Bear Paw Meanderings

This is a month of columns to send away the winter blues. One thing I do to feel better about winter is to eat Oriental take out once a week.

That all started many years ago. When I was working part time at the Lou Lucke Company I would go to lunch once a week with Willie Garrahan at Tommy Woo’s Boston Café. There the Chop Souy was unbelievably good! I would ask Tommy what made it so good. He always said it was the gravy. I believed him.

Many years later Laened Black made Chow Mein that tasted like the Chop Souy at the Boston. I asked her for the recipe and she gave it to me. She said it was her husband Francis’s mother’s recipe and very old. She did not make it often because in order to make it you first had to make a roast pork dinner and have plenty of pork gravy left over.

If you do that and follow Laened’s recipe exactly, you will have a wonderful old fashioned chow mein dish to die for!

Note, it is difficult to follow it exactly because Laened was a dash of this and a dash of that cook like most of us. So, when in doubt, add to your taste.

So, first chop the pork into bite sized strips and have the gravy as brown as possible.

2 medium onions diced

2 cups celery about ½ inch cuts

Cook both of these on medium heat in a little oil until the onions sort of clarify

Then put in 2 good heaping tablespoons of gravy. If the gravy is good and thick, a little more won’t hurt. Then dump in a whole lot of soy sauce. Stir and cook on medium until it is all well mixed.

Add 1 small can of Wilderness tomatoes cut up with scissors while in the can

1 can chow mein vegetables

1 can bean sprouts

1 can water chestnuts

1 large can stems and pieces of mushrooms

Add more soy sauce

Simmer for half an hour or until all are blended together. This is really better is made the day before.

When ready to serve cook rice. Get a large can of chow mein noodles and some almonds or cashews to serve.

On your large serving platter put a layer of rice, then the chow mein noodles, then the chow mein and garnish with nuts. Serve with a bottle of soy sauce.

Bon Appétit!