The story, in either version, sounds plausible enough especially when we consider how good the Chinese are at salvaging leftovers because being wasteful is frowned upon in Asia. American miners demanded food, the flustered Chinese cook didn’t have much to cook with so he got creative. He tossed them together, added sauce, and chop suey was born.Ī variation of the story pins the birth of chop suey during the Gold Rush. You might have read the story that, during the construction of the First Transcontinental Railroad when the Chinese flocked to the United States to seek work, American laborers wanted food but there was this Chinese cook had only bits and pieces of meat and vegetables. If that’s not confusing enough, I would learn much later that the American tale might be more myth than fact. Then I read that the dish was born in America.

Do not walk away! Stir-frying is FAST and requires near-constant stirring (hence the name) to keep things from over-cooking or burning in the high heat.Along with sweet sour pork, I grew up thinking that chop suey was the quintessential Chinese food.

Mix anything you can and chop anything you can before you start.

Prepare EVERYTHING! Make sure all ingredients are at hand.

Faster cooking means it will be more tender. More surface area means it will cook faster.

Slice meats and vegetables as opposed to chopping them.

In addition to using a wok, as discussed above, there are a few other things you want to be sure you do to be sure you have the best ever Chinese Stir Fry for dinner tonight. Just be sure to use the same amount when exchanging and your recipe will still turn out perfectly delicious. If you are not a fan of the soy or the Oyster sauce, use Teriyaki or Duck Sauce instead.

You can switch in any nice crisp vegetable like: peppers, broccoli, cabbage.

I have also bought the bags of cole slaw (unprepared, just veggies – in the produce section).

I, personally, have bought bags of frozen Asian Stir-Fry vegetables before.

Not a fan of amy of the listed veggies? No big deal! Change them out. Personally, I think the following would taste great in this recipe:

You can use pretty much any meat that you want, just adjust your cooking times for it. After that, the recipe is fair game! You can change it out depending on what flavors you prefer. The one great thing about a recipe is finding out how much to use and how long to cook it. Mandoline (easiest way to chop all those veggies quickly).This traps the heat inside and makes the food cook much faster! So, a wok is much better for stir-fry, though not required. The wok is deeper than a traditional frying pan and has sloping walls as opposed to straight ones. While any pan will do, I highly recommend a Wok. If I have them on hand, I will sometimes add in some baby corn or colorful red, green, yellow, & orange bell pepper, too! Tools Needed to Make Chop Suey: Mushrooms (shitake is authentic, but any will do).

If you make stir-fry recipes regularly, you will only need to get some meat and veggies at the grocery store.

This looks like a ton of ingredients, but if you start breaking it down, you will find that MOST are pantry staples. It isn’t as frustrating as it sounds! I can save money, cut back some sodium, and make my own yummy copycat Chinese chicken recipe like this easy stir fry! Ingredients for This Recipe: So, while I love some General Tso Chicken with Fried Rice, I can’t run the risk of it coming into contact with shellfish. So, I always have to be super careful about where I eat and am never quite sure what ingredients are unless they are in English. The reason I don’t go to Chinese Restaurants is actually very simple: I am allergic to seafood.

Slow cooker chicken chop suey