# What is Chop Suey?



## Elf (Sep 27, 2008)

I would like to know what different regions think of when they see Chop Suey? I think of either a solid donut style dough, with nuts and chopped fruit, deep fried or a chow mien dish, like what comes out of a Chung King can.


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## DramaQueen (Sep 27, 2008)

Elf said:


> I would like to know what different regions think of when they see Chop Suey? I think of either a solid donut style dough, with nuts and chopped fruit, deep fried or a chow mien dish, like what comes out of a Chung King can.


 
_In the midwest and in the west chop suey is like what comes out of a the Chung King can.  I never heard of CS being dough.  Anyone else know of this?_


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## JoeV (Sep 27, 2008)

DramaQueen said:


> _In the midwest and in the west chop suey is like what comes out of a the Chung King can.  I never heard of CS being dough.  Anyone else know of this?_



Same here, DQ. My mother used to make the Slovenian version of chop suey when I was little. I liked the Chung King better.


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## thymeless (Sep 27, 2008)

Chop Suey is basically leftovers and so can be many things. It means something along the lines of bits of this and that. So most anything can and does end up in Chop Suey.

thymeless


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## pdswife (Sep 27, 2008)

Any one have a good recipe?  Mom used to make it and I remember liking it..but, I want something that has more flavor than hers did.  THnaks!!!


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## Barbara L (Sep 27, 2008)

My mom's chop suey (which I finally learned to make just like hers a few years ago, yay!) is browned stew beef, add water and cook until tender, add chopped celery, chopped onions, mushrooms (whole if small--canned works too), molasses, soy sauce, and corn starch (to thicken), then served over rice.  It is one of my favorite foods in the world, and now I am so in the mood for it that I'm going to have to make it again soon!

Barbara


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## ironchef (Sep 27, 2008)

For all intents and purposes, chop suey is basically a stir fry. It can consist of any base protein, and a varying amount of vegetables. The dish is then served with rice or with noodles (i.e. chow mein). The term itself does not exist in China. It was most likely coined by either Chinese immigrants or by Americans when the Chinese were coming to the US during the 1800's, probably due to the language barrier.


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## Andy M. (Sep 27, 2008)

*Vegetable Chop Suey*

*Vegetable Chop Suey *

*For the Sauce:*
2 Tb Oyster Sauce
1 Tb Soy Sauce
½Tb Dry Sherry
½ tsp Sugar
2 tsp Cornstarch
¼ C Chicken or Vegetable Stock

*For the Dish:*
¼ C Peanut Oil, divided
2 cl Garlic
1 Ea Onion, chopped
1 Ea Green Bell Pepper, chopped
8 Oz Mushrooms, sliced
5 Oz Water Chestnuts, canned
2 Oz Snow Pea Pods
1 Ea Carrot, sliced
7 Oz Broccoli Florets
4 Oz Bean Sprouts

Combine the sauce ingredients and set aside.

Stir-fry the vegetables (except for the sprouts) in small batches. If you do one type of vegetable at a time, they will be more evenly cooked than if you stir fry batches of mixed vegetables.

When all the vegetables are stir fried, add them all back into the wok and make a well in the bottom of the wok. 

Add the sauce and stir over high heat until it boils. 

Add the sprouts, toss and serve.


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## GotGarlic (Sep 27, 2008)

When I was growing up, my mom used to make pork chop suey with leftover pork roast. Great memories


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## Chopstix (Sep 28, 2008)

Chopsuey refers to stir-fried vegetables with some meat or seafood mixed in.  

It's also a colorful and derogatory colloquial term for a careless mishmash or hodgepodge of stuff.


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## Elf (Sep 28, 2008)

The reason I asked this question is I  followed a recipe from Cook's Illustrated Cover and Bake. It was called American Chop Suey, the recipe was basically Browned ground beef, a can of diced tomatoes, onion,, red bell pepper and a rib of celery, cover cook 20 min. then throw in elbow macaroni and cover and cook for another 20 min. the result was in my way of thinking goulash, it  was good but not what I thought of as Chop Suey. I asked the question to conform that it was a stir fry. Thanks for clearing this up for me.


