Supply chain issues — a.k.a. First World problems. In many stores I encounter empty shelves or low stock on certain items. Limes recently went missing, and earlier it was avocados. Remember the yeast shortage of 2020? Trader Joe is particularly good at stocking empty shelves with alternative products to counter some of the panic buying and supply chain disruptions.
But, really folks, considering our very privileged lives, we cannot complain. If the store is out of something that you need for a recipe, take it as an opportunity to be creative and find a work-around. There is always a way, and we all know it. (Note: baby formula is a truly serious issue and not to be likened with limes, avocados, or yeast.)
Markipedia will laugh aloud when he reads this because I am the worst when it comes to recipe flexibility. I melt down if I need something and the store is out of it. I have been known to go to multiple stores just to find one ingredient. Take lo mein noodles, for example. The other day, there were none to be found at our Asian grocery store, and only Japanese noodles were on the shelves at the regular grocery store.
I had to suck it up and hit “start” on Plan B. And Plan B meant using the yakisoba noodles from the grocery store for my lo mein recipe, as (to me) they most resembled the noodles I sought. And do you know what? They worked just fine. It’s good to learn something new as an old codger: I can be flexible. (Well, mentally if not physically.)
~ David
Beef Lo Mein
Click icon below to print recipe!
Ingredients
- 4 tablespoons water
- 3 tablespoons oyster sauce (mushroom based if vegetarian)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- 2 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon xiaoxing wine
- pinch sugar
- 1 pound flank steak
- 1 1/2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 1 1/2 teaspoons oil
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- 1 onion, sliced pole to pole
- 2 carrots, julienned
- 4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems removed and cut into slivers
- 4 scallions, green parts only, cut into 1-inch lengths
- 3 ounces snow peas, halved on a diagonal
- 1 pound fresh lo mein noodles or similar (see notes)
- 2 tablespoons neutral oil
Instructions
- As with many recipes, it helps to prep all the ingredients. Start by whisking together the sauce ingredients (water, oyster sauce, sesame oil, soy sauces, wine, and sugar) and setting it aside.
- Cut the steak into 2-inch widths with the grain. Then slice each piece across the grain into 2-inch by 3/4-inch by 3/16-inch pieces. Place sliced flank steak in a bowl and season with soy sauce and oil. Mix well, then sift cornstarch over top and mix in, trying to make sure all pieces of steak get some of the cornstarch; this will velvetize the meat and make it very tender. Set aside for 30 minutes.
- Slice onion pole to pole and the carrots into 2-inch matchsticks; place prepared onions and carrots in a bowl. Cut the mushrooms into 3/16-inch slices and snow peas in half on the diagonal (or into three pieces, if they are large); place prepared mushrooms and snow peas in a separate bowl. Slice scallion greens into 1-once lengths; place prepared scallions in a third bowl, or simply leave on the cutting board until ready to use.
- Bring a large pot of salted water to boil. Cook noodles per package instructions and drain; set aside. Keep the pot of hot water on hand in case you need it to loosen the noodles.
- Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat. Add 1 tablespoon of the oil and, when shimmering and almost smoking, add marinated beef making sure to break up any clumps. Stir fry for 1 1/2 minutes until beef is almost cooked and mostly browned. Remove beef from the pan and transfer to a bowl; set aside.
- Add remaining 1 tablespoon oil and add onion and carrot. Stir fry for 2 minutes. During cooking the onion will fall apart in sections. Add mushrooms and snow peas and stir fry for an additional minute. Add noodles (if noodles have clumped, dunk them in the hot water to loosen, and drain before adding), and stir to mix. Add a bit more oil if needed.
- When all is well mixed and hot, add the sauce and cook, stirring, for 30 seconds. Add in the beef and its juices, and stir fry until beef is heated through. Add scallion greens and toss a couple more times. Divide among 4 bowls.
- Serves 4.
- Notes:
- – fresh lo mein noodles can mold easily fairly quickly, even in the fridge, so buy them within a day of using them.
- – you can easily switch out the beef and use shrimp, chicken, pork, tofu, or more veggies.
© 2024 Copyright Cocoa & Lavender
John / Kitchen Riffs
June 25, 2022 at 7:27 amThis looks good — very tasty, and I think I’d make it with almost any noodle. But I can see why lo mein is the best one for this dish. We’re pretty flexible when it comes to ingredients. The lime issue is a yearly thing — we buy limes I’ll bet 40 weeks each year, and for the past decade we’ve noticed around Cinco de Mayo limes are scarce. Not so much a supply issue as a demand issue in this case (the result is the same, of course). The big item we can’t find at the moment is yellow grapefruit. Pink and red seem to rule, whether fresh, frozen, or canned. But there are a bunch of classic cocktails that require yellow grapefruit (a lot of Tiki ones), and substitutes don’t cut it (the red or pink have the wrong color, and are way too sweet). One of my regular grocery stores doesn’t carry it at all, and the one that carries bottled grapefruit juice has been out of it for a couple of months. Weird, and frustrating. Anyway, I’ve rambled on long enough — super nice recipe. Thanks.
