[1 - 1] this video is sponsored by squarespace
[1 - 3] hey what's up i've been playing around
[3 - 5] with a fun weeknight dinner lately that
[5 - 7] i call spaghetti chow mein it's
[7 - 9] essentially my take on the classic
[9 - 11] chinese food dish but made with
[11 - 13] ingredients that you can get at your
[13 - 14] local grocery store it's probably one of
[14 - 16] the easiest recipes that i've made so
[16 - 18] far on this channel and just like
[18 - 21] takeout it tastes amazing as leftovers
[22 - 29] this is weekday
[30 - 30] to get started i'm going to need four to
[30 - 32] five quarts of water in a pot and up to
[32 - 34] a boil once it's at a boil i'll add in a
[34 - 36] half pound or 225 grams of thin
[36 - 39] spaghetti yes that's what it says on the
[39 - 41] box i think it's pretty literal as in
[41 - 43] it's just spaghetti that is less thick
[43 - 45] the main difference between this pasta
[45 - 46] and chinese style noodles is that the
[46 - 48] chinese ones tend to have a little bit
[48 - 50] of egg in them whether white or yolk and
[50 - 51] that they're a little bit more alkaline
[52 - 53] and that can have a slightly distinctive
[53 - 55] flavor if you can get the chinese style
[55 - 57] noodles at say an international grocery
[57 - 59] store i say go for it because they're
[59 - 60] great but overall i think you'll be
[60 - 63] quite happy with good old-fashioned thin
[63 - 64] spaghetti once the noodles are in the
[64 - 65] water i'll make sure that that water is
[65 - 67] well salted and then i'll also make sure
[67 - 69] to give the noodles a good stir and toss
[69 - 70] to make sure that they don't get all
[70 - 72] stuck together in total these noodles
[72 - 73] need about five to six minutes to cook
[73 - 75] so in the meantime let's figure out the
[75 - 77] rest of the prep first up i need to cut
[77 - 79] some button mushrooms i'm using these
[79 - 80] ones because they're not fancy or
[80 - 82] expensive but they're delicious and i'm
[82 - 83] just gonna cut them in half and then
[83 - 85] slice those halves down like this up
[86 - 88] next is my favorite stir fry vegetable
[88 - 90] that's the snow pea they're thin sweet
[90 - 93] crispy and they cook super fast to get
[93 - 94] these ones ready for the pan i like to
[94 - 97] slice them thinly on a bias like this in
[97 - 98] general when peas or any stir-fry
[98 - 100] vegetables are cut more bite-sized they
[100 - 102] tend to integrate with the noodles a lot
[102 - 103] better also if you're wondering snow
[104 - 105] peas do have a string in them but like
[105 - 107] ninety percent of the time it's super
[107 - 109] thin and doesn't need to be pulled out
[109 - 111] in total i need 150 grams or about two
[111 - 113] cups of these snow peas cut next i'll
[113 - 115] grab a medium carrot and then use my
[115 - 117] julienne peeler to shred it down carrots
[117 - 119] and stir-fry are great but not when
[119 - 121] they're chunky i prefer a barely cooked
[121 - 122] shredded carrot here because it brings
[122 - 125] some nice textural contrast to the soft
[125 - 126] chewy noodles i've also got some red
[126 - 128] bell pepper here to throw in my favorite
[128 - 130] way to cut bell peppers right now is to
[130 - 132] cut the sides off as planks like this
[132 - 133] while trying to leave as much of the
[133 - 135] white ribs still attached to the core as
[135 - 137] possible these peppers are going to be
[137 - 138] cooking along with the snow peas so i'm
[138 - 140] going to cut them pretty thin as well
[140 - 143] 150 grams of those in total now to bring
[143 - 144] some oniony flavor to this dish i'm
[144 - 146] gonna use four to six scallions but i'm
[146 - 148] gonna remove the top green halves i'll
[148 - 149] save those for something else because in
[149 - 151] my opinion they get slimy if you cook
[151 - 153] them too hard now i'll slice these
[153 - 155] scallions into kind of a chunky medium
[155 - 156] thickness any thinner than this and the
[156 - 158] scallion would just get lost in a
[158 - 159] stir-fry and if we went any thicker it
[159 - 161] would probably not cook enough and give
[161 - 163] you bad ununique breath my last little
[163 - 165] bit of prep here is to microplane some
[165 - 166] fresh ginger and some garlic for the
[166 - 169] ginger as you guys well know by now i
[169 - 171] don't peel it because i'm a bad boy and
[171 - 172] because the skin is thin enough to be
[172 - 174] broken down when using a grating tool
[174 - 176] for the garlic i've got three to four
[176 - 177] cloves here and i'm also gonna be
[177 - 179] hitting that on the microplane in total
[179 - 181] i need 25 grams of ginger and 15 grams
[181 - 183] of garlic a totally optional addition
[183 - 185] here would be bean sprouts pretty much
[185 - 187] every single dish at my local chinese
[187 - 188] food place has a ton of bean sprouts in
[188 - 190] it and i kind of dig that so i'm setting
[190 - 193] aside 75 to 100 grams for this dish and
[193 - 195] that's all the prep it looks like a lot
[195 - 197] but i think even someone who's slow with
[197 - 198] the knife could get all this cleaned up
