Whatever happened to chow mein (chop suey)?
Growing up in Yonkers in the '50s and '60s, take-out chow mein shops were as ubiquitous and pizza parlors. Chow mein was to Chinese cooking as pizza is to Italian cooking. As with the best pizza, the best chow mein was sublime. My preference was a steaming bowl of chow mein over rice (and yes, with the bullshit crunchy noodles) with big, plump, juicy shrimp, or with huge chunks of lobster. I can almost smell it now (pause now, as wave of nostalgia wafts over). The best shop in Yonkers was Moon's Chow Mein on South Broadway, about a mile from the Bronx border. But, a funny thing happened. As pizza was on its way to becoming worshipped in NY Metro, chow mein was going the way of the dodo. Talk about cruel fate. Are my brother and I (and Ed Levine) the only ones left who still crave chow mein?
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16 Comments:
around here chow mein is alive and well. you can get it anyway you like it even my fav mein/suey mixed on sandwiches. they just don't cost 10 cents anymore.
dearrie at 12:11PM on 02/20/09
I think they still have a chop suey sandwich on the menu at Nathan's, Coney Island. It's very historic, but definitely not tasty.
eleeb at 12:16PM on 02/20/09
I have to inject a story. Chow mein as a crossover dish invented by Chinese immigrants to appeal to the local populace is clearly not exclusive to New York or even the US. It's loved all over. When I was in Guatemala, I was informed that almost every Guatemala City housewife knows how to make a version of "chau mein," as it's cheap and filling, requiring only some dried noodles plus whatever else is on hand.
Early one morning when we were on the road and hungry, we spied a roadside stand that advertised "pollo." Nothing more on the sign, just the indication that chicken was offered. Okay, we were hungry. The vendor placed a fried chicken leg inside a hot dog bun, spooned some CHAU MEIN over it, and added a squirt of mayo and a squirt of ketchup. Yum. No, not really. Even my Guatemalan friends had to laugh over it. Chow/chau mein really is a beloved and ubiquitous food there. I hope we in the US and other wealthy countries where Chinese immigrants have brought us so much great cuisine don't totally forget about the comforting crossover dishes like chow mein and chop suey just because our ever-more sophisticated palates are discovering Sichuan cuisine and other more "authentic" Chinese delicacies.
This story also gets repeated in times of needing a "weirdest food story." Sorry.
Lorenzo at 2:39PM on 02/20/09
Chow mein still exists on every Chinese American take out menu there is. It's just crap and probably resembles nothing like you remember (with all those lovely huge chunks of real seafood and such). It'll usually be right up there with chow fan.
Mostly its overcooked, soggy noodles swimming in grease and cheap filler veggies.
It just translated to "Pan-fried noodles" and there isn't just one kind of chow mein. You can probably just order a non-soup noodle dish in Chinatown and get something resembling what you remember, redolent with wok hay and full of quality ingredients. Just stay away from anything actually called "chow mein" on the menu.
Personally, I'm all too glad there is more awareness that that kind of oily, cornstarchy take-out gunk isn't really Chinese food.
fuuchan at 3:31PM on 02/20/09
@Lorenzo: Great story. We really do eat anything when hungry. According the the Food Time Line (http://www.foodtimeline.org/foodasian.html) chow mein/chop suey was made from available local ingredients to feed the Chinese railroad workers. Even though the food is not considered "authentic" Chinese food, it's roots are clearly in China. A knowledgeable Serious Eater says that chow mein is alive and well in Cuban-Chinese eateries in NYC. Chow mein disappeared in DC Metro in the mid-'90s. I just find it interesting, the trajectory of pizza as compared to the trajectory of chow mein. I'm gettin' hungry.
Summerfield at 4:11PM on 02/20/09
Chop Suey and Chow Mein were menu staples at my parents' restaurant, which they opened in the 60's, and operated for almost 40 years. I remember the mountains of bok choy, celery, onions and bean sprouts that were turned into bins of "chop suey mix" every day (dad had a particular ratio). The dishes were quick, simple, and brought to life by the homemade chicken stock which was always there, simmering between the enormous gas-fired woks. No powdered or granulated crap back then.
The noodles WERE the fried, boxed, dried kind, and I remember the hours spent filling the little paper bags of them for the to-go orders.
