When I make lo mein noodles at home, it never taste as good as in the restaurant. What's their secret?
>>21968662MSG
Probably a lot more oil, salt and msg
>>21968662wok
>>21968665cooklets say this every time but it's never the answer. MSG makes everything taste good but it's never the missing ingredient. all it can do is enhance existing flavors, if your dish is missing a specific flavor element, you're probably not looking for MSG.
>>21968662sugar.they add sugar to their sauces.
>>21968762>>21968699>>21968665Might be fish sauce or oyster sauce, as a component of the noodles. That shit adds a certain je ne sais quoi to asian dishes and makes them taste a lot closer to what you'd get at a takeout place.There is absolutely no good Chinese food in Spokane, at all, so ever since I moved here a couple of years ago, I've just been making the shit at home as best as I can. My general tsos is indistinguishable from a good takeout place.
>>21968789fuck that's basedi wish i could try your 'en 'sos
>>21968940NTA but I cook a lot of Asian foods because a lot of the time they use ingredients with sodium metabisulfite which makes my lungs kind of stop being lungs and then I puke, TMI I knowBut I've found some really good cooking channels on YT for making takeout-style Asian foodsJason Farmerglebe kitchenTaste of Asian foodGet CurriedChinese cooking demystified (hard mode)Food Wishes (lazy mode)Maangchi (KMILF)Sideways (not food-related I just like to say leitmotif)KQED (because I'm French and I fucking love JP I got to meet him once and I got an autographed cookbook)Japanese Top ChefsHelen's Recipes
>>21968762Sounds to me like you're just not adding enough MSG.
>>21969065now listen, you
>>21968959No mention of Mandy from Souped Up Recipes? Shame!!
>>21968662>why does my food not taste as good>doesn't say what he puts in itIf you were forced to watch your family get raped just before you were executed, the world would be a better place
>>21969282it's not that serious
>>21968662Extremely high heat, assuming you actually have decent chinese restaurants nearby. Nobody has a burner like that at home so this is your best option at home:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRxDpjNDt3A
>>21968662For Fujian/ Putien style lo mein:>pork bones broth, lots and lots of bones (or chicken bones)>some seafood broth such as prawn shells, but not too much>cabbage>the usual garlic, shallot/ anions etc>pan fry some bacon/ pork belly meat, then add the broth into it>add some clams/ whatever shelled creatures you fancy
>>21968662>What's their secret?https://youtu.be/ZRPg3Q8tK6M?si=ydZChZ07wmZmEdrG
>>21968662>What's their secret?I came to the conclusion the secret is having a nice wok and one of those jet-engine style gas burners.
>>21969371>jet-engine style gas burnersexactly. they are like 50x more powerful than a regular gas stove. it's the only way to get that "wok hei" flavor
>>21969142I got a concussion a couple of days ago, my memory and language kind of sucks right now, but yes
>>21968662Today, I will teach you.Most lo mein noodles at restaurants do not taste as good as mine do. I do not have a proper wok setup and mine would probably taste even better if I did but I still do better than most restaurants. I have practiced and messed with recipes until I got what I wanted. I use this as a basehttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjB_LAHPMSUInstead of putting julienned ginger in the marinade, I dice it finely and use it with the white parts of the green onion when heating my aromatics. In the marinade I add crushed szechuan peppercorns because I really enjoy the taste and numbing spice. I additionally add chili crisp to the end product along with(as the other anon suggested) a good bit of MSG, then some salt, pepper, chili oil, and chicken boulion powder to taste. Yes right at the end, it will incorporate into the sauce and improve things greatly. But the one thing that must absolutely without question be changed in this recipe in the youtube video for good results is:DOUBLE THE SAUCE COMPONENTS.I don't know why this asian bitch is so stingy there but lo mein is a saucy noodle and one that is better after a day. You do not want your noodles to be dry when first eating them and you certainly don't want your noodles to dry out in the fridge, so double all sauce components. Additionally, once the noodles cool, when storing them cover them in plastic wrap before putting the lid on your container. This will go a long way towards your noodles being just as good or better the days following.When reheating I add a bit more chili oil and a splash of water to combat the bit of drying you do get from storing them.This is how they should look when they come out. If it's not saucy it's not lo mein. This is better than most chinese restaurants I've been so. I am disappointed in most chinese restaurants not being able to do better despite likely having a proper wok setup.
>>21969428For everyone like me who is tl:dr I had chattyg summarise:Uses a YouTube recipe as a base (with personal modifications)Finely dices ginger and cooks it with green onion whites (instead of marinating it)Adds crushed Sichuan peppercorns to the marinade for numbing spiceDoubles all sauce ingredients (key step to avoid dry noodles)Finishes dish with:Chili crispMSGSalt, pepperChili oilChicken bouillon powderAims for a very saucy lo mein (should not be dry)Stores leftovers covered with plastic wrap (under lid) to retain moistureReheats with extra chili oil + a splash of water to restore textureFinal goal: rich, saucy noodles that taste better than most restaurant versions
>>21969432That's the gist of it but your illiteracy misses the emphasis I placed on how truly crucial it is to double the sauce components. Read a book every once in a while man.
>>21969447I missed nothing, ChatGPT missed that. Although it didn't really >Doubles all sauce ingredients (key step to avoid dry noodles)
>>21969448Your reliance on AI has robbed you of the connotation behind words. I put it in all caps and kept talking about it for a reason. It's important for success here beyond what your LLM broke down to a single word. I didn't even mention the word "rich" anywhere in the post, even if you could describe these noodles that way. "Meaty" and "varied in texture" are more accurate due to the addition of the chicken bouillon powder, oyster+hoison sauce, and the play between the cabbage, noodle, and velveted chicken. This shit is turning your brain to mush by thinking for you and filling in gaps.
>>21969453Everything you say is true
>>21969371>>21969380Sure, let's burn the house down bro
>>21968662found some nerd cook on youtube that had a spot on recipe, jason farmer. i think.
i miss my mongolian bbq place
