When I moved to the East Coast from California, I noticed that chow mein refers to crunchy noodles instead of the soft ones.
2006-12-11 13:57:27 · 11 answers · asked by Jen 2 in Food & Drink ➔ Ethnic Cuisine
In Cantonese (a Chinese dialect we use in Hong Kong) "Lo mein" is different to "Chow mein", but may be in US, the restaurants mix up the meaning of "lo" and "chow"
Lo = mix / stir with / toss with
chow = stir fry (not deep fry)
During the cooking process, we would boil the noodles (mein) till cooked, drained, then go to the following step : to "lo" (mix) or to "chow" (fry) the noodles with other ingredients.
We (Cantonese) mix the noodles with green onions & ginger with some sesame oil. Sometimes we put meat sauce on the noodle (just like how you prepare spaghetti). This is lo mein and it could be cold noodles mix with cooked minced pork, cucumber cubes, boiled bean spourts when served in summer. And "mein" could be egg noodles, wheat hand-made noodle or ramen.
Chow mein refers to fried noodles with vegetables / meat / seafood, there are 2 different types of chow mein, wet chow mein is we deep fry the noodle, put noodle on the plate, then stir fry other ingredients (seafood or chicken with vegetables) with brown sauce and top the sauce on the crispy noodles. Dry chow mein is we fry the noodles together with other ingredients in the wok and the noodles would not be crispy but moist. Therefore, both soft or crispy noodles are refered as "chow mein"
This Cantonese style "chow mein" (deep fried noodles top with brown sauce + prawns / chicken / vegetables etc.) is popular in western countries (in those days, most Chinese immigrants are Cantonese) and most Chinese restaurants there use Cantonese thin egg noodles for "mein". The fried noodles in Shanghainese or Pekingnese cuisines are not crispy at all because they use different kinds of noodles (wheat noodle). Below is a photo of Cantonese style wet chow mein
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3DChow%2Bmein%26toggle%3D1%26cop%3Dmss%26ei%3DUTF-8%26fr%3Dyfp-t-501%26b%3D41&w=480&h=320&imgurl=www.dbsu.co.uk%2Fia%2Fchinesefood%2F109_0978%2520-%2520Special%2520Chow%2520Mein%2520-%2520A%2520dish%2520of%2520special%2520chow%2520mein%2520with%2520king%2520prawns%2C%2520char%2520sui%2C%2520duck%2C%2520squid%2C%2520beef%2520and%2520of%2520course%2520fine%2520noodles.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.infohub.com%2Fforums%2Fshowthread.php%3Fp%3D6755&size=45.6kB&name=109_0978+-+Special+Chow+Mein+-+A+dish+of+special+chow+mein+with+king+prawns%2C+char+sui%2C+duck%2C+squid%2C+beef+and+of+course+fine+noodles.jpg&p=Chow+mein&type=jpeg&no=60&tt=2,382&oid=5591c4b668bac9d6&ei=UTF-8
Here is a photo of "lo mein"
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3DLo%2Bmein%26ei%3DUTF-8%26fr%3Dyfp-t-501%26b%3D21&w=320&h=320&imgurl=www.landolakes.com%2Fimages%2Frecipes%2F7609A_l.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.landolakes.com%2Fmealideas%2FViewRecipeLarge.cfm%3FRecipeID%3D7609A&size=26.4kB&name=7609A_l.jpg&p=Lo+mein&type=jpeg&no=37&tt=1,281&oid=912124090739b182&ei=UTF-8
Here is a photo of dry chow mein (thick wheat noodle)
http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images/view?back=http%3A%2F%2Fimages.search.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fimages%3Fp%3Dchow%2Bmein%26ei%3DUTF-8%26fr%3Dyfp-t-501%26b%3D41&w=171&h=170&imgurl=z.about.com%2Fd%2Fchinesefood%2F1%2F0%2FF%2F3%2Ftofuchowmein2.jpg&rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fchinesefood.about.com%2Fod%2Fchowmein%2Fr%2Ftofuchowmein.htm&size=9.0kB&name=tofuchowmein2.jpg&p=chow+mein&type=jpeg&no=59&tt=2,401&oid=99276ee0727fb4f2&ei=UTF-8
2006-12-11 22:12:24 · answer #1 · answered by Aileen HK 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Lo Mein Pronunciation
2016-11-14 07:35:19 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Lo mein (Traditional Chinese: 撈麵/撈麪; pinyin: lāo miàn) is a Chinese dish based on stir-fried wheat noodles. It often contains vegetables and some type of meat or seafood, usually beef, chicken, pork, or shrimp. Lo mein is soft noodles while its counterpart chow mein is crispy noodles.
Chow mein is a stir-fried dish in American Chinese cuisine, consisting of noodles, meat, and cabbage and other vegetables. The pronunciation of "mein" is Cantonese and the pronunciation of "mian" is Mandarin. The character for "mian"/"mein" is 麵, which means wheat noodles. It is often served as a specific dish at westernised Chinese restaurants with soy sauce and vegetables such as celery, bamboo shoots, and water chestnuts. Crunchy chow mein is a type of fried or baked chow mein sprinked on American Chinese salad dishes, such as Chinese chicken salad, in a manner similar to croutons.
2006-12-12 01:14:21 · answer #3 · answered by dawn.ellicott@sbcglobal.net 1 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Just depends where you're from. In the middle of the US, chow mein is veggies/meat on top of crunchy noodles!
2006-12-11 15:03:28 · answer #4 · answered by Sugar Pie 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
They're called Lo-Mein here in Los Angeles.
Chow Mein is a dish made with noodles.
2006-12-12 06:36:01 · answer #5 · answered by alwaysbombed 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Mandarin/Cantonese dialect: "chow" means to fry; fried - this method of cooking would make the noodles crunchy but more oily as well.
"lo" means "to braise; braised - normally in boiling water first and then mixed in a soy sauce etc - noodles can be springy in bite, less oily.
Cooking/calling it differently would depend on the composition mix of early Chinese settlers in the Chinatown communities overseas. In Asia both types of cooking for noodles are as popular and are normal feature in menus.
2006-12-11 17:23:32 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
It depends on where your restaurant is located... If it's in an asian community or a Chinatown, chances are you'll only find soft noodles.
The crunch noodles is more of an Americanized version of chow mein. Thanks to the canned product, Chung King and La Choy.
2006-12-11 14:59:36 · answer #7 · answered by lots_of_laughs 6 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Chow Mein shouldn't have noodles at all. It's veggies (mainly celery) and sauce over rice.
Low Mein are the fat noodles and Mei Fun are thin rice noodles.
2006-12-11 14:02:06 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 3⤋
Depends on the cooking sytle, cantonese, mandrin, pasific rim etc etc. Some will use rice noddles for their chow / lo mein.
Dishes that contain the same ingridents but no noodles are chop suey.
2006-12-11 14:00:38 · answer #9 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
A lot of Chinese dishes are not exactly the same from place to place.
To use an anology: Define pizza, or chili, or gumbo.
They can all be made a thousand different ways and still be called the same thing.
2006-12-11 14:04:45 · answer #10 · answered by damndirtyape212 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
its a east coast west coast thing
2006-12-11 14:01:30 · answer #11 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