Lo Mein, Original Cantonese Style, 4 ways (捞面/牛腩捞面)

Lo Mein's a popular takeout fried noodle dish, but in China it's a different thing entirely. There's plenty of stuff out there on the former... we wanted to show ya the latter.
It really is quite a simple dish, so at the same time we wanted to also show ya how to make a traditional braise beef brisket topping for this.
Full, detailed recipe over here on /r/cooking:
/ recipe_lo_mein_origina...
And check out our Patreon if you'd like to support the project!
www.patreon.com/ChineseCookingDemystified
Outro Music: "Add And" by Broke For Free
/ broke-for-free
ABOUT US
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Learn how to cook real deal, authentic Chinese food! We post recipes every Tuesday (unless we happen to be travelling) :)
We're Steph and Chris - a food-obsessed couple that lives in Shenzhen, China. Steph is from Guangzhou and loves cooking food from throughout China - you'll usually be watching her behind the wok. Chris is a long-term expat from America that's been living in China and loving it for the last nine years - you'll be listening to his explanations and recipe details, and doing some cooking at times as well.
This channel is all about learning how to cook the same taste that you'd get in China. Our goal for each video is to give you a recipe that would at least get you close to what's made by some of our favorite restaurants here. Because of that, our recipes are no-holds-barred Chinese when it comes to style and ingredients - but feel free to ask for tips about adaptations and sourcing too!

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

EDIT: Gotten a couple people reporting consistency issues with the braised beef sauce, so forgive me for re-stating point #5: the sauce that we showed at 4:02 was actually too thick! We wanted to keep things warm during filming so we ended up keeping the stuff over low heat until we got to it (IIRC 45-55 minutes covered). The sauce should be thin, like you see at 3:55. That said, if for whatever reason you *want* to follow our screw up, what I'd do is cook on low for another 30 minutes covered, then up the heat to medium, uncover, and reduce to your desired consistency. _____________________________________ Hey guys, as always... a few notes: 1. If you're looking for the takeout-style Lo Mein, you can't go wrong with The Art of Cooking's recipe. That channel's usually what we recommend for that kind of thing, he does a really good job. Unfortunately, he stopped uploading a while back, but his Lo Mein video's here: kzbin.info/www/bejne/hWalhqCdjtVlick 2. There's a *bunch* of different ways to make Cantonese beef brisket. We forgot to mention in the video that that's Steph's Granddad's recipe. There are other recipes that call for intermittently taking it on an off heat over the course of 5-6 hours. 3. On that note, I know that's like a mountain of spices there. There are three important ones: star anise, tangerine peel, and ginger. Luo han guo is really, really nice in there too though. 4. As you may or may not've been able to tell, our noodles weren't *exactly* correct there. Good enough for government work, but it can be weirdly tough to find nice Cantonese ingredients in Shenzhen (this town's really more Teochew/Hakka/Hunan). 5. And speaking of screw ups, the sauce was... a bit on the thick side. We let it roll on the burner for an extra ~45 minutes while we shot the Lo Mein part of the video. The sauce should kinda fall to the bottom of the plate almost like a ragu... whoops. 6. You don't have to use lard with Lo Mein, many people use toasted sesame oil. 7. Last thing, usually the oyster sauce is served as a dollop on the noodles to let the eater 'Lo' it all themselves. We just wanted to give ya a visual for what 'Lo'-ing entailed. 8. Totally forgot! For the best results, add a bit of salt and oil to the water when boiling the noodles. That's all I can think of for now :)

[@Jaze2022]

You have my respect. That's thoroughness is rarely seen.

[@texbotany]

Finally, a use for all those cicada exoskeletons hanging around!

[@s4njuro462]

I know right!!! I used to just let the baby play with them but now I know!

[@ah2522]

theyre easy to find on tree trunks

[@IstillHeartMyPrivacy]

They're all over the place in TX in the summertime.

[@zixiusu7106]

I am skeptical to the existence of any enzymes in it.

[@johncspine2787]

@@zixiusu7106 but..they’re so crunchy,..and……delicious,…?

[@pinkmonkeybird2644]

I just happen to have brisket from my local humane farm on order for this weekend, so I will make a trip to my local Asian grocery store to hopefully source the necessary ingredients not currently in my pantry so I can attempt the braised brisket topping. It looks fabulous, and I’m curious at how the various flavors will meld together. Fortunately my teen children are adventurous eaters and enjoy helping me cook, so I’m looking forward to a very pleasant Saturday, thanks to you. Seriously, you guys are providing such a valuable service to those of us who will probably never travel to the various regions in China, as we all know food is what connects us all together.

