Chop suey
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- This article is about the dish. For the song by System of a Down, see Chop Suey!.
Chop suey (Template:Zh-stp; Jyutping: zaap6 seoi3; Cantonese Yale: jaāhp seui) literally means mixed pieces. Roughly, it means chopped up odds and ends, alluding to "leftovers". It is not an authentic Chinese dish, but rather an invention catering to Western tastes - American Chinese cuisine and Canadian Chinese cuisine. It is often alleged to have been invented by Chinese immigrant cooks working on the United States Transcontinental railway in the 19th century. One may order chop suey in a variety of styles, such as chicken, beef, pork, king prawn, plain and special.
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American-style chop suey
American Chop Suey is a pasta dish consisting of short noodles (macaroni, ziti, etc) mixed with tomato sauce, ground beef, and often sauteed onion and peppers. It is often prepared and served casserole-style. It more closely resembles Americanized Italian fare rather than Chinese cuisine. The dish is often seen on public school lunch menus, as it can easily be prepared in large volumes.
Chop Suey in American art and literature
Chinese chop suey appeared in the mainstream American novel as early as 1914. Nobel laureate Sinclair Lewis mentions the dish in his novels:
- 1914 Our Mr. Wrenn wrote: "Well, down at the Seven Flowery Kingdoms Chop Suey and American Cooking there’s tea at five dollars a cup that they advertise is grown on 'cloud-covered mountain-tops.' ".[1]
- 1920 Babbitt wrote: "Paul returned four days later, and the Babbitts and Rieslings went festively to the movies and had chop suey at a Chinese restaurant." [2]
- Edward Hopper 1929 oil painting titled "Chop Suey"
- Chop Suey! is a song by the rock band System of a Down
