Chinese cuisines have been (mis)translated to suit so many palates around the world that inauthentic Chinese food has taken on a life of its own. And that's good as long as people recognize it for what it is. It's wild to see how different they are in India, Germany, Peru, USA, Australia, etc. And given the Chinese influence in Africa over the last 20 years or so, I'd love to experience those variations.
I like that idea. When we was growing up in the depression my mommer always said the same thing. Now we didn't have much during the depression but you know it was more than a lot of people had and we was thankful to the good lord for it. Now my daddy couldn't find a lot of work but he did the best he could and mommer would take in washing sometimes to make ends meet and her and daddy growed a garden and so we always had fresh vegetables, sometimes there werent' enough but we was always thankful, even when it was sad and depressing. That's what I remember about the depression, it was always sad and depressing. but we would invited family and friends over when we had enough and setting there at that table with all our friends around us we knowed everthang was gone be alright. We didn't want there to be no war because we loved everbody but then thangs got so bad that Franklin D. Roosevelt decided he was gone fight the depression for his people even though he was rich and the depression didn't hurt him he loved his people and everbody else enough he wanted everbody to overcome the depression and so he fought the depression and then he got together with Winston churchill and Joseph Stalin, two other great men and Winston Churchill had said that it weren't right for the Germans to be doing so well and not be in a depression because Hitler had put his people to work building and planting and so Winston Churchill decided he was gone kill the Notsies and Franklin D. Roosevelt decided he would kill the Notsies so they joined Joseph Stalin and started the war. Now that was bad but you know what. They was able to build a bomb plant and my daddy got him a job there making bombs for Winston Churchill to drop and burn up Notsy childern. And we was happy cause we was fightin evil people but not Joseph Stalin all them people he had killed deserved it. And all them Indians and Irish poeple Churchill had killed was evil. They was probably racists or something. And then Franklin D. Roosevelt finally defeated the Notsies and made the world safe for Jews and thats why America is such a happy place today. Thank you. I appreciate you letting me tell my stories on youtube/. Amen
The Thai side of my family are the same way, they mainly eat traditional Thai, Vietnamese, and Chinese food but love those crispy noodles. I've walked in on them eating the La Choy noodles straight out of the can like chips.
Nostalgia story: My dad worked out of town and my brothers were older then me and stayed out. So me and mom had a lot of time together between age 4 and 10. We would make this and tea and cozies up in the main bedroom together and watch TV.
When I was a kid and my parents divorced I got flipped back and forth between their houses every couple of weeks as per the settlement. The houses were near each other, all I did is walk a different way home. They both worked so I often fed myself. They both kept a cupboard stocked with Chun King for me. I told each that the other wouldn't let me have it.
Flashbacks to my childhood lol. My mom would buy la choy chicken chow mein once a month for the 3 of us. We never had rice tho, just the fried noodles. Chicken was the only flavor we ever ate so I have no idea what the others taste like. She was funny, she didn't like actual Asian food but still bought this stuff once a month until she stopped cooking for herself
Growing up in very rural Vermont in the 70's LaChoy was the only chinese food. I tried some beef chow mein recently ,It's pretty terrible ,but you just can't stop eating it. Nostalgia is a powerful ingredient.
This quick meal used to be pretty good. They changed the ingredients & it's now so bland and gross. I obviously don't know what changed. But even soy sauce and or spicy oil can't save this canned dish. La Choy used to be on point for a quick dinner. Not anymore.
@Maria Baja the "small can" was the best part though. I mean.. there was some real flavors going on. It's like cardboard now. Just nothing going on. And maybe it's healthier or they were forced to stop using an ingredient for whatever reason but it's just so gross now. It's not even worthy of raccoon food. Haha
I used to love Chun King chow mein when I was a kid. La Choy is nothing like it. My friend and I were just talking the other day about how bad it's gotten. Our store used to have it on sale once in awhile for around $2 and I used to buy it, but I don't any more. Too bad you can't find a Jeno's pizza kit any more. It came in a box and was a packet of dough mix, a small can of tomato sauce, a packet of dried herbs and a packet of parmesan cheese. That was your pizza. My mom added vegetables and meat to it and topped it with (of all things) Velveeta cheese. Sounds horrible, but it was actually good. You had to eat it with a fork. I'd like to have a piece now, thinking about it.
I became the family "chef" when I was 9. (It was either that or wash and dry dishes.) A couple of Fridays a month I would prepare a meatless meal using the Chef Boyardee Pizza box or the Armour brand Pizza box. I found that they were really great if I put a "high quality" mozzarella and/or "high quality" parmesan as toppings.
@@2bczar4u They might have. I haven't seen a boxed pizza mix in years, but I haven't really looked either. I figured no one would use such a thing any more with all the frozen pizzas available. We never heard of pizza until my mom married my step dad and he introduced us to it. Even then, the only kind we ever had was the boxed kind my mom made. She wasn't very clear on the concept as she used Velveeta to top it. I was good in a weird way. It was the only way we ever had it and seems ridiculous now, but I miss it and wish I had a piece now.
@@greyeaglem Well they still have it and my sister loves using it because it is easy to make. She says that its like having those nice fire roasted crusts because it thin. Personally I make my own.
What are we eating has really changed how I struggle eat I used to eat some of the stuff you recommended but I thank you for showing us how we're getting forked over
This brings back memories for me. It was a weekly staple for my sister and I in the 80s. My mom was a RN worked second shift two or three days a week. Dad had to feed us after work. That was always a once a week quick goto for him. Yes we always had plenty of rice (minute rice). My dad was a good cook in his own right, and always added to it. If there was some left over pork or chicken, broccoli what ever was in the fridge. I guess in the true meaning it was chop suey, he even called it that. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Nostalgia truly does have a flavor. BTW he always let us eat dinner from tv trays watching the Muppet Show.
My Dad was the cheapest of cheapskates. So, I didn't have food at a real Chinese restaurant until I was in my teens and this stuff was his idea of Chinese food. Needless to say, when I did finally go to a real food joint I was blown away! FRIW, I do still love this canned stuff. I buy them an extra can of water chestnut. Nostalgia will do that to you. Make you love stuff you know is absolute crap. Love you man!