[@kehutrankehutran427]

you guys never disappoint! Would you guys consider making a video on Chow Fun? I havn't seen a recipe that quite nails that restaurant style flavor, but I definitely believe you guys can!

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

It's on the list! Definitely gotta get to that one. It *will* be an interesting one to try to master... even though we often wax poetic about how powerful stoves and wok hei are often crazy overthought in some English language sources, that *is* kinda a variable for ganchao niuhe. We'll need to see what we can do :)

[@raunakagarwal8038]

So happy to have discovered this channel, have you guys ever tried Indian style Chinese food? Would love to get your take on the cuisine and to know how similar or far apart it is from actual chinese food!

[@thisissteph9834]

We actually have very little knowledge about Indian style Chinese food, we only know that there're Hakka people in India, so can you give us some dish names? And when you're travelling in India, it's very difficult to not eat the super delicious Indian food and go for Chinese, lol.

[@raunakagarwal8038]

Steph - Chinese Cooking Demystified Haha, fair enough. Well we have our own versions of lo mein, chow mein, kung pao chicken, egg fooyung but I know for a fact that we have taken the chilli oil recipe and bastardized it into something called Szchewan sauce ( yes that's the spelling, lol) and came up with a whole cuisine around said sauce. Also popular dishes are soups like hot and sour, clear soup, char sui is available in some places but they are not the authentic version ofcourse but dumplings are getting more and more popular here, would love to see some Hakka recipes to know how different it is here from China :D

[@alih666]

Got a request from Sydney, Australia. We have a Malatang chain here - Yang Guo Fu Malatang. It is without a doubt my favourite meal to treat myself with when I go out. I'd love to see your take on it - keep up the fantastic work.

[@naranjo99]

the Brisket deserves a video all of it's own. ;)

[@LGH666]

Sweet lord we have to pick 100's to 1000's of the cicadas shells off the sides of the house and shead. I will have to save some and try them out. Any source for info on specific uses besides as a tenderizer?

[@GKizer]

I actually remember eating a noodle dish at a local chinese restaurant, and eating something that I could have sworn was a bug shell, now I know it was a cicada shell, not that that made me sick or anything, but it was a little offputting (i like to know beforehand what I'm eating). I finished it, it was good, but like I said, I don't like to be surprised lol...

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

I mean... the cicada shell *should* be removed after braising ;)

[@ZyNgInaMo]

I was about to ask for a braised beef recipe!! I wanted to compare it with my version..I'll definitely try this out soon. Thanks for the awesome vid

[@thisissteph9834]

Oh, cool, what's your version?

[@ZyNgInaMo]

Steph - Chinese Cooking Demystified its filipino-chinese fish called pares...it gets braised in soy sauce,anise,bay leaf,green onions, garlic, ginger and brown sugar

[@FIyingDumpling]

Subscribed. Your channel deserves it!

[@pipsasqeak820]

Adding the lard bits make it tastier

[@thisissteph9834]

Yeah, some people would also do “油渣捞面”, which is adding the lard and crackland, we figured the crackland we did is a Guizhou style, so it didn't end up in the noodles.

[@btaleonard02]

IMHO, the dripping (lard) from roast pork is the best if you can manage to find it :)

[@llamaalpaca5563]

just curious will supermarket lard work too?

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Absolutely! We just notice a lot of folks don't seem to have convenient access to lard, and it's dead easy to render out yourself :) If you already got it in your cupboard, perfect.

[@chantik]

Could Indian ghee replace lard?

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Taste would be totally different, but I mean... why not experiment sometime and see what it's like? :)

[@PrincessCupncake]

Are you in N. America?I'm guessing you're talking about that stuff in the green and white packaging if you are. Please don't use that. It has next to no flavor. Just take the time to brown up some fatty 80/20 ground beef and use the fat that comes out of that. Or pull the skins off some chicken and fry on low. Both ways will give you 150x tastier animal fat in about 5 minutes and you can use the meat to eat alongside the noodles. Seriously don't use the store bought lard. That stuff is to be used where you would use crisco.

[@majcrash]

@@PrincessCupncake Or bacon grease. Yum!

[@martindunne9234]

Great work as always! Thanks for the video. That's really interesting. Here in the UK we call the westernised lo mien as chow mein. Seems like the same as the westernised lo mien. I had no idea the Chinese original was so different. I'll definitely give this a go at some point. One question, could I dry my own orange peel to go into the braised beef?

