Even the musical “Flower Drum Song” got it wrong!

However, the Chinese food paper takeout container with the metal handle is an American invention. Here’s the scoop.

Fortune cookies have their own holiday, as well: July 20th.

> The year’s 17 Chinese food holidays.

> The top 10 Chinese dishes in the U.S.

> The history of fortune cookies.
 
 
CHOP SUEY HISTORY

Chop suey was first available to non-Chinese Americans in the mid-19th century, when Chinese restaurants began to appear outside of Chinatown areas. The dish was received with much acclaim [source].

While there are several myths about how chop suey was invented in the U.S., it’s actually a prominent dish in Taishan, a city of 95 islands and islets in the Pearl River Delta. It’s in the Guangdong province of southeast China.

A dish called tsap seui is common in the area, and Guangdong province was the home of many early Chinese immigrants to the U.S. [source]. Thus, when immigrants from that area opened restaurants, it was on the menu.

In a stir-fry recipe, chop suey means “assorted pieces.” These can include beef, chicken, quail eggs or other cooked eggs, fish, pork, and/or shrimp, plus vegetables such as bean sprouts, cabbage, celery, and snow peas. Starch is added to create a thickened sauce from the oil and wok drippings.

The dish was initially cooked in the late 19th-century U.S. by immigrants from southern China who were simply cooking their familiar cuisine for their families and in restaurants in Chinatown communities.

The transition of Chinese restaurants catering to mainstream American customers happened gradually over several decades.

 
 
American Chop Suey

American executions of the recipe have included vegetables popular that are not in the original Taishan recipe; for example, broccoli, carrots, onions and zucchini. Numerous American recipes also “specialize”: beef chop suey, chicken chop suey, or shrimp chop suey, for example, instead of a mixture of proteins.

[2] Chicken copy suey is the most popular, but you can substitute any protein you have: beef, pork, or shrimp, e.g. Here’s the recipe (photo © Khin’s Kitchen).

[3] Stir-fry this chicken chop suey. Here’s the recipe (photo © Recipe Tin Eats).

“As for what they call ‘chop suey,’” he fumed, “the cooking skills involved are so subpar that no one in China would ever eat it” [source].

Yet, chop suey restaurants in the U.S. proliferated, from posh establishments to no-frills diners like the ones that dotted New York’s working-class Chinatown.
 
 
CHOP SUEY VS. CHOW MEIN

In China, chop suey is typically served with a bowl of rice. Chow mein is chop suey that ditches the rice and adds noodles* to the recipe. In other words, if your “chop suey” contains noodles, it’s chow mein.

For a moment of beauty on National Chop Suey Day, take a look at photo #2, the painting of a chop suey parlor (as some such restaurants were called many years ago) by the American painter Edward Hopper. Here’s more about the painting.

Warning: You can find canned chop suey from La Choy. Caveat emptor: It may be tasty but is far removed from fresh-made chop suey.

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[2] In 2018, “Chop Suey,” a 1929 oil painting by Edward Hopper, sold for nearly $92 million, a record for the American artist. The painting depicts two women seated in a Chinese restaurant. The indications that the restaurant is Chinese are the style of the dishes and a sign outside the window that reads, in part, “Chop Suey.” The painting depicts an aspect of American dining culture in the late 1920s, when chop suey restaurants were quite popular and represented an affordable way for Americans to experience Chinese food, even if adapted for American tastes. The bare setting is typical of Hopper’s style: lonely depictions of 20th-century life. Art historians believe Hopper was inspired by two actual Chinese restaurants that no longer exist. One was the Far East Tea Garden, a massive restaurant at Broadway and 50th Street in Manhattan, that Hopper and his wife Josephine frequented.
 
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*There are two styles of chow mein: crispy chow mein, which uses fried, flat noodles; and soft chow mein, which uses spaghetti-style noodles. “Chow mein” means stir-fried noodles. “Subgum” means “numerous and varied,” a chow mein that is a combination of ingredients (see the chop suey list above) instead of all vegetable, all chicken, etc.

†In China, the vegetables used vary. The name tsap seui literally means “odds and ends,” a way to use whatever vegetables were available—traditionally, leftovers or miscellaneous ingredients. These could include bamboo shoots, bean sprouts, bell peppers, bok choy and other Asian greens, broccoli, cabbage, carrots, celery, cauliflower, mushrooms, onions/scallions, and young “baby” corn.

About baby corn: It’s simply regular corn em>(Zea mays) harvested very early, before the kernels have had a chance to develop and mature. The little ears are only 2-4 inches long and the entire cob is tender enough to eat. It’s popular in Asian cuisine for its sweet, mild flavor and crisp texture.

Most canned baby corn comes from Thailand and other Asian countries where it’s grown specifically for this purpose. While most baby corn in the U.S. is sold canned, you can sometimes find fresh baby corn at Asian markets or specialty stores. It tastes noticeably sweeter and more flavorful than the canned version, so if you see it, grab it!

‡Some popular Cantonese menu items: beef and broccoli, cashew chicken, Cantonese-style roast duck and roast pork (char siu), chop suey, egg rolls, fried rice, lo mein noodles, salt and pepper dishes calamari, sweet and sour pork, wonton soup, and our personal favorite, shrimp with lobster sauce. Not to mention dim sum, a Cantonese mainstay.
 
 

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