Here's how to make Chinese stir-fried noodles with beansprouts, just like the ones from a Chinese restaurant. These noodles take no time at all to cook and they make the perfect side dish to serve with your favourite Chinese meal.
Whenever I order a Chinese takeaway l always order a dish of noodles with beansprouts. I love the combination of soft noodles and crunchy beansprouts combined with the flavours of soy and oyster sauce.
These noodles have many names depending on the restaurant you order from - plain lo main, vegetable lo mein, soft fried noodles, noodles with vegetables, noodles with beansprouts- the list goes on.
But essentially, what they are is simply boiled noodles with the addition of beansprouts and onions, flavoured with a mixture of sesame, soy sauce and oyster sauce.
And they are so quick to make - you can whip up a batch in next to no time, and get your Chinese noodle fix whenever you feel like it!
This recipe for noodles with beansprouts is perfect for serving with any of your favourite Chinese dishes such as sweet and sour chicken, beef and broccoli stir fry or this ultra-tasty crispy orange pork stir fry.
If you prefer a dish of fried rice rather than noodles, you might like try this Chinese egg-fried rice with peas and ham.
And here are the easy instructions:
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Ingredients
This recipe will be more than enough for 2 people. If you need to scale it up to feed more, just double up on the ingredients (except for the sesame oil - adjust that to taste).
- Chinese noodles - you can find these noodles in the Asian section of most supermarkets. They are dried noodles, the sort you have to boil, not the instant ramen noodles. However, you could use ramen noodles instead - just discard the spice packet and rehydrate them in boiling water. You can also use soft ready-cooked noodles in which case you can skip the step to cook them.
- Onions - these should be peeled and finely sliced.
- Beansprouts - These should be fresh, not canned. I love the texture of this dish, with the crispiness of the beansprouts combined with the softness of the noodles.
- Oil - this is sunflower oil or other neutral-flavoured vegetable oil. It is used for softening the onions.
- Sesame oil - sesame oil is only used for seasoning. It has a very strong flavour so you will only need a few drops.
- Soy sauce - this is dark soy sauce - don't use light soy sauce - it will be too salty.
- Oyster sauce - this adds an umami flavour to the noodles.
- Spring onion - the white part will be fried with the onions and the green stem will be finely chopped and used as a garnish.
- Sesame seeds - optional and not pictured - for garnish.
**You can find the exact ingredient measurements on the printable recipe card at the end of this post**
Instructions
These Chinese noodles will only take a few minutes to prepare and cook.
I would suggest you prepare the vegetables first so that everything is ready for cooking:
- Peel and slice the onion
- Cut the root off the spring onion, slice the white part into small pieces and add it to the onion; slice the green part into thin slices and set aside for garnish.
- Rinse the beansprouts under cold water and drain them.
Step 1: Cook the noodles in lightly salted water for one minute less than the time stated on the packet then drain them and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process. The noodles will finish cooking when they get mixed with the sauce.
Step 2: Heat the sunflower oil and sesame oil on medium heat in a frying pan. Add the onions and stir-fry them for 3 to 4 minutes until they start to soften.
Step 3: Add the beansprouts and stir for a further 2 minutes.
Step 4: Add the noodles back to the pan and stir in the oyster sauce and the soy sauce. Cover the pan with a lid and leave on low heat for 2 minutes until the noodles are piping hot.
Transfer the noodles to a serving dish and garnish with chopped green onion and a sprinkling of sesame seeds.
Tips for a successful outcome
Here are my top tips to ensure your stir-fried noodles turn out perfectly:
- Use medium-thickness noodles if possible.
- When cooking the noodles, add a little salt to the water otherwise the noodles may be bland and tasteless.
- Don't overcook the noodles. They will continue cooking as they heat in the sauce and you don't want them to turn mushy.
- Do not add too much oil to the onions when softening them. If there is oil leftover in the pan once the onions have softened, drain it away before adding the beansprouts otherwise your noodles will taste 'oily'.
- When frying the onions, don't let them brown and don't overcook them - you want them to be translucent with a slight crunch.
- Do not add too much sesame oil - it has a very strong flavour and can overpower the other flavours of this dish.
- When you add the noodles to the sauce, make sure that you stir them to coat them thoroughly. If you have cooked too many noodles for the amount of sauces in the recipe you can add extra soy and oyster sauce one teaspoon at a time.
Variations
This is the basic recipe for Chinese noodles, and normally what you would get if you were to order a takeaway.
You can add more vegetables to turn this into a full-blown lo mein dish, such as:
- Mange-tout
- Juilieened carrots
- Sliced bell pepper / capsicums
- Slices pak choi
If you want to add garlic, you can fry one or two cloves of chopped garlic with the onions.
Make it spicy by frying a chopped chilli pepper with the onions.
Add even more flavour by stirring a tablespoon of tomato puree in with the soy sauce and oyster sauce.
