Ya Ka Mein

[bobmac]

Anybody got a recipe? I found one from Emeril using a "small bottle" of soy sauce. What's a small bottle?

[MikeHartnett]

I've never had this, but the only recipe I could find listed "one small bottle of soy sauce" as well.

[bobmac]

Could we lure Brooks Hamaker out of retirement for this?

[Mayhaw Man]

I am hardly retired, just trying to make a living after spending this time last year trying to knock the back of my head out. It's taken a while to get back into the swing of things.

Ya ka mein.

I had a recent experience with it, at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, where my SO (if you know who she is, you will know, at least, that she knows a little about food and particularly Southern food) was escorted by someone who, at least, knows the history of the stuff and another guy, who is a real fan, and has been eating it in corner groceries around NOLA all of his life.

While she spent a great deal of time talking to the ladies in the booth (she's like that-it's all about the cooks, no matter their background or culinary educational notches on the gun), she kinda came away with the impression that, while not bad, it's sorta like salty pho without enough stuff in it. I pretty much feel the same way.

I do have a recipe around here somewhere, and I did make it once to figure out what the deal is, and I'll put it in this thread shortly. I would cover the history here, but I think that the link does about as good as I can do.

Edited July 21, 2008 by Mayhaw Man (log)

[Chris Amirault]

Can the lame, moronic, and tourists get a basic definition?

[Mayhaw Man]

Can the lame, moronic, and tourists get a basic definition?

←

Sure, I'm a lib, and I believe that everyone should have access to the same information... and you can read it, as well!

"Called ya ka mein, this multi-ethnic soup is prepared primarily at Asian-American owned corner stores in African American neighborhoods, with familiar American groceries standing in for traditional Asian ingredients. There are many different spellings for the dish (ya ka mein, ya kamain, yat ca mein, yada mein, etc.) with none being authoritative, and the same can be said for its many various recipes. A typical serving could include spaghetti noodles, shrimp, chicken or sometimes bits of roast beef, almost always a hard boiled egg, whole or chopped up, green onions and other common greens and a strange, salty broth with soy sauce standing up as a prominent main ingredient. It’s generally eaten with a plastic

fork on the street."

[Chris Amirault]

And "ya ka" means...?