[0:00] In this video, we're doing a deep dive
[0:02] into Lain, and I'm going to show you
[0:03] three very different versions you can
[0:05] make. But first, I need to tell you why
[0:08] I was wrong about Lain. You see, I've
[0:11] never really been a big fan of this
[0:12] dish. And that's mainly because every
[0:14] time I order it for takeout, it looks
[0:16] like this. Mostly noodles, barely any
[0:18] protein or vegetables, and the flavor is
[0:20] just fine. It's not bad, but I'd almost
[0:23] always rather be going to town on
[0:24] something like Sichuan beef or Kungpow
[0:26] chicken instead. However, that
[0:28] completely changed once I started making
[0:31] it at home. And I now believe that low
[0:33] mane is one of the most useful dishes
[0:34] you can learn for three reasons. First,
[0:37] it's one of the easiest ways to turn
[0:39] random fridge leftovers into a great
[0:41] weekn night meal. Second, it's
[0:42] incredibly customizable. Once you
[0:44] understand the framework, you can make a
[0:46] high protein, low calorie version or go
[0:48] all in on something like a spicy beef
[0:50] lain that will surely tickle the taste
[0:52] buds. And third, which is the biggest
[0:54] one, it makes what might be the best
[0:57] leftovers of all time. So throughout
[0:59] this video, we're going to break down
[1:00] the low main framework and I'll show you
[1:02] all the choices I made to make three
[1:04] different versions. And by the end, I
[1:06] promise you'll know how to create a bowl
[1:08] of glossy, deeply seasoned noodles with
[1:10] crisp vegetables and tender, flavorful
[1:12] protein exactly how you like it. So, I'm
[1:16] going to meet you back here for a final
[1:18] taste test with our three homemade
[1:19] versions versus this takeout version.
[1:21] But to start, let's talk about the
[1:23] noodles. And I think this is one of the
[1:25] biggest upgrades you can make over
[1:27] takeout because of one thing, texture
[1:29] control.
[1:34] Traditionally, Lomain uses a wheat-based
[1:36] noodle, and sometimes they'll be made
[1:37] with egg like these fresh Lain noodles,
[1:39] which gives them that slight yellow
[1:41] color, and more importantly, that
[1:42] springy, chewy texture that holds up
[1:44] really well to the sauce, vegetables,
[1:46] and protein. And how you cook your
[1:48] noodles is really important because if
[1:50] you go to a buffet or a lot of takeout
[1:52] spots, those lowmade noodles have
[1:54] usually been cooked ahead of time and
[1:55] are sitting around in the sauce. So by
[1:57] the time you actually eat them, they're
[1:58] just kind of soft and not that
[2:00] interesting. However, when you make them
[2:02] at home, you have full control. You can
[2:04] cook them fresh and keep that springy
[2:06] chew and bite, which I find absolutely
[2:08] addictive. Now, the biggest mistake that
[2:11] most people make when it comes to the
[2:12] noodles are not knowing which ones to
[2:14] buy because there are definitely some
[2:16] differences. However, if you go to an
[2:18] Asian grocery store, you're usually
[2:19] going to see three main categories.
[2:22] First are fresh noodles. These are often
[2:24] coated in a little bit of starch to keep
[2:26] them from sticking and then need to be
[2:27] boiled for a few minutes like fresh
[2:29] pasta. Second are parcooked noodles.
[2:32] These noodles are partially cooked and
[2:33] then lightly coated in a bit of oil, so
[2:35] they're very quick to work with. And
[2:37] lastly are dried noodles, which are more
[2:39] similar to something like a dried pasta
[2:40] and need to be fully cooked in boiled
[2:42] water before using. Now, you could
[2:44] absolutely use things like spaghetti,
[2:46] ramen, or really any stir- fry noodle
[2:48] and still get a good result. But I do
[2:50] think it's worth grabbing either the
[2:52] fresh or parcooked noodles when you can
[2:55] because part of the fun is just those
[2:56] slight differences in the shape and
[2:58] texture. And I found three different
[3:00] versions at the store that I want to
[3:02] try. So, for our classic takeout lain,
[3:04] I'm going to use standard fresh lomain
[3:06] noodles. For the spicy beef, I found
[3:08] these thicker broad noodles, which you
[3:10] can see they've just got a bit more
[3:11] texture to them for the sauce. And then
[3:13] for the high protein version, I found
[3:14] these thinner noodles. I'm going to use
[3:16] slightly less noodles. So, I want them
[3:18] evenly spread throughout the dish. And
[3:20] now that we have our noodle choices, the
[3:22] next big mistake that most people make
[3:24] after buying them is just overcooking
[3:25] the noodles. So, whatever the package
[3:27] says, I would recommend sticking to the
[3:29] lower end of that range because they're
[3:31] going to cook a little bit more once
[3:33] they are tossed with the sauce. And this
[3:35] brings us to our second component and a
[3:38] question that I've had for a long time.
