When I first learned that I would have to cook a noodle dish for our midterm project, I began to research spicy noodle dishes—including Cacio e Pepe and Sichuan Noodles. Because my parents and friends knew I loved spicy foods, they helped me brainstorm ideas. It was not until my mother suggested the traditional Chinese dish Chow Mein—with a spicy twist—that I fully committed to this noodle dish. Although my mother is of Indian-descent, she was born in Guyana (South America); thus, she was exposed to a variety of Indian, Caribbean, European, and African influences—especially in relation to food. When my mother was a child, my grandmother used to cook her a unique Chow Mein dish influenced by Caribbean, “West-Indian” flavors. This recipe was passed down to my mother and now, to me. Thus, for my noodle project, I decided to cook this Chow Mein dish with a West-Indian flare. However, instead of simply using my grandmother’s recipe, I decided to implement a few recipe changes based on the nutrition/balance guidelines we have discussed in class. Although my mother’s recipe calls for more noodles (fan) than vegetables (cai), my recipe aims for an equal proportion. Because the West-Indian Chow Mein incorporates more spice (yang), I decided to add extra vegetables to my grandmother’s recipe, like carrots, to create a more harmonious yin yang balance. Thus, by coupling my knowledge from this class thus far with my family’s knowledge of Chow Mein noodles, I created my own unique dish—while still incorporating my favorite spicy flavors.

Although the West-Indian Chow Mein is slightly different from the traditional recipe, all Chow Mein recipes, no matter the region, must still retain a few key elements. Chow Mein or “Chao Mian” literally translates to “stir-fried noodles” and is an authentic dish originating from Northern China. The key ingredients in Chow Mein are simply fried vegetables with boiled noodles. Traditionally, the noodles are boiled to a soft texture then added to a vegetable stir-fry. The recipe’s simple design allows for great flexibility in the types of vegetables, spices, and herbs one can add to the dish. Typical seasoning for chow mein is soy sauce coupled with noodles that can be thick or thin in “rope, pulled, threaded, pressed, or rolled” shape. If prepared with light oil, lots of vegetables, and lean protein, Chow Mein can be very “low in calories and high in nutrients.” Unfortunately, however, because of its simple recipe, Chow Mein can just as easily become unhealthy. In fact, Panda Express, one of the most popular Chinese chain restaurants, stir fries “wheat flour” chow mein noodles with “onions, celery and cabbage…creating a 9.4-ounce serving” with over 500 calories, “20 grams of fat, 80 grams of carbohydrates and 13 grams of protein.” Because Panda Express and many other chains have altered Chow Mein to include significantly less vegetable (cai) and more noodles (fan), this dish has become unhealthy.

While modern-day globalization is causing “Westernization” and a subsequent loss of traditional values and morals within food culture, in many cases, globalization was once also the factor that helped spread and diversify said traditional values. Although historical evidence suggests that the “noodle” was invented “as early as the late Han Dynasty,” which ended in 220 CE, globalization has spread use of the noodle much further than the boundaries of China. Globalization is what allowed Marco Polo to allegedly bring pasta from China to Italy during the 13th century—giving rise to a whole new class of pasta dishes. In terms of Chow Mein, globalization is what brought the recipe to countries all over the world, including Guyana, where my mother was born. The traditional recipe of Chow Mein diversified with each voyage into a new country as the unique combination of regional agriculture, taste preferences, and religions/cultures, combined with the versatility of the simple Chow Mein dish, gave rise to new flavors and interpretations. In Australia, their recipe calls for beef, chicken soup, uncooked rice (a lot of fan), and very few vegetables (little cai)—perhaps because Australia’s meat production and processing occupies “over half of the land mass.” [5, Australian Chow Mein]. African Chow Mein calls for similar ingredients, perhaps because it is the norm in their culture to eat a lot of diverse meat [African Chow Mein]. For example, each year, South Africans eat “around 2.8 million pigs, 2.9 million cows, 6.8 million sheep, and over 1 billion chickens.” However, Cantonese Chow Mein is filled with fresh vegetables (cai) and fewer noodles (fan), remaining true to their typical use of light seasoning and little oil [Cantonese Chow Mein]. Finally, in the West-Indies, the melting pot of Indian, African, Asian, and European flavors, Chow Mein is “flavorful, spicy, hot, fresh,” and bold—filled with spicy peppers and hot sauce.

After researching the varying recipe types, I used elements from each to tweak my grandmother’s original West-Indian recipe. For example, because the Cantonese recipe called for egg noodles and fresh garlic, I incorporated both into my own recipe. I really enjoyed crafting a unique recipe based on recipes across varying regions and eating the yummy final product. Because of our class discussion on Artusi’s guidelines for maintaining proper health/nutrition and the Chinese yin/yang and fan/cai principles, I was able to apply this knowledge into the creation of balance in my recipe as well. Finally, I discovered how important a role agricultural differences and religions/cultures play in defining the adaptation of a traditional recipe, such as Chow Mein. I enjoyed creating a video on iMovie and learned a lot about the software through the process. This knowledge will definitely come in handy for future video projects. Overall, I learned a lot with this project, and I am excited to apply this newfound cooking, video, and historical knowledge in the future.