CHOP SUEY

From Rhonda Parkinson

WARNING[1]

        This recipe for chop suey is in honor of the Charlie Movie,  Shadows Over Chinatown (1946), where Jimmy Chan (Victor Sen Yung) orders it in a restaurant, politically correct or not!

          He uses “Chop Suey 108” on his walkie-talkie to Willie Best as Chattanooga Brown in Dangerous Money (1946), not to mention that Tommy (Victor Sen Yung) “plays” a violin to Birmingham Brown (Mantan Moreland) “at the piano” doing the “Chop Suey Boogie” in The Shanghai Chest (1948)!

          We also have Sidney Toler (Castle in the Desert) being told by Oliver Blake (Hank, the hotel proprietor), “Chop Suey, salesman, huh?  Well, don’t try to sell me any.  I hate the stuff!”

          Not to mention William Demarest as Sergeant Kelly in Charlie Chan at the Opera (1936) referring to Chan (Warner Oland) as “Egg Foo Yung.” 

          Demarest also gets the lines “You didn’t call Chop Suey in again?” and “You’re alright, just like chop suey, a mystery but a swell dish!”

INGREDIENTS*:

          1 pound pork or beef (don’t use pork chops as they are too dry)

          Pork Marinada:

                   1 teaspoon soy sauce

                   1 – 2 teaspoons oyster sauce

                   1 teaspoon salt

                   Pepper to taste

                   1 piece (under 1 teaspoon) cornstarch

          Sauce:

                   4 tablespoons water or chicken broth

                   2 teaspoons oyster sauce

                   ¾  - 1 teaspoon cornstarch

          Other:

                   2 small bunches bok choy (can substitute broccoli if desired)

                   ½ cup bamboo shoots, rinsed

                   ½ pound fresh mushrooms, washed and patted dry with a paper                             towel

                   ½ cup water chestnuts (fresh if possible)

                   1 large green pepper

                   2 stalks celery

                   1 onion

                   ½ pound snow peas (optional)

                   Oil for stir-frying

PREPARATION:

Cut the pork into thin strips.  Add seasonings to pork, adding the cornstarch lst.  Marinate the pork for 10 – 15 minutes.

While pork is marinating, prepare vegetables and sauce.  For sauce:  Whisk together the sauce ingredients and set aside.

For vegetables:  Cut bamboo shoots into thin strips.

Slice the mushrooms and water chestnuts.  Cut the green pepper in half, remove the seeds and slice diagonally.

For the bok choy, separate each stalk and leaves.  Cut the stalk diagonally and cut the leaves across.  Cut the celery diagonally.  Cut the onion in half, peel, and slice thinly.

Place the vegetables on a large tray, being careful to keep each group separate (include the boc choy stalks and leaves), and set aside.

Heat wok and add oil.  When oil is ready add the pork.  Stir-fry pork until redness is gone.  Remove and set aside.

Reheat wok and add more oil.  When oil is ready, stir-fry each of the vegetables.  The order doesn’t matter, but you can stir-fry the onions and celery together, (if desired you can cook these with the pork), and the green pepper and snow peas together.  When cooking the bok choy, add the stalk first.  Add salt to taste as desired while stir-frying each group of vegetables.  Add water and cover wok while cooking bok choy, as it doesn’t contain much moisture.

Reheat wok and add oil.  Give the sauce a quick re-stir.  Add and combine all the cooked ingredients in the wok.  Make a “well” in the center and gradually add the sauce, stirring to thicken. Once it has boiled remove the chop suey from the stove.  Serve hot. . . .

NUTRITIONAL BREAKDOWN PER SERVING (based on 4 servings, with snow peas) – 379 calories (kcal), 26 g Total Fat (for percent calories from fat), 19 g Protein, 18 g Carbohydrate, 60 mg Cholesterol, 751 mg Sodium, 5 g Fiber.

Substituting 1 pound flank steak for pork shoulder – 378 calories (kcal), 23 g Total Fat (35 percent calories from fat), 26 g. Protein, 18 g Carbohydrate, 58 mg Cholesterol, 775 mg. Sodium, 5 g Fiber