My mum used to make this once a week back in the 70’s,and I hated it as did my brother. I don’t think my mother actually liked it,but my dad did. We never had it again after they split up. Bonus!
Oh I grew up on this. It wasn’t often because we couldn’t afford it. We ate it only with the noodles. It was better then and had more meat. Like all things of that era, I can’t eat it. I keep kosher so I have to make my own. I had a noodle dish at a Chinese takeout when I was in school. It was the thicker udon noodles (I think) smothered in beef gravy with a pouched egg on top. I would buy several meals once a month, before block testing. I would review and reheat Chinese all weekend. The beef gravy dish was always the first eaten, due to the egg. Comfort food!
This reminded me of my mother making candies with chow mein noodles, butterscotch and peanuts. About once a month, our parents snuck off to a Chinese restaurant and left the kids at home. We never really knew what they did there.
This was a treat I remember growing up in NY in the 1960s. We did have a Chinese restaurant around the corner of our block and it was a treat to go there on occasion but the double-can La Choy Chow Mein mad quite a few appearances in our Queens railroad apartment because it was an inexpensive way to feed -- at that time -- the five of us. When we moved to NJ with two more were added to our family, I'm sure we must have continued to buy this product. This gave way to Ramen noodles going into the 1980s. However, I think the allure for me was the each product consisted of two connected cans. If memory serves, I believe Big Jim baked beans also had this two-can packaging with beans in one and fixings or special sauce in the other. I may be wrong about this but if not, it was the double can approach that got my interest.
British Chinese and American Chinese food is very different in my opinion. Living in the UK, my usual order is singaport chow mein, chicken w/ cashew nuts in yellow bean sauce, and also a rice dish. But then a lot of british people will order (i'm not even kidding here) chips/fries, deep fried chicken balls (basically chicken nuggets) and call that chinese food. Just embarrasing. British Chinese is not authentic, but it is very tasty and requires a great deal of work to make it taste right. Just to prepare the beef, you need to slice it thinly, and then marinade it in salt, msg, soy sauce, potato starch, garlic powder. Then after 24 hours of marinading, you need to portion and freeze it. After all that you have ONE ingredient for a special chow mein. I can do a pretty good egg fried rice though - Take overnight rice and mix with light and dark soy sauce, and some MSG. Now whisk and egg and mix with a pinch of salt and msg. Add the beaten egg to the scalding hot oil in the wok. As soon as it solidifies, add the rice. Keep beating the rice and flipping it for about 3 minutes. It's lovely with a little chilli oil and sliced spring onion with chillis on top. This is usually my breakfast, as I always have leftover rice from the day before.
@Maria Baja Never had baked beans? and they sound boring?? It's a side dish ffs and is found at every American cookout/BBQ... im assuming you're not American
I have to give credit to TheWolfePit, his recipe for Chicken Chow Mein is the closest I have ever tried to my favorite (now closed) Chinese restaurant. I seems to be very healthy and easy to make. As for Chun King brand food ... I remember it from the 70s. I also remember why I have only eaten it a few dozen times in my life ... yech! The manufacturer uses sodium (salt) to flavor-up. the mess. This video exemplifies the mess. Thank you TheWolfePit!
This was one of the first things I learned to "cook" for myself when I was 8. Loved this. I always ate it with leftover rice from the local Chinese restaurant next door to where my stepdad worked.
Really identify with the idea of nostalgia having a flavor. As a kid my mom would make this awful dish of canned tuna and white sauce on toast, and it's objectively horrible, but I still love it.
I used to get this occasionally when I was a kid too. It was an exotic change when those occasions happened. We would have it a few times a year, some years. I remember loving it. This brought back a lot of memories. Including preconceived notions I was inadvertently raised with and how we happened to grow up in an area that didn’t initially have many Asian people, but it’s neatly 100% Asian now! Talk about ironic. But it’s great for them and they are all wonderful people and I even dated a few and loved them too.
This is my moms favorite childhood crap canned food XD she's the only one I know who can eat it, simply because she was conditioned into eating this and loving it as a kid. I'm a sucker for Dinty Moore Beef Stew for the same reason.
That is the same for me. Banquet tv dinners. My parents couldn't afford the luxury of Swanson and we never tried Morton but I would love to have the Banquet Mexican dinner. I have no idea what was inside the enchiladas or Tamales and that's probably a good thing, but these were the best.
We never had the canned one, except for adding the canned Chinese vegetables and bean sprouts to a soy flavored stew. And we bought the really thin rice noodles instead of chow mein ones. All good.
My grandmother used to make this at least once a week for dinner. I got some a while back for nostalgic reasons and I don't ever remember it tasting as bad as it did. It was the chicken one and there was hardly any chicken or vegetables in it besides bean sprouts and it tasted like dirt! 😂
We would add eggs and chopped celery to it. That helped stretch it out for more servings, and it wasn't too salty that way. If I were making it today I'd also add some slightly caramelized onions and minced hot peppers. Carrots are good to add IF they are cooked enough.
In my opinion, the quality of La Choy chow mein (both the beef one and the chicken one) has declined in recent years. Like you said in your review, Larry, it tasted too salty, and I've noticed salty tastes in two other canned foods I used to swear by (Chef Boyardee, another ConAgra product; and certain varieties of Campbell's Chunky Soup). My most recent experiences left me wondering if the management messed with the recipe.
no idea if they're doing this but a lot of westernized asian foods tend to scale back on soy sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, and fish sauce while compensating by just adding straight salt. They also started scaling back or removing MSG and compensate with more salt. This removes any subtle flavors and cuts way back on the glutimates (the savory flavors) while just leaving the plain taste of salt behind and they may even start adding more salt to an already salty food to bring out a bit more flavor in the now bland dish.
We had Chun King regular frequently with the crunchy noodles as a kid. I really liked it back then. In later years I tried to serve La Choy Chow Mein to my children, and nobody liked it.
