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.