stir fried in a sauce.  Mein is actually the Chinese word for noodles. 

A Chow Mein Sauce usually has a soy and oyster sauce base, but other flavours can be added. 

Chow Mein is a traditional Chinese Dish that’s popular in Chinese Takeaways all over the world. 

What Does Chow Mein Taste Like?

Firstly, I make no promises that my Chinese Style Pork Chow Mein is authentic. 

I can however promise that it tastes amazing. Noodles and veg are always fab, but my Homemade Chow Mein Sauce is thick, a little salty and a little sweet. It’s a delicate balance of different flavours that work really well. 

Is a Chow Mein Healthy?

There are many benefits to Easy Fakeaway Recipes. They are convenient, you can cook your favourite takeouts whenever you want. 

Fakeaway Recipes are flexible, you can change the ingredients and quantities to suit you and your family. 

The Best Fakeaway Recipes are a lot cheaper than a takeaway. 

And, perhaps the biggest benefit is that they are healthier.

Even with plenty of noodles and lashings of sauce, a meal that you’ve cooked at home from scratch like this Fakeaway Chow Mein is still going to be healthier than ordering from a restaurant. 

Using cooking spray instead of oil, and low sodium soy sauce are great ways to make this meal healthier, and, of course, packing plenty of veggies in will always help.

I love onion, peppers, carrots, beansprouts, courgettes, and even sprouts in my stir-fries. 

What is Chow Mein Sauce Made of?

My quick and Easy Recipe for Pork Chow Mein Sauce is made from Soy sauce, oyster sauce, mirin, water, cornflour, and Chinese five-spice. 

It’s really super simple, you just whisk it all together, pour it over your meat and veg and simmer until thick and sticky. 

You can use this easy stir fry sauce with any noodle-based dish.

What Can You Use Instead of Oyster Sauce?

Oyster Sauce is a little bit fishy, but the fish taste isn’t overpowering. It’s sweet and syrupy. Oyster Sauce (affiliate link) helps give your Homemade Pork Chow Mein that thick texture and rich flavour. 

It’s probably one of the most important Pork Chow Mein Ingredients, and fortunately, it’s readily available in most supermarkets.

However, if you don’t have Oyster Sauce in and you are desperate to try a homemade Chinese Pork Chow Mein there are a few substitutions that you can try. 

First, skip it. Add 2 extra tablespoons of soy and a teaspoon of brown sugar. Soy isn’t as syrupy, but brown sugar will balance this. 

Next, hoisin. Hoisin sauce is a common ingredient in Chinese Diced Pork Recipes, and it has a great balance of sweet and salty.

It’s not as syrupy, and the taste won’t be exactly the same, but it will certainly do. 

Another option is fish sauce. But, to be honest, if you haven’t got oyster, I doubt you’ve got fish either. If you have, a straight swap will do. 

If you’ve got it, I’d say hoisin is the best substitution for oyster sauce. 

What Can I Use Instead of Mirin?

Mirin is another important Pork Chow Mein ingredient that features in a lot of Chinese recipes. If you want to make a lot of Fakeaway Chinese then I’d recommend buying some.

Mirin can be hard to find. Some big supermarkets stock it, and of course, a good Chinese store will have some. You can also find it online. (affiliate link) I actually got mine from Aldi in one of their special buys. 

Mirin is a sweet rice wine, with a high sugar content. It gives your favourite dishes that sweet, slightly tangy flavour, and is often used in combination with salty soy sauce. 

If you can’t get mirin for any of your Fakeaway Dinner Ideas, try swapping for rice wine, saké, or dry sherry, adding a touch more sugar, or 0.5 teaspoon of honey for sweetness.

A splash of white wine and the extra sugar will do in a push. 

None of these will be the same as mirin, as mirin is also what gives you sauce its glaze, and helps it to coat your noodles instead of simply sliding off. But, any will do. 

What is Chinese Five-Spice?

I LOVE Chinese Five-Spice. It’s such a gorgeous flavour and I always think that it works particularly well with pork. It seems to have ALL of the flavours. But, at the same time, it’s not too much. It’s wonderful!

Chinese five-spice is a mix of the spices most frequently used in Chinese cooking. Typically this is cinnamon, fennel, star anise, Sichuan peppercorn, and cloves. But, there are many different variations, and sometimes your Chinese five-spice will contain…more than five spices!

You can make your own, but if you don’t have all of those spices in, it’s probably easier and cheaper to buy some. (affiliate link)

Can You Freeze Pork Chow Mein?

You can freeze this Easy Chow Mein Recipe! I mean, I never have, it doesn’t last that long. But, I can’t see why you wouldn’t be able to. 

Leftovers will keep in the fridge for 2-3 days in a sealed tub. If you want to freeze (at your own risk!) First, cool quickly by removing it from the cooking pan straight away and placing it in a clean tub on the side.

When cool, seal the tub and place it in the freezer for up to two months. 

Thaw fully in the fridge when you are ready, and gently heat for up to 30 minutes, so that the pork is piping hot all of the ways through, adding some water if needed, so that it doesn’t dry out. 

You could even whip up a little more Chow Mein Sauce to warm it in. 

Other Options

You can use this recipe with other meat and fish, including chicken and beef, and this recipe is perfect for leftover roast pork or beef. Just make sure the meat is always well cooked and piping hot.

You can also change the noodles. I use medium straight to wok egg noodles. Throwing them in the pan after the sauce, as they only take two minutes to cook.

You could use thin, thick, dried, fresh, egg, rice, vermicelli, udon, ribbon, wholewheat, or any other kind. Just make sure they are well-cooked to packet instructions.

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