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Mouthful

What in the world are you eating?

Which chow mein do you eat?

15 December 2009 | 15:04 - By Phil Lees

Uncovering the secret history of chow mein in Australia.

The first thing that surprised me about writing about chow mein in Australia is the virulent response to it. It probably shouldn't surprise me: comfort food is most often the most controversial. Apart from the comments on the blog, I'm struck by the number of people that I've spoken to in person that express one of two sentiments:

1) I'm glad that Australian, mince-filled chow mein is getting the love that it deserves. 2) Australian chow mein does not exist. You are insane/disgusting/wrong.

So, here's your chance to be involved in some primary research about the living history of chow mein in Australia and prove my sanity. I've made a survey. Firstly, I'm only covering the four major styles of chow mein in Australia:

  • the "Australian" style that contains cabbage, minced meat, chicken noodle soup, curry powder
  • the Hong Kong/American style that contains crispy noodles
  • the broadly Chinese style that consists of any other stir-fried soft noodle dish named "chow mein" on a menu or in a recipe.
  • the Indian/Hakka style that is spicy and contains green chili sauce
I am acutely aware that other styles exist and that say, chow mein is an unofficial Nepalese national dish, but I just don't expect that other styles will be as widely eaten in Australia. I've also lumped together the Chinese styles (apart from Hong Kong/American-style). Chow mein/Chow mian is actually a generic term for stir-fried noodles, but I am specifically interested in the way that this term is used in Australia.

Secondly, I'm looking to map the changes in distribution of chow mein in Australia over time. My hypothesis is that there are strong regional differences in chow mein in Australia and that these differences have shifted over the years. Once we've collected (hopefully) a representative sample, I'll report back with maps and analysis in the new year.

The survey should take less than a minute to complete. Far less than the time that it took to read this post.

Take the survey.

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Comments (1)

   
20 Dec 2009 03:12 AEST
christine
From shepparton
i constantly run mini surveys in my work places re chow mien, especially after a friend told me she had never heard of it, and when i served it to her told me it was disgusting. clearly she had a childhood beset by huge educational gaps.

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