About Ms. Linda
Winner of the Food Network's Chopped: Pride of New Orleans contest and featured on Anthony Bourdain's Food Network show No Reservations, Linda Green reputedly has the best Ya-Ka-Mein in the United States and is known throughout New Orleans as the "Yakamein Lady."
For the past twenty years, she has sold her Ya-Ka-Mein along Second Line routes, along with running Ms. Linda's Catering, which specializes in New Orleans Soul Food cuisine for all size events.
Ms. Linda has served up her delicious food at festivals and events such as the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, the Essence Festival and the Crescent City Farmer's Market. These experiences have shaped her as an entrepreneur and brought her notoriety amongst New Orleans' natives and famous entertainers.
Congratulations!
Congratulations Ms. Linda for winning the Food Network's "Chopped: Pride of New Orleans" contest!
Didn't catch the episode? Click here for future airing dates!
What is Yakamein?
Ya-ka-Mein is a New Orleans dish made from a combination of meat, eggs, green onions and noodles in a spicy, salty broth with an Asian twist by the addition of soy sauce. Black Korean soldiers made Ya-ka-mein in Korea, using the soup to sober up after a fierce day of fighting and drinking. They brought the dish to the states, where it has been a tradition ever since. It was typically served in African-American bars, Second Lines and festivals, referred to as "Old Sober", reflecting its power to alleviate the pain of hangovers.
Linda Green, simply known by many as the “Yaka Mein Lady”, is the most well known parade and festival Ya-ka-mein purveyor.
No Reservations
Tony travels beyond New Orleans and into Cajun Country to find out what sets bayou culture apart. He dines with locals Wendell Pierce and Lolis Elie, partakes in an authentic crawfish boil and ends his trip with a whole-hog roast.
Press
Thursday, 19 July 2012 00:00
Food truck rally next Tuesday
The Empanada Intifada food truck in action. Photo ©Ian McNulty Fans of local food trucks have grown adept at using social media to track their roaming ways for a quick lunch or a late-night snack. Next week, however, it will be easy for anyone to find a cluster of food trucks and other street food vendors, which will be clustered to serve dinner and make a point. On the evening of Tuesday, July 24, at least five vendors will gather at the Ashe Cultural Arts Center (1712 Oretha Castle Haley Blvd.) from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m., serving food as…
Wednesday, 11 July 2012 10:26
Diversity Lessons from Food Network's Chopped
They say that the universal language is a smile. And I would add another universal language--food, at least as it is portrayed on the Food Network's show Chopped. On Chopped talented chefs compete for a grand prize of $10,000 by defeating three other chefs in three rounds of cooking: an appetizer round, entree round and then dessert. Three master chefs serve as judges in the same spirit of judging panels of other talent reality shows. One of the judges is typically very critical and looks to find the minutest culinary mistake; another is encouraging while wrapping the bad news around…
Saturday, 30 June 2012 19:00
Linda Green aka Miss Linda, the Ya Ka Mein Lady
You always remember your first time – and with ya ka mein, it was no different. I had eyed it suspiciously for a while, much like sucking crawfish heads. Ya ka mein, to me, had a decidedly ramen-noodle-college-dorm-food vibe. But everyone kept on telling me how good it was, and it was hard to resist the woman who made it. So I broke down, and while I watched Miss Linda create her signature dish, I realized that I would soon be a convert. A New Orleans native and a culinary icon, Linda Green, aka Miss Linda, has fed almost everyone…
Tuesday, 26 June 2012 19:00
Linda Green wins 'Chopped' episode with four New Orleans chefs
The tears flowed and the cheers exploded in the packed Rendezvous Tavern on Tuesday night as the TV screens on the walls revealed the winner on the newest episode of the Food Network's "Chopped": Miss Linda Green, aka the Ya-Ka-Mein Lady, won $10,000 in competition against three other New Orleans chefs. Wearing a corsage and a gold chef's coat, Green was surrounded by friends and relatives; her fans; members of her social aid and pleasure club, the Lady Rollers; the entire staff of the Ogden Museum of Southern Art; friends from Jazz Fest, where she is a vendor; and local…
Monday, 25 June 2012 19:00
Four New Orleans chefs to be featured on tonight's 'Chopped' episode