I haven't had this since I was a kid. I enjoyed it then though. Thanks for a refresher and as always Great Job and very entertaining to watch. Oo those baby corn! and some water chestnuts would be good too
What a great video! My good Southern mother would've sooner cut off an arm than serve this type of stuff; I remember in the sixties seeing these cans in ads in Life, etc., and thinking them so exotic. Never tasted any kind of Chinese food until college and these days I have more Chinese condiments in my fridge door than American--
I loved the little Jeno's pizzas!! I would spend Saturday with my grandma and go to church with her on Sundays. She would teach me how to sew or we'd work on projects, and then she would make the little Jeno's pizzas and we would watch Lawrence Welk and settle in for the evening. That was my life every week and I loved every moment of it. I've tried many times to explain the little pizzas to people over the years, and no one knew what I was talking about.....until today!!!! Thank you Wolfe Pit for the hit of nostalgia and for bringing back beautiful memories. Both my grandma and my mom made the chow mein once in awhile as well, always with rice.🥰
Watching your channel sure brings back memories ! Survived on Campbells soup ( 3 cans for a dollar ) and biscuits ( 4 cans for a dollar ) peanut butter and popcorn . Wish I had Dollar Tree and your channel back then . 40 years later I'm lookin for cheap meals again . Thanks for the revues and ideas 👍👍
Growing up in the 1960's and 70's, we knew nothing about Chinese restaurants. What we DID know is that Mom would make the two can "Chop Suey" by buying two sets of the two can mix, add another can of bean sprouts and either a pound of hamburger or a pound of chopped chicken - depending on what she bought. She served that with rice and the Chow Mien noodles and feed our family of six without anyone complaining. I'll still make that every now and again. No, it's not on par with Chinese restaurant food but still hits the spot.
I live on the border of fall river Mass. The true version is a brown gravy "Hoo-Mee" gravy mix and the freshly fried flat and not round noodles that you can only buy from the Oriental Chow Mein Company located at 42 Eighth St. Fall River MA, 02720. They also sell bean sprouts. Every restaurant selling authentic fall River Chow Mein will only use these noodles. And YES, there is a "Fall River Chow Mein" sandwich you can get, it does come on a hamburger but the main variations are "strained" or "unstrained". The former will have only gravy and noodles, The latter typically includes strips of celery, onions and bean sprouts. Meats can also be added for another dollar or so. If you buy both the noodles and the gravy mix you can feed a huge family for a good value depending on your meat choice. As mentioned rice is always an option but that would rarely be the case around here. As soon as i buy the noodles i put them in the freezer. There is always gravy mix left over and it can be used for any other meal requiring a delicious brown gravy. Hope this is helpful.
So weird to think that Fall River style is a thing somehow, used to see the Hoo-Mee boxes in Shaws all the time. "I been dis country two year, Noo Beige six year," lol.
Thanks for the nostalgia hit. Takes me back to when my family would head out to a Chinese restaurant and I'd order my favorite...a Pu pu platter. Then finish up with a scoop of ice cream and a fortune cookie. Fun times. Haven't thought of that in decades.
I want to thank you for this video. This past weekend I got the craving for La Choy. It was what a stapple in my house growing up (Wisconsin) and I considered it midwest asian food. It could be the nostalgia speaking, but it held up surprisingly well. This lead me to look up the history on La Choy and here is your video. Thanks!
We used to have La Choy chow mein all the time growing up. We used to serve it with rice it was pretty much the only Chinese food we had growing up. I still buy it from time to time...
My Dad grew up in Kansas in the '40s. He probably never saw an Asian person before he came to California in the Marine Corps. For sure he never ate Cinese food until he got out here. Turns out he loved it in all its forms. And since he had no expectations, he never cared whether it was authentic or not. I remember he would occasionally get the canned Chung King chow me in as a treat. He loved the stuff! Thanks for bringing back some memories!
I grew up on this, but my stepdad didn't like rice, so we just ate it with the crunchy noodles. I absolutely love the crunchy noodles and sometimes I'll eat a can of them by themselves!
I remember eating this product as a kid. It was kind of yummy. Never had tried this lately. However, I do like eating the crunch noodles out the can and the soy sauce is really good as well.
Thanks for the great food reviews. I didn't know of your channel until last year. I am disabled and in a wheelchair, so I don't get out to a store often to shop, ( I shop online , unfortunately, but it beats risking getting sick)but I was a chef once, and love to cook at home. I really enjoy your food reviews and have been trying to watch all the past ones I can, plus glad for your new ones. Be safe and blessed!
I grew up on this. Didn't have the rice, just the crunchy noodles. The bi-pack(double can) fed 5 people. Thanks for this video, and yes, nostalgia does have a flavor... but you don't taste it in your mouth, you taste it in your heart. Thanks Larry for this video. Just checked on Amazon and this dual can food now costs more than $8 . was paying about $3-4 no more than 4 years ago. Thanks Covid.
Very nice. Thank you. (My mom, 1965 Minneapolis, would make this for me and my two brothers... We loved it.) (We would also get the Chun King Egg Foo Yung in the can... I don't this they make that anymore... I've searched...)
growing up, my mom made this for dinner at least once a month. We never called it Chow Mein or Chop Suey......we always called it "Can on a can"......lol
Does anybody here remember Benihana? When I was young I went to that restaurant and the cook who was stirring up bean sprouts looked at me and he said "Japanese spaghetti" 🤣🤣
My mom made chop suey with hamburger and la choy canned vegetables... I loved it... I have no idea how she made it.. would love some every now and again
As a kid, I loved the La Choy mini egg "roll" squares found in the frozen food section of the grocery store. They came in either chicken or shrimp. My grandmother would make them for my cousins and me, and we would gobble them up!
When I was a kid growing up in white bread Western Massachusetts, there weren't a lot of options for ethnic food - except for the home style Polish foods. When we got a can of La Choy I was very happy to be eating something totally opposite of the usual stuff my mother cooked.
Now I have to run to the store for the makings for a chow mein sandwich! Grew up in Fall River and Somerset and that's pure heaven. Mark You restaurant in Fall River used to have the best Chow Mein sandwiches on the planet. The owner was a friend of my Dad and every couple of months we would visit him and stick around for lunch. I'm smiling ear to ear because nostalgia tastes grest.
