Lo mein

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Lo mein

American-Chinese-style Lo mein
Cantonese style lo mein
Simplified Chinese 捞面
Traditional Chinese 撈麵
Cantonese Jyutping lou1 min6
Literal meaning mixed/stirred noodles
Alternative Chinese name
Simplified Chinese 拌面
Traditional Chinese 拌麵
Cantonese Jyutping bun6 min6

Lo mein (Chinese: 撈麵) is a Chinese dish with wheat flour noodles. It often contains vegetables and some type of meat or seafood, usually beef, chicken, pork, shrimp or wontons.

Traditionally this is a variation of wonton noodle soup. The soup is simply separated from the noodles and other ingredients, and served on the side.

Etymology

The term lo mein comes from the Cantonese lōu mihn (撈麵), meaning “stirred noodles”.[1] The Cantonese usage of the character 撈, pronounced lōu and meaning "to stir", differs from the character's usual meaning of "to dredge" or "to scoop out of water" in Mandarin, in which case it would be pronounced as làauh or lòuh in Cantonese (lāo in Mandarin).[2][3] In Mandarin, the dish is more typically called bàn miàn (拌麵), not to be confused with bǎn miàn (板麵).

American Chinese cuisine

In American Chinese restaurants, lo mein is a popular take-out food. In this setting, lo mein noodles are usually stirred with a sauce made from soy sauce and other seasonings. Vegetables such as bok choy and cabbage can be mixed in and meats like roast pork, beef or chicken are often added. Shrimp lo mein, lobster lo mein, vegetable lo mein, and "House" lo mein (more than one meat) are sometimes available.

A version sold in many places in western North America is sometimes labeled as chow mein. However, the two are prepared differently, with very different noodles. Chow mein is stir fried, while lo mein is not.[4]

Gallery

See also

References

  1. "lo mein". Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary. Merriam-Webster Online. 2008 
  2. "撈". 《現代標準漢語與粵語對照資料庫》 (A Comparative Study of Modern Chinese and Cantonese) (in Chinese). 香港中文大學 (Chinese University of Hong Kong). 
  3. "撈". 《粵語審音配詞字庫》 (Chinese Character Database: With Word-formations Phonologically Disambiguated According to the Cantonese Dialect) (in Chinese). 香港中文大學 (Chinese University of Hong Kong). 
  4. http://feastasia.casaveneracion.com/lo-mein-not-chow-mein/
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