Chop suey
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- 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 | ||
|---|---|---|
| Traditional Chinese: | 雜碎 | |
| Simplified Chinese: | 杂碎 | |
| Mandarin | ||
| Hanyu Pinyin: | zá suì | |
| Cantonese | ||
| Jyutping: | zaap6 seoi3 | |
| Yale: | jaāhp seui | |
| Literal meaning: | mixed pieces | |
Chop suey is a Chinese dish which literally means mixed pieces. It usually consists of meats (often chicken, beef, shrimp or pork), 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 deep-fried noodles.
Chop suey as found in North America is not an authentic Chinese dish, but part of American Chinese cuisine and Canadian Chinese cuisine. It is also a relatively new addition to Indian Chinese cuisine.
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[edit] Origin
There are various colorful stories about the origin of Chop Suey. It is alleged to have been invented by Chinese immigrant cooks working on the United States Transcontinental railway in the 19th century and has also been cited in New York City's Chinatown restaurants since the 1880s. Other sources say that a Chinese dignitary's cook, visiting the United States invented it. [1]
But 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 its ultimate origin, in China itself, it is often called "American chop suey" (not to be confused with pasta dish described below).
[edit] Varieties
Chop Suey may be prepared in a variety of styles, such as chicken, beef, pork, king prawn, plain and special. Plain, or vegetable chop suey, is often one of the few traditional Chinese American take-out dishes offered without meat at many restaurants.
[edit] 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.
[edit] 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.' ".[2]
- 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." [3]
- 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!"
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Alan Davidson, The Oxford Companion to Food, 1999.
- E.N. Anderson, The Food of China, Yale University Press, 1988.
