![]() ![]() Paul sandwich (egg foo young with lettuce, mayo, and pickles on white bread) Fall River’s chow mein sandwich follows a similar pattern. While an exact origin story for these sandwiches is tough to pinpoint, Chinese American restaurants in the early- and mid-20th century sometimes tried to appeal to Western tastes by serving certain dishes between buns or bread. It also seems slightly more at home in the hamburger bun. Pepper steak ($4.30) has a bit more punch, with an assertive gravy, meaty flavor, and plentiful green peppers. The mild-flavored mixture has notes of chicken, celery, and a general umami, while the well-cooked bean sprouts provide a subtle textural counterpart to the soft bun. Bobbie remembered correctly that Salem Lowe serves its sandwiches with a fork, but I started off eating mine like a taco, with the top bun cradling the chop suey filling. ![]() The chop suey sandwich - with a price that feels like a relic of another time, $2.94 - is singular, though it evokes other difficult-to-eat delights like the sloppy joe. She refers to them as “chop suey rolls” and remembers them as “awful” - but quickly adds, “I used to love getting them.” At her urging, I drove up to try one, along with Salem Lowe’s other specialty, the pepper steak sandwich: slices of beef with green bell pepper in a brown gravy. On a recent evening, one bite transported me back to the Chinese American restaurants of my youth, where, in a time-honored Jewish ritual, I often spent Sunday nights with my great uncle and aunt, Mickey and Bobbie.īobbie, 84, is from Salem and fondly recalls eating chop suey sandwiches at the Salem Willows in the 1940s. It can be found in a few other spots in Salem that remain in operation, such as Kiki’s and Mei Lee Express, but Salem Lowe’s version is what people talk about when they talk about chop suey sandwiches. Not to be confused with Fall River’s chow mein sandwich - which includes crispy noodles and features a brown gravy - the chop suey sandwich is almost entirely made of bean sprouts, plus bits of chicken, in a mild, glossy sauce thickened with cornstarch. Originally set aside for convalescing small pox victims to walk along the willow trees, the park’s boardwalk is now a place to find respite from more fashionable parts of the New England coastline or to escape the hokey witch-trial tourism of central Salem.Current owner David Yee dates his iconic restaurant back to 1912 on August 14, he will close it for good, ending a long legacy of chop suey sandwiches by the sea. These are fresh and hot with five-spice laced pork cocooned into a fluffy fried wonton wrapper. Many regulars order hot dogs or hamburgers or a pupu platter. We puzzled at how a sandwich that was mostly steak could cost almost the same as a sandwich that is mostly bean sprouts. As you eat it, the soft bread folds into the slurry.Įager to delve further into the realm of Massachusetts’ unique Chinese sandwich roster, we ordered a pepper steak sandwich as well. The preferred technique is to pick at the chop suey with a fork while walking. It’s droll to imagine someone trying to eat this sloppy mess as an actual sandwich. The cones are designed for eating while strolling, which is what you should do. When you order, you will be asked if you’d prefer your sandwich in a take-out container or in a paper cone. It’s a chowder-thick slurry of the market’s cheapest vegetables seasoned until they taste as rich as marrow: a quintessential peasant dish. Bean sprouts suspended in gloppy sauce might not sound delicious, but we have a soft spot for this old-fashioned American wok cooking, and we enjoy the simple sandwich immensely.Įven without the gimmick of the sandwich rolls, the chop suey at Salem Lowe would deserve celebration. The dish is about three-quarters bean sprouts and tastes more like table salt than soy sauce. This is a fry-up of vegetables and a few threads of chicken bound by a starchy clear sauce and scooped onto a hamburger bun. Of these, the most famous is a chop suey sandwich. ![]() Most people come for the peculiar sandwiches stuffed with starchy stir-fries. They have remained a beloved summertime snack mostly because of Salem Lowe’s position next to the ice cream parlor at the end of the Salem Willows Park.Īlthough it is more a park concession stand than a proper restaurant, Salem Lowe offers a large menu, all ready to take-out. Chow mein sandwiches unique to the Fall River area are known to aficionados of regional food but the chop suey sandwiches of Salem Lowe are distinctly local. ![]()
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