[3:40] What actually is the difference between
[3:42] lain and chowine? I've never fully
[3:45] understood the difference here because
[3:46] the way these terms are used and what
[3:48] dish is actually served to you at a
[3:50] restaurant could definitely vary quite a
[3:52] bit from place to place. But as far as I
[3:54] can tell, the key difference should be
[3:56] how the noodles are actually cooked with
[3:59] the sauce. Linguistically, chowine
[4:01] translates to stir fried noodles, which
[4:03] would mean they're cooked directly in
[4:05] the pan, and you actually want to
[4:06] develop some browning or crispness on
[4:08] the noodles themselves. And like other
[4:10] stir fries, seasonings and sauces are
[4:12] typically added, but it's definitely on
[4:14] the drier side. Lain, on the other hand,
[4:16] translates to toss noodles. And while
[4:19] it's still made in the walk, you are
[4:20] essentially tossing the noodles with the
[4:22] sauce rather than focusing on kind of
[4:24] stir frying them until they're crisp.
[4:26] Now, in practice, there's definitely
[4:27] some overlap and inconsistency here.
[4:29] Like, I've definitely ordered a chowine
[4:31] that was fairly saucy. So, you might
[4:33] want to double check a menu or ask your
[4:34] waiter if you are ordering this dish.
[4:37] However, the best part again about
[4:39] making it at home is that you can
[4:41] control the texture exactly how you like
[4:43] it. Now, the tricky part when it comes
[4:45] to the sauce is everybody makes it
[4:47] slightly different. And if you watch a
[4:49] bunch of recipes online, it's actually
[4:51] pretty hard to tell what every
[4:53] ingredient is doing. So, I'm going to
[4:55] break down the general sauce flavor
[4:57] profile, then show you the three
[4:59] specific variations I made so we can see
[5:01] how the ingredients are going to change
[5:03] the flavor in the final taste test.
[5:09] At a high level, low main sauce is
[5:11] primarily salty and umami with a little
[5:13] bit of sweetness, some savory aromomas,
[5:15] and then we want the texture thick
[5:16] enough so it clings to the noodles. And
[5:19] once you understand that, all of these
[5:20] ingredients you'll see in recipes start
[5:22] to make a lot more sense because they're
[5:24] playing these specific roles. So, first
[5:26] we have the salty and umami ingredients.
[5:28] These are things like the oyster sauce,
[5:30] light soy sauce, dark soy sauce, and
[5:32] chicken bullion. They're all primarily
[5:34] bringing salty and umami taste. Then you
[5:37] have your sweet ingredients. Oyster
[5:39] sauce actually has some sugar in it
[5:41] already, but you'll typically see plain
[5:43] sugar added as well. And other options
[5:44] could be honey or even something like
[5:46] hoen. Now, the goal isn't to make it so
[5:48] sweet like a sweet and sour sauce, for
[5:50] example. It's more just to have enough
[5:52] sweetness to balance out the salt and
[5:53] make everything more around it. Then
[5:55] finally, we have what I think of as the
[5:57] aroma and finishing ingredients. So
[5:59] these are things like sesame oil or
[6:01] chili oil, white pepper, chicken broth,
[6:04] water, or some Chinese cooking wine. And
[6:06] all of these are going to add a little
[6:07] fragrance and complexity and make that
[6:09] sauce feel more complete. And lastly,
[6:11] there's typically a thickener like a
[6:13] cornstarch lur to make it all saucy and
[6:15] cohesive for the noodles. And now that
[6:18] we understand the core elements at play
[6:20] here, let me show you the three
[6:21] different versions of the sauce that I
[6:23] made. For the classic takeout version, I
[6:25] started with two parts or 50 g of oyster
[6:27] sauce, then one part of soy sauce, but I
[6:30] split this up into 20 g of light soy
[6:32] sauce and 5 g of dark soy sauce. Then I
[6:35] added a spoonful of chicken bullyan
[6:36] powder along with 10 g of sugar. And I
[6:38] finished it with some white pepper and a
[6:40] splash of water just to thin out the
[6:42] sauce. And this first one is a pretty
[6:44] classic slightly sweeter profile which
[6:46] as you can see is going to create that
[6:48] nicely seasoned noodle with that slight
[6:50] brownish tint. Now if we take a look at
[6:52] the spicy beef lain, you'll notice the
[6:55] noodles are quite a bit darker. And this
[6:57] is because I changed a few ingredients.