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Sure, just be sure to do a bang up job cutting/scratching off the bitter white pith of the orange before drying - these guys're sun-dried btw. It wouldn't be precisely the same taste, but we weren't even using aged tangerine peels here, so it should totally work :)

[@martindunne9234]

Chinese Cooking Demystified ok, thank you :)

[@brady1407]

Where can I move so I can't find those shells

[@s4njuro462]

TAKE OUT THE BEEF -- words to live by

[@RiamsWorld]

I know people fry cicadas in the US but I've heard not to sure to living in the soil with pesticide for years.

[@Ndouglas414]

is there a definitive cookbook on chinese cooking you would reccomend?

[@sthompson12132]

if they wrote a cookbook i’d buy it for myself and every chef i know

[@jihight972]

can we use hoisin instead of Mianchi?

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Use red miso instead of mianchi, they're the same thing :) If you really, really can't find either... sure, Hoisin hits some of the same notes

[@arunm8838]

Can you add video of hand pulled noodles in detail

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Haha hand pulled noodles is... a skill. It's on the list, but we need a lot more practice :) In the Dapanji vid we did a variety of hand-pulled noodles called 'kudaimian', which're a bit easier than the thin sort... to make really good hand pulled noodles you should be able to get em as thin as a needle... which we're no where close to skill-wise lol. Regardless, here's the link to Kudaimian handpulled noodles, timestamp halfway through the vid when Steph starts making em: kzbin.info/www/bejne/r3fMlJSwdtpgrpom5s

[@douglasheld]

I went to a North London Chinese shop with "1 jar 面豉" on my list, and the staff said, "this doesn't make sense." I ended up buying Lee Kum Kee "Soy Bean Sauce" and also Wangzhihe "Traditional Bean Curd", some tofu in a red sauce with red yeast in the ingredients. I used 50/50 these in place of Mianchi. Should I expect this to work out?

[@douglasheld]

Also: beef was still tough after 60 minutes. I will check again at 90. I have never cooked brisket before.

[@lisacastano1064]

@@douglasheld brisket takes time lol I braise my yankee pot roast in the oven at 200 overnight bbq brisket goes at least that long in the smoker but 6 hours is probably the minimum time for it.

[@EdenYell]

This is going to be tough to veganize....

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Use toasted sesame oil! You might need to go easy on the quantity but the logic is the same :) For oyster sauce... I'd go with mushroom oyster sauce. It's true that Cantonese food is generally way easier to make pesca than vegan. Still easier to work around than nut/gluten allergies though. As a totally random aside, how do you feel about ostroveganism?

[@bonniebranch6083]

Can you all do a Mai Fun recipe? I found one on youtube but it was not as flavorful as I hoped :( Help a half Asian out please haha!

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

What sort of Mai Fun dish you looking for? If you send us a link to the video you were working off of we could always share how we'd adapt/go about it :) We do have a video recipe for the HK dish "'Singapore' Fried Rice Noodles" (not actually Singaporean lol, still tasty though), but something tells me that's probably not really what you're looking for.

[@bonniebranch6083]

Thank you so much! I'm half Chinese and my dad (my Chinese parent from Guang Dong) left when I was 10 so I always want to make Chinese food but don't really know how to replicate dishes from my childhood. So thank you for creating such a detailed channel! I think what I am looking for is just a simple pork Mai Fan with thin rice noodles. My aunt used to make it when we came to visit and a solid Chinese restaurant we used to live by had a delicious version as well. But when I tried this recipe, it didn't turn out as tasty. kzbin.info/www/bejne/q16li3eifLurhqc Thank you again

[@lisacastano1064]

@@bonniebranch6083 my mom was from Taiwan and this is how she did it. A few dried shitake soaked and sliced Some pork belly if you can find fresh sliced side pork it's easier cut it in thin strips. Shredded cabbage I cheat and use the preshredded bags for coleslaw. Soy sauce Salt Msg Crushed garlic Brown the pork add the garlic then shitake and cabbage is the last to go in then season with salt and soy sauce and a pinch of msg cover for a few seconds until the cabbage starts wilting then add some water and put the soaked noodles on top cover and let the noodles steam on top of everything for about 2 minutes mix everything together and check the seasoning add a few drops of sesame oil and serve. I've been making this one since she taught me since I started cooking lol. Sometimes she'd add some dried shrimp too.

