• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
LindySez | Recipes
  • About/Contact
  • Recipes
  • Tips & Techniques
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
menu icon
go to homepage
  • About/Contact
  • Recipes
  • Tips & Techniques
  • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • subscribe
    search icon
    Homepage link
    • About/Contact
    • Recipes
    • Tips & Techniques
    • Subscribe
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
  • ×

    Home » Recipes » Chinese Style Noodles with Ground Lamb and Bok Choy

    Chinese Style Noodles with Ground Lamb and Bok Choy

    Published: Feb 15, 2013 · Modified: Jun 21, 2022 by Linda Baker · This post may contain affiliate links

    • Facebook
    • Twitter
    Jump to Recipe Print Recipe

    Chinese Style Noodles with Ground Lamb and Bok Choy is a mouthful of simple, yet complex flavor. Ready and on the table in less than 30 minutes.

    Chinese Style Noodles with Ground Lamb and Bok Choy in a white bowl.

    The making of Chinese Style Noodle with Ground Lamb and Bok Choy

    This recipe for Chinese Style Noodles with Ground Lamb and Bok Choy is one I found on sfgate.com about a year ago. It intrigued me because it uses ground lamb and it was Chinese.

    I'd never really thought of lamb as being a part of Chinese cuisine, but apparently, it’s very popular in both Northern and Southern China where oxen were forbidden to be slaughtered since they were the workhorses of the farming community. Lamb and mutton, not so much.

    Chinese Style Noodles with Ground Lamb and Bok Choy bok choy and lamb in skillet

    What you need to make Chinese Style Noodles with Ground Lamb and Bok Choy

    • ½ pound ground lamb or other ground meat
    • Bok Choy - Also known as Chinese Cabbage. Found in most supermarkets. Best if it's baby bok choy, but larger stalks will also work.
    • Wide pasta such as tagliatelle or fettuccine. To keep it gluten-free, wide rice noodles will work.
    • Saki or Chinese Rice Wine.
    • Garlic, fresh ginger, and green onions - the trinity of Chinese Cooking.
    • Garlic chili sauce, for heat. Garlic chili sauce is available in most all grocery stores in the Asian food section.
    • Soy Sauce - I always use low-sodium naturally fermented soy sauce.
    • Toasted Sesame Oil - also found in the Asian section of your supermarket. If you don't use this often, it's best kept in the refrigerator as it turns rancid quickly.
    • Neutral oil - I like grapeseed oil.
    • Special Equipment - A deep heavy skillet or wok.

    You may ask...

    Do I need to use lamb?

    While this can be made with another ground meat, turkey, pork, or beef, I think the lamb gives it a nice earthy flavor that you would lose if you substitute another ground meat.

    But, one of the things I love about the flavors of this recipe is, putting half of the marinade INTO the meat. Flavoring it from the inside with the same great flavor as the sauce.

    Although the sauce is a bit more complex.

    What is Bok Choy?

    Bok Choy is a type of Chinese cabbage. While it doesn't grow into a head as you might expect of cabbage, it looks more like celery, with a rather firm bottom and a leafy top. It has a very mild, slightly cabbagy flavor.

    Baby Bok Choy waiting to be added to Chinese Style Noodles.

    If you can't find baby bok choy and ned to use the larger ones, I generally remove the larger outside leaves to make this recipe, keeping the tender inside to quickly grill as a side to another meal.

    The inside core is easily cut into halves, brush a little sesame seed oil on the leaves, and then grill, either on the BBQ or a grill pan. Lovely smoky flavors.

    With this recipe, as I said, I use the outside leaves, separating the white bottoms from the leafy top. Cook the bottoms first, adding the delicate leaves at the last moment to retain their color and to keep them from getting mushy.

    Chinese Style Noodles with Ground Lamb and Bok Choy with fettuccini noodles

    Need it to be Gluten-Free? I got you covered!

    For this recipe, I use fettuccine pasta, but you could use wide rice noodles, such as Asjantaboonn (wide noodle) or Pad Thai, medium noodle) to keep this gluten-free.

    Of course, you would need to use a gluten-free soy sauce. 

    One-pot cooking, done in about 30 minutes, including boiling the water for the noodles. How easy is that?

    Chinese Style Noodles with Ground Lamb and Bok Choy served in a white bowl

    Wine Recommendation for Chinese Style Noodles with Ground Lamb and Bok Choy

    If you would like to serve a wine with this,  I recommend a Pinot Noir. Look for, or ask your wine merchant to recommend one that is a little earthy, it will complement the earthiness of the lamb. Another good wine choice would be a Cab Franc most commonly known as a blending grape, but yummy on its own as well.

     Need to use up that left-over ground lamb? Try these delish Sirloin Beef and Lamb Burgers with Feta and Cilantro Mint Sauce

    Chinese Style Noodles with Ground Lamb and Bok Choy in a white bowl.

