Beef noodle soup is popular all over China. It also goes by many names in China and is done in many styles. The name yaka mein comes from yat ka mein/yat gaw mein, one of the names. But it also goes by other names too in China in various regions. In New Orleans it was localized by the Chinese born in New Orleans and they started using local ingredients.

Probably because there are Chinese there

Yep. The Chinese contribution to New Orleans food culture.

No...she is correct and you are wrong. She was referring to those Chinese men who came over as immigrants (or who were actually brought over) to specifically work on the railroad; not just any and all Chinese immigrants. Her reference was only regarding the men who came into the New Orleans region to construct the railroad. Those men did not bring their "women" (wives and daughters) with them - if, indeed, they had any. That is a well known and recorded historical fact. Actually, most of them were single and had no household before their arrival here. Later, after the men were well established and could afford to do so, they sent for Chinese brides via the traditional arranged marriage process which was so prevalently practiced in Chinese/Asian societies of that era, and began the families you mention in your comment, which developed cohesively into the historic Chinese communities commonly referred to and known as "Chinatowns." But upon their first and original arrival, they came in groups comprised almost exclusively of males.

Many Chinese men internarried with Creole of color families because there were so few Chinese women. It is the case in my own family and in others I know of in my community. There are so few pure Chinese New Orleanians. Ms. Lee's case is a rare one - and yes, Ms. Chase was very aware of the Lee family, obviously, and the New Orleans Chinatowns.

@@larryduncan4071 No, I’m right. I never said when I’m New Orleans there were Chinese women, I said there were Chinese women in New Orleans and that is how the Chinese populated in New Orleans. Pay attention when you read before you try and correct someone that didn’t need correcting.

@@larryduncan4071 Thank you for this tidbit of history. Very interesting indeed.

They didn't have women when they first came.

It is an authentic Chinese dish. It was just localized by Chinese New Orleanians and they started using local ingredients to make the soup their families made in China. It’s Chinese beef noodle soup. It’s all over China and goes by various names in various provinces in China.

@@IslenoGutierrez Wow, interesting. Although it was 5 years ago, I still remember this video. Haven't has chance to make Yaki Meim yet, but I'll get around to it. I'm sure I'm going to love it.

@@snowblo1 it’s pretty good stuff. Remember I said the New Orleans yaka mein is Chinese in origin, but the Chinese New Orleanians born in New Orleans localized it with local ingredients and that changed it and made it particular to New Orleans rather than China any longer. So just put a cut up chuck roast in a pot of water with some chopped onion, bell pepper, celery and garlic, creole/Cajun seasoning, beef bouillon and Worcestershire sauce and cook the beef until tender fall apart. Shred the beef. Boil some eggs and cook some spaghetti. Chop up some green onions. Then in a bowl, throw together some beef broth, shredded beef, spaghetti noodles and some creole/Cajun seasoning, soy sauce, hot sauce, Worcestershire sauce, onion powder and garlic powder and top it with the chopped green onions and an egg cut in half lengthwise. You then got New Orleans yaka mein. For something closer to the yaka mein of New Orleans’ Chinatown of the 1800’s, add some Chinese five spice powder, cinnamon, ginger and star anise to the pot of beef/beef stock along with all the same Louisiana ingredients I listed before cooking and swap out the spaghetti for Chinese style noodles such as lo mein/la mian and continue the rest of the steps.

@@IslenoGutierrez Oh wow, thanks so much for your detailed reply & recipe. I was so curious after reading your reply, that I had looked into different origins of Yaki Mein & yes, it's quite interesting. Also watched a video here on YT with an uploader called Cooking With Charlie Andrew's who hails from Louisiana and he prepares the New Orleans style of yaki mein & boy does it look good. Being a part time caterer, I have all of the ingredients in my kitchen right now. Think I'll make both kinds for a gathering this weekend. I love lo mein and I believe also have those type noodles on hand. Your cooking instructions were so clear. This will help & I hope my company loves it. ❤️

@@snowblo1 Well thanks for the compliment. I’m born and raised in New Orleans (I’m a descendant of the Spanish and French from colonial Louisiana of tye 1700’s) and I know of Charlie Andrews, he cooks a lot like me and I’ve spoken with him on his channel many times. The “rough” recipe I provided (sorry no measurements since I eyeball everything) is pretty good and is authentic. Not many people do the Chinese spices and lo mein anymore (maybe save for history buff New Orleanians that know about it) as that was how the Chinese in New Orleans’ Chinatown was doing it in the 1800’s, they were doing it more Chinese style. But local New Orleanians adopted the more localized version that Chinese New Orleanian store owners was selling to the local New Orleans public, where local ingredients such as spaghetti and local seasonings like Louisiana hot sauce and Worcestershire is used instead of Chinese spices and lo mein which went over better with non-Chinese locals. The Chinese spices and lo mein style is extinct now and the the style with the all local New Orleans ingredients is the common one we make today. You can make either version as I’ve made the New Orleans Chinatown style but most of the time I make the fully localized style that you can get in New Orleans in various places or in peoples houses because that’s the one that is part of our food culture, not the Chinatown one. The local version is “THE” New Orleans yaka mein. The old Chinatown style is not and is just the original throwback way before it was fully localized. Make the local one for family and guests and say it’s authentic New Orleans yaka mein, because it is. Make the old time New Orleans Chinatown one if you want the original one and want to be a history buff like me and if you make it for guests, explain it is not New Orleans yaka mein (anymore), it’s a now extinct original origin to the dish we have today.

The Vietnamese came much later in the 1970's, at the end of the Vietnamese War. As I is said in the video (did you watch it?), the Chinese were here much earlier. There was a vibrant Chinatown in the 19th century in New Orleans. Many of them intermarried with the Creole people (I know friends and relatives who have Chinese ancestry), or they moved on - in the same way many black people did, because of racism.

Enyatta Landreaux It was more so chinese, because a small portion of my Louisiana blk ancestors mixed with them...

@@GiselePerez Yes, you’re right. There was a Chinatown in New Orleans in the 1800’s actually. It was where the New Orleans Public Library sits at Tulane and Loyola at the edge of the CBD and after many of them left for San Francisco, the remaining ones opened up shop between a couple blocks in the French Quarter (a so called second Chinatown) and after that one was gone, they moved their tiny community of what was left after most New Orleans Chinese moved to San Francisco, to Metairie in Jefferson Parish. The ex-Jefferson Parish Sheriff the late Harry Lee and his daughter, the current Jefferson Parish President Cynthia Lee-Sheng are from one of those New Orleans Chinatown families. Most of the Chinese New Orleanians didn’t leave because of racism however, they left because of family ties and better work and pay in San Francisco. Yaka mein was called yat ka mein/ yat gaw mein by the Chinese New Orleanians and is the popular beef noodle soup that is found all over China by various names depending on province and region of China. The New Orleans born Chinese started using local ingredients and creolized it and other local New Orleanians got it from them. It’s now part of New Orleans Creole cuisine (the melting pot cuisine that combines the influences from white creoles, black creoles and mixed race creoles of the New Orleans area).