"Recipes from the Chef's Kitchen"

Special Family Recipe
 Created by
Ms. Rita Agnes Volk
(Lindsey's Mother)

Lindsey Gustin and Ms. Rita Volk

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Rita's Chop Suey

What is chop suey? In Chinese, the two characters for chop suey are pronounced "tsa sui" in Mandarin
or in Cantonese "shap sui," meaning "mixed small bits" or "odds and ends." As a culinary term,
shap sui refers to a kind of stew made of many different ingredients mixed together.
Shap sui probably first came to the United States with the waves of Chinese
immigrants drawn to the California gold fields. Most came from the
South China coast’s Pearl River Delta and particularly the
town of Toishan. In the 1870s, the Chinese were pushed
from the American West by racial violence, migrating to
cities like Philadelphia, Boston, and New York. There
Americans first noticed a dish called "chow-chop-suey."

The Ingredients...
The Chop Suey:
1)  1/2 lb. Beef Round cut into strips
2)  1/2 lb. Pork Loin cut into strips
3)  1 cup chopped Celery
4)  1 large Onion - chopped fine
5)  1 lb. fresh chopped Mushrooms
6)  2 tbs. Soy Sauce
7)  2 tsp. Canola Oil
8)  Salt to taste

The Paste :
1)  2 tbs. Soy Sauce
2)  1/3 cup Flour
3)  1/3 cup Water

The Side Dish:
1)  2 cups Steamed Jasmine Rice

The Cooking Instructions...
1)  Lightly flour meat.  Brown meat lighty in canola oil.
2)  Add celery, onions, salt and Soy Sauce
3)  Cook for 1/2 hour or until done.  During the last half hour add mushrooms.
4)  Mix the paste ingredients together and cook for 15 minutes to thicken.
5)  Stir the paste ingredients into the Chop Suey.
6)  Serve hot.  Sprinkle some soy sauce on top.
7)  Serve the rice as a side dish.