Chow mein, Low mein, Chop suey??

The other night, I had some Chinese food delivered to me. Being bored with the usual things I get I decided to try something I've never had. Admittedly never having it in all the years i've eaten Chinese food, i decided to try Chow mein. I've seen it on plenty of Chinese food picture menus i figured, why not get that? I like lo mein noodles and i like hibachi fried noodles so i figured hey more noodles!

Sooo, much to my surprise, i receive my food and notice something isn't right. The dish i got was celery, bean sprouts, cabbage and onions in a white sauce. No noodles. So thinking they sent me the wrong thing, I called to see what's up. The guy at the restaurant proceeded to tell me that I what i ordered was chow mein and the noodle dish is lo mein. So i said ok and begrudgingly ate my noodle-less food.

So trying to really get down to it I took to the internet for some pics and recipes. I found that what i supposedly was eating was Chop suey! I do know that it was basically created in America but who am i to question an actual Chinese guy that works at an actual Chinese restaurant ? I'm curious if this is a regional thing or was the restaurant just wrong?

I'd like to say, it wasn't bad all in all but when you're hungry for something specific it's a bummer when you get something else.

My bro had always been a big fan of Chinese food, that was until he actually went to China and tasted the real Chinese food and realized it was nothing like what the UK takeaways serve up.

For me it's all about the Japanese food these days. hmmm sushi

Bleh Chinese food = runs


Though, homemade Chinese food is incredible. None of that greasy, slimy-ness to it...

reply to post by Ginga


I've never had chinese food from anywhere other than the US but i'd assume there are differences. I always here that about pizza. That's why im wondering if its called chow mein based on my region or possibly the region of China that the restaurant owners are from.


Speaking of regional creations, Japanese food has a bunch of them. I'm pretty sure you aren't going to find a Philly roll in Japan.