The St. Paul Sandwich: Missouri’s Chinese-American Creation
Hidden within the Chinese-American restaurants of St. Louis lies one of America’s most unusual sandwich secrets. The St. Paul sandwich was invented in the mid-1900s by a Chinese American chef in St. Louis, featuring an egg foo young patty in between two slices of fluffy white bread. This bizarre-sounding combination actually tells a fascinating story of immigrant ingenuity and cultural fusion that happened decades before “fusion cuisine” became trendy.
The most popular theory declares that the sandwich was invented in the 1940s by Steven Yuen, owner of the Park Chop Suey restaurant in St. Louis. Yuen intended to create something unique yet familiar, in hopes that it would bring more Missourians into his restaurant. And he named the dish after his hometown of St. Paul, Minnesota. What makes this sandwich work is its simplicity – the crispy egg foo young patty provides protein and texture, while the familiar American sandwich format made it approachable to Midwestern diners.
The St. Paul Sandwich doesn’t exactly make sense on paper, but it sure makes sense in execution. Egg foo young, a Chinese-American omelet consisting of eggs, mung bean sprouts, and minced white onions, topped with an all-American combo of lettuce, tomato, mayo and onion, is nestled between two slices of white bread. Eight decades after its creation, the St. Paul sandwich is still sold in restaurants all over St. Louis. Some consider it the most iconic sandwich in Missouri history.
The Horseshoe Sandwich: Springfield, Illinois’ Gut-Busting Giant
Picture this: two slices of thick Texas toast, topped with your choice of meat, buried under a mountain of French fries, and smothered in rich cheese sauce. In Springfield, Illinois, that dish is the Horseshoe. In 1928, chef Joe Schweska invented the Horseshoe as a lunch item at Springfield’s Leland Hotel. This isn’t just a sandwich – it’s a full-scale assault on your appetite that requires both hands and serious commitment…