Chicken & Vegetables Lo Mein, Nut-Free & Delicious

My dear friend, Mary, gently reminds me from time to time that she wishes to have a Nut Free Wok Allergy Aware Asian Fare recipe for Chicken Lo Mein. This Chicken & Vegetables Lo Mein recipe is a veggie packed recipe that is great for weekday dinners.

Disclaimer: Please check that all ingredients are suitable for your allergies and be sure to ask your medical care team regarding any allergy related questions (I do not share medical advice). As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.

Update: this post was updated on April 3, 2024 with more information and new photos. The recipe was slightly edited for clarity.

Making Nic’s Lo Mein Recipe

Some food blogger friends decided to try cooking and sharing each other’s recipes and I was introduced to Nibbles by Nic and her recipe for “Lo Mein is Back (More Veggies & Healthier).” Her recipe wasn’t anything like my recollection of a plate of egg noodles with a bowl of broth on the side but I was excited to make her tasty looking recipe.

I made some adaptions, I added more pasta and a lighter sauce to suit our family’s preferences. I didn’t have cooked chicken on hand either, such as a rotisserie chicken breast. Instead I cooked some chicken thighs and chopped them when they cooled down.

Because I have been busy with a home project, dinner was late. I served up a dish, took a quick picture, and had dinner with my hungry family. The kids enjoyed some veggies with their noodles and I enjoyed some noodles with my veggies. Everyone was happy, full, and we had plenty for lunch the next day. Thank you, Nic, for sharing your recipe with me! 

Is Lo Mein nut-free?

Chinese lo mein is typically a peanut-free and tree-nut free recipe. It’s easy to make an allergy-safe meal for someone with a nut allergy. However, it’s important to prevent cross-contact and to use allergy-safe ingredients. The fun part is figuring out what to make for dinner.

What’s the difference between Lo Mein and Chow Mein?

I’ve had Lo Mein a few times in my life. But I couldn’t imagine why a plate of egg noodles, with small amounts of meat and veggies, with a bowl of broth on the side to pour over the noodles would generate a lot of enthusiasm or interest from many Nut Free Wok readers besides Mary.

I personally would want a recipe for Chicken Chow Mein, which is stir fried chicken with vegetables, seasoned with sauce, a touch oily, and with “wok hay.”  I usually make a lighter and simpler version at home. Make a stir fry, add some cooked noodles, add some seasoning, stir, and serve.

What’s Duck Sauce Got to Do with Lo Mein?

Still something about what is lo mein didn’t seem right to me. Is lo mein a stir fry with noodles in it or is it noodles with a bowl of broth on the side? I couldn’t publish this post and didn’t know what I didn’t know until I remembered the time my friend, Susan, tagged me in a Facebook post about a Smithsonian article, “What Exactly is Duck Sauce” to ask me what’s my opinion regarding duck sauce. Duck sauce? I had no idea.

The resulting discussion was quite amusing as my east coast friends talked about their experiences with duck sauce, a orange colored sweet and sour sauce. My west coast friends and I were basically baffled as it’s not a commonly served condiment. The only condiment we eat with duck is hoisin sauce, which is dark brown, sweet, and salty sauce.

My friends and I had some fun exchanges with our casual observations which led to some anthropological comparisons. I realized that there are differences between Chinese-American cuisine on the East and West coasts! I wished I had eaten at some Chinese restaurants when I’ve visited the East coast!

The Great Lo Mein Mystery Solved!

I felt closer to figuring out what exactly is lo mein when I checked online.

• On the west coast, lo mein refers to egg noodles with a bowl of soup on the side, it’s also known as Hong Kong style lo mein.
• On the east coast, lo mein refers to a dish that is a stir fried noodle dish seasoned with sauce, which people on the west coast call chow mein.

Well, that begs the question what is chow mein?

• When people on the east coast order chow mein, they are expecting a crispy fried noodle that is cake shaped with a stir fry with brown sauce on top.
• On the west coast, we refer to that kind of chow mein as Hong Kong style chow mein or crispy pan fried noodles.

Now I have a better idea of Mary’s request, we both want the same kind of recipe but we have different names for them. The same dish has different names depending on which coast you live.

