On 2014-02-11, Sqwertz > wrote:

> And I don't believe that the crispy kind is the default kind in even
> Seattle, but an image search seems kinda split on the subject.

I argued this issue to death way back on alt.ba. Here's the facts:

I grew up eating in Chinese restos. This in CA with the largest
Chinese population in the US. Chinese American restos usta serve chow
mein as a bean sprout centric dish over crispy noodles. There may
have been a pan fried version, but I never saw it. Perhaps my parents
didn't like pan fried. Still this bean sprouts over cripy noodles
thing was available in every Chinese resto from Bakerfield to Modesto
to Sacramento, from the mid 50s till at least the early 70s. The last
time I saw chow mein bean/crispy was in Sacto in '71, at Frank Fats,
at one time the biggest Chinese resto in Sac. Multiple locations.

Fast forward to '78. Coming out of a 7 yr hiatus on Chinese food, I
had Chinese take-out at my fiance's house. Pan fried noodles, which
I'd never even heard of until that very night. From that point on,
never saw crispy needles or bean sprouts ever again, with one
exception. It's like the whole crispy noodle and bean sprout thing
never existed. This is now in the San Francisco Bay Area (SFBA). I
did some research. Minnie's in Modesto, which is still there and has
been for 60 some yrs, now serves only limp pan fried noodle chow mein
and I know damn well they served the crispy/bean chow mein when I was
a kid. Likewise, Frank Fat's in Sacto, now serves only pan fried
noodles.

The exception? A little Chinese place down in Visalia CA. They serve
it both ways and ask which the customer prefers when ordering. Either
way, crispy or fried, the primary ingredient is bean sprouts.

So, what happened? I think it jes became too expensive to make it
with bean sprouts, crispy or pan fried. Waaay cheaper to jes pan fry
a buncha greasy noodles. What proof do I have? Only my memory and
the fact, as you admit, you can still find crispy noodles in yer local
sprmkt, along with canned Chung King chow mein (bean sprouts!). Hell,
we even have 'em, here in Eyebrow CO. Try and find some Chinese
noodles to pan fry. Short of boiling up a pkg of ramen, then draining
and greasy pan frying 'em, not gonna happen. Nuff sed.

nb