Chop Suey is a mainstay of Chinese cooking and of takeaways but it is in fact a dish of Chinese Americans. No one really knows where the dish originated from in the USA but as with all cuisine it incorporates Western flavours. I think it started appearing regularly in the early 60s but really took-off from the 70s onwards. It is after all street food. You can use whatever vegetables are to hand. Best served with rice but topped with noodles and lashings of salty soy sauce. It is the great alternative to chow mein.
You can also prepare it with chicken thighs and breasts, prawns and beef strips. You can also mix everything together to make a ‘special’. Just use the same amount of meat for each variation. By the way, don’t muddle it with American chop suey which is a totally different dish altogether.
Use a wok because the high walls mean that the food can be spread around so much more easily. A skillet will do the job but there are benefits in a wok.
The whole dish is so easy to make, is inexpensive and utterly sublime!
Serves: 4; Preparation time: 30 minutes; Cooking time: 20 minutes.
Equipment:
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Ingredients:
- 1 ½ cups of chopped chicken thighs and/or pork loin – diced
- A splash of chinese cooking wine
- 2 tablespoons of oyster sauce
- ¼ cup lard or shortening or frying oil (sunflower oil will do)
- 1 Tbsp garlic minced or cut very finely.
- 1 cup celery – diced or sliced into slivers (prefer the latter).
- 1 cup spring onion – sliced into small segments
- 1 (14.5 ounce) can of bean sprouts, drained and rinsed or a can of mixed vegetables
- 5 oz. baby sweet corn
- 1 bok choy – sliced
- 1 medium sized red and/or green pepper – sliced
- 1 cup of mange tout beans also cut up
- 1 cup sliced up mushrooms – white, chestnut, portobello
- 1 cup of carrots – thinly sliced or julienned.
- 1 cup chicken stock or chicken broth – use a cube dissolved in water.
- 2 teaspoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons cornstarch
- 1 teaspoon white sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- ⅛ teaspoon ground black pepper
Preparation:
- Marinade the meat: To the cubed meat in a bowl, add a splash of chinese cooking wine and the oyster sauce. Mix thoroughly to bring all those delicious flavours together.
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Add a teaspoon of corn starch and keep stirring so all the starch is absorbed into the meat. Leave for 30 minutes at room temperature. The alternative is to leave for an hour or so in the fridge – covered up with plastic wrap.
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Heat the oil/lard in a large, deep skillet or wok over medium-high heat.
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Add the marinated meat pieces and sear until it is slightly browned on all sides.
- Add garlic mince and stir fry for 1 minute.
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Stir in sliced celery, sweet corn, sliced bok choy – bottom white part and not the leaves just yet, red pepper (nice addition), salt, and pepper. Cover skillet or wok and simmer for 3 minutes. Could be longer if you need the vegetables to be a bit tender. You could also add larger chunks of carrots in with the celery – all depends on your taste.
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Add beansprouts or other vegetables like sliced green onions (spring onions) and bring mixture to a boil. Keep simmering now for a few minutes then add the really sliced carrots. These carrots only need a minute at most to cook. Then, add the green parts of the bok choy and any more green onions.
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Add salt and white pepper to taste. Mix it all together.
- Add the chicken stock and mix. Add more oyster sauce, soy sauce and a teaspoon of sugar too.
- If it seems too runny a mix, I add a teaspoon of corn starch in a small amount of water so as to thicken it up. It’s a matter of judgement.
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Add any remaining ingredients to wok/skillet mixture and cook until thickened to desired consistency, about 5 minutes.
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Serve with noodles. Put in a bowl and mix the noodles in with the chop suey mixture. The other method is to serve on a bed of hot white rice.
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