[6:59] Again, I started with that 50 gram of
[7:01] oyster sauce, but this time I went for
[7:03] just 10 grams of light soy sauce and
[7:05] then added 10 gram of dark soy sauce.
[7:08] So, quite a bit more. I also added 5 g
[7:10] of beef wan and I didn't add any extra
[7:13] sugar. So, this is going to give us a
[7:14] darker, more savory sauce. And the
[7:17] reason this works is because it's going
[7:18] to stand up to the rest of the dish,
[7:20] which is richer beef, heavier spicy
[7:22] aromatics. So, everything is going to
[7:23] stay balanced instead of getting washed
[7:25] out. Then lastly, if we look at the
[7:28] chicken lain, this is going to have the
[7:29] lightest of all the sauces. So for this
[7:32] one, I used 25 g of light soy sauce, 10
[7:35] g of sugar, 15 g of oyster sauce, 5 g of
[7:38] some chicken bullion, and then just
[7:39] added water to thin it out. So to sum it
[7:42] up, we kind of have three different
[7:44] sauce flavor profiles. First, we have
[7:46] that balanced salty umami and slightly
[7:48] sweet classic takeout sauce. Then we
[7:51] have that darker, roastier sauce, which
[7:52] is going to hold up really well to the
[7:54] beef and the chilies. And lastly, a
[7:56] lighter chicken forward sauce that is
[7:58] going to pair very well with lots of
[8:00] vegetables. And once you've chosen your
[8:02] sauce, this is where things start to
[8:03] open up because next we're going to
[8:05] layer in the fresh aromatics. And this
[8:07] is a very fun area of low mane you can
[8:09] experiment with.
[8:15] The way the aromatics work is simple.
[8:17] Dice or mince them up, add them to the
[8:18] hot oil to bloom, then pour your sauce
[8:20] over the top. And this fresh aromatic
[8:23] layer is going to balance the richness
[8:24] of the sauce and make the dish feel more
[8:26] complete. Now, traditionally, Lman keeps
[8:28] it pretty simple. Usually, just some
[8:30] garlic and maybe some ginger. But at
[8:32] home, you can use up any aromatic
[8:34] vegetable you may happen to have laying
[8:35] around. This could be ginger, leaks,
[8:38] fresh chilies, onions, shallots, any
[8:40] pepper, or any vegetable that's
[8:42] aromatic. So, for my versions, I went in
[8:44] three different aromatic directions. For
[8:46] the first one, I kept it simple with
[8:48] just a lot of garlic. You can't really
[8:50] go wrong there. But for the spicy beef
[8:52] version, I use diced shallot and Thai
[8:54] bird's eyee chilis. And this is where
[8:56] I'm going to build in that heat and
[8:57] intensity. The chilis are going to bring
[8:59] that sharp, punchy spice that is going
[9:00] to help cut through the richer beef and
[9:02] sauce. Then for the lighter chicken
[9:04] lain, I went with the classic ginger and
[9:06] garlic combo. The ginger just helps keep
[9:09] everything fresh and almost clean while
[9:11] making that dish feel light and on your
[9:13] feet, ready to go after a workout. So,
[9:15] now that we have our noodles, sauce, and
[9:17] aromatics, you could technically stop
[9:19] right here and have a really solid lain.
[9:21] But to me, where this dish becomes
[9:23] genuinely useful and almost kind of
[9:25] life-changing is in the proteins and
[9:27] vegetables because this is where lain
[9:30] turns into a system. You can make it
[9:32] lighter, you can make it high protein,
[9:34] you can use up leftovers or build it
[9:36] around whatever you have in your fridge.
[9:38] So, let me show you the choices that I
[9:39] made for the vegetables and protein, but
[9:41] try to keep in mind the choices that you
[9:43] may want to make as we go.
[9:49] For the protein, the process is simple.