[@baudecordier]

going nuts trying to find dried shrimp roe in NYC (manhattan) chinatown. Any ideas? Don't want to import 100 kg from china....

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Haha no need to go nuts, sometimes things can be sourced, sometimes they can't :) Apparently some folks on the West coast can find em, but yeah they weren't anywhere I looked when I was back in Philly over CNY either. Now you know what to buy and bring back if you find yourself in China though! Sorry for introducing something impossible for ya to find, in our defense we did give a disclaimer and three other recipes haha.

[@chestertan6500]

*Looooks legit chris and steph!*

[@thisissteph9834]

Thx :)

[@caishaoting]

Cicada shells? 😦

[@winniehwm]

LO it... lol

[@roysingh5975]

Waaasy toooo much spices for that amount of meat. 1 nutmeg? Etc.I

[@douglasheld]

Well I tried it (with the tea variant) and what I found is it took me about 3 hours for the meat to soften acceptably. By that time, among the spices there is something that made the result very bitter.

[@maxiapalucci2511]

Why are you pronouncing 面 mīn？shouldn’t it be Mián？not criticizing just trying to learn Chinese

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

It's the Cantonese. When saying the name of a Cantonese dish I try to say the Cantonese as (1) there's a good chunk of Chinese Americans/Singaporeans/Malaysians that watch the vids, many of which are proud Cantonese speakers and (2) often that's just the more recognizable name for certain stuff abroad e.g. "Char Siu" instead of "Chashao". Sometimes it's a little hard because while my (Chris's) Mandarin's pretty alright, my Cantonese ability is like "hello"/"count to ten" kind of level. You're right that the Mandarin's "mian", but just FYI it's fourth tone not second :) Charcter by character the name would be “lao1mian4" in Mandarin. If you said the Mandarin though it *might* get confused by the Henan dish bearing the same name, depending where you are.

[@maxiapalucci2511]

Chinese Cooking Demystified 谢谢啊！

[@Chewi_Kitten]

If I told my parents that I used those insect shells, they would gag all the way from last week

[@jonlangfitt]

After learning the actual differences between chow mein and lo mein, making lo mein with caramelized sauce without stir frying the noodles has been incredibly better. It absolutely kills me that in the west there's almost no difference besides stir frying the noodles less to avoid browning or crispiness. I find the traditional tossing in sauce to be much more enjoyable and easier on the amount of dishes to wash afterwards.

[@mevvern]

I could go outside right now and grab some cicada shells midwest life

[@rusdanibudiwicaksono1879]

So, Lo Mein... Chow Mein.... I can see why non-Chinese speaker easily confuses these two. Hilariously enough, in Java, we called high-end Lo Mien you made here as 'Cwie Mie'. Of course, we substitute lard with vegetable oil because Muslim, but stil...

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Hmm... interesting! Just looked up Cwie Mie on google and it seems so Teochew style to us. I know Mie's noodles, what does 'Cwie' refer to in Indonesian?

[@rusdanibudiwicaksono1879]

Chinese Cooking Demystified Honestly, I don't know. You need someone who understand these things more than me. My knowledge was limited that it was patented as household brand ("Hot Cwie Mie") and it was started in Malang, East Java. Or in Bandung, West Java. Can't really sure.

[@domeskeetz]

Cicada shells for tenderizing ? what

[@ohdogwow2]

Thanks so much for the video. The beef looked fantastic! I'm going to try the lard and oyster sauce. It looks very simple. Thanks again! :)

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Cheers! I know that it wasn't exactly everything you were asking, but I hope we were able to answer a few questions :)

[@1970abhijit]

Hi guys, I am in UK. When I visited Hong Kong few years back I had crispy fried noodles. I loved it. Is it possible to do a video on this Also can you share a video on Marination (different types) for chicken and prawn. Thanks

[@mattmcmaniac]

Really appreciate the effort you guys put into making these.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Cheers, thanks Matt! I know the editing/narration's nowhere near as good as some others on KZbin, but we try :)

[@dbok]

Interesting, noodles with oyster sauce was something my parents made when I was young, usually with green onion, bok choy and bbq pork from the store. Now I know that it was something they probability had at some point when they were younger.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Yep, Char Siu's another classic. We actually even had a box of Char Siu ready to go when filming, but decided in the end to cut it out :)

[@pipsasqeak820]

The first version with just sauce is too hard

[@alexbean1905]

hi from kenji

[@hjy1990]

Can you please make a video on how to make Cantonese style zongzi （粽）? It's almost that time of the year!