Ahhh the memories....mom getting this once in a while....I still like it occasionally....we grew up sorta poor so this was a big deal....I mean its canned....and salty....but tastes like 1970s😂❤❤❤
Excellent video!! Growing up, this was served at least once a month in my house. After I left for the service, I have never eaten this product ever since because I learned how to cook. Good to know it survived the test of time. The sodium would cause my cardiologist to have a heart attack if he ever heard that I had consumed this. The sodium is out of this world high!!
OMG Larry...I grew up eating the "2 can" chow mein ,with the can of crispy "noodles" (that I still love to this day!) Given that our local "Chinese" restaurant, then (early 1960s). wasn't much better...i don't look down on these foods. Sometimes I need a junk food fix, right?
As a kid in the 80s and a teen in the 90s, La Choy was a weekly dinner, sometimes more often than that if we got it on sale. The price has really gone up over the years, but I'll still pick some up once in a while. The sodium is an issue now that I'm in my 40s so it's not going to be a regular thing.
Had no clue this was or wasn't Asian food as an 80's kid. Just loved it. Then I discovered real Asian food... Still love it lol. Going to get some tomorrow. Thanks 🤘
I grew up with that stuff and think it’s the bomb when you are really craving Chinese food. My mom used to make it when I was I kid. I think they had other flavors like chicken and I vaguely remember a la Choy sweet and sour combo. Thanks for the video!
Chun King was a once a month staple for us, growing up in the 1960s. May it rest in peace, crunchy noodles an all. For the "wake" yesterday we cooked authentic Chinese egg fried rice, shitake & cabbage potstickers, dipping sauce, plus authentic Japanese red miso soup made with real dashi, homemade tofu, and sliced scallions from the indoor garden. The meal cost about 40 cents per serving. Miso paste is expensive.
Growing up, my Mom made this at least once a week. For the longest time, I thought this was Chinese food. Love this stuff then. Not so much now. Thanks for the memories.
The La Choy isn't too bad out of the can. But hit it with a bit of low-sodium soy sauce, and a little sesame oil, and man, it's great! No it's not real Chinese, but it's not bad either. Thanks Larry for the memories. God bless. Rev. D.
This was a treat meal in my family back on the 70s. The cans you had to untape was so much fun for some reason. The food was meh. And nothing at all like Chow Mein from a restaurant. Where I am, Chow Mein is basically stir-fried spaghetti noodles with Chinese veggies and meat on top. It ends up being Italian food with Chinese twist, so I guess it makes sense that an Italian was behind the brand.
I used to love eating these when I still had my old apartment. I'd have a La Choy can once every couple of weeks, and rice was a must each time. Since I gave up meat I don't touch them anymore, but I kind of miss them every now and then.
One thing I've always loved about Totino's Pizza Rolls was how they were basically re-engineered Chun King Egg Rolls. It's pizza in a mini-egg roll and it's quite a genius idea if one thinks about it. As for La Choy chow mein, I've never really had it or Chun King chow mein since I rarely eat out Chinese food due to me usually making it myself but when I do have it, the rice is absolutely necessary--that rice soaks up the gravy like nobody's business. I'm convinced Jeno Paulucci was a genius.
My dad is a super traditional Chinese man. But he absolutely enjoys the inauthentic chow mein. He just likes eating noodles, I think. Lol.
Chinese cuisines have been (mis)translated to suit so many palates around the world that inauthentic Chinese food has taken on a life of its own. And that's good as long as people recognize it for what it is. It's wild to see how different they are in India, Germany, Peru, USA, Australia, etc. And given the Chinese influence in Africa over the last 20 years or so, I'd love to experience those variations.
Greetings from America!
@@pablodelsegundo9502 go look at Korea's version of American food it's just as wild
I like that idea. When we was growing up in the depression my mommer always said the same thing. Now we didn't have much during the depression but you know it was more than a lot of people had and we was thankful to the good lord for it. Now my daddy couldn't find a lot of work but he did the best he could and mommer would take in washing sometimes to make ends meet and her and daddy growed a garden and so we always had fresh vegetables, sometimes there werent' enough but we was always thankful, even when it was sad and depressing. That's what I remember about the depression, it was always sad and depressing. but we would invited family and friends over when we had enough and setting there at that table with all our friends around us we knowed everthang was gone be alright. We didn't want there to be no war because we loved everbody but then thangs got so bad that Franklin D. Roosevelt decided he was gone fight the depression for his people even though he was rich and the depression didn't hurt him he loved his people and everbody else enough he wanted everbody to overcome the depression and so he fought the depression and then he got together with Winston churchill and Joseph Stalin, two other great men and Winston Churchill had said that it weren't right for the Germans to be doing so well and not be in a depression because Hitler had put his people to work building and planting and so Winston Churchill decided he was gone kill the Notsies and Franklin D. Roosevelt decided he would kill the Notsies so they joined Joseph Stalin and started the war. Now that was bad but you know what. They was able to build a bomb plant and my daddy got him a job there making bombs for Winston Churchill to drop and burn up Notsy childern. And we was happy cause we was fightin evil people but not Joseph Stalin all them people he had killed deserved it. And all them Indians and Irish poeple Churchill had killed was evil. They was probably racists or something. And then Franklin D. Roosevelt finally defeated the Notsies and made the world safe for Jews and thats why America is such a happy place today. Thank you. I appreciate you letting me tell my stories on youtube/. Amen
The Thai side of my family are the same way, they mainly eat traditional Thai, Vietnamese, and Chinese food but love those crispy noodles. I've walked in on them eating the La Choy noodles straight out of the can like chips.
Nostalgia story: My dad worked out of town and my brothers were older then me and stayed out. So me and mom had a lot of time together between age 4 and 10. We would make this and tea and cozies up in the main bedroom together and watch TV.
When I was a kid and my parents divorced I got flipped back and forth between their houses every couple of weeks as per the settlement. The houses were near each other, all I did is walk a different way home.
They both worked so I often fed myself. They both kept a cupboard stocked with Chun King for me. I told each that the other wouldn't let me have it.
Flashbacks to my childhood lol. My mom would buy la choy chicken chow mein once a month for the 3 of us. We never had rice tho, just the fried noodles. Chicken was the only flavor we ever ate so I have no idea what the others taste like. She was funny, she didn't like actual Asian food but still bought this stuff once a month until she stopped cooking for herself
At one time they had a shrimp one, but for some reason never had pork.
