- that wasn't hard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaka_mein
- You probably said it wrong and gave no context...
It is pronounced YAEKA MAINE in Nawlinz.
- Hardly local. I grew up on the stuff and have had it at Chinese restaurants all over the country.
- I was born in NOLA, lived here all my life, never heard of yaka mein until I saw "the yaka mein lady" on Chopped. No one I know has heard of it either.
- I was born in NOLA as well and had it a few times at a place out in Metarie.
- I lived an hour away from New Orleans for 16 years and I never hard of 'Yakamein" till this thread.
My business partners lived in New Orleans and I ate in restaurants all over the city, mostly in places known only to locals, and not once did
I encounter this noodle dish.
Paneed%20Veal%20with%20a%20Red%20Hot%20on%20the%20Side%20
- I've lived in New Orleans all my life and I don't see how y'all couldn't know about Yatkamein (that's how I've always heard it pronounced) but it is much better known in New Orleans black community.
I don't like it myself, but I've heard of it, know where to get it and have friends that swear by it especially in the whole hangover remedy thing.
- Thanks, folks!
[R4] - you've remind me of the notion that folks in the Boston area (are said to) say "tonic" to mean soda pop. My mom was raised there, and swears she never heard of that, to her "tonic" means tonic water. I've spent a lot of time in the area and never heard anyone use the term either, yet it's reported as a "regionalism" regularly.
OP
- That "tonic" thing was mostly used by New Englanders who grew up in the first Great Depression.
- Perhaps you know it by its Mandarin name, 牛肉麵 niú ròu miàn.
- Apparently the point OP got from this thread is because Yatkamein is more famous in the black community of New Orleans, it isn't a truly regional dish.
- Sounds like Wor Wonton.
- [R11] I was just surprised I'd not heard of it, not disparaging its "authenticity" at all.
OP
- Both sides of my family have long roots in NOLA-- ninth ward since the 1800's, uptown, Metairie, Gentilly, Lakeview, etc., and none of them have heard of it either. I googled it after seeing Chopped, as I mentioned earlier, and its creation stemmed from inner city neighborhoods where Asians and African Americans lived closely...there is a much higher percentage of African Americans than Asians in NOLA...that's probably why it is most associated with the black community here.
R4
- I grew up in Metairie, and I've never heard of this.
- Those of us from NO, apparently it so happens this is a dish known mainly in the black community.
If you ain't black, then there's good chance you are ignorant about it.
- They sell it at all the fests. The Chopped lady Miss Linda sells it at Voodoo and Jazz. Capn Sals on St. Claude, Manchu food store on Claiborne. There's some place in Metairie that sells it on Airline. Can't think of the name.
Click on the Pic of Manchu's menu - you can see Yatkamein on the bottom side closest to the camera.
http://www.yelp.com/biz/manchu-food-store-and-chinese-kitchen-new-orleans
- How has New Orleans changed since Katrina?
- It's better in most areas. The Lower Ninth is still full of empty lots where houses once stood. Sandy brought up some bad memories, believe me.
- Do they use oxtails for the beef in this beef noodle soup?
- I have no idea.
- The place out in Metarie uses oxtail, but not most.
- To hell with the noodles -- now I wanna try those chicken wings at Manchu.
- Pic of the dish.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/sazerac/157243146/
- [quote]They sell it at all the fests. The Chopped lady Miss Linda sells it at Voodoo and Jazz. Capn Sals on St. Claude, Manchu food store on Claiborne. There's some place in Metairie that sells it on Airline. Can't think of the name.
You can usually find someone selling it at the second-line parades. And the Rampart Food Store on N. Rampart and St. Anthony just out of the Quarter (the orange building, or "the ernge store") usually has it.
Imagine pho made from what you could find in American supermarkets in the 1950s -- beef broth, spaghetti noodles, chopped meat, green onions and a ton of soy sauce, topped with a bit of hard-boiled egg. Supposedly black World War II soldiers came home from the Pacific theater with a taste for Asian soup, and this was the result.
Very, very salty! Which is probably why it's renowned as a hangover cure.
http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MMgYwllK1h4/UCaM0e9iaxI/AAAAAAAANso/_lmDz8wgDPg/s1600/P1120154.JPG
- Chefferina Leah Chase weighs in.
http://www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3DyvVIrA5DE7k%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded
- I love Leah.
- Speaking of Leah. She's celebrating her 90th birthday today.
- Also New Orleans people, forgive me, but I just can't get into 'Treme'.
- I think I will try to make this....
- it's in the Iko Iko song--
yatkamein fee na nay
- A recipe for R30.
http://www.deepsouthdish.com/2010/03/new-orleans-old-sober-yakamein-soup.html
- That recipe ain't right. It calls for meat that ain't ground and 1 green onion for 16 portions....2 green onions per bowl more like it.
- {quote]it's in the Iko Iko song-- yatkamein fee na nay
Not sure if serious...? That lyric is Creole: "chaque amoor fi na né" (from French "*chaque amour fait notre roi né")
- Ummm ... of course the meat's not ground, this isn't chili!
Bouillon AND salt (AND optional Worcestershire, too) -- my, oh my, Heart Attack City! Agreed that it needs whole lot more than one measly green onion. What's this about adding KETCHUP - blech!
OP
- Most places in Nawlinz use ground beef in the soup.
- What a wonderful website, R32.
There's an e-cookbbook, too!
Thanks.
- Ground meat has never been used in the Yatkamein I've seen. Here's Emeril's recipe"
http://www.emerils.com/recipe/5274/Ya-Ka-Mein
- And another that sounds authentic to me.
http://www.theaimlesscook.com/%3Fs%3DYakamein
- Wikipedia doesn't say ground beef either.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaka_mein
- In the black hoods most of us used ground beef. You don't find Mama's version on the internet kids.
- Hey, while there are New Orleanians around here, could we please let the uninformed know that "coon-ass" is NOT a racist term, and is completely unrelated to the racist term, "coon?"
Thanks, y'all!
- Coon-ass refers to deep-in-the-swamps and far-up-the-bayous Cajuns.
Country Cajuns, I guess you could say.
- Some feel it used to have to do with that racist term. Others feel it's about the word conasse which is a French put down from the war. This is because the origin of the term is not known.
Most Louisianians feel it had to do with how many raccoons Cajuns tended to eat. In the past it was considered a knock, but now people are having fun with it and embracing it. But there are still people who don't like the term and will get angry if you call them that. Sometimes it depends on who it is calling you a coonass as to whether you'll like it or not.
The biggest thing that has influenced the acceptance of "coonass" is the fact that it makes money. Shirts and trinkets please tourists. Money talks. Coonass pride.
- Merci!
r41
- De rien, R41(42).
