Cantonese Soft Fried Chow Mein(Kwangtung Chow Mein) - cooking recipe

Ingredients

1 lb. egg noodles
3 Tbsp. vegetable oil
2 oz. Chinese mushrooms (about 8 to 10)
1/2 lb. roast pork or raw lean pork
1/2 c. bamboo shoots
1/2 c. celery
1 c. Chinese cabbage
6 snow peas, cut diagonally in 1/2-inch pieces
1/2 c. bean sprouts
1/4 c. water chestnuts, sliced very thin
2 stalks scallions, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 Tbsp. cornstarch, mixed with 1 Tbsp. water
3 Tbsp. dark soy sauce
1/2 tsp. monosodium glutamate
liberal dash of pepper
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. sesame oil
2 thin slices ginger
1 Tbsp. sherry
1 c. chicken stock or water
enough Chinese parsley to garnish dish

Preparation

The Chinese knew onions and many vegetables long before they reached the Occident.
The onion first reached the Greeks and Romans by way of Babylon and the Romans brought it to Germania in the first century A.D.
It took until the late Middle Ages, however, to be accepted widely since its strong smell was too pungent for the times.
And at court, eating onion was considered coarse and crude.
How different today after the Swabians and their Alsatian neighbors had invented a delectable recipe for onion pie, not unlike quiche.