An Okie Girl’s Take on Chop Suey
I include my Okie identity in the title of this recipe in order to avoid any possible criticism regarding the authenticity ((or lack there of)) of my Chop Suey recipe. Let’s face it, Chop Suey is a mom code word, or at least it is in my house! What exactly is Chop Suey?? Can you believe Wikipedia has a great explanation??
According to Wikipedia:
Chop suey (/ˈtʃɒpˈsuːi/; simplified Chinese: 杂碎; traditional Chinese: 雜碎; pinyin: zá suì; literally: “assorted pieces”) is a dish in American Chinese cuisine and other forms of overseas Chinese cuisine, consisting of meat (often chicken, fish, beef, prawns, or pork) and eggs, cooked quickly with vegetables such as bean sprouts, cabbage, and celery and bound in a starch-thickened sauce. 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. In Indonesian Chinese cuisine it is known as cap cai (雜菜, “mixed vegetables”) and mainly consists of vegetables.
Notice a few key words that make this the perfect recipe for hiding various gag-inducing ingredients:
- assorted pieces ((any kind of meat, i.e. whatever I happen to have on hand))
- cooked quickly ((less time for the herd to figure out what I am doing))
- with vegetables ((ding ding ding – we have a winner!!))
- served over rice or noodles ((I usually have at least one of these in the pantry))
I don’t know about you, but when I read this, I can’t help but see a wonderful opportunity.
I must say, it was an opportunity I took full advantage of. If it weren’t for the fact that I was hiding healthy things in this Chop Suey, I may have felt guilty for just how very much I was tricking my little angels! In the above photo, you may notice a few strange things. Let me tell you what you are looking at: broccoli stalks and finely diced mushroom stems — oh and some onion, sweet chili sauce and tamari.
A few days earlier, I made 40 stuffed mushroom caps ((click the link to read about them — so good!!)). The stems of mushrooms are totally edible and if I weren’t making stuffed caps, I would have included the entire mushroom in the recipe. I just hated to throw them away, but I knew the kids would NOT willingly eat them. I chopped them up, refrigerated them and waited for an opportunity to make good use of them.
Over the weekend, I oven roasted broccoli. The stems on my organic broccoli were gigantic, making up over two-thirds of the broccoli. The problem is – the outer stem is VERY woody, making it a bad choice for oven-roasting. They were so huge and the inner portion so lush, I couldn’t make myself toss them into the compost. SO I set them aside as well.
Sunday afternoon, it all came together. I removed the inner portion of the stalks and finely chopped them thinking they may act similar to a water chestnut.
Once I browned my ground beef, I began stealthily adding my salvaged bits. First up, mushrooms. I tossed them in the skillet along with the onions, added ½ cup of sweet chili sauce and a few tablespoons of tamari.
Now the sweet chili sauce is an important ingredient, if you pick a nasty tasting sauce – your food will certainly taste bad. I purchased my sweet chili sauce at the local Asian market. I stood near the multitude of sauces and waited for someone who looked like they knew what they were doing – when they grabbed a bottle, I picked the same one, haha.
Tamari tastes just like soy sauce but is GF, making it a perfect substitute if you are needing a GF meal.
Once the mushrooms and onions were indistinguishable from the beef, I began hunting for my rice. Blast – I forgot I was out of rice. Spaghetti noodles it is! Somehow I am still safely within the definition of Chop Suey!
As the noodles are boiling away, I start to daydream about crispy fried shallots. Wouldn’t that taste amazing on top of the strange mix?? Just a few chops of my knife, a toss in cornstarch and within minutes, shallots are sizzling away in a pool of bubbly melted butter.
“This.is.going.to.be.good!!” I proudly cheer in my mind. In no time, I served the Chop Suey over noodles, topped it with crispy shallots and a pretty sprinkle of chives. Isn’t it beautiful:
The kiddos did not even know what hit them. They ate every bit and asked for more! Hooray for using mushroom stems and broccoli stalks!! Double HOORAY for using them and still receiving kid smiles at the dinner table!!
Brody said “I know there is stuff in here I shouldn’t like – but I don’t even care, it is just so good!!”. My job here is finished. ((whew))
- 1 lb browned ground beef ((chicken and turkey work great too))
- 1 c finely chopped mushrooms ((I used stems only))
- 1 c finely chopped sweet onion ((1 medium onion))
- 1/2 c sweet chili sauce
- 2-3 T tamari
- 1/2 -1 c water
- 1 - 2 T cornstarch
- 1 c chopped broccoli ((I used the inner portion of the stalk))
- 1 large shallot thinly sliced
- 2 T cornstarch
- 2 T butter
- 2 T cooking oil
- 1 package of spaghetti cooked according to package instructions
- In a large skillet, over medium flame, combine browned ground beef, mushrooms and onions. Add sweet chili sauce and tamari. Cook, stirring frequently, until onions are soft. Combine water and cornstarch into a slurry. Pour half of the mixture over the meat, continue adding the slurry and stirring until desired sauciness is reached. Add broccoli, stir to combine. Continue cooking for 3-4 more minutes, making sure you cook just long enough to heat the broccoli through without causing it to lose its crunch.
- Toss the sliced shallots in cornstarch and set aside. Add butter and oil to a large skillet and heat over medium flame. Once the skillet is heated, add the shallots and toss occasionally to make sure they evenly fry. Once the shallots are cooked through & crisp, approximately 8 minutes, remove the shallots and allow to drain on a paper towel lined plate.
- Pour Chop Suey over cooked noodles and top with crispy fried shallots. Serves 6