From the moment this project was assigned, I knew I wanted to cook and learn about a Chinese noodle dish. I have a love of Asian foods, often choosing Chinese food as my favorite takeout option. As I searched through the Internet for traditional Chinese dishes, I was unfamiliar with many of them, largely because the Chinese food I have been exposed to had been “Americanized”. However, when I came across chow fun, I was pleasantly surprised. I was under the perception that Chinese restaurants in the United States tend to not serve traditional Chinese dishes, but I had seen chow fun served at restaurants in New Jersey and Georgia, although I had never tried it. Since I was surprised to see that chow fun was on the list of traditional Chinese dishes, I conducted more research to ensure that it truly was from, and eaten in, China. I was pleased to see that many sources identified chow fun as a traditional Chinese dish, so I decided to cook it for the project. Getting to learn about the history of the dish as well as actually being able to cook it was exciting for me; chow fun is a dish I had seen in restaurants but one I had never thought I would be able to replicate.

Chow fun is a basic dish that originated in China and is enjoyed by people around the world. It is a very versatile dish in that one can choose to cook it with one of many different types of proteins. For instance, beef, chicken, and fish have each been used as the main source of protein in chow fun dishes. Furthermore, vegetables are a central part of the dish. However, there are not set guidelines regarding the types of vegetables that one should include, so one can easily cook the dish with whatever vegetables they may have on hand. The dish does not take long to cook, so it is an easy meal for anyone to prepare, which makes it a dish that can be eaten at almost any time. Unlike other dishes that are only served on special occasions, chow fun is more of an everyday dish that one can cook on their own, find in casual restaurants, or find on street food carts. The dish is traditionally prepared with wide rice noodles. However, if one is looking to prepare a lower calorie version of the dish, thin rice noodles can be used instead. Soy sauce is a key ingredient of the dish, but people can choose to use low sodium versions of soy sauce, if they prefer. In terms of the overall health attributes of the dish, it includes the main food groups that one should have at each meal: starch, fat, protein, and fruit or vegetables. Therefore, chow fun is an ideal dish for satisfying one’s hunger and nutritional needs.

The origin of chow fun is Southern China, specifically, Guangzhou. The dish is believed to have been created in the 1940s, during World War II. Some say that the dish was created by Mr. Hui, a cook. The story often told is that a soldier was demanding food, but Mr. Hui was out of many ingredients for common dishes. Therefore, he threw together whatever ingredients he had, thus creating a new dish, chow fun. However, despite the popularity of the dish, that is all the historical background known about its origins, and many do not know if the story is even true. The absence of knowledge about chow fun’s origins has not prevented the dish from growing in popularity throughout China and around the world. Since the dish only requires a few ingredients, it is fairly low in cost. Therefore, it is common to find the dish consumed in everyday life, whether it be at home or in restaurants. Chow fun has been a part of society for quite some time now, and it appears that it is still a favorite amongst many people.

Overall, I greatly enjoyed learning about and cooking this dish. Despite being in quarantine, I had not cooked because my Mom had been preparing all of the meals for our family. Therefore, it was nice to have the opportunity to prepare a new meal for my family and give my Mom a break from cooking. In addition, I am moving into an apartment in Atlanta for the upcoming school year, so I have been wanting to learn new recipes that I can prepare in the apartment. After cooking this dish, I feel confident that I will be able to cook it in my apartment during the school year. Also, I loved the creativity that I was able to use when making the recipe for my dish. I researched a variety of chow fun recipes prior to cooking the dish, and I ended up pulling from three different recipes in order to form my own recipe. In the past, I have always chosen one recipe to directly follow. Therefore, this was a new endeavor for me of creating my own recipe, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. In terms of the overall project, I loved it! This project and the creative opportunity it provided was something I had not experienced in other college courses. It was nice to be given the creative license to choose a dish, form my own version of a recipe, decide if I wanted to make a cooking tutorial, and be allowed to take this essay in a variety of directions. I found this project a refreshing change from traditional college projects and essay assignments, and I hope to be able to do another project of this nature in the future. All in all, my family and I loved the meal, and I have already received questions about when I will be making this dish again!