    Chinese Style Noodles with Ground Lamb and Bok Choy

    LindySez
    Chinese Style Noodles with Ground Lamb and Bok Choy combines tasty noodles with an easy spicy sauce. All in one pot, done in less than 30 minutes, how easy is that?
    5 from 2 votes
    Print Recipe Pin Recipe
    Prep Time 10 mins
    Cook Time 20 mins
    Total Time 30 mins
    Course Lamb, Main Course, Pasta
    Cuisine Asian
    Servings 2 servings
    Calories 594 kcal

    Equipment

    • Wok or
    • Large Saute Pan with Lid

    Ingredients
      

    • 4 - 6 ounces wide pasta such a tagliatelle or fettuccine, cooked according to package directions, drained and set-aside or rice noodles prepared according to directions (can do this part while you are doing the other part, then your pasta will stay hot)
    • 3 tablespoons Chinese rice wine or saki. (I used saki as that is what I had)
    • 3 tablespoons low-sodium soy sauce I can’t see any reason ever to use full salted soy sauce, low-sodium has plenty
    • 1 teaspoon toasted sesame oil I keep mine in the refrigerator so it stays fresh, as this, and other nut oils, turn rancid easily
    • ½ pound ground lamb
    • 4 cloves about 2 teaspoons minced garlic, divided
    • ¼ cup water
    • 1 teaspoon chili garlic sauce found in almost every supermarket now, or your specialty Asian store
    • 1 teaspoon cornstarch
    • 6 baby bok choy trimmed, large outer leaves removed, small tender inside core cut into halves, rinsed well (you can use larger bok choy if you need to, separate all the leaves, remove the tender top leaves from the stems and then slice the stems into 1 – 2-inch pieces)
    • 2 tablespoons grapeseed oil or other vegetable oil, but I always use grapeseed
    • 2 teaspoons minced ginger
    • 4 green onions sliced about ½ inch thick, part of the tops reserved for garnish

    Instructions
     

    • Combine the rice wine, sesame oil, and soy sauce into a measuring cup. Put the lamb into a bowl, add ½ (¼ cup) of the rice wine mixture and ½ of the minced garlic. Mix well.
    • Add the water, chili garlic sauce, and cornstarch to the remaining rice wine mixture, mix well, and set aside.
    • Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat; add 1 tablespoon of the oil, when hot, add the lamb and cook for about 3 minutes, breaking the meat up into large pieces as you cook it (the meat pieces should be about ½ inch big).
    • Reduce the heat to medium; add the remaining tablespoon of oil along with the remaining garlic, the ginger, and the green onion (except for the part that you are reserving for garnish); stir-fry for a few minutes, then add the bok choy. Cook until the bok choy is just cooked through, but still has a little bit of crunch in the stem; about 3 minutes. (If you had to use larger bok choy, add the stem pieces first, stir fry until tender then add the tops.) Add the noodles to the pan, along with the reserved rice wine mixture; stir-fry until the noodles are hot and coated with sauce.
    • Serve in wide warmed bowls (remember to always warm your plates so the food stays hot longer); sprinkle the reserved green onion tops over.

    Nutrition

    Serving: 1 servingSodium: 567mgSugar: 4gFiber: 4gCholesterol: 41mgCalories: 594kcalPolyunsaturated Fat: 10gSaturated Fat: 7gFat: 23gProtein: 23gCarbohydrates: 70g
    Keyword Asian dinner, baby bok choy, easy dinner, ground lamb
    Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

    Related

    « Savory Black Beans
    Fish Tacos with Peach and Nectarine Salsa »

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. giselle bisson

      January 24, 2014 at 7:49 pm

      This is a great dish to feed a crowd or potluck ... made ours with rice fettuccine, added cilantro and a bit of sliced red pepper. We had red onions not green, and I substituted siracha chili sauce for the chili garlic sauce. Yummy!

      Reply
      • LindySez

        January 25, 2014 at 9:25 am

        Thank you for posting this. Sounds like some nice change outs, and your use of rice fettuccine makes it gluten free. Cheers!

        Reply
    2. Jessica

      April 15, 2014 at 2:27 pm

      This looks and sounds like it would be a hit with my family! I can't wait to give it a try!

      Reply
    3. Cher

      April 19, 2014 at 3:18 pm

      Sounds fabulous, Linda! I like that you suggest a wine to go with it!

      Reply
      • LindySez

        April 19, 2014 at 3:52 pm

        Thank you. I sometimes forget to do that 🙂

        Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Recipe Rating




    This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

    Primary Sidebar

    Hi, I'm Lindy.

    I am a home-trained chef who loves to cook and eat delicious food. As I like to say, "Life is too short to eat mediocre food". And I find too much food out there is mediocre. I don't think good food needs to be fussy, or difficult to prepare. Most of my recipes are fresh, quick, easy, and tasty while keeping both calories and fats in check. 

    More about me →

    Popular

    • The Best Hormel Chili No Beans Copycat Recipe
    • Slow Cooked Oven Baked Spaghetti Sauce
    • A Quick No Knead Crusty Rye Bread
    • Recipe for the Best Original Der Wienerschnitzel Chili Sauce
    • Easy Sweet Tart Homemade Applesauce
    • Just the Beginnings Chicken Soup
    • Hasenpfeffer (German Style Wine Braised Rabbit)
    • Red Wine Rosemary Risotto
    • Sauerbraten My Way
    • Sole with a Light Creamy Shrimp Sauce

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy
    • Disclaimer

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Contact

    Copyright © 2020 Lindy Sez