3 hours ago, Panaderia Canadiense said:5 hours ago, huiray said:It's no different from la mian (= ramen) or other similar kinds of Chinese-type alkaline noodles being topped with a sauce or saucy mixture of meats and vegetables etc. A standard and universal feature of many kinds of regional Chinese, Chinese-derived and similar-idea cuisines.
Is the English corruption of this where we get the term Lo Mein?
No, the two terms are different. La mian is 拉麵 (Pinyin = lā miàn; Cantonese jyutping = laai1 min6; Japanese = rāmen;¶ "pulled noodle"), whereas lo mein is 撈麵 (Pinyin = lāo miàn; Cantonese jyutping = lou1 min6) and is the transliteration of the Cantonese pronunciation of the term** where it refers to "mixed (seasoned) noodles". I am using the traditional forms of the ideograms here.
** The ideogram 撈 has two pronunciations and two meanings in Cantonese – lou1 (as here) meaning "mix/mixed"; and laau4 meaning "fish out/scoop out" (of water). The latter meaning is shared with the meaning in northern Chinese/Mandarin/etc.
P.S. It also may matter where you are when you order "lo mein", at least in the USA. SEE HERE for one discussion that touches upon it in the midst of the larger discussion about what "chow mein" is depending on who's ordering and where you are ordering it.
¶ Which would be ラーメン in katakana. (And not hiragana. Katakana tends to get used in Japanese for loan words, when the kanji is not used instead; and also for things like the names of companies.)