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Yep! We're planning on it. 6/12, testing's basically done :)

[@g-dodzvillaroman2907]

could you please make some hokkien mee noodles Singapore style?Thanks

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Hmm... so we usually focus on Chinese food in mainland China and HK/Macao. We're much less confident in doing straights Chinese kinda stuff - we've never lived there, so all we got to go off of's memories when traveling. That said, we've been thinking about doing some sort of cooperation with the channel Spice N Pans (they do a nice job) where we each do a version of the same dish where they do the Singapore/Malaysia style. Maybe that dish would be a nice one to do if we can figure out a Fujian equivalent :)

[@rhijulbec1]

WOW! Look at how many subscribers! Congratulations Steph and Chris. I'm right chuffed at your growth. My mouth has been watering since the first moment. If I could afford beef I'd make the brisket tomorrow. The thick sauce wasn't a mistake at all! Thinking of that concentrated flavour~WOW! (I'm drooling just thinking of it) If you could see what is passed off as Lo Mein in my city~you'd cry. It's just the worst. So, it's all four in my book to try, but I'm not really sure about the shrimp powder (as you said, hard to source) but certainly the other three are on my Must Try list! Jenn 💖 in Canada 🍁

[@n0etic_f0x]

Oh my god, is this how you say it? I have said low low mean as kid and you can find dried shrimp here...well I can you can the buy it. As for brisket bitch, I am from fucking Texas so A)cicada shells are free B) sorry if that was rude

[@everythingvideos24]

To much grease & meat fat for me

[@EmLeingod]

So what's the closest thing to American Lo Mein?

[@gabrieljardimpereirapinto6675]

Hate when the wok is dry, no long yao...

[@kkewz]

:O wow never ever heard of that shrimp egg stuff! wondering what it tastes like 🤤 the only thing remotely similar that I can think of is masago (Japanese for fish roes, the tiny ones)

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Dried shrimp eggs are awesome. Unfortunately not cheap - that little bottle's like $10 USD... here in China. Random aside, but my go-to hangover food is leftover white rice reheated in the microwave, smothered in dried shrimp eggs with a swirl of kewpie mayo.

[@justamissgrace]

How do you make the soup on the side?

[@YUNICE]

“Lo it” lol

[@shikami353]

Are you guys planning on showing us how to cook pork large intestine? I really want to make it at home, but don't even know how to clean it.

[@Balala_]

Starberry I think you can buy them precut and cleaned at supermarkets, but yes I would love to see a video on that too

[@thisissteph9834]

I was talking to Chris the other day about doing the Hakka dish where you stuff a chicken into a pork stomach, we've been wanting to do it but it's really a winter dish, so maybe this upcoming autumn/winter?

[@5.0foxbody8]

I love you guys!!!!! My usual takeout guy is starting to hate you guys tho 🤣 Lol oh well 🤷🏽‍♂️ I love Chinese food and I’m a Filipino

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Haha cheers! You based out of The Philippines or somewhere else?

[@5.0foxbody8]

Chinese Cooking Demystified No based out of the San Francisco Bay Area

[@PhatTrumpet2]

Oh, dog. Wow! (2)

[@spaceinvader384]

Looks like you guys are possibly a new, terrific and devoted pair of genuinely sincere couple who really want to help/show/share the correct way of cooking, in fabulous Cantonese style. For those who are not familiar, Canton is where the best Chinese food (tastewise) is, with lots of varieties and food types. I left Hong Kong many decades ago for Sydney but never forget the traditional way/taste of Cantonese food. You guys are the only ones so far to show/explain the genuine ways of Cantonese cooking. Tremendous effort, entertaining with detailed demo every dish, much appreciated. Keep up with the good work, top videos.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Cheers! Yeah we absolutely adore Cantonese food - while there's awesome food throughout China, it definitely deserves its reputation. Steph's from Guangzhou and comes from a family that's completely food obsessed - her Dad's a real incredible Cantonese homecook :) I think we were able to mildly impress him with the Char Siu sauce and that's about it lol

[@wingtolau6553]

Big applause to Steph's dad. Hope your work here will entice/pass on/improve Cantonese style cooking. We are lucky these days, as overseas residents, can now get hold of most food types & ingredients. Greetings from Sydney, Australia. Your work is absolutely unforgettable.

[@concerned_netizen]

Could you please show the Chinese characters for that cut of brisket?

