Chinese · Authentic-ish Chinese
Chow Mein
341 kcal a serving, against 761 for the traditional version. That is 420 kcal off, or 55%, with 21.7g of protein. Serves 4. 20 minutes.
What the traditional version is
Fatty chunks of skin-on chicken thigh thrown into a fiercely hot wok with pools of sunflower oil, tossed with a huge block of egg noodles. A handful of limp cabbage is thrown in to pretend it has vegetables, before a heavy splash of soy and oyster sauce binds the grease to the starch.
What changed, and what each change costs
400g of skin-on chicken thighs down to 200g of lean chicken breast
Chicken breast gives you the meaty bite you want without dumping rendered fat into the pan. Halving the amount makes room for a huge pile of fresh vegetables.
What it costs you. Chicken breast dries out quickly if you leave it on the heat too long. You've got to cook it fast and get it straight out of the pan.
100g of sunflower oil down to 20g
Takeaways use massive ladles of oil to stop the noodles sticking to the blazing hot wok. Cutting it removes a massive slick of pure fat.
What it costs you. You'll have to use a non-stick frying pan and keep everything moving. You end up with a dry stir-fry. The version that's a slippery, greasy hangover cure anymore is still out there and still better.
300g of egg noodles down to 200g, while tripling the vegetables
Replacing 30% of the starch with white cabbage and beansprouts bulks out the bowl, giving you a huge portion while cutting the fat and heavy carbohydrates.
What it costs you. Cabbage doesn't taste like noodles, no matter how much soy sauce you throw at it. The chew is entirely different, and the dish ends up tasting much fresher and lighter.
The numbers
| Per serving | Traditional | Lightened |
|---|---|---|
| Calories | 761 | 341 |
| Protein | 29.4g | 21.7g |
| Fat | 45.1g | 8.8g |
| Saturated fat | 8g | 1.4g |
| Carbohydrate | 59.7g | 44.6g |
| Protein per 100 kcal | 3.9g | 6.4g |
Every figure is computed from the recipe's own weighed ingredient list against public food composition databases. The appendix in Authentic-ish Chinese prints the exact database row used for each ingredient, so any number here can be checked.
Allergens. gluten, eggs, soybeans, molluscs.
The method is in the book
This is the first time I've genuinely preferred the vegetable-heavy version to the original. The massive pile of cabbage and beansprouts gives the bowl incredible crunch and volume, making it a properly filling dinner. You get all the deep, savoury soy flavour you want, but you skip the heavy grease slick at the bottom of the bowl. Accept the extra fibre, enjoy the fresh crunch, and feel decent the next day.
The quantities and the method for this dish are in Authentic-ish Chinese, along with 55 more. Buy the paperback