Could it be misspelt? In case it is Choy Sum, which in Cantonese means "vegetable heart", it very yummy and can be stir fried with sesame oil, garlic & shrimps ~ my lazy quick way. Cut stems & leaves into 2" lengths; heat sesame oil; put in diced garlic; stir fry till fragant; put in shelled medium size shrimps, raise heat, stir fry +- 1min till slightly pink; remove shimps, throw in stems only + a tbsp of water, cook 1 min then add leaves and shrimps and stir fry till leaves darken & shrimps fully cooked. Add some pepper & a dash of soy sauce. Above goes well with egg-congee or white jasmine rice. See: http://www.recipetips.com/glossary-term/t--36228/choy-sum.asp sorry, don't know how to create a link here.

Yes, these are all the same noodle - either fresh or dried, left in sheets or cut into strips. The picture posted by althetrainer is called "ha cheung fun", but you must remember that Anglicizing Chinese words depends on which dialect you're speaking. My DH, who is Chinese-Portugese from Hong Kong, pronounces this "har cheung fun" - the 'u' being pronounced as a quick 'oo' syllable. When my in-laws invite us to go for dim sum, they don't say, "Let's go for dim sum." Instead they say, "Let's go for yum cha." Yum cha means 'drink tea', as this is a social activity which is more important than the little nibbles that accompany the tea. It's the equivalent of inviting your friends to meet you at the bar after work. You tell them, "Let's go have a beer after work" - not "Let's go have some peanuts and pretzels after work!" Originally, before the food mfgs (especially the Japanese) got into mass commercial production of dim sum, dim sum pastries were the only Chinese restaurant/deli food always prepared and served by women.

I usually just "wing" Chow Mein, therefore I am not sure how authentic mine is. Here is a recipe I have not tried, it's from a very old cookbook my mom gave me back in the 70's. Chow Mein with Pork and Shrimp from Madame Won's Long Life Chinese Cookbook 1/2 lb Chinese fresh water noodles 9 T oil 4 oz fresh shrimp, shelled, deveined and cut into pieces 1-1/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp cornstarch 1/2 lb lean pork, shredded 1 T sherry 2 T light soy sauce 1/2 tsp sugar 1/2 lb bok choy 2 dried black mushrooms, soaked in boiling watr 20 min., stems removed , shredded 2 T chicken stock 1 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 2 tsp water Drop noodles into boiling water, boil 5 minutes. Rinse under cold water, drain. Mix noodles with 1T of oil. Mix shrimp with 1/4 tsp salt and cornstarch. Heat 1 T of oil in wok to 400F and stir fry shrimp until they turn pink, about 1 minute. Remove, set aside. Heat 2 T oil in wok to 400F. Stir fry pork until color changes. Add sherry, 1 T soy sauce, and sugar. Stir fry 1 minute. Remove, set aside. Heat 2 T oil in wok to 400F. Stir fry bok choy 1 minute. Add pork, mushrooms, 1 tsp salt, 1 T soy sauce. Add stock, cook 3 minutes. Thicken with dissolved cornstarch. Add shrimp, bring to a boil. Remove, set aside. Heat 3T oil in wok to 350F, stir fry noodles (they will form a cake) until outside is golden brown but inside is soft. Cook 5 minutes on each side. Remove to platter, place shrimp/pork mixture on top of noodles. Serve Linda

There are two types of chow mein: stir-fried, which is common to most of China, and the famed Cantonese "noodle pillow" aka Hong Kong-style chow mein. The latter is hard to find even in the San Francisco Bay Area and seldom done very well anywhere. To be honest, the quality of flour used has really dropped and this has drastically affected how good the mein is. Serious Eats did an article with excellent photos so you can see the difference in the various types of noodles; from your description you are looking for the lo mein noodles: http://www.seriouseats.com/2014/04/chinese-noodles-101-guide-to-types-and-styles-of-chinese-egg-noodles.html Noodles you can get fresh are always better for chow mein than the dried ones. They're usually sold in 1-lb plastic bags and must be kept refrigerated as they're very perishable. The Asian mega-mart will be your most reliable source; amazon is good only for dried noodles. We prefer the HK-style chow mein but making the noodle pillow is a real pain. It takes very long, medium-heat frying with constant pressing and flipping. On my wimpy home stove it takes an hour to make a proper "pillow"! If you decide to "branch out" into Shanghai chow mein, btw, the Japanese udon noodles are almost a dead ringer for the thick Shanghai noodles. You can get those fresh or dry, no real difference except time in cooking. Shanghai chow mein is also a stir-fry but uses more soya so the noodles come out dark brown. You need really good browning on the pork for Shanghai chow mein; the 'wok hay' makes a big difference in the overall flavor of this dish because it's so simple. Spinach makes a good sub for the napa cabbage; the tannin in the spinach actually works very well to cut through the oil used to stir-fry the noodles. Asian cooking is salty, but this website had some tips about reducing the salt levels that I thought seemed helpful (I have NOT tried them, however): http://dontsalt.blogspot.com/2009/05/soy-sauce-studies.html HTH!