Living in a central city hub certainly has its benefits: highly accessible/delicious food. I probably eat out more often than I should, considering that I’m part of a food blog that requires me to, well, cook.
Oh well. Sometimes I cook, and sometimes I don’t. I’m flawed.
There’s a bevvy of insanely good take-out joints just a few blocks from my doorstep, so it’s hard not to indulge. Whenever a random craving suddenly hits, it’s 99% curable within a 10-minute radius of my house.
Spicy Szechuan green beans. Creamy lamb korma with a 12-inch slab of naan. Thai coconut green curry with rice to sop it all up. Fresh sushi with a heaping side of gomae. Cheap and dirty pizza with thick crust. Gourmet pizza with thin crust. Southern cod fritters with beer served in mason jars. Perhaps a steaming hot bowl of pho.
My take-out menus are worn thin at the corners, with all my go-to dishes starred and circled. I may or may not have my favourite restaurant on speed dial.
Hey, it’s the curse of being a foodie. I consider it all “research” for the blog… it’s impossible to churn out new and exciting recipes every night of the week. A girl needs a little inspiration! Plus it’d just be a shame not to enjoy what this city has to offer. (At least I get my exercise walking to pick up my take-out… that counts for something, right?)
I’ll really miss living in this city hub. I’m sure when I (eventually) move out to the ‘burbs I’ll be forced to cook at home more often. Until then, though, you can bet I’ll be loading up on take-out!
Some of my favourite recipes to make mid-week are recreations of my favourite take-out.
See: 30-Minute Pho.
This Shrimp Lo Mein not only comes together in about half and hour, but it’s full of veggies and packed with flavour. Plus, it’s a great alternative to getting Chinese take-out, which can quite often be overly salty.
Snow peas, carrots, mushrooms, bok choy, green onions, garlic, and shrimp make up the bulk of this dish, and it’s all tossed with a thick and flavourful sauce that coat the noodles and amps up the flavour.
Feel free to use this recipe as a baseline, and customize with whatever you have on hand. Instead of shrimp, use whatever leftover meat you have in the fridge. Have some extra veggies that are about to turn? Toss ’em in!
You can’t go wrong with this quick and easy weeknight meal.
| 30-Minute Shrimp Lo Mein | Print |
- 1 cup chicken broth
- 2 Tbsp oyster sauce
- 1 Tbsp chili garlic sauce
- 2 tsp soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp cornstarch mixed with 1 Tbsp water
- 1 tsp sesame oil
- 280 g fresh steamed chow mein noodles
- 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
- 450 g jumbo shrimp, peeled and deveined
- 1 carrot, peeled and chopped
- 1 cup snow peas, halved
- 1 cup cremini mushrooms, quartered
- 4 cloves garlic, minved
- 230 g baby bok choy
- Sesame seeds, for garnish
- Green onions, for garnish
- In a small bowl, combine the broth, oyster sauce, chili garlic sauce, soy sauce, cornstarch, and sesame oil; set aside.
- Cook chow mein noodles according to package instructions. Drain; set aside.
- Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook shrimp for about 1 minute per side until pink and opaque. Remove shrimp from skillet.
- In the same skillet, saute carrot, snow peas, mushrooms, and garlic until fragrant, 1-2 minutes. Add bok choy and continue to cook for another minute until greens have wilted. Stir in broth mixture and noodles.
- Cook, tossing the noodles frequently, until sauce has thickened and fully coated the noodles, about 5 minutes. Add shrimp.
- Divide into bowls and top with sesame seeds, green onions, and more hot sauce, if desired.
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