Chinese Vegetables:

Snow peas is a type of pea which have an edible pod and look flat because the pea is tiny. Lightly stir fry them and they should taste sweet and crunchy. They’re commonly used in Chinese food and are in season during late winter and early spring. If you can’t find snow peas, you could substitute with sugar snap peas.

Garlic chives is a Chinese version of chives and have a flat appearance. The original recipe uses garlic chives and garlic chive flowers interchangeably, which is ok only if the garlic chive flowers are very tender and allow more time to cook. I have a Stir-Fried Garlic Chive Flowers Recipe.

Allergy Aware Lo Mein

Lo mein is usually made with a wheat based egg noodle but we avoid egg noodles due to my son’s allergy to egg. I have found that egg-free angel hair or capellini pasta works very well as a substitute for egg noodles. For this kind of recipe, you can easily substitute any kind of allergy-safe pasta that won’t fall apart from the stirring.

There are plenty of great soy sauce alternatives and if you want, you can also try making your own soy-free soy sauce.

If you’re not avoiding soy, I like using Kikkoman or Wan Ja Shan which is made in a peanut/tree nut free facility. San-J tests their rinse water for nut residue and make gluten-free tamari sauce. If you need help finding ingredients, check What’s in Nut Free Wok’s Cupboard? Allergy Aware Ingredients.

If one is allergic to cornstarch, try substituting tapioca or potato starch instead. You can just omit or substitute the other ingredients with something similar, enjoy!

This recipe as written is free of peanuts, tree nuts, egg, dairy, shellfish, fish and sesame. 

4.75 from 4 votes

Print

Chicken & Vegetable Lo Mein

This Chicken & Vegetables Lo Mein recipe is a veggie packed recipe, adapted from Nibbles by Nic with permission.

Course dinner, lunch

Cuisine Chinese, Chinese-American

Keyword chicken and vegetable lo mein, chicken lo mein

Prep Time 20 minutes

Cook Time 10 minutes

Total Time 30 minutes

Servings 8

Calories 445 kcal

Author Sharon Wong (NutFreeWok.com)

Ingredients

• 1 pound cappelini or angel hair pasta
• 2 teaspoons olive oil divided
• 1.5 pounds boneless, skinless chicken thighs (approximately 6)
• 1/4 cup soy sauce or to taste
• 1/4 cup water or reserve pasta cooking water
• 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoons sesame oil omit if allergic
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon ginger powder
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 pound garlic chives* chop into 1 to 1.5 inch pieces
• 4 medium carrots peeled and thinly sliced
• .5 pound snow peas trim ends

Instructions

1. Cook pasta according to package instructions until al dente. Reserve 1/2 cup of pasta water and drain the pasta in a colander.

2. Heat up a large skillet (12-14 inch) on medium heat, add 1 teaspoon olive oil, and pan fry chicken on both sides until cooked thoroughly, set aside to cool, and chop into bite sized pieces.

3. Prepare sauce by combining soy sauce, water, rice vinegar, cornstarch, sesame oil (if using), garlic powder, ginger powder, and sugar in a small mixing bowl and set aside.

4. In the same skillet, add another teaspoon of olive oil and stir fry the sliced carrots for 3-5 minutes. Add the garlic chives and stir fry until the chives are bright green ( 1minute).

5. Add snow peas, stir fry for 1 minute. Add the chopped chicken back into the pot and stir. Add the cooked pasta into the pot. Stir the cornstarch slurry and pour over the noodles.

6. Stir to combine the noodles with the stir fry until the sauce thickens or is absorbed by the pasta.

Recipe Notes

*The original recipe uses garlic chives and garlic chive flowers interchangeably which is ok only if the garlic chive flowers are very tender. 

If you like this recipe, you might like some of my other Asian carbs + protein stir-fry dishes:

• Garlic Noodles Recipe, Vietnamese Inspired, part of a 3 recipe meal plan with salmon and cheesy roasted cauliflower
• Rice Ovalettes with Pork and Vegetables Stir Fry Recipe (Chao Nian Gao)
• Delicious Beef Japchae, A Korean Glassy Noodle Stir Fry
• Vegetable Yakisoba Japanese Stir Fried Noodles with Veggies
• Beef Chow Fun Recipe
• Peanut Free Pad Thai That You Can Eat Everyday

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Disclaimer: Please check that all ingredients are suitable for your allergies and be sure to ask your medical care team regarding any allergy related questions (I do not share medical advice). As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.