Yaka mein

Yaka mein is sometimes referred to as "Old Sober", as it is commonly prescribed by locals as a cure for hangovers.{{Cite web | title=Die Chemie des Katers | url=http://science.orf.at/stories/1715748 | publisher=ORF | date=10 April 2013 | access-date=27 January 2014 | language=de}} Vendors are common at New Orleans second lines, along with other settings including the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, alongside many other Creole and Cajun specialties.{{citation |title=Gumbo Tales: Finding My Place at the New Orleans Table |first=Sara |last=Roahen |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |date=2008-02-17 |isbn=978-0-393-06167-3 |url-access=registration |url=https://archive.org/details/gumbotalesfindin00roah_0 }} One of the major proponents of yaka mein since 2006 is Ms. Linda Green, who caters the dish at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, JazzFest, Oak Street Po’Boy Fest, among other locations and cultural events in New Orleans.{{Cite web|title=When New Orleans parties, yaka-mein is hangover relief by the quart |url=https://www.nola.com/article_b4c8134a-ccdd-5b05-8c38-17fdc2a0a075.html|date=2019-03-01|website=NOLA.com}} The soup is well loved by locals but not well known outside of the city and its surrounding region.{{citation|title=Turned Up a Notch |first=Dan |last=McGraw |date=2006-02-15 |journal=Fort Worth Weekly |publisher=FW Weekly |url=http://archive.fwweekly.com/content.asp?article=3635|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722161140/http://archive.fwweekly.com/content.asp?article=3635|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 22, 2011}}

The dish is also found in Montreal, Canada;{{Cite web|url=https://aznmodern.com/2014/09/10/remember-yet-cat-mein-making-come-back/|title=Remember Yet-Ca-Mein? Time for a comeback|date=2014-09-10|website=AZNModern|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-02}} Norfolk, Virginia; Baltimore, Maryland; and Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Bellevue, Pennsylvania carry out restaurants. Some versions of yaka mein consist of thick wheat noodles (similar to udon) in a ketchup-based sauce or brown gravy, accompanied by thickly sliced onions, a hard-boiled egg, and fried noodles.http://foodeyestomach.blogspot.com/2010/06/baltimore-yat-gaw-mein.html {{Self-published source|date=February 2013}}{{Self-published inline|date=February 2013}} Roast pork (char siu), chicken, and seafood can be added, with some restaurants including the option of pigs' feet.{{cite web|url=http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/entertainment/dining/reviews/blog/2010/03/pigs_feet_yat_ka_mein_chinese.html|title=Dining@Large: Pigs' feet fusion - Baltimore restaurants: The dish on the restaurant scene, memorable meals, dining trends and more - baltimoresun.com|date=18 April 2007 |access-date=1 January 2015}}

{{original research|section|date=February 2013}}

One possible etymology for "yaka mein" is a Cantonese phrase meaning {{zht|t=一個麵|j=jat1 go3 min6|tr=one order of noodles}}, used by small restaurant waitstaffs to their kitchen to prepare an order of noodles. Numerous variant spellings exist.

The origins of yaka mein are uncertain. Some sources, including the late New Orleans chef Leah Chase, have claimed that yaka mein originated in New Orleans's now extinct Chinatown that was established by Chinese immigrants brought from California during the mid-19th century to build the railroads between Houston and New Orleans and work in the sugar plantations of the American South. It was during this period that the Chinese noodle soup adapted to local Creole and Chinese clientele.{{citation|title=Leah Chase on the Chinese in New Orleans and "Yaka Mein" |last=spchef |date=2009-06-01 |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yvVIrA5DE7k}}

Regardless of its North American origins, by the 1920s yaka mein was already known in other parts of North America. In a 1927 article published in Maclean's magazine, the author indicated that "yet-ca mein" consisted of noodles or vermicelli boiled in rich stock, divided into individual bowls and garnished with sliced hard-boiled egg and sliced and chopped cooked meats.{{Cite web|url=https://archive.macleans.ca/article/1927/5/15/secrets-of-chinese-cookery|title=Secrets of Chinese Cookery|last=MACPHERSON|first=ESTELLE CARTER|date=May 15, 1927|website=Maclean's {{!}} The Complete Archive|language=en-US|access-date=2020-02-02}} The author also indicated that other noodle dishes served in disparate fashions may also be collectively known as yet-ca mein.

In the movie Whipsaw, from 1935 starring Myrna Loy, a character in New Orleans places a phone order with a Chinese restaurant for, among other things, yaka mein.{{cite AV media|people=Wood, Sam (director)|date=December 18, 1935|title=Whipsaw|title-link=Whipsaw (film)|type=Motion picture|publisher=Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer|time=58 minutes 30 seconds|quote=I ordered 3 chop sueys and 2 yaka meins.}} This mention supports the origin story cited by Leah Chase.

Yaka mein is also referred to as a type of dried wheat Chinese noodles. In Canada Yet Ca Mein was introduced in the 1950s by Toronto-based Wing's Food Products{{cite web |url=https://www.wings.ca/about.html |title=About // Wing's Food Products |website=www.wings.ca |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110926082049/http://www.wings.ca/about.html |archive-date=2011-09-26}} and Montreal-based parent Wing Noodle Company (Wing Lung or Wing Hing Lung).{{Cite web|url=http://www.wingnoodles.com/en/history.php|title = History | Wing Noodles Ltd}}

• List of regional dishes of the United States

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Category:Asian-American culture in Louisiana

Category:Louisiana Creole cuisine

Category:Chinese-American history

Category:American Chinese cuisine

Category:Noodle soups

Category:Culture of New Orleans