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Many people think that
Chop Suey was invented in America. In fact it
probably originated with Chinese farmers who used to
eat a dish of stir-fried vegetables after a long day
working in the fields. Chop suey is primarily a
vegetable dish; the meat is included to add a bit of
flavor.
Serves 4 to 6
Ingredients:
1 pound
pork or beef (don't use pork chops as they are too
dry)
2 small bunches bok choy (can substitute broccoli if
desired)
1/2 cup bamboo shoots, rinsed
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, washed and patted dry
with a paper towel
1/2 cup water chestnuts (fresh if possible)
1 large green pepper
2 stalks celery
1 onion
1/2 pound snow peas (optional)
Seasoning for Pork:
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 - 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
1 piece (under 1 teaspoon)
cornstarch (corn flour)
Sauce:
4 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
3/4 to 1 teaspoon
cornstarch (corn flour)
Oil for
stir-frying
Directions:
Cut the pork into thin strips. Add seasonings to
pork, adding the
cornstarch
last. Marinate the pork
for 10 - 15 minutes.
While pork is marinating, prepare vegetables and
sauce. For sauce: Mix 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 bok 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.
More about Chop Suey
You can find out more about chop suey
here.
Nutritional Breakdown per serving:
Based on 4
servings, with snow peas: 379 calories (kcal); 26
g Total Fat (40 percent calories from fat); 19 g
Protein; 18 g Carbohydrate; 60 mg Cholesterol; 751
mg Sodium; 5g 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.
More delicious Chinese recipes are available in Nicholas Zhou's cookbook
"Real & Healthy
Chinese Cooking". |
