Sesame Chicken Lo Mein

Who doesn't love sesame chicken? When we go to a Chinese restaurant, Kevin often orders it, but specifies "white meat," and "sauteed, not fried." Otherwise, it's just a really greasy, fatty meal, which doesn't sit so well. Anyway, I found this recipe, and was really excited about it. Plus, it was in Cooking Light, and that's my lucky magazine, so I had to try it. This is a really easy, pretty, quick, and tasty meal. It is supposed to be made with pork, but I used cut up chicken breasts, and would even try it with tofu next time. The flavor is quite good, but it is not really comparable with sesame chicken. First of all, the recipe called for only a teaspoon of sesame seeds. Now, I recognize that this was a "light" recipe, but I'm not sure if the sesame seeds were a great place to skimp. In addition, and this was my fault, my lo mein noodles didn't cook all that well, and ended up clumping together like crazy. In my last Chinese noodle dish, I used udon noodles, and I think those were much easier. Plus, they were whole wheat, which always bodes well, in my book. Anyway, this is a tasty recipe, and definitely a keeper, but I think it needs a tad bit of tweaking, to live up to the real sesame chicken!





Try it!

Sesame Pork (or Chicken) Lo Mein


For variety, use shrimp or chicken in place of the pork and chopped red bell pepper instead of mushrooms.


Yield: 6 servings (serving size: about 1 1/3 cups)


8 ounces uncooked lo mein noodles or vermicelli
6 tablespoons dry sherry
1/4 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1 tablespoon bottled minced garlic
1 tablespoon bottled minced fresh ginger
1 tablespoon rice vinegar
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
4 teaspoons dark sesame oil, divided
12 ounces pork tenderloin, trimmed and sliced into thin strips
1 cup fat-free, less-sodium chicken broth
2 teaspoons cornstarch
Cooking spray
3/4 cup snow peas, halved crosswise
1/2 cup thinly sliced carrot
1 (8-ounce) package presliced mushrooms
1 teaspoon sesame seeds, toasted
1 cup diagonally cut green onions

Prepare the noodles according to package directions; drain.

Combine sherry and the next 6 ingredients (through red pepper) in a medium bowl. Add 1 teaspoon of sesame oil and pork; toss to coat.

Combine broth and cornstarch, stirring with a whisk.

Heat a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Coat pan with cooking spray. Add pork mixture to pan, and cook 3 minutes, stirring frequently. Remove pork using a slotted spoon. Add peas, carrot, and mushrooms to pan; cook 2 minutes. Stir in broth mixture; cook 2 minutes or until thick, stirring constantly.

Stir in noodles, 1 tablespoon of sesame oil, pork, and sesame seeds. Sprinkle with green onions. Serve immediately.


CALORIES 300 (17% from fat); FAT 5.5g (sat 1.2g,mono 2.2g,poly 1.7g); IRON 3.5mg; CHOLESTEROL 37mg; CALCIUM 18mg; CARBOHYDRATE 39.9g; SODIUM 469mg; PROTEIN 18.2g; FIBER 2.6g

Cooking Light, AUGUST 2004