CHOP SUEY

This article is about the dish. For the song by System of a Down, see Chop Suey!. For the video game character, see Chopsuey (Stitch: Experiment 626).

Chop suey (Simplified Chinese: 杂碎, Traditional Chinese: 雜碎; pinyin: zásuì; Jyutping: zaap6 seoi3; Cantonese Yale: jaāhp seui) literally means mixed pieces. Roughly, it means chopped up odds and ends, alluding to "leftovers". Its origin is contested. Exactly what it consists of varies from place to place, but its most common form consists of meats (usually chicken or beef, also shrimp, pork, and others) cooked quickly with vegetables such as bean sprouts, cabbage, and celery and bound in a starch-thickened sauce. It is typically served with rice; it becomes the Chinese-American form of chow mein with the addition of a bed of deep-fried noodles.

In its current form, it is not an authentic Chinese dish, but part of American Chinese cuisine and Canadian Chinese cuisine. There are various colorful stories about its origin: it is alleged to have been invented by Chinese immigrant cooks working on the United States Transcontinental railway in the 19th century, or by a visiting Chinese dignitary's cook, etc. For this reason, it is often considered to be of American origin. [1]

"Chop suey" has been cited in New York City's Chinatown restaurants in 1884, 1885, and 1886.[2]

On the other hand, Davidson (1999) characterizes these stories as "culinary mythology", citing Anderson (1988), who traces it to a dish of Taishan, the homeland of many Chinese immigrants. Regardless of origin, many restaurants which offer the dish in China advertise it as "American chop suey" (not to be confused with the subject of the next section).

One may order chop suey in a variety of styles, such as chicken, beef, pork, king prawn, plain and special. Plain, or vegetable chop suey, is one of the few traditional Chinese American take-out dishes offered without meat at most resturants. The others are vegetable fried rice and vegetable lo mein.

American-style chop suey

American Chop Suey is a pasta dish consisting of short noodles (macaroni, ziti, etc) mixed with tomato sauce, ground beef, and often sauteed onion and peppers. It is often prepared and served casserole-style. It more closely resembles Italian-American fare rather than Chinese cuisine. The dish is often seen on public school lunch menus, as it can easily be prepared in large volumes. Resembles a dish known as 'Johnny Marzetti', that was created in the 1920's by the brother of the owner of the Marzett Restaurant in Columbus, Ohio.

Chop Suey in American art and literature

Chinese chop suey appeared in the mainstream American novel as early as 1914. Nobel laureate Sinclair Lewis mentions the dish in his novels:

• 1914 Our Mr. Wrenn wrote: "Well, down at the Seven Flowery Kingdoms Chop Suey and American Cooking there’s tea at five dollars a cup that they advertise is grown on 'cloud-covered mountain-tops.' ".[3]
• 1920 Babbitt wrote: "Paul returned four days later, and the Babbitts and Rieslings went festively to the movies and had chop suey at a Chinese restaurant." [4]
• Edward Hopper 1929 oil painting titled "Chop Suey"
• Chop Suey! is a song by the alternative metal band, System of a Down
• The musical Flower Drum Song featured an ensemble number called "Chop Suey", which celebrated the melting pot culture of America.

Chop Suey is part of a college cheer in the 1925 Harold Lloyd film "The Freshman". His father is on his short wave radio at the same time and hearing this, yells "I've picked up China!"

See also

• Chinese cuisine
• American Chinese cuisine
• Canadian Chinese cuisine
• Chow mein

References

• Alan Davidson, The Oxford Companion to Food, 1999.
• E.N. Anderson, The Food of China, Yale University Press, 1988.

External links

• Snopes: Urban Legends Reference Pages: Chop Suey
• "Chop Suey was invented, fact or fiction?"
• Is Chop Suey Chinese or American?