"Chow Mien" and more (1893)

[Bapopik at AOL.COM]

   From "SEITZ IN CHINATOWN" on the American Periodical Series online, in FRANK LESLIE'S POPULAR MONTHLY, May 1893, pg. 0_018:


   The chief items on the bill of fare furnished by the leading Mott Street establishments can be catalogued thus:

   Chow Swan Toy--Beef fried with sour cabbage.
   Chow Mien--Fried vermicelli with strips of pork, celery, onions and spices.
   Ob Gwan Lob Chong--Sausages made of duck livers and oysters.
   Ham Dan--Twenty-year-old ducks' eggs in salt.
   Han Yu--Ten-year-old salt shad.
   Loong Ah Bo Toy--Dragon-teeth white cabbage.
   Boo Ob--Boned Duck, stuffed with chestnuts, boiled in wine.
   Chow Kai Pien--Fried strips of chicken with mushrooms and celery.
   Chow Ob Jung--Boned ducks' feet boiled and then fried, served with mushrooms and sweetened liquor.
   Chow Kai Goot--Fried spring chicken.
   Chow Yu Pien--Sliced fish fried, served with water nuts and bamboo shoots.
   Chow Pok Ob--Fried pigeon served with mushrooms and celery.
   Do Foo Bow Yu--Fish stewed in liquor with extract of bean, orange peeling and mushrooms.
   Chow Chop Swang--Strips of pork, chicken livers and gizzards, and vegetables.
   Chow Dan--Egg Omelets, a la Chinoise.

   WIth every dish on the table is supplied a little bowl of sooy, the universal Chinese sauce. It fits everything and is used with everything.


(I haven't found a "chop suey" to beat my 1885.  When in New York, see the revival of Rodgers & Hammerstein's THE FLOWER DRUM SONG.  That's the only place you'll find "chop suey" now--ed.)