Chinese food terminology, advice sought

Felon · Oct 3, 2004

Once again I find myself looking at a Chinese menu and trying to find something new and interesting, yet not horrible and repulsive. I like to experiment, but not blindly--I'm not crazy about spending good money on food that I wind up throwing in the garbage (when I'm hungry no less). Lord know I've been burned on this before.

So, could I get some clarification from folks who have been eating Chinese food all of their life? What does the following consist of:

1) lo mein
2) chow mein
3) egg foo young
4) moo shu

TIA!

the Jester · Oct 4, 2004

Chow mein is typically noodles fried up with some vegetables and often some meat (pork, chicken, or shrimp are most common). It's pretty good stuff- a good standby.

I don't know what the heck is in egg foo yung, but it's nasty.

Mu shu is a mix of meat, vegetables and small amounts of fried egg slapped on a super-thin wrap/pancake type thingie, usually with plum sause. Delicious.

Lo mein I'm not too clear on.

Krieg · Oct 4, 2004

Lo Mein = Soft boiled noodles + meat & vegetables.

Chow Mein = Crispy fried noodles + meat & vegetables.

The traditional particulars of just what the meat and vegetables are is different for each.

ayrwind · Oct 4, 2004

Felon said:
Once again I find myself looking at a Chinese menu and trying to find something new and interesting, yet not horrible and repulsive. I like to experiment, but not blindly--I'm not crazy about spending good money on food that I wind up throwing in the garbage (when I'm hungry no less). Lord know I've been burned on this before.

So, could I get some clarification from folks who have been eating Chinese food all of their life? What does the following consist of:

1) lo mein
2) chow mein
3) egg foo young
4) moo shu

TIA!

Being a Chinese in a predominantly Chinese country Singapore, I guess I would qualify. I have indeed been eating Chinese food all my life. (BUT Singapore is not an island off China, contrary to what many foreigners think).

Another thing to note though. The American style of Chinese food can be quite different from the normal standard Chinese food found elsewhere in the world.

Chow mien when translated means fried noodles. Mien is noodles. Yes, it is fried with different sauces with different ingredients. Different sauces and different ingredients give different types of chow mien. Yes, it is normally fried with eggs, veggies and some meat. And i do agree it is an easily accessible noodles, meaning easy to eat and decently tasty.

Lo Mien would refer to boiled noodles. Lo does not mean boiled, but refers to a style of cooking. Should be served either dry or in soup, but mainly in the dry form. There should be a light gravy mixed into the dish, with vegetables and stewed meat. Normally it should be served with some shrimp or pork dumplings. Another staple Chinese food, something we eat for lunch.

Egg Fu Yong. Fu Yong I think refers to a name, prolly someone believed to be the creator of this dish. Basically, it is a large egg omelette with onions and other vegetables inside. It should contain minced pork as well, and the more expensive versions would include seafood. A very simple dish, easy to cook at home. At its core, its just an omelette with onions and meat inside. Personally i like this dish with some tomato ketchup, but i think thats just me.

the moo shu think i have never seen before in my life. sorry, cant help you here. in the rare event that someone can show me the chinese characters of Moo Shu, i might be able to tell. Chinese language is based off different intonations as well, so without intonations that cannot easily be conveyed with English words, hard to guess also.

Do feel free to pop more questions on Chinese food here. I would love to shed more light. I like Chinese food, and do enjoy cooking them at home.

Chun-tzu · Oct 4, 2004

ayrwind said:
Another thing to note though. The American style of Chinese food can be quite different from the normal standard Chinese food found elsewhere in the world.

I can NOT emphasize this enough. Cantonese-style beef chow mein is one of my favorite dishes. I couldn't find it in most Chinese restaurants in Chicago and Southern California because they had these other short, crispy noodles instead of what Hong Kong'ers would call chow mein.

LeapingShark · Oct 4, 2004

ayrwind said:
the moo shu think i have never seen before in my life. sorry, cant help you here.

Not sure, but I think "mu shu pork" is prolly mandarin. I think cantonese it's called "muk see yuk"

Davelozzi · Oct 4, 2004

ayrwind said:
The American style of Chinese food can be quite different from the normal standard Chinese food found elsewhere in the world.

Even within the U.S. things vary quite a bit. Chinese food here on the East Coast has a lot more focus on appetizers (chicken fingers, spare ribs, pork fried rice) than on the West Coast. And though I don't generally order either, if I remember correctly from my time in Seattle, chow mein and lo mein have different meanings on the two coasts, or at least one of them does.

MaxKaladin · Oct 4, 2004

Yeah, these things can vary a lot. I used to get something called "Shrimp Cantonese" at a little place when I was in college and it was SO good. I haven't been able to find it anywhere else now that I've moved and nobody seems to recognize it. It was peeled shrimp cooked in a thick brown sauce that, I think, had little bits of crab meat in it but I can't be sure. Whenever I go to a new place and describe it, they tell me its something I forget the name of (but always the same thing) but it doesn't taste anything like what I had and the sauce is always either white or clear.

They had something else I liked, too called a Sizzling "Wor Ba" platter which was served fajita style with lots of meats and vegitables. I've never seen that elsewhere either. I'm convinced the folks who owned the place I got these dishes must have been using a different regional cuisine than is typical for Chinese restaraunts in the US.

Felon · Oct 6, 2004

Thanks for the info, guys. I tried some lo mein the other night and it was kind of nasty. Then again, the place I was getting it from isn't exactly a first-tier restaurant, and with noodles in general there's always that gamble that you'll wind up with something that tastes like day-old worms.

When it comes to Chinese, one of the big problems I have to deal with constantly is the question of onions. Man, I cannot stress how repellent it is to find a slimy onion in my food--it's pretty much the same as eating the aforementioned day-old worms. And they seem to be one of the cheapest ingredients around too, because everyone wants to cook them in everything--Chinese, mexican, cajun, italian (at least pizza and spaghetti anyway), you name it. This place even wanted to put them in the noodles, which just seems to me to be an inconceivably horrible combination.

Lefferts · Oct 7, 2004

Some places will let you ask for no onions - my wife does it all the time.

Sizzling wor ba (or sizzling go ba, I have also seen) is not typically something
you can get as takeout - but it is good. Not sure what the stuff is that
they throw in and make it sizzle though.