[9:51] We're first going to lightly marinate
[9:52] it, then just cook everything separately
[9:54] in a high heat walk to develop some
[9:56] browning. And the three most common
[9:58] options you'll see at a takeout spot are
[10:00] chicken, beef, and shrimp. So, that's
[10:01] what I'm doing today. Starting with the
[10:03] shrimp, I added some frozen, peeled, and
[10:05] de vained shrimp into a bowl. And then
[10:07] added a sprinkle of salt and just a tiny
[10:09] drizzle of sesame oil. And when this
[10:11] cooks up, the shrimp is going to be nice
[10:12] and tender and just add that little bit
[10:14] of sesame aroma. Now, for the beef, I'm
[10:17] doing a slightly more involved marinade.
[10:19] So, I started by slicing a piece of
[10:21] sirloin into strips, but really any cut
[10:23] of beef will work. Then I added the beef
[10:25] to a bowl along with a splash of light
[10:26] soy sauce, a little bit of sugar, a
[10:28] pinch of baking soda to help tenderize
[10:30] it, a spoonful of chili crisp for some
[10:32] heat and fat, then a bit of cornstarch
[10:34] to help it brown and stay juicy. Mix
[10:36] that together and you get these nicely
[10:38] coated, well seasoned pieces of beef.
[10:40] Then for the chicken, again, I'm keeping
[10:42] it pretty simple here. A splash of light
[10:44] soy sauce, a little chicken bullion
[10:46] powder to really boost that chicken
[10:47] flavor, some sesame oil for more aroma,
[10:49] and then a bit of Chinese cooking wine.
[10:52] Mix that up and you've got a really
[10:53] clean, wellseeed base. And now that
[10:56] we've got our proteins covered, let's
[10:58] talk the vegetables. And this is where I
[10:59] think Lain really starts to shine
[11:01] because the vegetables are what are
[11:03] going to bring the color, texture, and a
[11:05] lot of the visual appeal.
[11:10] So, the general approach is simple.
[11:12] First, we're going to choose a variety
[11:13] of colored vegetables. Then, we're going
[11:15] to slice the vegetables to roughly match
[11:17] the shape of the noodles. So, longer and
[11:19] thinner pieces. Then we're going to cook
[11:21] the hearty vegetables in the walk with a
[11:22] little salt or soy sauce and a splash of
[11:24] Chinese cooking wine. And lastly, stir
[11:26] the fresher vegetables in at the end. So
[11:28] these are things like bean sprouts and
[11:30] scallions. So for a shrimp version, I
[11:33] went pretty classic with carrots, red
[11:35] onion, cabbage, and then some bean
[11:36] sprouts and green onions, which I'm
[11:38] going to toss in at the end. So you can
[11:40] see me cooking up the carrots, onions,
[11:41] and cabbage first. Then once everything
[11:43] else is in there, I threw the sprouts
[11:45] and scallions in with those noodles. For
[11:47] the spicy beef, I mixed it up a little
[11:49] bit. I used some bell peppers, carrots,
[11:51] green onions, and then I found these
[11:53] really nice mushrooms. And this is a
[11:54] good example of thinking about contrast.
[11:56] You've got the darker mushrooms, the
[11:58] bright peppers, and everything's going
[11:59] to play off each other nice and
[12:01] visually. Then for the chicken version,
[12:03] to make a lower calorie version, I kind
[12:05] of upped the amount of vegetables. I use
[12:07] some Chinese broccoli, yellow squash,
[12:10] bell pepper, red onion, and bean
[12:12] sprouts, which are tossed in at the end.
[12:14] And as you can see, all of these choices
[12:16] really layer together. They're all low
[12:18] main, but visually they have a
[12:20] completely different feel depending on
[12:22] the vegetables we use. So now let's do a
[12:26] final taste test and compare them to the
[12:29] takeout version. Okay, so let's do the
[12:32] final taste test. I have already kind of
[12:33] tasted them individually as I was making
[12:35] them. But it's always so illuminating
[12:37] when you actually taste things side by
[12:39] side. So let's do just that. And I think
[12:41] right away we can see the takeout lain.
[12:44] Like this is what I feel like I would
[12:45] always get into. It feels like it's
[12:47] mostly noodles. Like there are some
[12:49] vegetables. There's some bell peppers.
[12:50] There's a little broccoli in here. There
[12:52] are some pieces of chicken, but overall
[12:54] it kind of feels like more of noodles.
[12:57] But let's give it a shot.
