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Chow mein (chao mian in Mandarin-speaking communities) is a generic Chinese
Chinese language

Chinese or the Sinitic language is a language family consisting of language mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan languages of languages....
 term for a dish of stir-fried
Stir frying

Stir frying is an umbrella term used to describe two fast cooking techniques: chao and b?o . The term stir-fry was introduced into the English language by Buwei Yang Chao, in her book How to Cook and Eat in Chinese, to describe the chao technique....
 noodle
Noodle

A noodle is food made from unleavened dough that is cooked in a boiling liquid. Depending upon the type, noodles may be dried or refrigerated before cooking....
s, of which there are many varieties. The term chow mein is derived from the Taishan dialect
Taishan dialect

Taishanese is a dialect of Cantonese. It is mainly spoken in and around Taishan, a county-level city situated southwest of Guangzhou on the coast of Guangdong province....
 of Chinese (see Etymology). Chow mein is generally made of soft noodles, however Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Hong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located in Southern China in East Asia, bordering the province of Guangdong to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east, west and south....
-style chow mein is made from thin crispy noodles.

a class="link1" onMouseover='showByLink("m1235968",this)' onMouseout='hide("m1235968")'href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/American_Chinese_cuisine">American Chinese cuisine
American Chinese cuisine

American Chinese cuisine refers to the style of food served by certain Chinese culture restaurants in the United States. This type of cooking typically caters to Western World tastes, and differs significantly from the Chinese cuisine....
, it is a stir-fried dish consisting of noodle
Noodle

A noodle is food made from unleavened dough that is cooked in a boiling liquid. Depending upon the type, noodles may be dried or refrigerated before cooking....
s, meat
Meat

In modern English usage, meat most often refers to animal biological tissue used as food, mostly skeletal muscle and associated fat, but it may also refer to offal, including livers, skin, brains, bone marrow, kidneys, in some countries lungs, and a variety of other internal organs as well as blood....
 (usually chicken, although beef, shrimp, or pork may also be used), and cabbage
Cabbage

The cabbage is a leafy garden plant of the Family Brassicaceae , used as a Leaf vegetable. It is a herbaceous, biennial plant, dicotyledonous flowering plant distinguished by a short stem upon which is crowded a mass of leaves, usually green but in some varieties red or purplish, forming a characteristic compact, globular cluster ....
 and other vegetable
Vegetable

The term "vegetable" generally means the Eating parts of plants. The definition of the word is traditional rather than scientific, however, and therefore the usage of the word is somewhat arbitrary and subjective, as it is determined by individual cultural customs of food selection and food preparation....
s.






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Chow mein (chao mian in Mandarin-speaking communities) is a generic Chinese
Chinese language

Chinese or the Sinitic language is a language family consisting of language mutually unintelligible to varying degrees. Originally the indigenous languages spoken by the Han Chinese in China, it forms one of the two branches of Sino-Tibetan languages of languages....
 term for a dish of stir-fried
Stir frying

Stir frying is an umbrella term used to describe two fast cooking techniques: chao and b?o . The term stir-fry was introduced into the English language by Buwei Yang Chao, in her book How to Cook and Eat in Chinese, to describe the chao technique....
 noodle
Noodle

A noodle is food made from unleavened dough that is cooked in a boiling liquid. Depending upon the type, noodles may be dried or refrigerated before cooking....
s, of which there are many varieties. The term chow mein is derived from the Taishan dialect
Taishan dialect

Taishanese is a dialect of Cantonese. It is mainly spoken in and around Taishan, a county-level city situated southwest of Guangzhou on the coast of Guangdong province....
 of Chinese (see Etymology). Chow mein is generally made of soft noodles, however Hong Kong
Hong Kong

Hong Kong , officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, is a territory located in Southern China in East Asia, bordering the province of Guangdong to the north and facing the South China Sea to the east, west and south....
-style chow mein is made from thin crispy noodles.

American Chinese cuisine

In American Chinese cuisine
American Chinese cuisine

American Chinese cuisine refers to the style of food served by certain Chinese culture restaurants in the United States. This type of cooking typically caters to Western World tastes, and differs significantly from the Chinese cuisine....
, it is a stir-fried dish consisting of noodle
Noodle

A noodle is food made from unleavened dough that is cooked in a boiling liquid. Depending upon the type, noodles may be dried or refrigerated before cooking....
s, meat
Meat

In modern English usage, meat most often refers to animal biological tissue used as food, mostly skeletal muscle and associated fat, but it may also refer to offal, including livers, skin, brains, bone marrow, kidneys, in some countries lungs, and a variety of other internal organs as well as blood....
 (usually chicken, although beef, shrimp, or pork may also be used), and cabbage
Cabbage

