Chop suey

Chop suey is a stir-fry of chopped vegetables, often with meat or seafood, served with a savoury sauce. It is commonly eaten with rice or noodles; recipes differ widely, and it is not one fixed dish.

Cut the vegetables into similar-sized pieces and stir-fry them in a very hot wok in small batches. Add the sauce near the end and cook only until it thickens and coats the vegetables.

Bean sprouts, celery, cabbage, onion and water chestnuts are common choices; carrots, mushrooms and peppers also work well. Add firm vegetables first and bean sprouts last so they stay crisp.

Serve it over steamed rice or alongside noodles. For a fuller meal, add tofu, chicken, beef or prawns, and finish with spring onions if you like.

Cool leftovers promptly, refrigerate them in a covered container and eat within two days. Reheat until steaming hot throughout, stirring so the sauce and ingredients heat evenly.

You can freeze it in an airtight container, but bean sprouts and other crisp vegetables will soften after thawing. Freeze it without the rice, then reheat thoroughly and serve with freshly cooked rice.

No: chicken chop suey specifies chicken, while chop suey can be made with other proteins or just vegetables. Chicken chop suey has 108 kcal and 6.94 g protein per 100 g, compared with 78 kcal and 5 g protein in chop suey.

Chop suey is associated with Chinese cooking in the diaspora, especially Chinese-American cooking, rather than being a single traditional recipe from China. Its name is commonly explained as Cantonese for ‘miscellaneous pieces’, reflecting its mix of chopped ingredients.