Vegetarian Chow Mein

I make this chow mein recipe regularly for my meat eating son, but if I cook it all up first and cook his meat separately it is relatively easy to make two different meals within one so to speak.

Ingredients

Cooking oil

1 onion sliced

1 clove of garlic, crushed

6 mushrooms sliced

chopped carrot, celery, red capsicum

Tofu - diced

2 portions of egg noodles

Method

In a wok or suitable pan with a little oil, saute onion over gentle heat till clear, add garlic and and continue to stir fry for two minutes. Add carrot, celery and capsicum. Cook for a further few minutes until the vegetables are softened. Add mushrooms. Use more oil as needed to avoid burning the ingredients.

Next bring enough water to the boil to cook two portions of egg noodles. Add these and stir with fork to break up. When they are cooked enough to free up drain and add to the vegetables.

Sauce

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar

1 teaspoon brown sugar

Mix the above ingredients together and pour over the noodles and vegetables. Add some water if required to keep the mixture moist and moving.

Options

1. Fry up diced firm tofu and add along with vegetables when making the vegetarian version.
2. Fry up strips of suitable steak in a separate pan to add to the chow mein after serving for meat eaters.
3. Fry up tofu and steak in separate pans to make a version of each. Some meat eaters wont come at the tofu, however with the above sauce it tastes really nice. May need  a little more sauce when using tofu as it absorbs flavours well.
4. Make an egg omelet and cut the omelet into strips and use as a garnish on any or all of these versions or as its own vegetarian version.