There is a common perception that both of these dishes were invented by a Cantonese immigrant in the mid-late 1800’s in trying to produce a Chinese dish appetizing to westerners. The Cantonese cook stir-fried whatever vegetables were available, added some meat or chicken, and served it on a plate of steamed rice. He aptly named it, chop suey, which is the English pronunciation of the Cantonese words "tsap seui" ("tsa-sui" in Mandarin) which means "mixed pieces".
Chow Mein and Chop Suey may not have started out as the same dish, but ultimately they were just about the same thing in New York's Chinese-American restaurants and the rest of America. Real Chow Mein wasn’t very common to non Asians in New York until the revival of Cantonese food (Hong Kong style) in the 1980s. The Chinese-American dish that many are familiar with deviates from the original. Instead of a pancake of pan-fried wheat noodles, crunchy on the surface but soft in the center, American Chow Mein is a topping of crunchy deep-fried noodles.
Neither are exactly the same as their authentic Chinese counterparts, but they do have a history. According to my research, the idea of combining leftover vegetables and noodles into a single, stir-fried dish originated in Toisan, a rural area south of Canton. So, the origins of chop suey may actually lie in the countryside of southern China. Many of the original immigrants to the United States were from this region, making it not so far fetched that they naturally prepared the type of food they were familiar with. Chow Mein originated in Northern China, where wheat is a staple crop. But not all fried noodles are alike, some are lightly heated in the wok, while others, particularly in Guangdong province and Hong Kong, are fried in bunches in oil until they’re browned and crispy on the outer edges but still soft in the middle and topped with a stir-fried and sauced vegetable combination, with or without meat, poultry or seafood plus the varieties of chow mein are as numerous as the regional cuisines.
Great NY Noodletown has been around for as long as I can remember, serving authentic Cantonese cuisine, Hong Kong style roasted meats, a variety of congee, an array of exceptionally prepared “over rice” dishes. Most come here primarily for the noodles - whether its noodle soups, lo mein or pan fried noodles. The noodle soups are cooked to order in a vat of boiling water. You have a choice in the type of noodles ranging from thin to broad noodles. Also there's a wide selection of toppings for your noodle soup such as wontons, shrimp dumplings, seafood, and roasted meats. The restaurant's decor is something reminiscent of the mid-80's with wood tables and minimal decorations. By all means, this is a hole in the wall and serves up some of the best Cantonese food found in Chinatown, don't expect anything fancy in presentation, it's rustic, homestyle cooking. The prices are pretty easy to digest as well. It is awfully bright so, for those of you stumbling in from those dark pubs and night clubs for a bite (yes, they are open until 3 AM) be warned! The service is mediocre at best, but the food comes fast, in this very casual and straight-forward atmosphere. Here at Great NY Noodletown, you can’t go wrong with the Hong Kong Style pan-fried noodles a.k.a real chow mein and they have also have chop suey on the menu among many simple dishes with lots of flavor.
We know the Chinese have been feasting on noodles for approximately 2000 years, since the Han dynasty (206 BC - 220 AD). Some believe that the Italians got their first taste of pasta when Marco Polo brought it back from his long trek across China in the 13th century, but some Italians say they had pasta before that. Marco Polo described a food he had in China similar to "lagane", Medieval Latin for a thin crepe or fine sheet of dough (the term eventually evolved to lasagna). But lagane, first mentioned in 1st century AD, was not boiled like pasta at the time, although there were some similarities, it cannot be considered pasta. Then a discovery in 2005, of a well preserved bowl of millet noodles dating back 4000 years ago turned up - was this proof that China invented pasta before Italy? Then there is some argument over who originally came up with the idea of mixing water and flour to create pasta. The Arabs claim to have been the first to use dried pasta, as a means of preserving flour during their journeys across the desert. However, durum wheat, and thus pasta we know it today, was introduced by Arabs during their conquest of Sicily in the 8th century, predating Marco Polo's travels to China by about 6 centuries – and durum wheat was not known in China until later times.
Your head spinning yet? So, who really invented pasta … will it ever be settled? Perhaps not, but can we all just agree that we love oodles of noodles? Like Italian pasta, Asian noodles vary in width - they can be thick as coffee stir sticks or thin as toothpicks. When it comes to length, however, they are usually served long and uncut as long noodles symbolize a long life in Chinese tradition. Pasta and noodles have co-existed for centuries – maybe we don’t need to change chow mein to ciao mein after all...
Great NY Noodletown
28 Bowery, (At Bayard St)
New York, NY 10013
Phone: (212) 349-0923