Same here lisa my mom use to love making these too when i was a kid definitely brings back memories
Same! I loved that stuff!
Growing up in very rural Vermont in the 70's LaChoy was the only chinese food. I tried some beef chow mein recently ,It's pretty terrible ,but you just can't stop eating it. Nostalgia is a powerful ingredient.
U drunk?
'70s*
@@davedave9552 U is a letter and cannot drink. Use the actual word "you."
This quick meal used to be pretty good. They changed the ingredients & it's now so bland and gross. I obviously don't know what changed. But even soy sauce and or spicy oil can't save this canned dish. La Choy used to be on point for a quick dinner. Not anymore.
@Maria Baja the "small can" was the best part though. I mean.. there was some real flavors going on. It's like cardboard now. Just nothing going on. And maybe it's healthier or they were forced to stop using an ingredient for whatever reason but it's just so gross now. It's not even worthy of raccoon food. Haha
I used to love Chun King chow mein when I was a kid. La Choy is nothing like it. My friend and I were just talking the other day about how bad it's gotten. Our store used to have it on sale once in awhile for around $2 and I used to buy it, but I don't any more. Too bad you can't find a Jeno's pizza kit any more. It came in a box and was a packet of dough mix, a small can of tomato sauce, a packet of dried herbs and a packet of parmesan cheese. That was your pizza. My mom added vegetables and meat to it and topped it with (of all things) Velveeta cheese. Sounds horrible, but it was actually good. You had to eat it with a fork. I'd like to have a piece now, thinking about it.
I became the family "chef" when I was 9. (It was either that or wash and dry dishes.) A couple of Fridays a month I would prepare a meatless meal using the Chef Boyardee Pizza box or the Armour brand Pizza box. I found that they were really great if I put a "high quality" mozzarella and/or "high quality" parmesan as toppings.
Didn't Chef Boy r'dee replace that? Still available and still surprisingly popular.
@Maria Baja You ate it frozen?
@@2bczar4u They might have. I haven't seen a boxed pizza mix in years, but I haven't really looked either. I figured no one would use such a thing any more with all the frozen pizzas available. We never heard of pizza until my mom married my step dad and he introduced us to it. Even then, the only kind we ever had was the boxed kind my mom made. She wasn't very clear on the concept as she used Velveeta to top it. I was good in a weird way. It was the only way we ever had it and seems ridiculous now, but I miss it and wish I had a piece now.
@@greyeaglem Well they still have it and my sister loves using it because it is easy to make. She says that its like having those nice fire roasted crusts because it thin. Personally I make my own.
What are we eating has really changed how I struggle eat
I used to eat some of the stuff you recommended but I thank you for showing us how we're getting forked over
This brings back memories for me. It was a weekly staple for my sister and I in the 80s. My mom was a RN worked second shift two or three days a week. Dad had to feed us after work. That was always a once a week quick goto for him. Yes we always had plenty of rice (minute rice). My dad was a good cook in his own right, and always added to it. If there was some left over pork or chicken, broccoli what ever was in the fridge. I guess in the true meaning it was chop suey, he even called it that. Thanks for the trip down memory lane. Nostalgia truly does have a flavor. BTW he always let us eat dinner from tv trays watching the Muppet Show.
My dad always called it chop suey, he was the king of leftovers, we had this a lot with the extra thanksgiving turkey.
My Dad was the cheapest of cheapskates. So, I didn't have food at a real Chinese restaurant until I was in my teens and this stuff was his idea of Chinese food.
Needless to say, when I did finally go to a real food joint I was blown away!
FRIW, I do still love this canned stuff. I buy them an extra can of water chestnut.
Nostalgia will do that to you. Make you love stuff you know is absolute crap.
Love you man!
My mom would also buy and add water chestnut with this for added crunch!
I love Chinese food, both authentic and American, can’t beat sweet & sour pork, orange chicken, and house special chow mein.
You obviously don't realise that the only Chinese food is actual authentic chinese food. American Chinese food isn't Chinese food.
@@looksirdroids9134 facts
@@looksirdroids9134 what do you mean he obviously doesn't realize? He literally distinguished between authentic and American.
@@looksirdroids9134 he said authentic and American in the same sentence as two different things.
I haven't had that in 30 years but I can taste it. Also can't stop laughing at the emphasis on "Extruded" fried chow mein noodles!
My mum used to make this once a week back in the 70’s,and I hated it as did my brother. I don’t think my mother actually liked it,but my dad did. We never had it again after they split up. Bonus!
Lmao
Oh I grew up on this. It wasn’t often because we couldn’t afford it. We ate it only with the noodles. It was better then and had more meat. Like all things of that era, I can’t eat it. I keep kosher so I have to make my own. I had a noodle dish at a Chinese takeout when I was in school. It was the thicker udon noodles (I think) smothered in beef gravy with a pouched egg on top. I would buy several meals once a month, before block testing. I would review and reheat Chinese all weekend. The beef gravy dish was always the first eaten, due to the egg. Comfort food!
This reminded me of my mother making candies with chow mein noodles, butterscotch and peanuts. About once a month, our parents snuck off to a Chinese restaurant and left the kids at home. We never really knew what they did there.
@Festival of Ice Cream After I saw this video, I discussed it with my older brother. Apparently he hated them 😄
My favorite dessert of all time!
This was a treat I remember growing up in NY in the 1960s. We did have a Chinese restaurant around the corner of our block and it was a treat to go there on occasion but the double-can La Choy Chow Mein mad quite a few appearances in our Queens railroad apartment because it was an inexpensive way to feed -- at that time -- the five of us. When we moved to NJ with two more were added to our family, I'm sure we must have continued to buy this product. This gave way to Ramen noodles going into the 1980s. However, I think the allure for me was the each product consisted of two connected cans. If memory serves, I believe Big Jim baked beans also had this two-can packaging with beans in one and fixings or special sauce in the other. I may be wrong about this but if not, it was the double can approach that got my interest.
OMG, I LOVED Jeno's pizza snacks as a kid! I was such a picky eater, but I would devour those tasty lil mini pizzas on a tray! Great memories, thanks.
