When I was a little giril, my mother went to this dingey take out joint for chop suey chow main on occasion. I’m sure it was about as authentic as chow mein in Saint Paul in 1982 could be. Although, it was nothing like what I see in take out places now. My mother even actuually came up with what she called chow mein hotdish, because you know, Minnesota. It had some mixture of ground beef, veggies, rice, soy sauce, and cream of something soup. Maybe water chestnuts.
Every now and then I get a desire for some not so stellar comfort food from childhood. Like chicken a la king. Or a hybrid of chow mein and my mother’s hotdish.
Chow Mein Stir Fry with Pea Pods, Carrots & Shirataki ‘Rice’
- 1 lb ground beef
- 6 stalks celery sliced
- 1 teaspoon garlic
- 1 teaspoon ginger
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1/2 teasppon hot red pepper flakes
- 3 tablespoon tamari or gluten free soy sauce
- 3 carrots sliced in strips
- 1 cup fresh pea pods
- 1 8oz package shirataki rice
Open shirataki rice and rinse very thoroughly in a mesh strainer. Leave in strainer to dry. Brown beef with celery. In a separate pan, dry fry the shirataki rice and the dry spices. Once the spices begin sticking to bottom of pan, add carrots, pea pods, and tamari. Stir fry for a couple minutes. Add the beef and celery mixture and continue stir frying. You may wish to add extra salt to taste. Saute until most of the moisture is soaked up.
Serve up! Should be about four modest servings. If I’m doing intermittent fasting, I’ll eat half of it before feeling full. Luckily, shirataki rice has practically no calories, plus the rest is low if you use lean meat.
