Shrimp Oil Lo Mein With Shiitake & Onion (Better Than Takeout!) | TheCleanEat

The shrimp oil slowly rendered from fresh shrimp over low heat smells incredibly fragrant — perfect for tossing with noodles. I’ve shared a recipe before for Shrimp and Scallion Oil Lo Mein. If you’re interested, go check it out. This time, I’m not using scallions. Instead, I switch to sweet and mildly spicy white onions, which brings a whole new layer of deliciousness.

Ingredients

• 100g noodles
• 250g shrimp
• 4 shiitake mushrooms
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1/4 white onion
• 1 tbsp cooking wine
• 1g ground pepper
• 2g salt
• Cooking oil, as needed

Instructions

Step 1: Prep all the ingredients

First, trim the stems off the shiitake mushrooms and soak them in clean water. Add a bit of salt and flour, then rub the mushrooms thoroughly to wash away any dirt. Rinse, then blanch them briefly in hot water to remove their astringent taste. Squeeze out the excess water and slice the mushrooms.

Mince the garlic cloves, and slice the white onion into small pieces.

Cut off the shrimp heads, remove the veins, and peel the shrimp. Set the shrimp heads and shells aside-don’t throw them away, they’re super useful. Set the shrimp aside to one side.

Step 2: Slowly render the shrimp oil

Heat your pan until hot, then pour in more oil than you’d normally use for stir-frying. Add the shrimp heads and shells, and reduce to low heat. Let them fry slowly to release all that fragrant shrimp oil.

While frying, gently press down on the shrimp heads with a spatula to extract more oil.

Keep frying until the shrimp heads and shells turn golden and crispy, and the oil takes on a rich color. Scoop out the shrimp heads and shells-you can snack on them or serve as a crispy side dish. They’re super tasty!

Step 3: Stir-fry the toppings

In the same shrimp oil, add the sliced onion. Stir-fry over medium heat until fragrant, then add the shiitake mushrooms and keep stir-frying until they soften.

Add the peeled shrimp, along with cooking wine, salt, and pepper. Keep stir-frying until the shrimp turn from translucent to white. Once that happens, it’s ready.

Step 4: Cook the noodles and assemble

In another pot, bring water to a boil. Add the noodles and cook until done. Drain and place them on a plate. Pour the freshly stir-fried onion, mushroom, and shrimp mixture over the noodles. This simple yet flavorful lo mein is ready.

Toss everything together-and dig in!

Pro Tips

1. Be sure to clean the mushrooms thoroughly — don’t skip this part. Soak them in water with a bit of salt and flour, rub to remove dirt, then blanch briefly. This takes away the bitter taste but doesn’t strip the mushrooms of their aroma like boiling would.
2. A lot of people skip deveining shrimp, but it’s better to do it. Use scissors to cut open the shrimp back and remove the vein. It’s the digestive tract, usually dark in color, and may contain sand or undigested food-removing it makes your dish cleaner and more pleasant.

Simple Ingredients, Incredible Flavor

This lo mein delivers a great balance of umami and aroma with just a handful of ingredients. The shrimp oil is rich and flavorful, and the mushrooms and onions soak it up beautifully. Definitely worth making again.

Originally published at https://thecleaneat.com on August 5, 2025.