Chinese food in America has evolved much since then, to the point where chop suey itself sounds like an outdated term. Today we might call chop suey a fridge clean-out dish. You could add the last few carrots or mushrooms in the fridge, some celery, half a bell pepper, and a protein, like chicken breast or leftover rotisserie chicken, and voila! You have a chicken chop suey! There are many stories about the origins of chop suey.
What is Chop Suey?
Chop Suey - Just like my mom used to make!
This is the fast and easy chop suey recipe that my mother always made, and we love it 'as is', but you could substitute a can of Chinese mixed vegetables for the bean sprouts if you like more color and texture. Serve over hot rice, topped with chow mein noodles and soy sauce, if desired. Heat shortening in a large, deep skillet. Sear pork until it turns white, then add onion and saute for 5 minutes. Add celery, hot water, salt and pepper.
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It is typically served with rice but can become the Chinese-American form of chow mein with the addition of stir-fried noodles. Chop suey has become a prominent part of American Chinese cuisine , Filipino cuisine , Canadian Chinese cuisine , German Chinese cuisine, Indian Chinese cuisine , and Polynesian cuisine. Chop suey is widely believed to have been invented in the U. The long list of conflicting stories about the origin of chop suey is, in the words of food historian Alan Davidson, "a prime example of culinary mythology" and typical of popular foods. One account claims that it was invented by Chinese American cooks working on the transcontinental railroad in the 19th century. Another tale is that it was created during Qing Dynasty premier Li Hongzhang 's visit to the United States in by his chef, who tried to create a meal suitable for both Chinese and American palates. Another story is that Li wandered to a local Chinese restaurant after the hotel kitchen had closed, where the chef, embarrassed that he had nothing ready to offer, came up with the new dish using scraps of leftovers.
This quick and easy stir fry dish is great for using up leftover ingredients you have in your fridge. It can be made with a variety of meats and vegetables and everything is coated in a thick, flavorful, savory sauce. These days I have a lot of random leftover ingredients in my fridge. Chop Suey is a super easy and tasty way to use up all those ingredients. You can use almost whatever vegetables or meat you have in your fridge. Chop Suey is a Chinese American dish. It is a stir fry dish that can be made with a variety of vegetables and meat or seafood and everything is tied together with a savory sauce thickened with cornstarch. Vegetables include bean sprouts, cabbage, snow peas, carrots. The version I made for this post includes broccoli, snap peas, chicken, mushrooms, carrots, cabbage. While this is optional, if you are making this dish with chicken, I would recommend velveting the chicken beforehand so that the chicken will be very tender.
