Is there a name for what I call Canadian Chicken Chow Mein?

O

oli

Well-known member
When I was a kid living in Vancouver during the 50s and 60s, my mom would take me downtown into Vancouver and have chicken chow mein in china town. I think this dish was the type of chow mein was also popular in the subburbs of Vancouver. This dish did not have the sauce that is common with the US chow mein. I don't recall much vegetables at all. The chicken was shredded and had a lot of bambo shoots and brown noodles, no rice. It had a strong sesame flavour.

I believe this dish is not made much any more as people's taste have changed, but my taste buds have not changed and my last visit there no one recall this version. Of course new restaurants and chefs have moved there and have brought with them their versions. I am hoping to find a recipe that I can make at home.

Thanks

 
Thanks, but not it. The chicken is shredded and I think it was all dark meat, but not positive

 
Here's one using thighs. Since you want shredded, simmer them until done and

shred them. I used to use left over cooked chicken to make chow mein .
Cut back on the veggies and use what you remember. The LONG years ago I made it I bought canned bamboo shoots, canned bean sprouts because they weren't available fresh then. This seems to have a minimal amount of sauce and since you remember sesame flavor, add some sesame oil.
https://norecipes.com/chicken-chow-mein

 
Chicken Chow Mein

Does anyone remember when carry-out chicken chow mein consisted of veggies in a white sauce with some shredded chicken on top of the container, a small container of rice and a bag of crispy noodles? No soft noodles. My Dad used to bring it home all the time, and we loved it. Wish I could find a recipe for it again.

 
So far not the one I am looking for, maybe someone for that time period and location will reminisce

with me and have more information than I can remember to narrow down the dish that wiil eventually lead to a recipe or even a restaurant, that still makes it. Whew, was that a run on sentence?

 
My experience...

Your average strip mall Chinese restaurant serves faux Chinese for American palates.

What you were experiencing in the 50's was probably very close to Chinese.

You can't get that now if you don't know how to ask..

American Chinese restaurants cater to Americans. What we grew up with, Kung Pao Chicken, Moo Shoo Pork, and the ubiquitous General's (Z) Chicken was all made for Americans.

Since then, I have made friends with a Chinese colleague and her husband (from Shanghai and Guangzhou). I eat at their house, they eat at our house. They are enamored of the full Austrian and revel in Kaiserschmarr'n and Stollen. I'm enamored of Mom's Shanghai lacquered pork ribs and sticky braised pork belly.

They select the restaurants that we go to. They cannot abide Americanized Chinese food. The latest "IT" Sichuan restaurant in Cincinnati: I arrived first. They gave me a menu. My friend arrived and sat down and started laughing. The menu I was holding said,, in Chinese, "Chinese Food For Americans." How would I know? She quickly dispensed with that, asked for the Chinese menu, and we had amazing food.

My favorite in Chinese restaurant reviews: "It's really authentic Chinese!"

How the hell would they know?

 
That was absolute authentic real down-home Chinese food country then. It still

is one of the best around (Vancouver I mean) but as Richards says, things have changed. What I liked out of my mother's kitchen isn't found much any longer either.

I recognize that it must be authentic because of the food we get here prepared by any of the huge Chinese population. It just doesn't compare. And I guess because of the 60+ years I've been eating it, since before we all started cutting corners.

My dad took us to Chinatown every Sunday (in central Canada) for about 10 years starting in the early 50s; we always ate the same things. Just going to a Chinese restaurant was a stunning feat for him, there was to be no variety in the menu. If he had ever seen the kitchen, I know we would never have returned. I did master chopsticks at a very young age.

One thing we ate was perhaps similar to what you describe but all I can recall of it was that it had very small cubes of carrot and whole toasted almonds. I loved those almonds.

 
I remember that once we ordered take out and the chow mein was the same as going downtown into Vanco

I don't believe it had carrots as I am not a fan. No almonds. I know they were still making it when DW and I took the ferry into Victoria in the late 90s and we ordered chx chow mein and I thought I went to heaven as I hadn't had any since I left BC in the mid 60s.

 
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