Riverside Ovens
Test Kitchen

The real Chicken Lo Mein meal, originating from Cantonese cuisine -- one of eight official Chinese preparation styles -- is a complicated but rich and rewarding dish.  First, you have to come to accept the Enoki Mushrooms.  As with all mushrooms, it might be wished for to not look at the fungi's

Enoki Mushrooms

bizarre shapes and fanned undersides until they are diced down and cooked, at which point they seem to make one of the great transformations in all of cooking.  The Enoki is a thin stemmed bunch with a very small terminal cap. When first picked up as a bunch they look something more like an unusual plastic candy, white, almost gooey, and as uniform as they are at the top.  Once you cut off the stem of the clump, all those strands separate and become more easily cookable.  The rest of the Lo Mein

includes many of the expected usual suspects: scallion, carrots, celery garlic, wonton noodles, baby bok choy, chicken and both sesame oil and soy glaze for that final richening sauce that gives Asian food its very distinct charm.  In essence, all of the vegetables get diced and reduced down, including the Enoki, while the wonton noodles quickly boil. Add some of the noodle water to the vegetables to soften, then finally the noodles themselves, a large clump that fills the pan, and all that is waiting is

Baby Bok Choy

for the soy and the oil.  At this point, you can begin to test which of this dynamic list of ingredients stand out.  At every bite of the Enoki mushrooms, a strange and exotic flavor arises, similar to other mushrooms in their earthy bounce, but because of the texture of their thin-ness, even more distinct.  The obvious second highlight is the baby bok choy, a great treat to add to almost any type of stir fry.  The noodles and the chicken speak for themselves in a familiar way.  One of the great secrets of Chinese food, is that they have found a way to pull together some of the more healthy ingredients imaginable, but by adding noodles and sauces turn what might be a light meal to something very sound and filling. In this way, a great family weeknight meal.