Ingredients

• 3 quarts water for pre-cooking the noodles
• 1 package Yi Mein noodles (12 ounces dry)
• ⅛ teaspoon sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt, or to taste
• 1 tablespoon hot water
• 2 teaspoons regular soy sauce
• 2 teaspoons dark soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons oyster sauce (or vegetarian oyster sauce)
• ½ teaspoon sesame oil
• Freshly ground white pepper
• 3-4 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil, divided
• 3-5 shiitake mushrooms, thinly sliced
• 8 ounces Chinese chives, cut into 2-inch long pieces, with the light and dark green parts separated

Directions

Boil 3 quarts of water in a large wok or pot to pre-cook your Yi Mein noodles. Once boiling, add the noodles. The directions on the box may say to boil the noodles for 5 minutes, but we recommend no more than 3 to 4 minutes to keep them firm and chewy. Overcook them, and you will end up with a mushy texture.

Sample a noodle while cooking, and when it tastes closer to the uncooked side of al dente pasta, it’s ready. When the noodles are done, immediately drain and set aside. Dissolve the sugar and salt in 1 tablespoon of hot water, and add the regular soy sauce, dark soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, and white pepper. Stir until combined.

Heat the wok until just smoking, and spread 2 tablespoons of oil around the perimeter.

Add the mushrooms and the light green parts of the chives, and stir fry for 30 seconds. The mushrooms are like sponges and will soak up the oil, so add another tablespoon of oil if they look too dry.

Add the noodles (they still should be warm but with no water dripping), and stir fry everything for another 20 seconds. If they cooled off, just cook them a bit longer until they are warmed, because warming the noodles before adding the sauce is important!

Spread the prepared sauce mixture evenly over the noodles, and stir-fry everything together for 1 minute, or until the soy sauce mixture is distributed evenly. Spread another tablespoon of oil around the perimeter of the wok to prevent sticking if you feel you need it.

How much oil you use is definitely a personal preference. If the noodles stick together, drizzle a bit of oil directly over the noodles. You can also add a splash of hot water if the noodles are too dry, even after adding the sauce.

Mix gently so you don’t break up the noodles--remember, you want to have long noodles to give longevity and prosperity to whoever’s going to be eating this dish!

Add in the remaining green parts of the chives and mix until they turn bright green and the noodles are heated through. This will take 1-3 minutes, depending on if your noodles were cold or still warm when you started stir-frying, and how hot your stove and wok can get.