They were my favorite too. I loved the sausage ones the best but they were all good. No frozen pizza today tastes as good as the pizza snack tray did.
Jeno's was the best!!
I remember my parents occasionally buying those huge ass chow mein cans for us growing up. It was a treat!
The memories!
As a british born chinese this totally confused me. Ive never put chow mein on rice. This is more of a choy sueh to me.
Because it is (as far as I know)
Can confirm we never put chow mein on rice lol
British Chinese and American Chinese food is very different in my opinion.
Living in the UK, my usual order is singaport chow mein, chicken w/ cashew nuts in yellow bean sauce, and also a rice dish.
But then a lot of british people will order (i'm not even kidding here) chips/fries, deep fried chicken balls (basically chicken nuggets) and call that chinese food. Just embarrasing.
British Chinese is not authentic, but it is very tasty and requires a great deal of work to make it taste right.
Just to prepare the beef, you need to slice it thinly, and then marinade it in salt, msg, soy sauce, potato starch, garlic powder. Then after 24 hours of marinading, you need to portion and freeze it.
After all that you have ONE ingredient for a special chow mein.
I can do a pretty good egg fried rice though - Take overnight rice and mix with light and dark soy sauce, and some MSG.
Now whisk and egg and mix with a pinch of salt and msg. Add the beaten egg to the scalding hot oil in the wok. As soon as it solidifies, add the rice. Keep beating the rice and flipping it for about 3 minutes.
It's lovely with a little chilli oil and sliced spring onion with chillis on top. This is usually my breakfast, as I always have leftover rice from the day before.
Baked beans on rice is better than beans on toast imo
@Maria Baja Never had baked beans? and they sound boring?? It's a side dish ffs and is found at every American cookout/BBQ... im assuming you're not American
We had this as kids growing up too and I still have it once in a while and love it! Thanks for the memories ! ♡
I have to give credit to TheWolfePit, his recipe for Chicken Chow Mein is the closest I have ever tried to my favorite (now closed) Chinese restaurant. I seems to be very healthy and easy to make. As for Chun King brand food ... I remember it from the 70s. I also remember why I have only eaten it a few dozen times in my life ... yech! The manufacturer uses sodium (salt) to flavor-up. the mess. This video exemplifies the mess. Thank you TheWolfePit!
This was one of the first things I learned to "cook" for myself when I was 8. Loved this. I always ate it with leftover rice from the local Chinese restaurant next door to where my stepdad worked.
Great video, love how you can explain the history of companies.
Really identify with the idea of nostalgia having a flavor. As a kid my mom would make this awful dish of canned tuna and white sauce on toast, and it's objectively horrible, but I still love it.
My mother called it Tuna Slop on Toast. It's so good!
One of those things from my childhood that I'm glad I grew out of and can now make things better from scratch.
I grew up with this stuff. I love it.
I used to get this occasionally when I was a kid too. It was an exotic change when those occasions happened. We would have it a few times a year, some years. I remember loving it. This brought back a lot of memories. Including preconceived notions I was inadvertently raised with and how we happened to grow up in an area that didn’t initially have many Asian people, but it’s neatly 100% Asian now! Talk about ironic. But it’s great for them and they are all wonderful people and I even dated a few and loved them too.
This is my moms favorite childhood crap canned food XD she's the only one I know who can eat it, simply because she was conditioned into eating this and loving it as a kid.
I'm a sucker for Dinty Moore Beef Stew for the same reason.
Dinty Moore Beef Stew with RICE!
@@jamescostello6529 oh snap!!! Gotta try it
That is the same for me. Banquet tv dinners. My parents couldn't afford the luxury of Swanson and we never tried Morton but I would love to have the Banquet Mexican dinner. I have no idea what was inside the enchiladas or Tamales and that's probably a good thing, but these were the best.
@@jamescostello6529 nah, dinty moore is best over biscuits or rolls
It’s the same for me with the boxed au gratin potatoes. My husband won’t touch them but they’re like luxury to me lol
We never had the canned one, except for adding the canned Chinese vegetables and bean sprouts to a soy flavored stew. And we bought the really thin rice noodles instead of chow mein ones. All good.
My grandmother used to make this at least once a week for dinner. I got some a while back for nostalgic reasons and I don't ever remember it tasting as bad as it did. It was the chicken one and there was hardly any chicken or vegetables in it besides bean sprouts and it tasted like dirt! 😂
We would add eggs and chopped celery to it. That helped stretch it out for more servings, and it wasn't too salty that way. If I were making it today I'd also add some slightly caramelized onions and minced hot peppers. Carrots are good to add IF they are cooked enough.
Nostalgia!!! The Food I Loved as a Kid and Cannot eat at 56 yrs old now! The Food I Hated as a Kid but, Love Now! Thanks For Another Great Video!
As a 66 year old who grew up on it & loved it. I still get a hankering every now & thing for it. I can taste it now... YUM! lol
In my opinion, the quality of La Choy chow mein (both the beef one and the chicken one) has declined in recent years. Like you said in your review, Larry, it tasted too salty, and I've noticed salty tastes in two other canned foods I used to swear by (Chef Boyardee, another ConAgra product; and certain varieties of Campbell's Chunky Soup). My most recent experiences left me wondering if the management messed with the recipe.
When I tried it it was bland with no flavor other than salt. Not sure how they remain on the shelves.
I look at the nutrition labels, and shy away from anything that shows it's more than 40% of RDA, preferably under 30%.
no idea if they're doing this but a lot of westernized asian foods tend to scale back on soy sauce, oyster sauce, hoisin sauce, and fish sauce while compensating by just adding straight salt. They also started scaling back or removing MSG and compensate with more salt. This removes any subtle flavors and cuts way back on the glutimates (the savory flavors) while just leaving the plain taste of salt behind and they may even start adding more salt to an already salty food to bring out a bit more flavor in the now bland dish.
We had Chun King regular frequently with the crunchy noodles as a kid. I really liked it back then. In later years I tried to serve La Choy Chow Mein to my children, and nobody liked it.
You are the best, WolfePit. I love that you know your food and then still talk about affordable but tasty eating.