The cabbage is a leafy garden plant of the Family Brassicaceae , used as a Leaf vegetable. It is a herbaceous, biennial plant, dicotyledonous flowering plant distinguished by a short stem upon which is crowded a mass of leaves, usually green but in some varieties red or purplish, forming a characteristic compact, globular cluster ....
 and other vegetable
Vegetable

The term "vegetable" generally means the Eating parts of plants. The definition of the word is traditional rather than scientific, however, and therefore the usage of the word is somewhat arbitrary and subjective, as it is determined by individual cultural customs of food selection and food preparation....
s. It is often served as a specific dish at westernised Chinese
American Chinese cuisine

American Chinese cuisine refers to the style of food served by certain Chinese culture restaurants in the United States. This type of cooking typically caters to Western World tastes, and differs significantly from the Chinese cuisine....
 restaurant
Restaurant

A restaurant prepares and serves food and drink to customers. Meals are generally served and eaten on premises, but many restaurants also offer take-out and Delivery ....
s with soy sauce
Soy sauce

Soy sauce , soya sauce , or shoyu is a fermentation sauce made from soybeans , roasted cereal, water and Sodium chloride. Soy sauce was invented in China, where it has been used as a condiment for close to 2,500 years....
 and vegetables such as celery
Celery

Apium graveolens is a plant species in the family Apiaceae commonly known as celery or celeriac depending on whether the petioles or roots are eaten....
, bamboo shoot
Bamboo shoot

Bamboo shoots are the edible shoots of bamboo species Bambusa vulgaris and Phyllostachys. They are used in numerous Asian cuisine dishes and broths, and are available in supermarkets in various sliced forms, both fresh and canned versions....
s, and water chestnut
Eleocharis dulcis

The Chinese water chestnut , more often called simply the water chestnut, is a grass-like Cyperaceae grown for its edible corms. It has tube-shaped, leafless green stems that grow to about 1.5 metres....
s.

Chow mein is mentioned as early as 1920, in the novel Main Street
Main Street (novel)

Main Street is a satire novel written by Sinclair Lewis, and published in 1920....
 by Sinclair Lewis
Sinclair Lewis

Sinclair Lewis was an United States novelist, short-story writer, and playwright. In 1930, he became the first American to be awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, "for his vigorous and graphic art of description and his ability to create, with wit and humor, new types of characters." His works are known for their insightful and critical vi...
.

There are two kinds of chow meins available in the market: 1) Steamed chow mein, and 2) Crispy chow mein, also known as Hong Kong style chow mein (see below). The steamed chow mein has a softer texture while crispy chow mein is crispier and dryer.

Canadian Chinese cuisine

Canadian westernized Chinese restaurants
Canadian Chinese cuisine

Canadian Chinese cuisine or Can/Chinese is a popular style of cooking exclusive to take-out and dine-in eateries found across Canada. It was the first form of commercially available Chinese food available in Canada....
 may offer up to three different types of chow mein, none of which are identical to American chow mein. Cantonese
Cantonese cuisine

Cantonese cuisine comes from Guangdong in Southern China, or specifically from Guangzhou . Of all the regional varieties of Chinese cuisine, Cantonese is the best known outside China; most "Chinese restaurants" in Western countries serve Cantonese cuisine and dishes based on it....
 style chow mein contains deep-fried crunchy golden egg noodles, green peppers, pea pods, bok choy, bamboo shoots, water chestnuts, shrimp, Chinese roast pork (char siu
Char siu

Char siu , otherwise known as barbecued pork in China or Chinese barbecued/roast pork outside China, is a popular way to prepare pork in Cantonese cuisine....
), chicken, and beef, and is served in a thick sauce. Plain chow mein is similar to Western chow mein but contains far more mung bean sprouts; some recipes may be up to one-half bean sprouts. Hong Kong style chow mein is similar to plain chow mein but is always served on a bed of deep-fried crunchy golden egg noodles.

Indian Chinese cuisine

Chow mein is also common in Indian Chinese cuisine
Indian Chinese cuisine

Indian Chinese cuisine is the adaptation of Chinese cuisine seasoning and cooking techniques to Indian tastes. It is said to have been developed by the tiny Chinese community that has lived in Kolkata for over a century....
, having been introduced by the Chinese of Calcutta
Chinese of Calcutta

The Chinese of Kolkata in West Bengal, India are a community of immigrants and their descendants that emigrated from China starting in the late 18th century to work at the Calcutta port ....
. It is usually offered Hakka
Hakka cuisine

Hakka cuisine is the cooking style of the Hakka people, who are primarily found in southeastern China , but also may be found in many other parts of China, as well as in the Chinese diaspora....
 or with gravy. Catering to vegetarian diets, there is an Indian variant, vegetable chow mein, which consists of noodles with cabbage, bamboo shoots, pea pods, green peppers, and carrots. In the New Delhi area, chow mein can sometimes include paneer with the mixture of noodles and vegetables.