[198 - 200] in about 15 minutes what's that dark
[200 - 202] stuff you're wondering well that's the
[202 - 204] sauce but we'll get to that in just a
[204 - 205] minute for now i'm gonna check back on
[205 - 207] my noodles these have been simmering for
[207 - 209] about six minutes or so they feel pretty
[209 - 210] tender with the tongs here but the only
[210 - 213] way to really know is to slurp one be
[213 - 214] careful though because that's pretty hot
[215 - 218] dude slurp it and
[218 - 220] slurp it and we're good now i'll drain off the water
[220 - 221] actually i think it's best to pull these
[221 - 223] noodles out when they're still just a
[223 - 224] touch of bite to them i mean i don't
[224 - 226] want them crunchy but having them be
[226 - 228] just a touch less done helps them stay
[228 - 230] springy in the pan overcooked noodles
[230 - 231] tend to break apart when they're stir
[231 - 233] fried and they hold extra water that
[233 - 235] prevents a good sizzle as you can see
[235 - 236] once i got these drained off i added
[236 - 238] about 20 grams of high smoke point oil
[238 - 241] in this case peanut oil but canola or
[241 - 242] light olive would work as well i
[242 - 244] transferred the noodles over to a plate
[244 - 245] that way they won't carry over cook and
[245 - 247] get all mushy now let's make the
[247 - 249] stir-fry for that i'll preheat my big
[249 - 251] dog 14-inch non-stick pan over
[251 - 254] medium-high heat i'll link to this big
[254 - 255] in in the description if you're
[255 - 256] interested but feel free to sub in a 12
[256 - 258] incher here just be prepared for things
[258 - 260] to be a bit more snug before i start
[260 - 261] cooking i should mention that if you're
[261 - 263] using high heat in a non-stick pan you
[263 - 264] should really be careful to keep the
[264 - 267] temperature of that pan below 450 f much
[267 - 268] hotter than that and you really risk
[268 - 270] degrading the coating in the pan i
[270 - 273] usually keep my pans around 410 420f
[273 - 275] once my pan is ready to go i'll add in a
[275 - 277] good long squeezer of some neutral oil
[277 - 279] then all 225 grams of my mushrooms and
[279 - 281] then a strong pinch of salt i'll give
[281 - 283] the mushrooms a few tosses here to get
[283 - 284] them combined with the oil and then i'll
[284 - 286] saute them for about three minutes or so
[286 - 288] i mentioned that these mushrooms are
[288 - 290] serving as my meaty element in this dish
[290 - 292] but if you're in the mood for meat which
[292 - 294] i get use a half pound or 225 grams of
[294 - 296] diced chicken thighs those should cook
[296 - 298] in just about the same amount of time as
[298 - 299] the mushrooms again that's about three
[299 - 301] minutes just make sure that they get a
[301 - 302] hit of salt in the beginning and that
[302 - 304] you stir fry them really hot to get some
[304 - 306] nice color on the outside stir fried
[306 - 308] chicken is delicious back in my
[308 - 309] mushrooms it's been about three minutes
[309 - 311] or so and these have lost quite a bit of
[311 - 312] their moisture and have taken on some
[312 - 314] nice golden brown color i want to keep
[314 - 316] these from drying out though so i'll
[316 - 317] stop frying them here and then scoot
[317 - 319] them over into a medium bowl to hang out
[319 - 321] while i cook everything else now the pan
[321 - 323] is back down over high heat and i'll add
[323 - 325] a bit more neutral oil about 20 grams
[325 - 327] and then in those 150 grams of sliced
[327 - 329] snow peas and 150 grams of sliced bell
[329 - 331] pepper now a hit of salt then i'll stir
[331 - 332] to combine and i'll fry these up
[332 - 334] together for about 60 to 90 seconds the
[334 - 335] goal with this stage of cooking is to
[335 - 337] get some nice char on the outside of
[337 - 339] these vegetables while also softening up
[339 - 341] the outsides just a bit but i want to
[341 - 343] maintain a touch of crunch in both the
[343 - 344] peas and the peppers because great
[344 - 346] stir-fry always has a little bit of snap
[346 - 348] to keep things lively after about 90
[348 - 350] seconds of sauteing here the peas and
[350 - 351] peppers have a touch of char on the
[351 - 353] outside and they've just barely lost
[353 - 354] their raw edge so from here i'm going to
[354 - 356] scoot them over into my mushroom bowl to
[356 - 358] hang out while i fry up my noodles oh
[358 - 359] and i'll also mention that a good reason
[359 - 360] to undercook these vegetables is that
[360 - 362] they're going to steam in the bowl and
[362 - 364] carry over cook up to another 15 to 20
[364 - 366] percent so just keep that in mind okay
[366 - 369] hot pan one more time then a double
[369 - 370] squeeze of oil goes in because my
[370 - 373] noodles are gonna be thirsty as hell
[373 - 374] then in goes all the cooked spaghetti
[374 - 376] from before from here i'll stir fry
[376 - 377] these noodles for about two to three
[377 - 379] minutes over high heat to get him good
[379 - 381] and dehydrated on the outside while i