Cocoa & Lavender
June 26, 2022 at 4:15 amJohn – I never thought of they’re being an issue with white grapefruit. We have so much of it fresh in our neighborhood, that I never think of buying it. No limes for Cinco de Mayo? I know quite a few people that would be sent into a tailspin with that knowledge…
Eha
June 25, 2022 at 5:00 pmSupply chain issues ! Tell us about it – we know . . . for all your reasons plus the horrendous floods here this year and the huge labour shortages due to lack of the usual backpackers from the US and Europe who do most of our usual; fruit- and vegetable picking ! Beans at up to $A 39 per kilo, lettuce up to eleven dollars each and cucumbers about the same price !!! That said, *big smile*, planeload after planeload of baby formula is leaving here to feed the American babies and planeload after planeload of avocadoes should also as we have a huge glut and media articles abound begging us to buy more . . . at giveaway prices ! Crazy world. Love your dish . . . snow peas ans mushrooms are my favourites in stirfries and I am glad you are using both dark and ordinary soy sauces, one more for colour and the other for flavour ! Best with shopping – we may not have the wherewithal to prepare all our favourites . . . what’s wrong with using imagination in the kitchen !!!
Cocoa & Lavender
June 26, 2022 at 4:17 amImagination in the kitchen is key! At least it is the key to having fun, for me. I’m learning that supply chain issues are a big deal worldwide right now, and I hope this comes to an end soon. I had to read the article about the price of beans in Australia (thank you for sending it along) and first thought it might be a typo. No such luck. Let’s hope things get better soon. (thank you all for the baby formula!)
Pauline
June 25, 2022 at 5:39 pmI know exactly where you are coming from David, I’ve become a bit better at substituting ingredients and often now I just cook a dish according to what I can find, and what is in season and reasonably priced. I also think when you are hoping to blog the recipe it adds a little bit of extra pressure when working on reliable substitutions. I think everyone understands though that not every ingredient can be found when required now. Anyway your beef stir fry looks absolutely delicious and now I will be craving for a similar dish this week, I won’t be very concerned about the noodles, I don’t think I’ve ever used lo mein.
Cocoa & Lavender
June 26, 2022 at 4:18 amI love lo mein noodles because they are much thicker, Pauline. I’m glad to know I’m not the only one who is dealing with substitutions in the kitchen. And you were absolutely correct, because I’m blogging and trying to make something for everyone, it’s a little difficult.
2pots2cook
June 26, 2022 at 12:22 amOh boy! I thought only Europe has these kind of problems! And the prices are going sky high. They say it’s just the beginning …. well, we’ll be creative and stick to each other more then we’re used to. Great opportunity to reset our priorities, right? Take care, all of you 🙂
Cocoa & Lavender
June 26, 2022 at 4:19 amTruer words were never spoken, Davorka. Creative and stick together!
Velva
June 26, 2022 at 8:07 amFlexibility these days is the key! Your beef lo Mein turned out beautifully. Thank you for sharing it with us.
Best,
Velva
Cocoa & Lavender
June 27, 2022 at 4:00 amThank you, Velva. I have a feeling will need to be more and more flexible every day!
Ronit
June 26, 2022 at 9:38 amCooking for me is all about improvisation, so I’m fine with different ingredients.
The dish looks very tasty! It’s always good to have such quick and flavorful dishes to have at hand. 🙂
Cocoa & Lavender
June 27, 2022 at 4:01 amKnowing your recipes, Ronit, I’d say it’s about improvisation and a lot of creativity! Thanks for your comment!
Ronit
June 27, 2022 at 10:10 amThank you! 🙂
Sherry M
June 27, 2022 at 4:24 ami’m not much of a noodle eater david so i wouldn’t really know (or care) what sort of noodle i had 🙂 A noodle is a noodle to this gal. I’ve just read we are having a massive overload of avocadoes here in australia so they are encouraging us to eat 6 kilos per head per annum instead of the 4 we usually consume. Okay I’m on it …
Cocoa & Lavender
July 1, 2022 at 6:19 pmNow a glut of avocados is a problem I can enjoy! I know you aren’t much of a noodle fan (but I like you anyway) — Ai I’m glad any substitution works for you.
Chef Mimi
June 27, 2022 at 5:55 pmGreat recipe, great post. It was cat food here for a while, then grated carrots. Yes, I can grate my own carrots, but after thumb surgeries, I embraced some time-saving products, and have since become very used to them!!! I would definitely have a problem with no limes, tho…
Cocoa & Lavender
July 1, 2022 at 6:21 pmNo limes was tough… but we survived! I can only imagine how something like grated carrots would be so helpful to you.
