Roast Pork Lo Mein is often overlooked by home cooks, because it calls for the Char Siu roast pork you can usually only get at a Chinese restaurant.
But we have a great char siu recipe, and many of you are making it at home and keeping it in the freezer for pork fried rice, roast pork with Chinese vegetables, and other recipes like this lo mein.
The delicious marinade of the char siu infuses the whole dish and feels a little bit more special. This lo mein recipe is perfect for pork lovers, and you can achieve great results at home.
Getting Your Hands On Char Siu Roast Pork
Restaurants offering Cantonese roast meats will usually give the option to buy meat by the pound.
You can’t miss the shop window of shiny roast ducks, roast pork, spareribs, and soy sauce chicken hanging in the storefront window waiting to be chopped up and packed to order.
Most people aren’t lucky enough to have a Cantonese roast meat joint nearby, but we’ve got our family’s roast pork recipe on the blog, and it never fails us. I don’t remember seeing any ratings less than 5 stars for our char siu recipe!
Making a big batch of char siu at home means you can set some aside to make classic Roast Pork Fried Rice, Stir-Fried Roast Pork with Chinese Vegetables, Char Siu Bao (Baked Char Siu Bao or Steamed Char Siu Bao), and now this Roast Pork Lo Mein.
If you don’t want to use your char siu right away, it keeps well in the freezer. When you’re ready to use it, just let it thaw and it’s ready to use.
All About Cooking Chinese Lo Mein
Over the years, we’ve posted just about every variation of lo mein. But the beauty of lo mein is that it’s a great dish for cooking up odds and ends from the refrigerator.
We often make lo mein when we have a bunch of random veggies and small pieces of pork, beef, or chicken. Once you master the basic recipe, you can get perfect results with almost any combination.
The overall formula is julienned veggies + sliced protein + noodles.
Once you’re familiar with the overall process, feel free to make substitutions and experiment with different combinations of protein and veggies!
Our popular Lo Mein recipes:
Roast Pork Lo Mein Recipe Instructions
Prepare the lo mein sauce by combining the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, hot water, sugar, salt, white pepper, and sesame oil in a small bowl or measuring cup. Set aside.
Prepare the roast pork/char siu, garlic, and all the vegetables (the carrot, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, napa cabbage, snow peas, and bean sprouts, if using) so they are ready for cooking.
Note!
8 ounces of char siu is less than the usual 10 to 12 ounces of protein we call for in our other lo mein dishes. That’s because cooked pork weighs less than raw pork! So don’t worry. There won’t be any shortage of roast pork in your pork lo mein.
If using cooked lo mein noodles, rinse them under hot tap water to loosen them and drain thoroughly. If using uncooked noodles, cook them according to package instructions until al dente. Then rinse in cold water to get rid of excess starch. Drain thoroughly, and set aside.
Place your wok over medium heat. Add the oil and garlic.
After 10 seconds, add the carrots, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, and sliced mushrooms. Increase the heat to high, and stir-fry for 1 minute.
Add the roast pork, and stir-fry for another 20 seconds.
Then add the Shaoxing wine around the perimeter of the wok.
Give everything a quick stir, and add the napa cabbage…
And the lo mein noodles.
They should be warm or at room temperature, and not stuck together! (If they are, just rinse them again in warm water to loosen them up.)
Pour the sauce mixture evenly over the noodles.
Stir-fry with a scooping motion for 1 to 2 minutes to evenly distribute the sauce. Make sure to scrape the bottom of the wok to prevent the noodles from sticking. High heat and a well-seasoned wok should also prevent sticking.
Next, add the snow peas, mung bean sprouts (if using—we didn’t use them here), and scallions.
Continue stir-frying until the noodles are heated through and everything is thoroughly mixed. If the lo mein becomes sticky, add 2 or more tablespoons of water until they loosen up.
Give your lo mein a quick taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking. Add more salt, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, or white pepper according to your own personal preference.
Plate your roast pork lo mein.
Serve it with homemade chili oil or your favorite hot sauce on the side!
Roast Pork Lo Mein
Ingredients
For the sauce mixture:
- 1 tablespoon light soy sauce
- 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
- 1 tablespoon hot water
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon salt (or to taste)
- 1/8 teaspoon ground white pepper
- 1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
For the rest of the dish:
- 8 ounces Chinese roast pork (char siu) julienned into strips
- 1 clove garlic (minced)
- 1/4 cup carrot (julienned)
- 1/2 cup water chestnuts (sliced)
- 1/2 cup canned bamboo shoots (in strips or sliced into bite-sized pieces)
- 1/2 cup sliced mushrooms (such as shiitake, oyster, button, or baby portobello)
- 2 1/4 cups napa cabbage (shredded)
- 2/3 cup snow peas (ends trimmed with fibrous string removed)
- 1 1/2 cups mung bean sprouts (optional)
- 14 ounces cooked lo mein noodles (you can use fresh uncooked noodles, but they need to be boiled according to the package instructions first)
- 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil
- 1 tablespoon Shaoxing wine
- 2 scallions (julienned)
Instructions
- Prepare the lo mein sauce by combining the light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, hot water, sugar, salt, white pepper, and sesame oil in a small bowl. Set aside.
- Prepare the roast pork/char siu, garlic, and all the vegetables (the carrot, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, napa cabbage, snow peas, and bean sprouts, if using) so they are ready for cooking.
- If using cooked lo mein noodles, rinse them under hot tap water to loosen them and drain thoroughly. If using uncooked noodles, cook them according to package instructions until al dente, rinse in cold water to get rid of excess starch, and drain thoroughly. Set aside.
- Place your wok over medium heat. Add the oil and garlic. After 10 seconds, add the carrots, water chestnuts, bamboo shoots, and sliced mushrooms. Increase the heat to high, and stir-fry for 1 minute.
- Add the roast pork, and stir-fry for another 20 seconds, and then add the Shaoxing wine around the perimeter of the wok.
- Give everything a quick stir, and add the napa cabbage and the lo mein noodles. They should be warm or at room temperature, and not stuck together! (If they are, just rinse them again in warm water to loosen them up.)
- Pour your pre-mixed sauce evenly over the noodles, and stir-fry with a scooping motion for 1 to 2 minutes, or until the sauce is evenly distributed, making sure to scrape the bottom of the wok to prevent the noodles from sticking. High heat and a well-seasoned wok should also prevent sticking.
- Next, add the snow peas, mung bean sprouts (if using), and scallions. Continue stir-frying until the noodles are heated through and everything is thoroughly mixed. If the lo mein becomes sticky, add 2 or more tablespoons of water until they loosen up.
- Give your lo mein a quick taste and adjust the seasoning to your liking. Add more salt, soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, or white pepper according to your own personal preference.
- Plate your roast pork lo mein and serve it with homemade chili oil or your favorite hot sauce on the side!
