Chow mein

Chow mein (Traditional Chinese:炒麵; Simplified Chinese:炒面; "stir-fried noodles") is a very well-known Chinese noodle dish. In Chinese, it is a generic term for stir-fried noodles, but in overseas Chinese communities, it is a dish of stir-fried noodles with meat and vegetables, usually onions and celery. The two most common types are the steamed soft noodle variety, which is more popular on the west coast, and the crispy noodle variety, more popular on the east coast. To differentiate between the two, Easterners call the soft noodle variety "lo mein" (Traditional Chinese:撈麵; Simplified Chinese:捞面; "stirred noodles") and the crispy noodle variety "chow mein."