An all-New Orleans group of chefs takes over "Chopped" tonight on TV. The Food Network hit hosted by Ted Allen, which airs at 9 p.m. New Orleans time, will feature chefs Richard Bond, Justin Kennedy, Cody Monfra and Linda Green. Three more New Orleans chefs are scheduled to appear before the end of August. Chef Richard Bond runs the Mardi Gras School of Cooking and Catering in Algiers. Justin Kennedy is the manager and chef behind Parkway Bakery and Tavern, and the nephew of owner Jay Nix. Chef Cody Monfra works at the Palace Cafe, and Linda Green is well…
Tuesday, 20 March 2012 19:00
Miss Linda, The Ya-Ka-Mein lady
Everyone knows Miss Linda. If you’ve ever been to a festival, a parade, or a concert in New Orleans – (and if you haven’t, you need to get out more, with all due respect) – you’ve undoubtedly seen her, selling Ya-Ka-Mein and other delicious recipes from a tent, a table, or from the back of her truck. “Ya-Ka-Mein is one of New Orleans' well-best-kept secrets,” Miss Linda will tell you. “It is a soup. They call it Old Sober.” It acquired its nickname due to its alleged curative powers after a night – or maybe a day (this is New…
Saturday, 03 March 2012 18:00
Cochon de Lait – Pulled Pork Sandwich
In New Orleans, the sandwich is like a brass band, there are plenty. You have your po’ boys, the roast beef to fried shrimp to oyster. The muffuletta. The parade sandwich. But under each of those, you have a hundred different ways to make them. Like the brass brands, from 2012 Grammy winners The ReBirth Brass Band to the Young Fellaz Brass Band. Hot 8 to the Free Agents. Soul Rebels to the Treme Brass Band. Even the YakaMein Lady Miss Linda Green has a sandwich. She’ll be on UNITED TASTES OF AMERICA with Jeffrey Saad at the end of…
Monday, 19 September 2011 19:00
GoNOLA Top 5: New Orleans Food Trucks
Food trucks are driving the nation in a new, quality fast food trend. New Orleans plays an active role in providing street food – a fun, affordable and easy way to enjoy loved cuisine. Food trucks in New Orleans are more than their basic concept suggests. They all have a theme, a vision, a philosophy. This weekend is a chance to celebrate and support those vehicles of flavor at the very first Street Fare Derby at the Fair Grounds Race Course and Slots. Tickets are $10 if purchased online by Friday, Sept. 23 and $15 on Sept. 24 – the…
Sunday, 28 August 2011 19:00
Anthony Bourdain, part-time 'Treme' writer, takes 'No Reservations' to Cajun country
It’s a side effect of Anthony Bourdain’s moonlighting on the “Treme” writing staff, but a tasty one. For Monday's (August 29) “No Reservations,” airing at 8 p.m. on the Travel Channel, Bourdain taps his new connections in the Crescent City and beyond to introduce his viewers – who are conditioned to expect the most exotic possible culinary destinations – to Linda Green’s ya ka mein and the transcendent fried chicken at Willie Mae’s Scotch House in New Orleans before heading into Cajun country. There, Bourdain hits Poche’s in Breaux Bridge, digs into a crawfish boil, and participates in a boucherie…
Thursday, 05 May 2011 19:00
The pork chop sandwich subtly shines at New Orleans Jazz Fest
Just the idea of a bone-in pork chop sandwich baffles some of the die-hard foodies at the New Orleans Jazz Fest. I have seen Uptown noses instantly pointed in the air at the very mention of it. G. Andrew Boyd, The Times-Picayune Times-Picayune Food editor Judy Walker loads up the condiments on another one of Linda Green's pork chop sandwiches at the New Orleans Jazz Fest Friday, May 6, 2011. But the humble creation -- two slices of white bread around a thinly sliced and floured deep-fried chop -- has a devout following. The sandwich may not have the rustic…
Wednesday, 02 March 2011 18:00
Yakamein – Soup for the New Orleans Soul
It comes with many spellings: Yakmein, Yaka mein, Yak-a-mein, and even Yak a Men are just a few. It is also often referred to as “Old Sober” for its supposed hangover curing properties. Although found in restaurants and take-out joints, NOLA’s unique Asian/Soul Food hybrid soup known as Yakamein is also a street food staple at parades, fairs, and festivals. Like many other quintessential New Orleanian foods, Yakamein comes surrounded by myth and debate. It’s a spicy noodle soup that is generally made with a beef and soy sauced based broth; spaghetti noodles; some sort of protein such as beef…
Wednesday, 28 April 2010 19:00
Seeking New Orleans "Street Food" at Jazz Fest
The street food trend is in full bloom in some cities, with everyone from newly-arrived immigrants to well-known chefs serving authentic or elaborate cuisine from carts and food trucks. Alas, New Orleans is not one of those cities. Despite a few noble local efforts, the city just doesn't have that kind of intense and varied food truck scene. But during the seven days of the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, we have something that looks a lot like it. Granted, it's difficult for vendors to land a Jazz Fest berth and, yes, the public must buy festival tickets to…