Trinidad Chicken Chow Mein (recipe)
Filed Under meat, poultry, entrées | Posted on April 28, 2007
Chicken chow mein is a perennial fave of mine, especially with PLENTY of soy sauce 
It was another of the dishes that I made in February as part of my Year of the Pig menu Last year Trinidad celebrated the 200th Anniversary of Chinese Immigration to our country with a public holiday and a month of festivities that included dragon boat races and more. To learn more about the Chinese influence in Trinidad & Tobago you can see the official BiCentennial website here, it’s quite good!
Several months ago Trini food blogger ‘Can Cook Must Cook’ posed the provocative question “Is Chinee food ours?” … Personally I would say yes. Just because the flavours are different to what I find overseas and preserved sweet n sour fruits are an indelible part of the memory of many a Trini childhood. Having said that, Chinese food here is nowhere as fusion in result as for example the Chinese community in India or Chinese-Cuban cuisine. Still, the Chinese presence in India, for example, is 300 years strong, and who knows what Trini Chinese food will look and taste like in 2107? 
What -is- interesting though, and may be the first step to a deeper form of fusion, is the number of eateries boasting ‘Chinese Creole’ food. This seems to be a fairly recent phenomenon but I may be wrong. Basically these establishments offer traditional Trinidadian creole dishes alongside the traditional Trinidadian-Chinese dishes cafeteria-style. This creates odd and very unique combinations on the plate to say the least!
Trinidad Chicken Chow Mein
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Recipe By: Naparima Girl’s High School Cookbook
Serving Size: 6
Ingredients:
1 whole chicken breast
2 tablespoons cooking oil
salt and b.pepper
2 carrots
1 christophene (cho cho/chayote)
1/2 head cabbage
1 package bean sprouts
1 clove garlic
soy sauce
1 package mein(egg) noodles
1 small cauliflower
1 large sweet pepper
1 medium onion
Directions:
1. Remove chicken skin and bone, cut meat in small pieces, season with salt, bl peppper and crushed garlic
2. Cut all vegetables in thin strips
3. Cook chicken in oil until cooked but not brown, add carrots and cauliflower, cover and cook 3 mins. Vegetables should be tender.
4. Add soy sauce to taste
5. If bean sprouts are to be used add at the end and steam 2 mins. on top of the mixture
6. Noodles: Boil until tender in salted water, drain, cool then fry in hot oil until crisp.
7. Drain. Serve with chicken and vegetables.
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11 Responses to “Trinidad Chicken Chow Mein (recipe)”
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300 year old trini-chinese cuisine
sounds…nice
pity i won’t be alive to see it
drink yuh aloes, yuh never know!
i can’t take the cricket suspense
and i don’t drink no aloes!
*sniffle*
sri lanka
rain
i don’t understand cricket
but food network coming May 1st 
Hi Sarina, Thanks for stopping by my blog. Your visit is appreciated. Hope you’ll return often.
This may sound silly but I just want to be absolutely clear. When you say to fry the noodles until crisp, you mean as in crunchy-crisp?
One time, years ago when I ordered chicken chowmein in T’dad I was served a plate full of wonderful veggies and cut up chicken with crispy-crunchy bits of noodles scattered throughout the dish. This was the first time I had chowmein like this so it was an eye-opener.
I am accustomed to the soft-noodle kind of chowmein. But I have been to Chinese restaurants in North America where they often ask when I order chowmein if I want the soft or crispy noodles.
hey cynthia!
finally lured you over here 
how you going? I think I mean crunchy-crisp but not hard hard like dry ramen, yuh know? Just like a light toasting on the surface of the noodle 
Does that help?
Hi Sarina, I’ve been lured for a long time, just never commented
I am doing fine. Thanks for asking. And you?
I saw and enjoyed your postcard at Jugalbandi. As I said in my comment there, it was great to see another Caribbean postcard. And the doubles pic was to die for. Did you make it yourself?
Yes, the light-toasting of the noodle helps. Thanks.
yay well i’m glad you’re commenting now
I’m doing OK. Tired and stuff (health issues) but trucking along 
I’m glad you liked the postcard at Jugalbandi 
I saw and liked yours as well… seeing fried plaintains always makes me weak in the knees 
Yes I made those doubles myself hehehe
Btw, if you click ‘Reply to this comment’ on the comment you want to reply to (instead of the box at the bottom) it keeps all the replies together
Really nifty!
I’m sad to admit that, in Britatin, the term “Chow Mein” is more commonly associated with mass produced, generic, poor quality, salty sludge that’s mainly used by the cheap Chinese takeaway outlets. It’s a real shame that many people here (young and old) probably wouldn’t recognise an actual genuine chow mein dish. Your version on the other hand looks very unique and individual, and tasty I should add!
aw thanks T! :blush: i don’t remember ever having any Chinese food when i was in England. I have a lot of catching up to do when next I’m on your turf
I remember being surprised that pizza was quite a sit-down affair over there (or at least in Birmingham 
) …
OK, now how good does that recipe look?!
I’m craving Chinese food all of a sudden…and that’s my least favorite cuisine!