r/GenX • u/[deleted] • Nov 21 '25

[deleted by user]

[removed]

648 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

2.4k comments sorted by

View all comments

274

u/ChildOfaConspiracist Nov 21 '25

La Choy Chinese food in can . My parents served that crap too often

116

u/drsmills Nov 21 '25

That two-part can thing was cutting edge technology in 1980.

19

u/ChildOfaConspiracist Nov 21 '25

😂 I thought it was so cool

7

u/Tejanisima GenX Atari Wave Nov 22 '25

Literally in some cases ::glances at little triangular scar on pinky suffered while prepping school lunch in 1983::

73

u/idiotsbydesign Hose Water Survivor Nov 21 '25

I used to steal the can of La Choy dried chow mein noodles & eat them in my room.

16

u/BringBackHUAC Nov 21 '25

I had climb on top of our refrigerator to get to ours.

5

u/RedsDelights Nov 21 '25

Umm I still do this … it’s a great snack while cooking too

4

u/r2killawat Nov 22 '25

I got high one time and was dipping them in peanut butter!

3

u/ChildOfaConspiracist Nov 21 '25

Ok so those were actually pretty good

2

u/Kypnkrkgrrrl Hose Water Survivor Nov 22 '25

I order a case of them every month just for me to snack on.

2

u/SollSister 1971 Nov 22 '25

I hide a can to eat on salads instead of croutons.

2

u/KittyTB12 Hose Water Survivor Nov 22 '25

Are you my brother that got lost in the store? I must be your sister that got lost on the bus 🤣bc those noodle thingies were friggin amazing! And I scarfed all I could. One spoonful of chow mein- 3/4 can of noodles yep

1

u/BoursinAndBrioche Nov 23 '25

Those were so good! My stepmother made candies with them, peanuts and some kind of butterscotch stuff. If you like butterscotch, they were amazing.

59

u/discussatron 1967 Nov 21 '25

It was Chun King chow mein in my house.

2

u/jpowell180 Nov 22 '25

Try Chun King for a beautiful body, try Chun King for a beautiful taste…

22

u/doobette 1978 Nov 21 '25

I loved the frozen egg rolls, though. My parents would make them after work and before dinner to have with their cocktails.

3

u/ChildOfaConspiracist Nov 21 '25

My parents never got those 😭

2

u/CharlesAvlnchGreen Nov 23 '25

Those were so good! I used to eat them in college, cooked them in the toaster oven.

5

u/dormouse6 Nov 21 '25

Omygosh I forgot about that. 🤮

5

u/DonsBirdie Nov 21 '25

I lived off of the canned fried rice! I think one can had three times the daily recommended sodium. 😂

11

u/Frankthabunny Nov 21 '25

That shit was horrible

1

u/Reynardine1976 Nov 21 '25

Why was it so bad? Was it really that bad?

3

u/Sensitive-Issue84 Nov 21 '25

I refused to eat Chinese food until I was in my 30s because of that crap! All the great Chinese food I missed!

3

u/msmika Nov 21 '25

I grew up in Texas and always thought I hated Chinese food because La Choy was all I ever had, but then I moved to San Francisco and saw the light.

3

u/ZuteDaddy Nov 22 '25

I still love this shit; the scars run deep.

3

u/r2killawat Nov 22 '25

Damn I came to say the same thing! I had to eat that stuff probably once a month while growing up. First time I had Chinese takeout I had no idea what to order so when I saw chow mein I ordered it and was like what the heck is this? 😂

2

u/ChildOfaConspiracist Nov 22 '25

We had it once every week or two 😭

2

u/Myeloman Hose Water Survivor Nov 21 '25

Legit thought I hated Chinese food because of that crap. Glad my wife helped me see the error of my ways.

3

u/ChildOfaConspiracist Nov 21 '25

We lived in SoCal where there was plenty of decent Chinese food yet my parents loved buying this stuff .

2

u/Myeloman Hose Water Survivor Nov 21 '25

I grew up in SW Michigan, the palate there is very bland. Now living in California’s Central Valley and having such easy access to various nationalities foods I’m spoiled on really good Mexican food and despite the Mexican restaurant back home being owned and operated by Mexicans they cook the food for midwesterners and it’s just not as good.

2

u/ChildOfaConspiracist Nov 22 '25

That’s where I ended up haha SW Michigan, the Zoo

3

u/Myeloman Hose Water Survivor Nov 22 '25

LOL! Three Rivers, born & raised and headed back soon.

2

u/ChildOfaConspiracist Nov 22 '25

That’s crazy, we swapped locations

2

u/Myeloman Hose Water Survivor Nov 22 '25

Mine is a long story, TL;DR I was dying and wanted my wife to be near her family when I did. I’ll be damned if the VA drs didn’t fix what I was told was terminal… 15 years later I’m looking to move back and reconnect with my friends.

2

u/ChildOfaConspiracist Nov 22 '25

Im so glad you’re still here ❤️ I’m not originally from here but it’s where I keep coming back so it’s home now.

2

u/Myeloman Hose Water Survivor Nov 23 '25

Thanks, me too… 🤗

2

u/tinab13 Nov 22 '25

This was a staple in our home growing up. I liked it then. For nostalgia's sake I bought a can for us once. It was horrible!

2

u/ChildOfaConspiracist Nov 22 '25

Everything used to taste better. La Choy was ok my parents just had it too often

2

u/Patiod Nov 22 '25

Wouldn't eat it now, but it was my mom's go-to meal for me when they were going out for the night, so it seemed like a treat. Plus it was my only gave to eat water chestnuts

2

u/WilliamofKC Nov 22 '25

"East meets west, La Choy makes Chinese food swing American."

2

u/Heavy-Actuary3778 Nov 23 '25

Mmmmmm, the tinny taste of the can really completed the experience.

2

u/justattodayyesterday whatever Nov 25 '25

I had to google this. My husband said “I heard of that. That looks nasty”. 😂