Yaka mein
A Creole-Chinese beef noodle soup with hangover-curing fame.
Yaka mein, also known as yat gaw mein, is a beef noodle soup served in many Creole restaurants in New Orleans, with variations found in port cities and African-American communities across the coastal South and Mid-Atlantic. The dish consists of stewed beef in a beef-based broth over noodles, garnished with half a hard-boiled egg and chopped green onions, often seasoned with Cajun or Creole seasoning and chili powder. It is notable as a regional specialty that blends Chinese noodle soup traditions with local Creole influences.
Quick Facts
- Country
- Louisiana
- Main ingredients
- Stewed beef (brisket)
- beef broth
- spaghetti
- hard-boiled egg
- green onions
Facts from the source article.
Culture and variations
Yaka mein is sometimes called "Old Sober" because locals commonly prescribe it as a hangover cure. Vendors sell it at New Orleans second lines, the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, and other cultural events alongside Creole and Cajun specialties. Linda Green, a major proponent since 2006, caters the dish at the Ogden Museum of Southern Art, JazzFest, and Oak Street Po'Boy Fest; she stated in the film Far East Deep South that Black slaves in her family were with Chinese slaves who taught her grandmother the original recipe.
The soup is well loved locally but not widely known outside the city and region. In New Orleans, Vietnamese-influenced variations use more Vietnamese ingredients and methods, resembling pho with stronger flavors. Baltimore's variation, called yat gaw mein or "dirty yak," uses shrimp, crayfish, or blue crab instead of beef brisket, with udon noodles in a thicker gravy; Chinese restaurants in northwest and northeast Baltimore have a slight rivalry over serving methods.
Origins
The origins of yaka mein are uncertain. Some sources, including the late New Orleans chef Leah Chase, claim it originated in New Orleans's now extinct Chinatown, established by Chinese immigrants brought from California during the mid-19th century to build railroads and work on sugar plantations. "Ya-Ca-Mein" appears on New Orleans menus as early as 1945, when the Chinese noodle soup adapted to local Creole and Chinese clientele. The spread to cities like Baltimore, Norfolk, and Philadelphia may trace to similar Chinese immigration patterns in port cities or to Louisiana-origin African Americans carrying the recipe north during the Great Migration.
By the 1920s, yaka mein was known elsewhere in North America; a 1927 Maclean's article described "yet-ca mein" as noodles in rich stock garnished with sliced egg and meats. A 1935 film, Whipsaw, shows a character in New Orleans ordering yaka mein by phone, supporting the origin story cited by Leah Chase.
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