[13:00] So, I've not ordered from this
[13:02] particular place before, but I would say
[13:03] that echoes my common experience with
[13:05] lain and why I was never a big fan of
[13:07] it. It's kind of one of those dishes
[13:08] where it's just kind of fine. It doesn't
[13:10] make me feel anything. It's it's a dish
[13:12] that I would hope maybe someone else
[13:14] would order so I could have like a bite
[13:16] or two of it, but I would much rather be
[13:18] ordering a lot of other things on the
[13:20] menu. However, like I said, that changed
[13:23] when I started making it at home. And as
[13:25] you can see right away visually with the
[13:28] ratios of kind of the noodles and
[13:29] proteins very different in our homemade
[13:32] versions. And that's why I think it's
[13:34] just such a good dish to make at home
[13:35] because, you know, mostly noodles versus
[13:38] mostly protein and vegetables or kind of
[13:40] half and half rather. Um, not to mention
[13:42] the different flavor profiles as well.
[13:49] So, for this first one, sauce and
[13:51] noodle-wise, I would say this is fairly
[13:53] close to the kind of takeout version.
[13:55] Again, very similar noodles, a little
[13:57] bit thicker, which I like over the
[13:58] takeout version. And then the sauce,
[14:01] it's a little bit sweet, a little umami,
[14:03] a little salty, but not any way
[14:04] overpowering. Just like a good classic.
[14:06] You could mix up this version with any
[14:09] variety of like vegetables and proteins.
[14:11] You're going to be in for a good time.
[14:13] However, now we're going to move to
[14:15] number two, and this is the spicy beef
[14:17] lain, which I love spicy stuff. So, this
[14:20] is not something that you can really
[14:21] order a lot of places. So, more beefy
[14:24] sauce, spicy components in here. Let's
[14:27] get into it.
[14:34] For me, I think this is like the best
[14:36] lain that I've ever had because I kind
[14:37] of made it exactly how I wanted it. Um,
[14:40] but the spiciness you get from those tai
[14:42] bird's eye chilis and then the sauce
[14:44] isn't quite as sweet, but it's it's much
[14:46] more savory from kind of that um the
[14:49] beef bullion we put in there. And then
[14:51] the the tender beef pieces are just
[14:54] really nice to bite into. And then I
[14:55] really like that mix of kind of the
[14:57] mushroom with the bell peppers and you
[14:59] get a little freshness from those
[15:00] scallions in there. Um, for me that's
[15:03] yeah, this is probably the best lain
[15:05] I've ever had. I think noodle-wise these
[15:08] are a decent option, although I think I
[15:10] do like the texture of kind of those
[15:11] fresh lain noodles. Little bit thicker.
[15:13] These are a little bit thinner, but
[15:14] still really, really good. And lastly,
[15:17] let's kind of go to our healthy chicken
[15:20] um lain. So, more vegetables, more
[15:23] protein in this, just less noodles to
[15:25] kind of lower the calorie count.
[15:30] It's crazy how the ginger comes through
[15:32] in this. It makes such a big difference.
[15:33] Like, you get Thai chilis here. You get
[15:36] kind of just garlic here. Um, the ginger
[15:39] just it it makes it feel more healthy.
[15:41] Um, I just I really like ginger for
[15:45] being like a lower calorie kind of
[15:46] healthier version. This one is
[15:48] surprisingly good.
[15:50] So, this taste test totally sums up why
[15:52] I'm such a big fan of making low mane at
[15:54] home. Each of these kind of brings
[15:56] something else to the table. Um, and
[15:58] they're kind of like an upgrade over
[16:00] over, you know, the takeout version,
[16:01] which again, it's fine, but again, when
[16:03] you can mix in more vegetables, which
[16:05] when you can change your sauces, change
[16:07] up the aromatics, and really shape the
[16:09] direction of your dish, it's really,
[16:11] really fun. So, we're going to have
[16:12] recipes for each of these linked down
[16:14] below, as well as in the Cookwell app.
[16:16] And we're going to have a low man
[16:18] framework as well where you can actually
[16:20] edit your ingredients to match whatever
[16:22] you may have in the fridge, freezer, and
[16:23] pantry to make some great low man at
[16:25] home. But anyway, that is going to wrap
[16:27] it up for me in this one. Let me know
[16:29] which version of these you want to make
[16:30] down below, but I will catch you all in
[16:32] the next one. Peace y'all.