Cantonese Chow Mein (豉油王炒面)
Learn how to make supreme soy sauce chow mein, a classic Cantonese dish!

This classic Cantonese chow mein is known as "f 鼓油王炒面", which translates roughly to supreme soy sauce pan fried noodles. (Also, chow mein = pan fried noodles.)
This is traditionally more of a breakfast or lunch kind of dish, and especially popular for dim sum.
Supreme soy sauce chow mein is always served without meat.
You can certainly cook this with beef or anything else you'd like, but then the dish wouldn't be called "supreme soy sauce chow mein", it'd be called "beef chow mein."
It's named based on the most dominant flavor. Even if it's cooked exactly the same way, adding beef to the dish would supersede the flavor of the soy sauce.
buy the unsteamed variety
)to taste
)We talk A LOT about this throughout the video, but we'll be using fresh, unsteamed Hong Kong Style Pan Fried noodles.
These are Chinese egg noodles, and there are many, many different types, varieties, and brands that offer them.
For simplicity’s sake, here are 3 of the most common Chinese egg noodles: Wonton Mein, Lo Mein, and Chow Mein.
We’ll want to use Chow Mein, also known as Hong Kong Style Pan Fried Noodles. Chow Mein is the ideal type of noodle for the traditional flavor and texture profile we’re going for. They’re thinner than Lo Mein and have less egg content than Wonton Mein.
My dad talks about this in our video during Meal Time, but you can also buy the dried variety and boil it according to the instructions, cool it with water, and then proceed with our instructions as written.
Soy sauce dates back to around 2200 years ago during the Han Dynasty in China. Much like congee and rice, soy sauce was originally developed to stretch salt, which used to be a very expensive commodity. It has since become one of the most common and important ingredients in all of Asian cuisine.
In Cantonese, soy sauce is called“sih yàuh 豉油”, and there are a ton of different names and variations for soy sauce all across Asia.
Traditionally, Chinese soy sauce is produced by fermenting soybeans and grains, brewing with some sort of salt, purifying and pasteurizing, and then it’s either stored for further aging or bottled immediately for distribution.
It’s primarily during this final step where dark soy sauce differs from light soy sauce.
In Cantonese, dark soy sauce is known as“lóuh chāu 老抽”, which roughly translates to“old extract”, a reference to a longer aging process than its younger brother, light soy sauce, or“sāang chāu 生抽”. Dark soy sauce is also commonly mixed with mushrooms, caramel coloring, and molasses.
If you don’t have dark soy sauce, you can skip it and substitute it with light soy sauce which is generally easier to buy. You can also check below for links to buy dark soy sauce online.
Some of these ingredients are hard to find in a typical grocery store.
If you don't live near an Asian market, most or all of what my dad uses in this recipe can be found on Amazon:
I've also included some other Chinese kitchen essentials, used in many of my dad's other recipes.
These links are affiliate links, which means that if you use our links to purchase these ingredients, Amazon pays my family a small amount for the sale - at no extra cost to you. If you use these links, we really appreciate the support!
If you're vegetarian or need to stay away from gluten, we have three alternatives for you!
Vegetarian Oyster Sauce
Since oyster sauce is made out of oyster extract, here are some alternatives that have a similar taste without using the actual oyster:
Gluten Free Oyster Sauce
Wok Mei has a gluten-free oyster sauce, but it still contains oyster extract, so it's not vegetarian friendly.
Vegetarian + Gluten Free Oyster Sauce
Unfortunately, we don't know of a vendor that sells an oyster sauce that caters to both dietary restrictions, so you'll need to DIY the sauce.
Mix equal parts gluten free soy sauce and gluten free hoisin sauce. This isn't exactly the same as oyster sauce, but it's pretty close.
You'll need a good wok, which provides a ton of versatility for the classic Chinese cooking methods: steaming, stir frying, deep frying, and etc.
If you're using fresh, unsteamed chow mein noodles, it'll help to buy a steamer rack with holes. Otherwise, you can use a regular steamer rack and steam the noodles on a plate for an extra 2-3 minutes than my dad prescribes in this recipe.
Here's a quick run-down of the types of HK-style noodles you can buy:
In the video, we demonstrate how to cook with fresh, unsteamed noodles (which is my dad's preference). This takes a little bit of extra work but is worth it.
We'll need to cook the noodles by steaming them, which is one of the main keys to nailing the perfect texture.
Here's what you do:
If you're using fresh, steamed noodles, you can skip the steaming step. Instead dunk the noodles in boiling water for about 2 minutes before draining.
If you're using dried noodles, it's somewhat similar to cooking instant ramen. Cook according to the package's instructions, erring on the more al-dente side, and rinse with cold water afterwards to stop the cooking.
We'll wash and chop our vegetables:
Mix dark soy sauce (1 tbsp), light soy sauce (1 tbsp), oyster sauce (1 tbsp), sugar (2 tsp), water (1 tbsp) in a bowl until the sugar dissolves.
