In American Chinese cuisine, it is a stir-fried dish consisting of noodles, meat (chicken being most common but pork, beef, shrimp or tofu sometimes being substituted), onions and celery.
It is often served as a specific dish at westernized Chinese restaurants.
Vegetarian or vegan chow mein is also common.

There are two main kinds of chow mein available on the market:
Steamed chow mein, and
Crispy chow mein, also known as Hong Kong-style chow mein (see below).

The steamed chow mein has a softer texture, while the latter is crisper and drier.
 Crispy chow mein uses fried, flat noodles, while soft chow mein uses long, rounded noodles.

Crispy chow mein either has onions and celery in the finished dish or is served "strained", without any vegetables.
Steamed chow mein can have many different kinds of vegetables in the finished dish, most commonly including onions and celery but sometimes carrots, cabbage and mung bean sprouts as well.
 Crispy chow mein is usually topped with a thick brown sauce, while steamed chow mein is mixed with soy sauce before being served.

There is a regional difference in the US between the East and West Coast use of the term "chow mein".
On the East Coast, "chow mein" is always the crispy or "Hong Kong style".
At some restaurants located in those areas, the crispy chow mein noodles are sometimes deep fried and could be crispy "like the ones in cans" or "fried as crisp as hash browns".
At a few East Coast locations, "chow mein" is also served over rice.
There, the steamed style using soft noodles is a separate dish called  "lo mein".
 On the West Coast, "chow mein" is always the steamed style; the crispy style is simply called "Hong Kong style" and the term "lo mein" is not widely used.

The crispy version of chow mein can also be served in a hamburger-style bun as a chow mein sandwich.

There are also variations on how either one of the two main types of chow mein can be prepared as a dish.
When ordering "chow mein" in some restaurants in Chicago, a diner might receive "chop suey poured over crunchy fried noodles".
In Philadelphia, Americanized chow mein tends to be similar to chop suey but has crispy fried noodles on the side and includes much celery and bean sprouts and is sometimes accompanied with fried rice.
Jeremy Iggers of the Star Tribune describes "Minnesota-style chow mein" as "a green slurry of celery and ground pork topped with ribbons of gray processed chicken".
Bay Area journalist William Wong made a similar comment about what is sold as chow mein in places like Minnesota.
A published recipe for Minnesota-style chow mein includes generous portions of celery and bean sprouts.
Another Minnesotan variant includes ground beef and cream of mushroom soup.

Food historians and cultural anthropologists have noted that chow mein and other dishes served in Chinese American restaurants located away from areas without any significant Asian American population tend to be very different from what is served in China and are heavily modified to fit the taste preference of the local dominant population.
As an example, the chow mein gravy favored in the Fall River area more closely resembles that used in local New England cooking than that used in traditional Chinese cooking.
The founder of the food manufacturer Chun King and the creator of canned chow mein admits of using Italian spices to make his product more acceptable to Americans whose ancestors came from Europe.

Chow mein is mentioned as early as 1920, in the novel Main Street by Sinclair Lewis.

It is frequently confused with chop suey; a dish incorrectly labeled as chow mein was sometimes served in American restaurants, drug store soda fountains, school cafeterias, senior citizens facilities, and military bases chow halls.
In many of these cases, this particular dish was served over rice and did not include noodles.

In 1946, one of the first companies to market "chow mein" in a can was Chun King.
The product's creator was Jeno Paulucci, the son of Italian immigrants, who developed a recipe based mostly upon Italian spices that would be better cater
In American Chinese cuisine, it is a stir-fried dish consisting of noodles, meat (chicken being most common but pork, beef, shrimp or tofu sometimes being substituted), onions and celery. It is often served as a specific dish at westernized Chinese restaurants. Vegetarian or vegan chow mein is also common.
There are two main kinds of chow mein available on the market:
Steamed chow mein, and
Crispy chow mein, also known as Hong Kong-style chow mein (see below).
The steamed chow mein has a softer texture, while the latter is crisper and drier.  Crispy chow mein uses fried, flat noodles, while soft chow mein uses long, rounded noodles.
Crispy chow mein either has onions and celery in the finished dish or is served "strained", without any vegetables. Steamed chow mein can have many different kinds of vegetables in the finished dish, most commonly including onions and celery but sometimes carrots, cabbage and mung bean sprouts as well.  Crispy chow mein is usually topped with a thick brown sauce, while steamed chow mein is mixed with soy sauce before being served.
There is a regional difference in the US between the East and West Coast use of the term "chow mein". On the East Coast, "chow mein" is always the crispy or "Hong Kong style". At some restaurants located in those areas, the crispy chow mein noodles are sometimes deep fried and could be crispy "like the ones in cans" or "fried as crisp as hash browns". At a few East Coast locations, "chow mein" is also served over rice. There, the steamed style using soft noodles is a separate dish called  "lo mein".  On the West Coast, "chow mein" is always the steamed style; the crispy style is simply called "Hong Kong style" and the term "lo mein" is not widely used.
The crispy version of chow mein can also be served in a hamburger-style bun as a chow mein sandwich.
There are also variations on how either one of the two main types of chow mein can be prepared as a dish. When ordering "chow mein" in some restaurants in Chicago, a diner might receive "chop suey poured over crunchy fried noodles". In Philadelphia, Americanized chow mein tends to be similar to chop suey but has crispy fried noodles on the side and includes much celery and bean sprouts and is sometimes accompanied with fried rice. Jeremy Iggers of the Star Tribune describes "Minnesota-style chow mein" as "a green slurry of celery and ground pork topped with ribbons of gray processed chicken". Bay Area journalist William Wong made a similar comment about what is sold as chow mein in places like Minnesota. A published recipe for Minnesota-style chow mein includes generous portions of celery and bean sprouts. Another Minnesotan variant includes ground beef and cream of mushroom soup.
Food historians and cultural anthropologists have noted that chow mein and other dishes served in Chinese American restaurants located away from areas without any significant Asian American population tend to be very different from what is served in China and are heavily modified to fit the taste preference of the local dominant population. As an example, the chow mein gravy favored in the Fall River area more closely resembles that used in local New England cooking than that used in traditional Chinese cooking. The founder of the food manufacturer Chun King and the creator of canned chow mein admits of using Italian spices to make his product more acceptable to Americans whose ancestors came from Europe.
Chow mein is mentioned as early as 1920, in the novel Main Street by Sinclair Lewis.
It is frequently confused with chop suey; a dish incorrectly labeled as chow mein was sometimes served in American restaurants, drug store soda fountains, school cafeterias, senior citizens facilities, and military bases chow halls. In many of these cases, this particular dish was served over rice and did not include noodles.
In 1946, one of the first companies to market "chow mein" in a can was Chun King. The product's creator was Jeno Paulucci, the son of Italian immigrants, who developed a recipe based mostly upon Italian spices that would be better cater
Chow mein