Ahpoh is my grandma on my dad’s side. She is well-known for her mean cooking skills, especially not using any recipes and only her talent, cunning, and experience to create her legendary food.
After she quit the restaurant biz, she took on the task of babysitting me, my sister and cousins after school. Ahpoh’s house was just a quick 5 minute walk from our elementary school so we would go home for lunch. While our classmates were stuck eating sandwiches and Lunchables (remember those???), us kids would skip home for lunch to eat fried rice, dumplings, ramen noodles in soup, and hotdogs wrapped in Indian buttery parathas (brilliant). She even figured out how to make spaghetti bolognese for us Canadian grandkids. We were so spoiled.
But my personal fave is still her yam mein (means ‘tossed noodles’). When D was craving home-cooked Chinese food, I knew that this would satisfy. What makes this different from ‘chow mein’ is basically you just toss all the cooked ingredients together and add sauce rather than stir-frying the meat, veg, and noodles. It’s so easy to whip up – this was the first Chinese dish I cooked on my own.
Normally, this dish is made with wheat noodles and ground pork. In my version, I use gluten free white rice pasta spaghetti style from Tinkyada and ground chicken. To make sure it’s GF, use a GF tamari soy sauce and check the ingredients on the oyster sauce bottle, both of which you can find in most Asian aisles of your grocery store or health food store.
Ahpoh ready to do a shot! j/k she's just being a good sport.
Ahpoh's Yam Mein (Tossed Noodles)
INGREDIENTS
- 1/2 package of rice spaghetti
- 1 Tbsp canola oil
- 6 cloves garlic minced (about 2 Tbsp)
- 1/2 lb ground organic chicken (a mix of white and dark, all white meat will be dry)
- 3 sprigs green onion (scallion, finely sliced)
- 1 1/2 Tbsp GF tamari soy sauce
- 1 Tbsp oyster sauce
- 1/2 tsp pepper
- salt to taste
INSTRUCTIONS
- Bring 4 liters of salted water to boil. Add spaghetti and cook according to package directions (keep an eye on them - cooked too long and rice pasta becomes mushy). Rinse with cold water and set aside. Heat a non-stick wok to medium high heat and add oil. Add garlic and cook for 1 to 2 minutes or until fragrant but not browned. Add chicken and stir, breaking up the meat with a wooden spoon or spatula. Continue cooking until meat is cooked through, about 4 to 5 minutes. Add cooked spaghetti and green onions to the chicken and add the soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt (to taste) and pepper. Remove from heat and serve with Sriracha hot sauce or garlic chili sauce (optional).
YUM! gonna be giving this a try. I’ve personally tasted Ah Poh’s yam mein and can attest to the absolute deliciousness of it! my mouth waters simply at the thought 🙂 Your pretty pictures don’t help either!
thx for this!
Hi! I’m a silent follower and a fans of your site 🙂
May I know the brand of the GF oyster sauce that you use? Been trying top find one.
Thanks a lot!
Hi thanks for following! Sorry for the late response – I totally missed your note in the blur of the holidays. I use Lee Kum Kee Panda Brand Green Label Oyster Flavored Sauce. I learned about it here: http://www.theculinarylife.com/2010/gluten-free-oyster-sauce/
I haven’t tried any others, have you? Would love to try. Thanks!
I am visiting my mother in law in Taipei. She made me her ( Lao ban niang ) famous Hakka Yam mien with small skinny pork dumpling on the side, simple yet delicious. She and her husband use to run a small eatery in Tangra.