Yaka mein

Yaka mein

Yaka mein served in a paper bowl
Origin
Alternative name(s)	Old sober
Place of origin	United States
Details
Type	Beef noodle soup
Main ingredient(s)	Stewed beef (brisket), beef broth, spaghetti, hard-boiled egg, green onions

"Ya-Ka-Mein Lady" at second line in Uptown New Orleans, 2010

Yaka mein (Ya-Ka-Mein, often pronounced Yakamee) is a type of beef noodle soup (牛肉麵, Cantonese: ngaw4-yuk4 min6) commonly found in many Creole and Chinese restaurants in New Orleans.

The soup consists of stewed beef (such as brisket) in beef-based broth served on top of spaghetti noodles and garnished with half a hard-boiled egg and chopped green onions. Cajun seasoning, chili powder, or Old Bay Seasoning is often added to the broth.

Yaka mein is sometimes referred to as "Old Sober," as it is commonly prescribed by locals as a cure for hangovers Vendors are common at New Orleans second lines. (The dish is also now offered in a more commercial setting at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, along with many other Creole and Cajun specialties.) The soup is well loved by locals but not well known outside of the city and its surrounding region.

An alternate version, Yat Gaw Mein, is found in Baltimore and Philadelphia carry out restaurants. Yat Gaw Mein consists of thick wheat noodles (similar to udon) in a ketchup-based sauce or brown gravy, accompanied by thickly sliced onions and a hard-boiled egg. Meat, chicken, and seafood can be added, with some restaurants including the option of pig's feet

Spellings

The dish is spelled in innumerable ways, all with phonetic similarities. A non-comprehensive list of these spellings includes:

Yakamein Yaca mein Ya ka mein Yatka mein Yock a mein Yetka mein Yet ca mein

Yet gaw mein Yat gaw mein Jakemein Yaka may Yakameat Yakama Yakamee

Origins

The origins of yaka mein are uncertain, and there are at least two propositions:

1. Some sources, including New Orleans chef Leah Chase, have claimed that yaka mein originated in New Orleans’s now extinct Chinatown that was established by Chinese immigrants brought from California during the mid 19th century to build the railroads between Houston and New Orleans and work in the sugar plantations of the American South. It was during this period that the Chinese noodle soup adapted to local Creole and Chinese clientele to its present evolved state.
2. Others believe it was introduced to the US by African American troops who fought in the Korean War and returned with a taste for some of the noodle soup dishes they had in Korea.

Soup based noodle is a common everyday food in China. When Chinese American restaurants started to offer this dish to their American customers, they were at a loss to what to name it. They decided to name it "one order of noodles", yat gaw mien, 一個麵.