See my recipe for vegetable lo mein which I have made with steamed vegetables.
Equipment
You will need a saucepan and a colander for cooking and draining the noodles.
You will also need a saute pan or a large frying pan with a lid for stir-frying.
And finally you will need a sharp knife and chopping board for cutting up the onions, and a spatula for stirring everything.
Storage
This dish isn't suitable for freezing, but you can throw it together in the time it would take to defrost.
You can store leftovers in the refrigerator for 2 days and reheat them in the microwave or in a saucepan on medium heat on the stove.
FAQ
The two most common varieties of beansprouts are the green-capped ones which are grown from mung bean and the larger, yellow-capped ones which are grown from soy beans. Neither of these varieties has a very long shelf-life; they will become brown and wilted within one or two days of purchasing. A single serving of beansprouts counts as one of your 5-a-day.
See below for ways to extend the life of your next packet of beansprouts.
How many times have you bought a packet of beansprouts to add to a salad and ended up throwing half of the packet away because they have turned slimy in the refrigerator?
Did you know that you can freeze fresh beansprouts and use them for cooking?
Transfer the fresh beansprouts to a plastic bag and place them in the freezer. When you are ready to use them simply break off as many as you will need for your recipe and cook them from frozen. Replace the rest back into the freezer for another meal. They will keep indefinitely
I promise you won't notice the difference. I always add a packet of beansprouts to my shopping list and keep them in the freezer until I need them.
Leave a little air in the packet before freezing so the frozen beansprouts separate easily.
If you want to store fresh beansprouts (so you can use them in a salad) place them in a Tupperware container, cover them with cold water and store them in the refrigerator for up to a week. Change the water every 2 days.
Dry on a paper towel or drain in a colander before adding to your salad.
Save for later
If you would like to make these Chinese stir-fried noodles with beansprouts why not save the recipe to one of your Pinterest boards so you can find it easily? Just click on the image below.
Alternatively, you can save the recipe by clicking on the floating heart icon on the right-hand side of the screen.
Related recipes
Visit my Asian-inspired recipes page for other similar recipes. Here are a few that you might like:
📋The recipe
Chinese stir-fried noodles
(Click the stars to rate this recipe)
Equipment
- Saucepan
- Colander
- Saute pan with lid OR
- Frying Pan with lid
- Sharp Knife
- Chopping Board
- Spatula
Ingredients
- 4½ ounces / 130 grams Chinese dried noodles
- 1 teaspoon salt or to taste
- 1 small white onion peeled and finely sliced
- 1 - 2 spring onions / green onions sliced - add white part to the onions and keep the green part for garnish.
- 3½ ounces / 100 grams fresh beansprouts
- 1 tablespoon sunflower oil for softening the onions
- ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 1 teaspoon sesame seeds optional for garnish
Instructions
- Cook the noodles in lightly salted water for one minute less than the time stated on the packet then drain them and rinse under cold water to stop the cooking process. The noodles will finish cooking when they get mixed with the sauce.4½ ounces / 130 grams Chinese dried noodles, 1 teaspoon salt
- Heat the sunflower oil and sesame oil on medium heat in a frying pan. Add the onions and stir-fry them for 3 to 4 minutes until they start to soften. Drain any excess oil from the onions.1 small white onion, 1 - 2 spring onions / green onions, 1 tablespoon sunflower oil, ½ teaspoon sesame oil
- Add the beansprouts to the onions and stir for a further 2 minutes.3½ ounces / 100 grams fresh beansprouts
- Add the noodles back to the pan and stir in the oyster sauce and the soy sauce. Cover the pan with a lid and leave on low heat for 2 minutes until the noodles are piping hot.2 tablespoons dark soy sauce, 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- Transfer the noodles to a serving dish and optionally garnish with a sprinkling of sesame seeds and the chopped green onions.
Notes
- When cooking the noodles, add a little salt to the water otherwise the noodles may be bland and tasteless.
- Don't overcook the noodles. They will continue cooking as they heat in the sauce and you don't want them to turn mushy.
- Do not add too much oil to the onions when softening them. If there is oil leftover in the pan once the onions have softened, drain it away before adding the beansprouts otherwise your noodles will taste 'oily'.
- When frying the onions, don't let them brown and don't overcook them - you want them to be translucent with a slight crunch.
- When you add the noodles to the sauce, make sure that you stir them to coat them thoroughly. If you have cooked too many noodles for the amount of sauces in the recipe you can add extra soy and oyster sauce one teaspoon at a time.
Nutrition
I am not a nutritionist. The nutrition information has been calculated using an on-line calculator, and is intended for information and guidance purposes only. If the nutrition information is important to you, you should consider calculating it yourself, using your preferred tool.
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VJ
I hope you all try this recipe - it makes a very tasty accompaniment to most Chinese dishes.