Lo mein

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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.

Lo mein is very similar to the Japanese version of stir-fried noodles, yakisoba. Many instant noodles come in a yakisoba variety which resembles lo mein.

In American Chinese restaurants, lo mein is a popular take-out food. In this setting, Lo mein noodles are usually stirred with brown sauce (a sauce made from soy sauce, corn starch, sugar, and other seasoning), carrots, bok choy or cabbage, onions, and shrimp, roast pork, beef, or chicken. Lobster Lo mein, vegetable Lo mein, and "House" Lo mein (more than one meat) are often available. Lo mein and Fried rice are often the only dishes sold without white rice, and is normally more affordable than other dishes.

[edit] A different style

The Chinese word 撈 (lāo in Mandarin and lau in Cantonese) means scoop something out of water, or separate something from water, like straining. The same written 撈 (pronounced differently as lo) also means stir or mix in Cantonese. It can either mean "stirred by the chef" or "stirred by the eater". The name refers to totally different dishes in different parts of China.

Lo mein in Hong Kong, unlike other lo mein elsewhere, is not stir fried. It is almost identical to a regular boiled noodle soup with various toppings, except that the broth is served separately in a bowl. This bowl of broth is distinguishing as Hong-Kong lo mein. Consensus on broth eating is elusive: people drink it before, during, and after eating the noodle. Others dip the noodles into the broth before eating; still others pour a small amount of the broth over the noodles occasionally to keep them moist, but not soaked. The last manner of eating seems most etymologically apt, as the broth is mixed with the noodles at the table according to preference.