Mee Sum brings Fall River flavor to China Global TV with episode on chow mein sandwiches

FALL RIVER — The chow mein sandwich is a Chinese dish that's somehow also as American as apple pie — and this iconic Fall River-invented dish has caught the eye of journalists at a China-run news network.

Tso’l Food is a show on China Global Television Network that takes viewers on “an American journey through the Chinese kitchen.” A recent leg of that journey passed through Fall River’s Mee Sum on South Main Street and the kitchen of chow mein sandwich queen Regina Mark.

“This picturesque community draws epicureans from afar serving out a culinary novelty,” says journalist and Tso’l Food host Gerald Tan, profiling Mark and her signature dish.

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What did he think of the chow mein sandwich?

Tan is given the opportunity to watch Mark whip up chow mein sandwiches in the Mee Sum kitchen, topping his own sandwich with the hamburger bun hat — then he experiences one himself, calling it “something that sounds so wrong [that] tastes this good.”

“It’s kind of incongruent,” Tan says. “It’s crispy, the noodles, but it’s bathed in this lake of sauce — so it’s also soggy in some parts and also crispy, crunchy.”

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Taking Fall River's chow mein sandwich fame international

CGTN America, where Tso’l Food is seen, is one of several channels operated by China Global Television Network, a media company owned by China Central Television.

Mark didn’t invent the chow mein sandwich — its origins go back to early 20th century Fall River — but she is its greatest world ambassador.

Menus from Mee Sum are housed in the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History. The South End fixture has served chow mein sandwiches to curious customers from as far away as Alaska and Tokyo. And Mark has previously introduced the nation to chow mein sandwiches via Yankee Magazine, NPR and even CNN in 2019, where Mee Sum served up 1,500 chow mein sandwiches with the proceeds going to charity.

Where to get a chow mein sandwich locally

Any Chinese restaurant in Fall River worth its salt will carry a chow mein sandwich, most notably Mee Sum at 1819 S. Main St. But it's also spread beyond just Chinese kitchens to restaurants like Faneek's Coney Island, 269 Rhode Island Ave.

Dan Medeiros can be reached at [email protected]. Support local journalism by purchasing a digital or print subscription to The Herald News today.

This article originally appeared on The Herald News: China Global Television Network covers Fall River's chow mein sandwich