It is a barefaced lie that Chow dogs were originally bred as the main ingredient in Chow Mein, which is actually a corruption of the Taishanese ‘chau-meing’ meaning ‘fried noodles’, ‘chau’ meaning ‘fried’ (or stir fried) and ‘meing’ meaning ‘noodles’. However, this does nothing to support the veracity of Vesta Chow Mein, despite the famous brand-dish having far more ingredients than either the traditional steamed or crispy varieties:

“Vesta Chow Mein

Description
SOFT NOODLES WITH CHOPPED AN SHAPED BEEF, VEGETABLES, SOYA MINCE, CRISPY NOODLES AND SOY SAUCE. GENEROUS PORTION CONTAINS DRIED INGREDIENTS. SERVES ONE. EASY COOK. Why not try: Treat yourself to Vesta’s Indian Style Beef Curry.

Ingredients:
Vegetable (38%) (Carrot, Green Beans, Red Peppers, Onion, Peas), Soft Noodle (37%) (Durum Wheat Semolina, Water), Tomato, Crispy Noodles (6%) (Rice Flour, Wheat Flour, Tapioca, Salt, Vegetable Oil, Turmeric, Maize), Chopped and Shaped Beef (5%) (Beef (4.5%), Wheat Gluten, Cereal Fibre (Oat Fibre, Wheat Fibre), Modified Maize Starch, Milk Proteins, Salt, Rosemary Extract), Soy Sauce (2%) (Water, Salt, Glucose Syrup, Molasses, Soya Beans, Wheat, Spirit Vinegar and Barley Malt Extract), Sugar, Dried Soya Mince (1%) (Defatted Soya Flour, Colours (Sulphite Ammonia Caramel, Riboflavin), Iron Sulphate, Thiamin, Vitamin B12), Glucose Syrup, Salt, Hydrogenated Vegetable Oil, Parsley, Maize Starch, Garlic, Flavour Enhancers (Monosodium Glutamate, Sodium 5′ Ribonucleotide), Yeast Extract, Citric Acid, Flavourings, Colour (Ammonia Caramel), Natural Flavouring.” (1)

(1) http://www.mysupermarket.co.uk/