What is Chop Suey in Cantonese again?

I often wonder at the similarity between the famous Chop Suey, a popular dish in American Chinese restaurants with our traditional chap chai; and thinking they must have originated from the same place in China and handed down through the early Chinese migrants to both countries.. Before I pour oil into the fire and have a go at it's origin, I would like to walk down memory lane of my first encounter with this famous American dish in Los Angeles Chinatown, twenty five years ago. This classic American Chinese stir fry vegetable dish in which meat, poultry or fish is often added or it may be vegetarian is thereby very much similar to our chap chai. The name chop suey refers to pieces of different meat and vegetables as in an English translation of the Mandarin tsa-sui,(杂碎) and the Cantonese tsap seui,. There are many who think that stir fry dishes like chop suey were actually first created in Toisan a rural region south China. Many early Chinese immigrants to the United States did come from that area. Although, there are various colorful stories about its origin, I always like to remind my guests of this version of the lore, whenever I served this dish at home. This bit of the lore about the origin of chop suey suggests that a Chinese-American cook was annoyed at the way restaurant customers were treating him. As a way of retaliating at the patrons who'd earned his ere, he cooked up scraps of food that were destined for the swill garbage bin. The patrons ended up enjoying the dish and asked for it on future visits without realizing it had been meant as a pay back from the cook. Incidentally, the Cantonese translation for swill is "sow suey".
Making chop suey is a great way to use up leftovers of meat, fish and poultry as well as an excess of fresh vegetables. There seems to be a glut of Chinese Cabbages in the market at the moment, we bought this Chinese cabbages at a dollar each! There is no better way to use up these cabbages before it goes to the swill.


















Chap Chai Recipe:

Ingredients:
50g Lily buds (Kim Chiam)
50g Dried Beancurd skin (tau kee)
20g Black Fungus
50g Mung Bean Vermicelli
50g Dried Chinese Mushroom (Shitake Mushroom)
500g Chinese Cabbage
100g Carrot (sliced)
60g Fermented Soya Bean Paste (Tau Cheo)
50g Garlic (chopped finely)
750ml Vegetable stock
3 Tbsp Oil
5g Salt and pepper
2 Tbsp Soya Sauce

Methods:

Soak lily buds, dried beancurd skin, black fungus and Chinese Mushroom in water until softened.
Heat wok with oil and fry garlic until slightly brown, then add fermented soya bean paste
When garlic and fermented soya bean paste is fragrant, Add all the ingredients (except for the mung bean vermicelli), stir well and until vegetables softened. When bubbling, stir in the mung bean vermicelli and simmer for another15 minutes. Add water, thick black soya sauce and salt and stir for a while

To Kill a Mockingbird in a Chinese Vegetarian Restaurant...

It never ceased to amaze me why a menu in most Chinese vegetarian restaurants has to be identical to it's non vegetarian counterparts. It always put me in a paradoxical situation to order mock fish, mock duck, mock char siew (Chinese BBQ pork), even mock shark fin soup. As if that is not a mockery in itself, I am expected to say " hmm, it does taste chicken" between the mouthful of morsels of imitation food in my mouth. Even as a omnivore, I do find it offensive to tell my vegetarian friends they are eating 'chicken or fish" especially if they are vegetarians because of their religious beliefs. Like the Pulitzer-Prize winning novel, "To Kill a Mockingbird " by Harper Lee, which emphasize on tolerance and decry prejudice, I won't be calling my vegetarian dish "mock chicken in soya sauce " but simply Bean Curd Loaf in Soya Sauce.

Vegetarian Bean Curb Loaves Recipe (commonly known as Vegetarian Chicken)

1pc bean curb skin (Tau Pei)
8 pcs bean curb sheets (Tau Kee)
3 tbsp soya sauce
1 Tbsp sugar.
1 tbsp sesame oil
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup water.

Mix soya sauce, sugar sesame oil, salt and water in a bowl and stir until sugar has dissolved. Place the bean curb skin on a square tray and brush 1 tbsp of sauce mixture across the surface of the bean curb. Place the bean curb sheet on top of the bean curb skin and brush the sauce mixture across the surface of the sheet. Repeat until all the sheets are brushed with the sauce mixture and place neatly on top each other, Fold bean curb sheets into a oblong loaf and wrap in a cheesecloth. Pour any remaining sauce mixture over loaf so that it is completely saturated. Place loaf in a bamboo steamer and steam for at least 10 to 15 minutes. Remove the cheesecloth and allow the loaf to cool.
Heat oil in a pan and fry loaf for 30 seconds over very low heat until golden brown on all sides. Remove to a serving plate and garnish with coriander.