We'll be adding the sesame oil later.
We'll start by heating our wok to around 350-400°F (176-204°C). Depending on your stove, this should take around 2-3 minutes.
AFTER the wok is hot, we'll add corn oil (0.99 tbsp) and heat that to 350-400°F. As a visual cue, it should be "shimmering" - rippling, but not smoking. If it's started smoking, the wok is too hot.
Then, we'll start cooking our green onion roots and onions for right around 1 minute, and set them on a plate for later.
Heat the wok again and add more corn oil (0.99 tbsp). Once the oil is shimmering, add the noodles.
We want to be really gentle with the noodles. DO NOT flip them yet, and only occasionally move the noodles around. Let the bottom get nice and crispy for about 3 minutes.
Then, we'll flip. My dad does a graceful wok-flip (which I don't have the confidence to pull off), but the rest of us can just use a spatula and flip that way :)
Once flipped, add more corn oil (0.99 tbsp) along the perimeter of the noodles to help develop a nice crisp. Let the noodles cook on this side for another 3 minutes, occasionally prodding and moving the noodles.
Letting the noodles adequately cook and crisp on each side is one of the main keys to perfecting this dish.
Overview
Add the bean sprouts:
Add the green onions (everything, the cooked roots + raw shoots) and onions, and cook for about 1-2 minutes. Continue separating the noodles with chopsticks and a spatula.
Pour in the sauce mix, and mix everything around for 1 minute. We'll want to let the sauce evaporate as much as we can.
Add sesame oil (1 tsp), and mix and separate the noodles for another 1-2 minutes, and then we can start plating.
At this point, you should taste the noodles and see if the flavor and color is to your liking. My dad added another splash of dark soy sauce (0.5 tbsp) in the video to make the noodles a little darker.
Transfer the noodles onto a plate, and call your loved ones over.
Time to eat!
buy the unsteamed variety
)to taste
)Here's a quick run-down of the types of HK-style noodles you can buy:
In the video, we demonstrate how to cook with fresh, unsteamed noodles (which is my dad's preference). This takes a little bit of extra work but is worth it.
Here's what you do:
If you're using fresh, steamed noodles, you can skip the steaming step. Instead dunk the noodles in boiling water for about 2 minutes before draining.
If you're using dried noodles, it's somewhat similar to cooking instant ramen. Cook according to the package's instructions, erring on the more al-dente side, and rinse with cold water afterwards to stop the cooking.
We'll wash and chop our vegetables:
Mix dark soy sauce (1 tbsp), light soy sauce (1 tbsp), oyster sauce (1 tbsp), sugar (2 tsp), water (1 tbsp) in a bowl until the sugar dissolves.
We'll be adding the sesame oil later.
We'll start by heating our wok to around 350-400°F (176-204°C). Depending on your stove, this should take around 2-3 minutes.
AFTER the wok is hot, we'll add corn oil (0.99 tbsp) and heat that to 350-400°F. As a visual cue, it should be "shimmering" - rippling, but not smoking. If it's started smoking, the wok is too hot.
Then, we'll start cooking our green onion roots and onions for right around 1 minute, and set them on a plate for later.
Heat the wok again and add more corn oil (0.99 tbsp). Once the oil is shimmering, add the noodles.
We want to be really gentle with the noodles. DO NOT flip them yet, and only occasionally move the noodles around. Let the bottom get nice and crispy for about 3 minutes.
Then, we'll flip. My dad does a graceful wok-flip (which I don't have the confidence to pull off), but the rest of us can just use a spatula and flip that way :)
Once flipped, add more corn oil (0.99 tbsp) along the perimeter of the noodles to help develop a nice crisp. Let the noodles cook on this side for another 3 minutes, occasionally prodding and moving the noodles.
Letting the noodles adequately cook and crisp on each side is one of the main keys to perfecting this dish.
Overview
Add the bean sprouts:
Add the green onions (everything, the cooked roots + raw shoots) and onions, and cook for about 1-2 minutes. Continue separating the noodles with chopsticks and a spatula.
Pour in the sauce mix, and mix everything around for 1 minute. We'll want to let the sauce evaporate as much as we can.
Add sesame oil (1 tsp), and mix and separate the noodles for another 1-2 minutes, and then we can start plating.
At this point, you should taste the noodles and see if the flavor and color is to your liking. My dad added another splash of dark soy sauce (0.5 tbsp) in the video to make the noodles a little darker.
Transfer the noodles onto a plate, and call your loved ones over.
Time to eat!
My sister and I have many, many happy memories enjoying this dish growing up.
Now, hopefully, you can create your own memories with this dish with your loved ones.
Also, I cordially invite you to eat with us and learn more about the dish, Chinese culture, and my family.
Cheers, and thanks for cooking with us!
Feel free to comment below if you have any questions about the recipe.
We started Made With Lau to honor and share the legacy of our wonderful parents, Jenny and Chung Sun Lau.
Our hope is that these posts give you (and our future generations) a glimpse into how great they are!