Then remove and set aside so they don’t overcook. Prep the vegetables by cutting them into spoon sized pieces.Prep your carb base: cook your rice or soak your chow mein.Marinate and velvet the meat for 5-15 minutes (basically as long as it takes to prep everything else, but longer is better).You can’t make chop suey without enough sauce to drown in (even if you end up not eating it all). It’s gloriously generous, and it’s so satisfying to eat. In this recipe, we use all the secrets of real Chinese cooking (where applicable): Shaoxing wine to add complexity toasted sesame oil for a creamy nutty umami note velveting the meat to tenderize it.īut is that what makes this what I humbly call the greatest chop suey recipe? No, what makes this a great chop suey recipe is ALL THAT SAUCE. (Update, after tasting this version, Steph came around).īut, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t incorporate proper Chinese cooking techniques and ingredients into this quintessentially American dish. If you didn’t grow up here, you’ll probably dismiss chop suey as “westernized Chinese food.” Chinese people (even including Steph) tend to instinctively look down on this dish, but they’ll come around, just like how authentic Italian pizzerias actually make American pizza and don’t even know. Does that make it worse or less authentic than “real” Chinese food? I say no: it’s just as authentic as Italian American food, which used to be trashed by “real” Italians, but these days is celebrated as its own thing by people in the know. Chop suey is through and through an American dish. Other people will tell you it’s just a Chinese stir fry gone wrong, but I disagree. The answer was always “brown”.Īnd what is that, if not a choose-your-own adventure chop suey? I always got extra rice (grudgingly free, but how can you say no to teenage boys who need extra rice?) and they would always ask which of 10 different sauces I wanted.
When I went to the mall with my friends as a teenager, my food court joint of choice was that place where I could pick out meat and vegetables by the pound, and they would stir fry it on a giant flat top and serve it over rice. Chop suey is a stir fry of too many vegetables (some canned), a not-quite-authentic Chinese stir fry sauce, way more meat than they’d ever use in China, and way more delicious than it has any right to be. At its core, chop suey is a glorious meat and vegetable stir fry with American ingredients. There are a lot of people who try to answer this question with a history lesson, but I think that stuff doesn’t matter. I made this one up extra saucy because the whole point of chop suey is that crazy delicious sauce. Perfectly balanced, as all things should be. We made a big batch of rice to eat it with but in the end we barely touched the rice at all. This modern chop suey is so good, you’ll never need to go out again. Even though the name chop suey has become unfashionable, versions of it are still everywhere. Garnish with green onions and serve.Chop suey is my comfort food. Remove from the heat and serve over noodles or white rice.Cook, stirring, until the sauce boils and thickens and the pork is cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes. Make a well in the center and add the sauce and chili paste. Add the bean sprouts and water chestnuts, stir to mix well and cook until crisp-tender. Add the celery and the mushrooms and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the onions and peppers and stir-fry for 1 minute. Add the pork and stir-fry until lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add the oil, swirling to coat the sides and bottom. Place a large wok over high heat until hot.In another bowl, make the sauce by combining the remaining tablespoon oyster sauce, 1 teaspoon wine, 1 teaspoon cornstarch, and the chicken broth, whisking to dissolve the cornstarch.In a large bowl, combine 1 tablespoon of the oyster sauce, the soy sauce, 1 teaspoon of the wine, sugar, pepper flakes and 1 teaspoon of the cornstarch, whisking to dissolve the cornstarch.
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