I haven't had this since I was a kid. I enjoyed it then though. Thanks for a refresher and as always Great Job and very entertaining to watch. Oo those baby corn! and some water chestnuts would be good too
What a great video! My good Southern mother would've sooner cut off an arm than serve this type of stuff; I remember in the sixties seeing these cans in ads in Life, etc., and thinking them so exotic. Never tasted any kind of Chinese food until college and these days I have more Chinese condiments in my fridge door than American--
Glad you're still eating for us the people.
“La Choy makes Chinese food … swing American” lol
I was thinking about the same 70s commercial. Always thought it looked awful as a kid
Bought this at Save-a Lot store a few months ago. Not the same as I remember 15 years ago. Will never but it again!
I loved the little Jeno's pizzas!! I would spend Saturday with my grandma and go to church with her on Sundays. She would teach me how to sew or we'd work on projects, and then she would make the little Jeno's pizzas and we would watch Lawrence Welk and settle in for the evening. That was my life every week and I loved every moment of it. I've tried many times to explain the little pizzas to people over the years, and no one knew what I was talking about.....until today!!!! Thank you Wolfe Pit for the hit of nostalgia and for bringing back beautiful memories. Both my grandma and my mom made the chow mein once in awhile as well, always with rice.🥰
Watching your channel sure brings back memories ! Survived on Campbells soup ( 3 cans for a dollar ) and biscuits ( 4 cans for a dollar ) peanut butter and popcorn . Wish I had Dollar Tree and your channel back then . 40 years later I'm lookin for cheap meals again . Thanks for the revues and ideas 👍👍
Growing up in the 1960's and 70's, we knew nothing about Chinese restaurants. What we DID know is that Mom would make the two can "Chop Suey" by buying two sets of the two can mix, add another can of bean sprouts and either a pound of hamburger or a pound of chopped chicken - depending on what she bought. She served that with rice and the Chow Mien noodles and feed our family of six without anyone complaining. I'll still make that every now and again. No, it's not on par with Chinese restaurant food but still hits the spot.
I like it my mom did it for us too. We loved it we didn't know any better and that's great
Thanks man for taking one for the team.Had this growing up an again trying. To love it as an adult ....
Love the opening info, would love to have more of that.
Evidently I grew up as you in the 60's because I remember this and LOVED it!!
I live on the border of fall river Mass. The true version is a brown gravy "Hoo-Mee" gravy mix and the freshly fried flat and not round noodles that you can only buy from the Oriental Chow Mein Company located at 42 Eighth St. Fall River MA, 02720. They also sell bean sprouts. Every restaurant selling authentic fall River Chow Mein will only use these noodles. And YES, there is a "Fall River Chow Mein" sandwich you can get, it does come on a hamburger but the main variations are "strained" or "unstrained". The former will have only gravy and noodles, The latter typically includes strips of celery, onions and bean sprouts. Meats can also be added for another dollar or so. If you buy both the noodles and the gravy mix you can feed a huge family for a good value depending on your meat choice. As mentioned rice is always an option but that would rarely be the case around here. As soon as i buy the noodles i put them in the freezer. There is always gravy mix left over and it can be used for any other meal requiring a delicious brown gravy. Hope this is helpful.
So weird to think that Fall River style is a thing somehow, used to see the Hoo-Mee boxes in Shaws all the time. "I been dis country two year, Noo Beige six year," lol.
Thanks for the nostalgia hit. Takes me back to when my family would head out to a Chinese restaurant and I'd order my favorite...a Pu pu platter. Then finish up with a scoop of ice cream and a fortune cookie. Fun times. Haven't thought of that in decades.
Jeno was a great man from my home town hibbing mn he even donated money to build us a planetarium
I want to thank you for this video. This past weekend I got the craving for La Choy. It was what a stapple in my house growing up (Wisconsin) and I considered it midwest asian food. It could be the nostalgia speaking, but it held up surprisingly well. This lead me to look up the history on La Choy and here is your video. Thanks!
We used to have La Choy chow mein all the time growing up. We used to serve it with rice it was pretty much the only Chinese food we had growing up. I still buy it from time to time...
Since were going over food we grew up on, I miss those La Choy mini egg rolls from the 80s early 90s.
Bean sprouts and water chestnut are my favorite Chinese vegetable additions. Need to pick some up for stir fry night, good reminder
My Dad grew up in Kansas in the '40s. He probably never saw an Asian person before he came to California in the Marine Corps. For sure he never ate Cinese food until he got out here. Turns out he loved it in all its forms. And since he had no expectations, he never cared whether it was authentic or not. I remember he would occasionally get the canned Chung King chow me in as a treat. He loved the stuff! Thanks for bringing back some memories!
My mom made this alot growing up! It hit the spot every-time.
I grew up on this, but my stepdad didn't like rice, so we just ate it with the crunchy noodles. I absolutely love the crunchy noodles and sometimes I'll eat a can of them by themselves!
You just made me add it to my Walmart cart! I loved this stuff as a kid.
I remember eating this product as a kid. It was kind of yummy. Never had tried this lately. However, I do like eating the crunch noodles out the can and the soy sauce is really good as well.
Thanks for the great food reviews. I didn't know of your channel until last year. I am disabled and in a wheelchair, so I don't get out to a store often to shop, ( I shop online , unfortunately, but it beats risking getting sick)but I was a chef once, and love to cook at home. I really enjoy your food reviews and have been trying to watch all the past ones I can, plus glad for your new ones. Be safe and blessed!
Chun King chicken alla king was what we craved growing up. With dumplings.
And Jenos pizza rolls were never the same once they rebranded into Totinos.
I grew up on this. Didn't have the rice, just the crunchy noodles. The bi-pack(double can) fed 5 people. Thanks for this video, and yes, nostalgia does have a flavor... but you don't taste it in your mouth, you taste it in your heart.
Thanks Larry for this video.
Just checked on Amazon and this dual can food now costs more than $8 . was paying about $3-4 no more than 4 years ago. Thanks Covid.
Very nice. Thank you. (My mom, 1965 Minneapolis, would make this for me and my two brothers... We loved it.) (We would also get the Chun King Egg Foo Yung in the can... I don't this they make that anymore... I've searched...)