[381 - 382] thank the sponsor of this video
[382 - 384] squarespace when i started this youtube
[384 - 387] channel way back in early 2020 during
[387 - 389] the wild west days of the covid pandemic
[389 - 391] i also started a squarespace website to
[391 - 393] host all of my recipes shout out to
[394 - 395] weeds and sardines if you guys know what
[395 - 396] i'm talking about
[396 - 398] you know what i'm talking about i chose
[398 - 400] squarespace over the other options
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[407 - 408] website that didn't look like it was
[408 - 411] made by a total noob which it was i also
[411 - 412] really like their blogging tools to
[412 - 414] share my recipes for my videos as you
[414 - 416] can see it's been like a while since
[416 - 418] i've posted any new content on the blog
[418 - 420] but i'm planning to change that i also
[420 - 421] finally claimed the domain brian
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[442 - 444] first website or domain to get that true
[444 - 446] take out chinese food flavor here we
[446 - 447] need to do quite a bit of frying to
[447 - 449] these noodles and that makes this step
[449 - 451] kind of the most important part
[451 - 452] stir-frying these hard makes them more
[452 - 454] savory and changes their texture on the
[454 - 456] outside but there's also something else
[456 - 457] that's happening here that i can't quite
[458 - 459] put my finger on maybe the high heat and
[459 - 461] oil smoke here kind of approximate the
[461 - 463] hay of wok cooking they call that the
[464 - 465] breath of wok and i'm not sure that's
[465 - 466] what's happening but the one thing i
[466 - 469] know for sure is that this dish was much
[469 - 470] better when i gave the noodles a hard
[470 - 472] fry for at least two minutes but
[472 - 473] preferably three once the noodles are
[473 - 474] starting to take on a touch of golden
[474 - 476] color and are good and fried hard like
[476 - 479] this i'll add in the ginger and garlic
[479 - 480] the scallions and the shredded carrots
[480 - 482] from here i'll hop in with the tongs and
[482 - 484] give everything a stir fry to combine i
[484 - 486] want the carrots and scallions to soften
[486 - 487] but not become fully tender and i want
[487 - 489] the ginger and garlic to fry up and lose
[490 - 491] their raw edge once my carrots are
[491 - 493] welted in and the ginger and garlic are
[493 - 495] slightly fried off i'm going to add in
[495 - 497] my mushrooms peas and bell peppers then
[497 - 499] my bean sprouts and then my stir-fry
[499 - 501] sauce to make this sauce i combined 75
[501 - 503] grams of soy sauce 75 grams of mirin 35
[503 - 505] grams of sesame oil and 25 grams of
[505 - 508] oyster sauce yes there's oysters in the
[508 - 509] sauce so if you want to make this pure
[509 - 511] vegetarian use vegetarian hoisin now
[511 - 513] i'll stir that to combine and there we
[513 - 515] go an all-purpose stir-fry sauce that
[515 - 517] makes fried noodles and vegetables taste
[517 - 519] very very dope back in the pan i'm going
[519 - 521] to stir everything to combine while that
[521 - 523] sauce reduces to a glaze and gets
[523 - 524] absorbed by the fried noodles at some
[524 - 526] point i think it's better to switch over
[526 - 528] from the stir move to a straight up toss
[528 - 531] toss toss if you can do it for me things
[531 - 532] get combined a lot faster this way and
[532 - 534] it definitely looks cooler and is just
[534 - 536] overall more fun again i want to reduce
[536 - 538] this pan sauce to a glaze while getting
[538 - 540] everything mixed together and gently
[540 - 542] wilting in the bean sprouts that should
[542 - 544] take about a minute in total but don't
[544 - 545] cook this too long because once there's
[545 - 547] liquid in the pan there's going to be a
[547 - 549] lot of steam and that's pretty good at
[549 - 550] making things soft the peas and the
[550 - 552] peppers especially can go from snappy
[552 - 554] and fresh to mushy in a pretty short
[554 - 556] amount of time now if we did this stir
[556 - 558] fry thing correctly everything inside
[558 - 560] this pan should be hitting its optimal
[560 - 562] texture at the same time and that looks
[562 - 565] great so let's plate it up like most of
[565 - 566] the weeknighting videos so far this
[566 - 569] recipe will make two very large portions
[569 - 571] for two hungry adults or four smaller
[571 - 572] portions if you're serving it alongside
[572 - 575] something else say be man's famous
[575 - 577] general sows chicken you guys this dish
[577 - 580] tastes like takeout full stop but it's
[580 - 581] fresher and more vegetable heavy and
[582 - 583] just more in focus than what i get from
[583 - 585] the strip mall and it doesn't require
[585 - 587] you to have a deep pantry of chinese
[587 - 589] centric ingredients it seems that
[589 - 590] spaghetti whether served with meatballs
[590 - 593] or soy sauce is just fun to eat and very
[593 - 595] comforting if you guys like this video
[595 - 597] give it a dang like and smash that
[597 - 600] subscribe let's eat this thing