[@thisissteph9834]

坑腩～

[@concerned_netizen]

謝謝

[@lizzie1471]

Yeah so I ordered lo mein from a place near me, and I literally just got a bowl full of onions and a few celery slices in some weird flavorless white sauce. When I told my bf that I got the wrong food, he said that it wasn’t that bad. What I got was nowhere near any of these examples.

[@PhilipIvesMusic]

Just found this amazing channel!! Thank you! Could you possibly do Lo Mai Gai? One of my favourite dim sum dishes.

[@123four...]

Wow, I never thought that Kenji liked this channel. That's a welcome surprise.

[@HatakeMegumi]

Can you do a video on the lo mein variation with pork in the red sauce that’s sweet, sour and a little spicy?

[@ioanachitic]

Those cicada shells made me shudder. They look a lot like nasty ass cockroaches. Great video otherwise, lol

[@LeePhakhailathavong]

Can I omit the lard from the lo mein?

[@wakameenzo8453]

Do you guys have another recommendation of topping on it?Since I got here in Philly I love making Chinese cuisine, especially Cantonese deshies.I love this recipe,it’s authentic!

[@lisacastano1064]

Something I personally like is bacon grease and a little of my favorite soy sauce not authentic but really tasty.

[@LDebbieg]

Hi Chinese Cooking Demystified, can you please show us how to cook twice cooked pork chops with the "orange" colored sauce? I love this dish but do not know how to cook it well. Thank you.

[@thisissteph9834]

Video is out now :)

[@l0new0lf000]

Yum

[@leexande]

Is there any difference between Brisket for dry noodles and Soup Noodle?

[@thisissteph9834]

In Cantonese noodle shops, they're the same thing.

[@wflute1999]

Do you have any plans for suanla chaoshou/ wontons in chili oil

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Yep, Chaoshou in chili oil was actually gunna be on the plate for this week! We were a bit busy though so we just wanted to do a dish that required like minimum testing... so Lo Mein it was :)

[@dizzydazed8055]

best channel for cooking authentic Chinese food. let me know if I can come round one day after a filming session, I live in Guangzhou too. I picked up a lot of neat tricks from you guys.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Ah cool, we're Shenzhen based though! Feel free to swing by if you're ever in town, we're in Futian. Used to be an open invitation to swing by for the end of filming on Sundays, eat some of our stuff, and fill up at a Hakka restaurant after (we've had two people take us up on that)... still is, but we've committed to a D&D game Sunday nights and it's always a rush for us to finish filming and get out the door. You're welcome to come by for filming, but huge word of warning that (1) it's actually not overly interesting to watch and (2) we gotta be focused on cooking/shooting and can't really hang out. So if ya feel like coming by, another night might actually be better and we could all go grab a bite :)

[@dizzydazed8055]

cheers folks for the offer, if we're in the area - I will try and give you a heads up. Keep making these awesome videos!

[@Jodabomb24]

Can you guys do a soup dumpling video at some point?

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Yep, we totally got to get to Xiaolongbao :)

[@zaabit412]

Keep up the awesome work! Cheers from Belgrade, Serbia!

[@thisissteph9834]

Thx and cheers~~ :)

[@joec.743]

WAIT WAIT, 2:50 What are those? Be Specific general terminology.

[@joec.743]

Laymans term! please

[@Immryr]

he was pretty specific in the video. they're cicada shells. insects.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Yep, the shells of these guys: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada You know, those bugs that make summer sound like... summer :) It's just to tenderize, doesn't really impart a taste. They're used in TCM for... some reason (Steph says it has some kind of calming effect?), so you might be able to get em at a Chinese medicine shop if you're curious. But yeah, that was included more just because I (Chris) found it really interesting haha - you never stop learning when it comes to Chinese food. Just use black tea, it has the same tenderizing effect!

[@myroomisblue2679]

I personally have a hypothesis that there is a linguistic connection between lo mein and japanese ra men

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Pretty sure the characters of Ramen = Lamian, i.e. pulled noodles?

[@myroomisblue2679]

@@ChineseCookingDemystified exactly

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Nah I mean, Lamian = 拉面 = Ramen; Lo Mein (Laomian in Mandarin) = 捞面

[@RITCWargames]

cicada shells...i always wondered why in the middle of the australian summer when i walked outside some random chinese guy would be climbing up my trees

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Haha it's a pretty old school addition here but really works to tenderize stuff. Still interested in what the science is there.

[@Afeeq1011]

I'm curious of your take on wat tan hor noodle