Frank | Memorie di Angelina
June 28, 2022 at 8:30 amYakisoba noodles sound delicious in this recipe. I have to say, I’m pretty flexible about substitutions. Just as you say, if I can’t find a particular ingredient, I like to think of it as a chance to be a little creative. And that was before supply chain issues were a thing—lots of “exotic” Italian ingredients can be hard to find even in normal times.
Like the other day, I made a sundried tomato pesto (coming to the blog sometime soon, btw) and used pistachios instead of pinolis. Fantastic! Liked it so much, I may start using pistachios for all my pestos. I’m guessing a lot of great dishes got their start that way.
Cocoa & Lavender
July 1, 2022 at 6:22 pmPistacchi in pesto is one of our favorites, thought I’m a huge fan of pinoli, Frank!
Jean | Delightful Repast
June 30, 2022 at 9:08 amDavid, your beef lo mein looks perfect! This is going on my must-make list. I’m more willing to make-do than I used to be, but once in a while a substitution has proved to be better than the ingredient I wanted. Like the day I couldn’t find yakisoba noodles and decided to use whole wheat spaghetti instead. We loved it! So now I always use the substitute.
Cocoa & Lavender
July 1, 2022 at 6:22 pmI love stories like this, Jean!
John
July 3, 2022 at 2:43 amOh, the joys of supply chain issues. Our current one is eggs! It seems that I’m a little like you, David. I’ll scour every grocer and market until I find “that” ingredient that I feel can’t be replaced. I drove over an hour the other day to find young ginger, because “old” ginger wasn’t quite the same and it was $48/kg! First World problems, indeed!
Well I’m pleased to see that the noodles you ended up with did the trick just fine. It looks mighty delicious!
Cocoa & Lavender
July 4, 2022 at 5:40 amJohn – I’m now obsessed with the idea of young ginger. Honestly, I don’t think we’ve ever seen it in the United States! I would venture to say that all the ginger we get is “old.” A shortage of eggs? Wow, that’s tough… I think we still have many months ahead of supply chain issues, unfortunately. Knowing how creative you are, I know you’ll do just fine!
Valentina
July 3, 2022 at 4:48 pmI’m like you and will go to multiple stores to hunt down one ingredient. And sometimes I have a decent substitute in the house and plan to use it, but at the very last minute, mid-recipe, I run to the store. It’s funny because if it’s not a recipe, and I’m just throwing a meal together, all bets are off. In any case, I’ll take any noodles in this deliciousness! 🙂 ~Valentina
Cocoa & Lavender
July 4, 2022 at 5:47 amYou crack me up, Valentina! But I guess that means I crack myself up, too — right?
Raymund
July 5, 2022 at 7:43 pmNoodles, thats one hard thing to be in shortage as we use them a lot. Nice that you found an alternative and Yakisoba is almost near to lo-mein. Worse comes to worst you can also use the noodles from good quality instant ramen, trust me some of them are better than the fresh ones, like the Korean instant noodles they handle heat pretty well.
Cocoa & Lavender
July 6, 2022 at 9:41 amI will have to give that a try, Raymund – but I am a huge fan of fresh noodles. Maybe I need to make my own?
Coco
July 6, 2022 at 1:20 pmThis is just what I need on that I-don’t-feel-like-cooking-but-want-something-yummy night! Thanks, D. xo
Cocoa & Lavender
July 7, 2022 at 11:17 amThat is exactly the way we feel – what’s in the fridge? What can I throw together? This is perfect for that! xo
Jeff the Chef
July 10, 2022 at 5:22 amI love how you talk about being flexible, and then confess to your meltdowns! Me too! When you think about the fact that, all our lives, you could always expect to walk into a grocery store and find shelves upon shelves of bread or whatnote, is a testament to our privledge. We live in a very prosperous environment. Obviously, something has gone wrong with that, and I hope that we figure it out before it becomes unsolvable (and now I’m no longer talking about avocados).
Cocoa & Lavender
July 13, 2022 at 9:02 amOh – ask Markipedia! The meltdowns are NOT pretty. We are spoiled – and completely entitled. When my students traveled to Cuba and sent a grocery store – that was open! – and there was almost nothing on the shelves… I was so saddened by this. Always good to check our privilege every day.
Christina Conte
July 20, 2022 at 6:17 pmIt’s so true! We really are so priviliged and forget how fortunate we really are, especially living where we CAN usually access whatever we need, even ordering online if need be. I am like you and will track down EXACTLY the item or ingredient I need most times. Ugh.
Your photos of this dish are making me drool! Looks so flipping delicious, I could eat that right now!
Cocoa & Lavender
July 23, 2022 at 7:55 amYou know, as much as we all know how to make substitutions, sometimes the exact ingredients are what make it perfect. It may be worth the search! Glad you like this — we had it at a good Chinese restaurant recently and Mark (bless him) said he liked mine better.