Chow mein sandwich

{{short description|Regional sandwich of southeastern Massachusetts}}

{{Infobox prepared food

| name = Chow mein sandwich

| image = file:Nathanschowmeinsandwich.jpg

| caption =

| alternate_name =

| country = United States

| region = Fall River, Massachusetts

| creator =

| course =

| type = Sandwich

| served = Hot

| main_ingredient = Hamburger-style bun, chow mein

| variations =

| calories =

| other =

}}

The chow mein sandwich typically consists of a brown gravy-based chow mein mixture placed between halves of a hamburger-style bun, and is popular on Chinese-American restaurant menus throughout southeastern Massachusetts and parts of neighboring Rhode Island.{{cite news |url=http://www.saveur.com/article/Travels/Where-to-Eat-In-Fall-River-Massachusetts |title=Mill Town Meals: The Massachusetts city of Fall River boasts uncommon—and uncommonly good—regional foods |date=February 23, 2013 |first1=Jane |last1=Stern |first2=Michael |last2=Stern |author-link1=Jane and Michael Stern |author-link2=Jane and Michael Stern |magazine=Saveur |name-list-style=amp}} Originating in Fall River, Massachusetts, in the 1930s or 1940s,{{cite news |url=http://www.flavorandfortune.com/dataaccess/article.php?ID=179 |title=Chow Mein Sandwiches |magazine=Flavor & Fortune |date=Summer 1999 |volume=6 |issue=2 |page=5 |first=Imogene |last=Lim |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060325031300/http://www.flavorandfortune.com/dataaccess/article.php?ID=179 |archive-date=2006-03-25 }}{{Cite news |url=http://wordpress.viu.ca/limi/files/2012/08/RCT_Lim1993.pdf |title=The Chow Mein Sandwich: American as Apple Pie |last=Lim |first=Imogene L. |date=1993 |work=Radcliffe Culinary Times |volume=III |issue=2 |pages=4–5}} the sandwich is not well known outside of a relatively small area of New England.

This sandwich was created to provide a low-cost meal in an economically depressed region inhabited by recent immigrants from Europe and Canada while providing it in a form with which they were already familiar.{{cite book |chapter-url=http://web.viu.ca/limi/pdf_files/ChowMeinSandwiches1994o.pdf |first1=Imogene L. |last1=Lim |first2=John |last2=Eng-Wong |chapter=Chow Mein Sandwiches: Chinese American Entrepreneurship in Rhode Island |title=Origins and Destinations: 41 Essays on Chinese America |editor-first1=Munson A. |editor-last1=Kwok |editor-first2=Ella Yee |editor-last2=Quan |pages=417–436 |location=Los Angeles |publisher=Chinese Historical Society of Southern California, UCLA Asian American Studies Center |date=1994 |isbn=9780930377038 |oclc=260218520 |name-list-style=amp |access-date=2018-03-10 |archive-date=2015-07-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150714173351/https://web.viu.ca/limi/pdf_files/ChowMeinSandwiches1994o.pdf |url-status=dead }}{{cite web |url=http://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/fall-rivers-famous-chow-mein-sandwich/ |title=Fall River's Famous Chow Mein Sandwich |date=January 18, 2014 |publisher=New England Historical Society |author=}} Even the gravy has been modified to be very similar to that used in typical New England cooking.

These sandwiches are sometimes served outside of Chinese American restaurants by the food services in local area schools{{cite news |url=http://www.wickedlocal.com/x713187636/School-menus-Jan-16-20 |title=School menus: Jan. 16-20 |date=January 14, 2012 |newspaper=Fall River Herald News |author=}} and senior citizens' centers.{{cite news |url=http://www.wickedlocal.com/x250635300/Senior-Scene-2 |title=Senior Scene 2: The Council on Aging will be holding a public open house at the Senior Center on Thursday, April 21 from 1 to 2 p.m. |date=April 12, 2011 |newspaper=Fall River Herald News |author=}} Celebrity chef and Fall River native Emeril Lagasse has also publicized this sandwich, along with food writers Jane and Michael Stern.

The sandwiches are served "strained" or "unstrained", referring to whether or not the sandwich has vegetables. "Strained" means that it is served without vegetables. Just like plated chow mein without the bun, the sandwich may also include meats or seafood, usually chicken, beef, or shrimp. The Oriental Chow Mein Noodle Company of Fall River is the regional source for the sandwich's distinctive crispy noodles.{{cite news |url=http://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091224/PUB03/912240416 |title=Back In Business: Oriental Chow Mein Company returns after devastating fire |date=December 24, 2009 |newspaper=South Coast Today |first=Phil |last=Devitt |access-date=June 5, 2014 |archive-date=January 14, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200114181743/https://www.southcoasttoday.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20091224/PUB03/912240416 |url-status=dead }}

These sandwiches can be found in the cities of Fall River, New Bedford, and Taunton in Massachusetts; and in the cities of Woonsocket, Pawtucket and Tiverton in Rhode Island.{{cite web |url=http://www.madeinfallriver.com/content/pounds-noodles-pile-chow-mein-factory |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131005003051/http://www.madeinfallriver.com/content/pounds-noodles-pile-chow-mein-factory |archive-date=2013-10-05 |date=2008-09-23 |newspaper=Fall River Herald News |title=Made In Fall River: The pounds of noodles pile up at chow mein factory |author=}} Although the sandwich is mostly unknown in nearby Boston, it was on the menu at the more distant Coney Island location of Nathan's Famous in Brooklyn, New York as recently as 2013.