I am forever nostalgic for this kind of "old school" Cantonese, and yeah, it's hard to find!!
hungryinhouston at 7:17PM on 02/20/09
@hungryinhouston - a lovely story - thank you for sharing that and giving chop suey and chow mein their rightful place in history.....
pooch at 9:27AM on 02/21/09
funny you shoud ask. back in the 60's chow mein with those crunchy noodles was one of my mothers favorite go-to dishes when our father was out of town for the evening. (probably at the horse track but that's another whole story). Hers was celery dominant with some chicken and the crunchy noodles. i made some the other day and it was really good. such nostalgia.
nightmoon at 1:05PM on 02/21/09
@hungryinhouston (and @nightmoon too): I'm sorry I wrote, "bullshit crunchy noodles". I did, in fact, enjoy them. I didn't realize they were made in-house. Your stories warm my heart. I have a basic idea on how to make chow mein (celery, onions, bean sprouts, bok choy, chicken broth), and I've tried it, but with limited success. I failed in the spices. I'm wondering if you could provide direction so that I could try again. Please. I'm out here in the wilderness of SE Michigan, where once, a long time ago, I found a Chinese carry-out that almost made chow mein. Why, oh why, did I leave New York?
Summerfield at 2:49PM on 02/21/09
Chow mein is alive and kicking in Seattle. I get it all the time, but I like the soft chow mein noodles. When I get take out/delivery Chinese food I always get my order no rice sub with chow mein, love, love love it.
pjracz10 at 6:04PM on 02/21/09
@Summerfield - no need to apologize; I chuckled at the "bullshit crunchy noodles"! We didn't make them either, but bought them by the boxful from a local noodle company that also provided our fortune cookies, eggroll and wonton skins. They were fried (similar to the canned ones, only thicker, browner and tastier) and came in huge bags. Very addicting just eaten plain!
As far as recipe goes, I remember it being pretty simple. I think it went like this: vegetable oil in a hot wok, then brown the meat of choice. Add vegetable mixture and Super Secret Seasoning mix (salt, sugar and MSG). Add chicken broth (real, not canned), cornstarch slurry, and splashes of light soy sauce, oyster sauce and sesame oil. I'm pretty sure that was it! Served with rice (Chop Suey) or the aforementioned noodles (Chow Mein).
If you asked for it, we would make pan fried noodles, which were thin egg noodles boiled up quickly, then thrown on our flat top to crisp before being topped with the chow mein mixture.
hungryinhouston at 11:27PM on 02/21/09
@hungryinhouston: Thanks a ton. I'm gonna try again this week, with chicken (I prefer lobster or shrimp, but if I'm going to ruin it, I'll start with chicken). I think I actually have oyster sauce and sesame oil in pantry. I wonder if cornstarch is absolutely necessary. I can get crunchy noodles at the local Chinese restaurant. It's shaping up to be a good week.
Summerfield at 11:38AM on 02/22/09
I know there's a chow mein restaurant on Chicago Ave. in south Mpls. I think it's called Huie's, and they have decent chow mein - good meat, crunchy veg. But their best dish is the cold peanut noodles. I know the level of fat and cholesterol in those buggers will kill me some day, but I just don't care!
TheCheapChick at 5:53PM on 02/23/09
my grandmother still makes her version of "chop suey" and I LOVE IT... its not quite the original recipe, as she makes it with beef and she is not in any way Chinese... she uses the bean sprouts and celery and cube steak with dark sauce and serves it over rice and the "chow mein" noodles... its on of those meals that makes me happy even though its not fancy or probably even authentic...
hungrygrl7 at 12:24PM on 02/27/09
Did anyone see Bourdain's latest No Reservations episode where he sought out "old-school Chinese food" in NY? Uh-oh, I see a new retro-nostalgio-gastro concept on the horizon.
Lorenzo at 2:15PM on 02/27/09
@Lorenzo: No I didn't. I've been staying away from Bourdain. I'm anti-TV. Having said, er, typed that, I do watch the Weather Channel with the sound off, which really, if you didn't know already, drives home the ridiculousness of commercials. So, TV, being the addictive drug that it is, pied pipered me into channel surfing one night, and I stumbled onto a punk rock Bourdain eating nearly raw beef in a Parisian bistro. The show had a dark quality, which one doesn't see in travel shows. I (shudder) put the sound on and got semi-hooked and actually anticipated the next several shows, but muting the commercials, of course. Fortunately, I fought off this back-sliding and am now back to only the Weather Channel with the sound off. Making the cold turkey easier was my perception that Bourdain had lost his rough edge and snark on the newer shows, and now was just another rich guy eating for fun in exotic places, admired by all around him. However, I miss NYC terribly, and I loved that show where he was cruising around Manhattan in a taxi. So, addictions notwithstanding, I'd love to see the "old-school Chinese food" show. I'd even put the sound on. And it'd be great if there was "a new retro-nostalgio-gastro" old-school chow mein revival. I made some the other night and it wasn't half-bad.
Summerfield at 12:00PM on 03/04/09