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## Andy M. (Sep 28, 2008)

Elf said:


> The reason I asked this question is I followed a recipe from Cook's Illustrated Cover and Bake. It was called American Chop Suey, the recipe was basically Browned ground beef, a can of diced tomatoes, onion,, red bell pepper and a rib of celery, cover cook 20 min. then throw in elbow macaroni and cover and cook for another 20 min. the result was in my way of thinking goulash, it was good but not what I thought of as Chop Suey. I asked the question to conform that it was a stir fry. Thanks for clearing this up for me.


 

Elf, the recipe you refer to is called American Chop Suey in parts of the USA.  In some regions the same dish is called goulash or slumgullion.

The recipe I posted earlier is for Chinese chop suey.  What you'd get if your ordered in a chinese restaurant.


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## kitchenelf (Sep 28, 2008)

Andy M. said:


> Elf, the recipe you refer to is called American Chop Suey in parts of the USA.  In some regions the same dish is called goulash or slumgullion.
> 
> The recipe I posted earlier is for Chinese chop suey.  What you'd get if your ordered in a chinese restaurant.




What Andy said ^^.


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## Elf (Sep 29, 2008)

OK that solves my confusion. The one thing that I love about this site is the depth of knowledge that is willingly passed around.


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## Andy M. (Sep 29, 2008)

And there's even a lot more knowledge that we keep to ourselves!  Don't even think about asking me the secret to preparing Ligurian Henway.


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## Constance (Sep 29, 2008)

And how do you make a Ligurian Henway?


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## GotGarlic (Sep 29, 2008)

Elf said:


> OK that solves my confusion. The one thing that I love about this site is the depth of knowledge that is willingly passed around.



You only love one thing about this site???


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## Andy M. (Sep 29, 2008)

Constance said:


> And how do you make a Ligurian Henway?


 

Constance, you're supposed to ask, "What's a Ligurian henway?"


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## Dave Hutchins (Sep 30, 2008)

Chop suey is a term that was coined during the great gold rush in California.  By immigrant Chinese,  and in this day and age it has turned into a multilevel train wreck
Can not stand to eat much of it, even when I make it.


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## Michael in FtW (Sep 30, 2008)

Yep - big differences between American Chop Suey and Chinese-American Chop Suey. As I noted in another thread, I was ROTFLMAO when Guy Fieri was tasting American Chop Suey at a diner somewhere in New England and acted like he had never heard of, or tasted anything, like it before in his life. I grew up with it called slumgullian at home, usually called goulash at school.

You might enjoy reading these threads: Goulash Recipes or TNT - My Mom's Goulash


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## Claire (Sep 30, 2008)

Andy, that's one of my husband's favorites:  2-3 lbs if you feed it well.  

I, too, grew up on both "American" chop suey (which I never could understand the reasoning of, it seemed to me to be pretty much ground beef spaghetti sauce on macaroni instead  of spaghetti noodles) and what passed for Chinese in our house (pork cubes, Asian canned vegetables, and lots of fresh veggies, thickened with a corstarch slurry and served with rice and crispy noodles).  SO when you said "chop suey" it was one of these two dishes.


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## Jeekinz (Oct 2, 2008)

I never heard of American Chop Suey until I read this thread.  I knew that the meaning meant basically to stir fry what you have available or leftovers.  I only know Chop Suey coming in one of these.


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## GrillingFool (Oct 2, 2008)

hmmm... Chop Suey was goulash in my house as a kid.

CHOP SUEY was always... ALWAYS.. from La Choy, in a can,
with icky dried crispy things on top. Dunno if Mom ever added meat...
maybe some beef slices?


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## Constance (Oct 2, 2008)

Andy M. said:


> Constance, you're supposed to ask, "What's a Ligurian henway?"



"What's a Liqurian henway?"


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## Andy M. (Oct 2, 2008)

Constance said:


> "What's a Liqurian henway?"


 

Two to three pounds if you feed it well!  Wacka Wacka!!!


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## rldennis (Oct 9, 2008)

I preferred the doughnut/fritter style (however, I am familiar with the other kind) but I am not able to find them or a good recipe for them lately.  In fact most people have not idea what I am talking about.  The last place I found them was in Georgetown (DC). I also found them in a bakery in DeMoines, Iowa. And I grew up getting them from a bakery in Virginia that has since gone out of business. Please let me know if there is a good recipe for them somewhere.


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