In Cantonese, "Chow" means fried. Usually in a wok. Hong Kong style, the noodles are usually fried in a wok in a single pattiy
growing up, my mom made this for dinner at least once a month. We never called it Chow Mein or Chop Suey......we always called it "Can on a can"......lol
Does anybody here remember Benihana? When I was young I went to that restaurant and the cook who was stirring up bean sprouts looked at me and he said "Japanese spaghetti" 🤣🤣
I would reply back to him "No, yakisoba is."
My mom made chop suey with hamburger and la choy canned vegetables... I loved it... I have no idea how she made it.. would love some every now and again
As a kid, I loved the La Choy mini egg "roll" squares found in the frozen food section of the grocery store. They came in either chicken or shrimp. My grandmother would make them for my cousins and me, and we would gobble them up!
I just found your channel and I love your receipes with little money and that fits my budget. Keep up the receipes please
Thank you! Will do!
I am 53, and went back to the states a few years ago. Grandma pulled this one out. I LOVED IT!!!!! Is it memories or for real?
This was comfort food when I was growing up.
When I was a kid growing up in white bread Western Massachusetts, there weren't a lot of options for ethnic food - except for the home style Polish foods. When we got a can of La Choy I was very happy to be eating something totally opposite of the usual stuff my mother cooked.
Love the history lesson! You oughta do those more often! Learning the history with WAWE is a nice touch.
Now I have to run to the store for the makings for a chow mein sandwich! Grew up in Fall River and Somerset and that's pure heaven. Mark You restaurant in Fall River used to have the best Chow Mein sandwiches on the planet. The owner was a friend of my Dad and every couple of months we would visit him and stick around for lunch. I'm smiling ear to ear because nostalgia tastes grest.
Ahhh the memories....mom getting this once in a while....I still like it occasionally....we grew up sorta poor so this was a big deal....I mean its canned....and salty....but tastes like 1970s😂❤❤❤
When I was a kid my mom fixed this ONE time. I don't remember eating it, but it must not have been good to us.
La Choy. Old old memories!
I grew up on this stuff, i remember the crunchy bits came in a separate bag and i'd toss a bunch on
big treat at my house growing up, loved it
Played Werewolves of London 🎶 while eating mine.
Excellent video!!
Growing up, this was served at least once a month in my house. After I left for the service, I have never eaten this product ever since because I learned how to cook.
Good to know it survived the test of time. The sodium would cause my cardiologist to have a heart attack if he ever heard that I had consumed this. The sodium is out of this world high!!
It’s the memories. My family had the same meal, Chicken cho Mein. My father loved it. That was the close thing to Chinese food we had in southern MD.
Really like the historical angle you went with on this one. Very well done.
I have always loved their Chicken Chow Mein...
OMG Larry...I grew up eating the "2 can" chow mein ,with the can of crispy "noodles" (that I still love to this day!) Given that our local "Chinese" restaurant, then (early 1960s). wasn't much better...i don't look down on these foods. Sometimes I need a junk food fix, right?
Oh MAN! I haven't eaten Chun King / La Choy since 1978. It kinda sucked back then.
We had it in the 80s and it sucked then as well!!!
@@starjestis8293
And it still sucks now!
Thank you for going off subject-you made me laugh as well as edumacated me......
One of my favorites as a kid as well and I love it to this day. So I guess nostalgia does have a flavor.
As a kid in the 80s and a teen in the 90s, La Choy was a weekly dinner, sometimes more often than that if we got it on sale. The price has really gone up over the years, but I'll still pick some up once in a while. The sodium is an issue now that I'm in my 40s so it's not going to be a regular thing.
Had no clue this was or wasn't Asian food as an 80's kid. Just loved it. Then I discovered real Asian food... Still love it lol. Going to get some tomorrow. Thanks 🤘
I grew up with that stuff and think it’s the bomb when you are really craving Chinese food. My mom used to make it when I was I kid. I think they had other flavors like chicken and I vaguely remember a la Choy sweet and sour combo. Thanks for the video!
Chun King was a once a month staple for us, growing up in the 1960s. May it rest in peace, crunchy noodles an all.
For the "wake" yesterday we cooked authentic Chinese egg fried rice, shitake & cabbage potstickers, dipping sauce, plus authentic Japanese red miso soup made with real dashi, homemade tofu, and sliced scallions from the indoor garden. The meal cost about 40 cents per serving. Miso paste is expensive.
Growing up, my Mom made this at least once a week. For the longest time, I thought this was Chinese food. Love this stuff then. Not so much now. Thanks for the memories.
The La Choy isn't too bad out of the can. But hit it with a bit of low-sodium soy sauce, and a little sesame oil, and man, it's great! No it's not real Chinese, but it's not bad either. Thanks Larry for the memories. God bless. Rev. D.
Growing up as a child in up state New York, one of the last meals made out of the holiday turkey was turkey chow mein. Loved it, miss Mom’s cooking….
This was a treat meal in my family back on the 70s. The cans you had to untape was so much fun for some reason. The food was meh. And nothing at all like Chow Mein from a restaurant. Where I am, Chow Mein is basically stir-fried spaghetti noodles with Chinese veggies and meat on top. It ends up being Italian food with Chinese twist, so I guess it makes sense that an Italian was behind the brand.
Your family just needed to serve it with rice not spaghetti. How absurd.
Now I'm hungry! Great video!
There is something oddly relaxing about these vwhat are we eating videos.
I used to love eating these when I still had my old apartment. I'd have a La Choy can once every couple of weeks, and rice was a must each time. Since I gave up meat I don't touch them anymore, but I kind of miss them every now and then.
One thing I've always loved about Totino's Pizza Rolls was how they were basically re-engineered Chun King Egg Rolls. It's pizza in a mini-egg roll and it's quite a genius idea if one thinks about it.
As for La Choy chow mein, I've never really had it or Chun King chow mein since I rarely eat out Chinese food due to me usually making it myself but when I do have it, the rice is absolutely necessary--that rice soaks up the gravy like nobody's business.
I'm convinced Jeno Paulucci was a genius.
Ate the beef Chow Mein all the time with the crunchy Chinese noodles