Nankin Restaurant and Subgum Chicken Chow Mein

 

photo planet99.com

When I was a kid, my parents would occasionally go to Minneapolis and take me with them. Invariably, although it is now only a two-hour drive, it seemed to take long enough that we needed to stop in New Richmond at a cafe for a coffee break.

My favorite thing about going to 'The Cities' then was eating at the Nankin Restaurant. To a child, the place seemed huge and exotic - with a large open staircase to the second floor dining room and chandeliers and huge Chinese lanterns hanging from the ceilings. It was a busy, noisy place, and it seemed as though any minute Lucielle Ball and Desi Arnaz might walk past our table. They never did.

I always ordered Chicken Subgum Chow Mein. I loved that stuff, and am pretty sure I managed to eat the entire thing, for the nearest thing we got to it at home was a can of La Choy. (My mother was a great cook - it's just that Chinese food wasn't her strong suit.)

The other day I decided to try to find the recipe, and came across a 2007 Washington Post article that contained a recipe by Mary Giambruno of Victoria, Minnesota, who 'has been working on re-creating this dish for years, inspired by the chow mein served at the old Nankin Cafe in Minneapolis.'

Here's a photo of my attempt at Mary Giambruno's Chicken Subgum Chow Mein:

Chicken Subgum Chow Mein by Mary Giambruno

Ingredients:

3 boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cubed
3 ribs celery, sliced
1 large white onion, sliced
button mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
2-3T. peanut oil
1 1/2 c. low-sodium chicken broth plus 1/3 c. for the sauce
1 T. soy sauce
1 T. bead molasses or dark brown sugar
1 T. brown gravy or dry sherry
Salt
Freshly ground black pepper
3 c. bean sprouts
1 T. corn starch
1/4 c. toasted whole almonds

Directions:
Heat oil in a wok or large saute pan over medium-high heat until it shimmers. Add the chicken and cook..until the chicken is lightly browned and cooked through. Transfer to a plate and set aside.

Add the onion to the wok or pan and cook...for 3 to 4 minutes, until soft and lightly browned. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.

Reduce the heat to medium; add the mushrooms and cook, stirring, for 3-4 minutes, until they have exuded their liquid. Transfer to the bowl with the onions and set aside.

Add the celery to the wok or pan, adding the remaining oil as necessary and cook, stirring for 3-4 minutes, just until crisp-tender. Transfer to the bowl with the onions and mushrooms.

(I combined some of these steps, stir-frying the celery first, then adding the onions to them, then lastly the mushrooms. Saves time.)

Over medium heat, return the chicken to the wok or pan; add 1 1/2 c. chicken broth...

Add the soy sauce, bead molasses or brown sugar, (I used 1 t. actual dark molasses) brown gravy or sherry, and salt and pepper to taste. Increase the heat to medium-high and cook, stirring, until the sauce begins to bubble at the edges. Add the bean sprouts and the cooked vegetable mixture, stirring to combine; cook for 3-4 minutes until the bean sprouts have wilted. Taste and adjust the seasoning.

In a small bowl, combine the cornstarch and remaining 1/3 c. chicken broth, mixing well to combine. Add the cornstarch mixture, stirring constantly until the gravy is thickened.

Sprinkle...with toasted almonds. Serve hot.

Okay. So that's it. I added another T. cornstarch because the sauce was too thin without it, and I used Bragg's Liquid Aminos instead of soy sauce.

Was it good??   Yes.
Did it taste like the old Nankin Restaurant Subgum Chicken Chow Mein that I remembered??  No.

I suspect that the missing ingredient was the poison I regularly ingested as a child: MSG.  I now know better and wouldn't touch the stuff. But I think that was probably what made the difference. That and the absence of Chinese lanterns.

It was pretty tasty, however, and I sprinkled just a few rice noodles on the top before serving. You can always have a bowl of rice on the table too, but I'd rather save the carbs for a piece of dark chocolate. Why on earth didn't I buy Ritter when I was at Walmart today?!

As we were eating, my husband asked me what kind of bean sprouts were used. I told him I thought they were probably lentils, mung beans and garbanzo beans, but I wasn't sure. He said, 'Maybe they should use baked beans, so that they would taste better.'  Very funny.

I wish the Nankin Restaurant were still in Minneapolis. I bet they could make the subgum chow mein taste great even without MSG. And I could still enjoy watching those smartly-dressed waiters carrying large trays of food up that huge staircase.

P.S. Mongolian Fire Oil didn't help.

Author, Second Chance - A Tale of Two Puppies

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This post is linked to

 Made from Scratch Tuesday
and Tasty Tuesday
and Tempt My Tummy Tuesdays
and Wandering Wednesday
and What's Cookin' Wednesday
and We Did it Wednesday
and Thrilling Thursday
and Favorite Things Friday
and I'm Lovin' it Friday
and It's a Hodgepodge Friday
and Fat Camp Friday
and Fun With Food Friday

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