Caribbean style

Many West Indian people include chow mein in their cuisine, especially peoples from islands like Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago

The Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an island country in the southern Caribbean, lying northeast of the South American country of Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles....
 and Jamaica
Jamaica

Jamaica is an island nation of the Greater Antilles, in length and as much as in width situated in the Caribbean Sea. It is about south of Cuba, and west of the island of Hispaniola, on which Haiti and the Dominican Republic are situated....
 which include a significant ethnic Chinese population; much of the cooking has infused itself into the population in general. As well, in the South American country Guyana
Guyana

Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana and previously known as British Guiana, is the only state of the Commonwealth of Nations on mainland South America....
 the culture and cuisine is similar to Trinidad's. These chow mein are cooked in a similar manner, with green beans, carrots, peas, onions and sometimes other vegetables. Meat used is mostly chicken and sometimes pork and/or shrimp. The main difference is that local spices are added, and the dish is often served with hot Scotch bonnet peppers and/or pepper sauce.

In Cuba
Cuba

The Republic of Cuba is a country in the Caribbean. It consists of the island of Cuba , the island of Isla de la Juventud, and several adjacent small islands....
, aside from the foreign owned tourist hotels which often serve Western-style Chinese food, local Chinese restaurants can be found in Havana
Havana

Havana is the capital city, major port, and leading commercial centre of Cuba. The city is one of the 14 Provinces of Cuba. The city/province has 2.1 million inhabitants, and the urban area over 3.5 million, making Havana the largest city in both Cuba and the Caribbean....
 that offer a distinct Cuban style.

Nepali style

Tibetans who settled in Nepal brought chow mein with them. Arguably it is the second most popular fast food of Nepal. The Newari people of the Kathmandu Valley use water buffalo meat in their cusine, and chow mein in Nepali is often cooked with onion, vegetables and buff (water buffalo meat).

Etymology

The pronunciation "chow mein" comes from the Taishan dialect
Taishan dialect

Taishanese is a dialect of Cantonese. It is mainly spoken in and around Taishan, a county-level city situated southwest of Guangzhou on the coast of Guangdong province....
 of Chinese, which was the dialect spoken by the first Chinese immigrants from Taishan
Taishan

Taishan is a coastal county-level city in Guangdong Province, China. The city is located in the Pearl River Delta, southwest of Jiangmen and 140 kilometers west of Hong Kong, with a population of approximately 1 million....
 to America. In Taishanese it is pronounced chau1 meing4 . The character for "mein" is ?, which means "noodles." The original Taishanese phoneme, ?, was dropped when adopted by English speakers, thus changing it from the original pronunciation, me??, to the Americanized pronunciation, me?n.

External links



See also

  • Chinese noodles
    Chinese noodles

    Chinese noodles are an essential ingredient and staple in Chinese cuisine. There is a great variety of noodles, which vary according to their region of production, ingredients, shape or width, and manner of preparation....
  • Mein gon
    Mein gon

    Mein gon or informally referred to as Crunchy noodles or Crunchy chow mein are dried biscuits used in American Chinese cuisine....
     (crunchy chow mein noodles)
  • Chow mein sandwich
    Chow mein sandwich

    Originating in Fall River, Massachusetts, in the 1930s or 1940s, the chow mein sandwich, which typically consists of a brown gravy-based chow mein mixture placed between a hamburger-style bun and is served hot, is popular on Chinese-American restaurant menus throughout southeastern Massachusetts and parts of neighboring Rhode Island....
  • Yakisoba
    Yakisoba

    , literally "fried noodles", is a dish often sold at festivals in Japan, but originates from China. The dish was derived by the Chinese from the traditional chow mein, but has been more heavily integrated into Japanese cuisine like ramen....
  • Pancit
    Pancit

    Pancit or '"Pansit"' is a stir-fried noodle dish common in the Philippines of Chinese cuisine origin. This food is second in popularity to rice in the country, and is similar to yakisoba and yakiudon, Japanese-style stir-fried noodles....
  • Lo mein
    Lo mein

    Lo mein is a Chinese cuisine with noodles. It often contains vegetables and some type of meat or seafood, usually beef, chicken, pork, shrimp or wontons....
  • Chop suey
    Chop suey

    Chop suey is an American Chinese cuisine consisting of meats , cooked quickly with vegetables such as mung bean, cabbage, and celery and bound in a starch-thickened sauce....
     (stir fried meat, bean sprouts, cabbage, celery)