Baltimore Yat Gaw Mein Recipes

YA-KA MEIN (AKA "OLD SOBER")

Steps:

• 1. Fill a stockpot halfway with water. Add the beef base, seasoning salt, Cajun seasoning, onion powder, oil, pinch of salt and couple turns of the pepper grinder to the pot and whisk to mix up. Place the meat in the stockpot - the water should cover the meat plus about an inch. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer for 2 to 3 hours, or until the meat is tender and begins to fall apart.
• 2. Remove the beef from the broth and using forks, pull it apart and return the shredded beef to the broth. Add salt and pepper, taste and adjust seasonings. Hold the soup over low until needed.
• 3. Meanwhile, boil the eggs, cool and peel them; set aside. Cook the spaghetti noodles according to package directions.
• 4. To assemble the soup, place a serving of spaghetti noodles in the bottom of a bowl. Use a slotted spoon to extract a serving of the shredded beef and add that on top of the noodles. Ladle the hot broth over the noodles and beef and garnish with green onions and half of a hard-boiled egg.
• 5. Dress it up with a few dashes of soy sauce, hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce. Some folks also like to also add a bit of ketchup to theirs.
• 6. SLOW COOKER DIRECTIONS You can also prepare the meat in the crockpot - a good idea if you want to put this on before bedtime in the wee hours of post-Mardi Gras morning! Put the roast and seasonings in the crockpot cover and cook on high for 1 hour, then on low for 6 to 8 hours longer, or, cook on low for up to 10 hours, until meat is falling apart. Boil the noodles, eggs and assemble as above.
• 7. HISTORY, cont. Ya-Ka Mein is a N.O. dish made from a mix of noodles, meat, green onions and hard-boiled egg in a spicy salty broth with an Asian twist from soy sauce. Some dispute the origins of Old Sober in the N.O. area but it's believed that Yakamein was introduced when Chinese workers relocated there from south Louisiana plantations. Chinese immigrants were brought in alongside African slaves to work the railroads in the mid-1800's, and again later when more immigrants arrived to work the sugar plantations in Louisiana following emancipation.
• 8. The Chinese population settled into a section of town on South Liberty, near a newly established Chinese Mission. Soon shops, hand laundries, food markets, and eateries catering to the Chinese population expanded from the Mission and into the 1100 block of Tulane, creating a geographical hub for the Chinese community and what would become known as New Orleans Chinatown. It is believed that Yakamein grew out of this time in history.
• 9. If you're lucky enough to find the Ya-Ka Mein Lady serving this curbside in a local neighborhood, the broth is always ladled into a large styrofoam cup, then drained and repeated several times so that the hot broth will heat the cold noodles. It is then topped with half a hard-boiled egg and sprinkled with green onions. Here is a recipe so that you can have your own hangover cure on hand for a morning after a night to remember - even if you can't.

YAKA MEIN

Steps:

• Cook spaghetti according to package directions. While spaghetti is cooking, bring stock and Cajun Seasoning to a boil in a large pot. Add meat and simmer 5 minutes. Reserving stock, strain meat out. Set meat aside and keep warm. Bring stock back to a boil and stir in soy sauce. Simmer 1 minute.
• To assemble, place drained spaghetti in 6 individual bowls. Divide meat and egg halves over spaghetti. Ladle on broth and sprinkle with green onions.

YUMMY CHINESE YAKA MEIN SOUP

Steps:

• Chef's Note: My sister and I are in the back seat of our car, and dad is driving with mom at his side... No seatbelts in those days. We've just left Sunday services at Saint Dennis parish, and we're headed to Chinatown to meet up with my Uncle Charlie, and Aunt Adele. Plus my Uncle Ed and Aunt Josephine and my two cousins Jody and Little Adele will be there too. We're headed for Chiam restaurant. As the snow slowly falls, I spend my time looking out at the city of Chicago, slowly being covered in a blanket of white. When we arrive, we get a large table, and I order what I always do... A big bowl of Yaka Mein soup, a side of pork eggrolls, and a "kiddie" cocktail. To those of you that don't know what that is, it's ginger ale with some cherry juice, and a little umbrella. I spend the time talking and laughing with my cousins, and just enjoying life. Ahh, memories.
• Gather your ingredients.
• Cut the pork into 1/4-inch slices.
• Baton the slices.
• Chef's Note: You can get Chinese pork in most Asian markets: however, I just posted a recipe for Asian Oven-Roasted "Red" Pork that I think is exactly what I remember from my youth. You're not looking for Chinese BBQ pork here... although that will do.
• Cook the hard-boiled egg.
• Add the ingredients for the broth in a saucepan.
• Bring the broth to a lite simmer.
• Add the noodles and allow them to simmer in the broth for about 5 minutes.
• Add the noodles to a serving dish.
• Use just enough of the broth to cover the noodles, and add half the pork.
• Add one half of the hard-boiled egg.
• Sprinkle with some toasted sesame seeds.
• Chef's Note: Repeat for the second serving.
• Serve while still hot. Enjoy my memory.
• Keep the faith, and keep cooking.