Quezi

Pekin Cafe Chop Suey, San Diego (United States) - courtesy meiburgin - CC-BY

Chop suey is made of small pieces of meat, chicken or shrimp which is stir-fried with celery, onions, bean sprouts, water chestnuts, mushrooms and/or other vegetables, and served over rice, frequently with soy sauce.  It can also be prepared as a vegetarian dish, minus the meat.

Many informative resources confirm that chop suey is actually an American dish.  But is that confirmation true?

Common knowledge says that chop suey did not exist in China. The dish was invented, according to tradition, in a San Francisco restaurant when a rowdy group of miners would not hear the Chinese cook’s plea that he had no food. Rather than risk a beating, the cook concocted chop suey of the day’s scraps.  Another common story of its origin has it being invented in New York City by Chinese ambassador Li Hung Chang’s cooks for his American guests at a special dinner on August 29, 1896.

But, “common knowledge” is as frequently wrong as it is right.

There is a rural district south of Canton, China called Toisan.  This was the point of origin for most of the early immigrants from China to California.  There they make a dish of miscellaneous items called “tsap seui” which means “miscellaneous scraps.”  It is also called “shap sui”  in Cantonese.

Mostly it is made of leftover vegetables, stir-fried together, often with noodles, and bean sprouts are almost universally included.  The rest of the dish varies according to what ever is found in the kitchen.

Now, one may hold any opinion one wants.  But the “tsap seui,” “shap sui,” “chop suey,” connection is very difficult to ignore.

Is chop suey really a Chinese dish?  I would say the weight of evidence provided by old-country names and recipes, vs popular legend, says, it is.

Now, you may want to find whether or not apple pie is really an American dish or pasta is really Italian

For more information about Chinese food