Chop-suey
Description
The dish is prepared without unnecessary complications. Chop suey is a dish of American cuisine, although it was invented by the Chinese and is not popular outside the United States, as few people know about it. Many people learned about this dish thanks to the song by the band System of a Down. Chinese workers building railroads lived in poverty and created this recipe from whatever ingredients they had on hand—leftovers and scraps. A little of this, a little of that, hence the name "chop suey," meaning "this and that." The dish can be made with any meat or fish and any assortment of vegetables. The key to preparing this dish is quickly stir-frying the vegetables so they remain slightly undercooked—al dente—and retain their color. The finished dish is ready to serve.
Instructions
- 1
Step 1
First, prepare the marinade for the meat. In a bowl, combine garlic, finely grated, soy sauce, ginger, chili pepper to taste, and squeeze in lemon juice. Mix well.
- 2
Step 2
Add the starch and mix thoroughly to avoid lumps.
- 3
Step 3
Cut the pork into strips and place in the marinade. Mix and let stand.
- 4
Step 4
Meanwhile, rinse the rice and cover with clean cold water; cook in salted water with bay leaf until done.
- 5
Step 5
Prepare the vegetables. Cut the carrots into julienne strips, and shred the firm and soft parts of the Chinese cabbage.
- 6
Step 6
Slice the onion into thin half-rings, cut the bell pepper into strips, and slice the mushrooms.
- 7
Step 7
We proceed with the cooking. Heat vegetable oil in a wok or frying pan, add frozen peas and green beans (I'm using frozen), and stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Transfer to a plate.
- 8
Step 8
Next, transfer the firm part of the cabbage and carrots to the pan, sauté for 1 minute, then add the soft part of the cabbage and cook for another 30 seconds. Transfer the vegetables from the pan to the peas and beans.
- 9
Step 9
Place the onion in a frying pan for 1 minute, add the mushrooms for a couple of minutes, then add the pepper and cook for 30 seconds. Add to the vegetables.
- 10
Step 10
Pour a little oil into the pan and add the meat without marinade, fry for 2-3 minutes until cooked. Pour the broth into the meat and bring to a boil.
- 11
Step 11
Add finely chopped garlic and parsley or cilantro stems to the vegetables that have undergone heat treatment.
- 12
Step 12
Add the vegetables to the meat, pour in the marinade, add sugar, mix everything, bring to a boil and cook for about a minute, allowing the vegetables to warm through and all the ingredients to blend together.
- 13
Step 13
Serve the stew with rice.