That chop suey restaurants didn’t serve alcohol meant they suffered no ill effects during the Prohibition Era and, indeed, thrived when many other establishments were shut down.Īs American history grew and changed, so did the chop suey dish. It was embraced by the hipsters and artists of New York, which continued to add to its popularity. Anti-Chinese immigrant sentiment in the west led to the cross-country travel of many Chinese immigrants, who found their way to New York City, where many believe the origin of chop suey can be traced. The chop suey story has also ridden the wave of a volatile American history. It is difficult to know if there is any truth to these stories, and their proliferation has only made chop suey a more mythical and interesting dish to be both enjoyed and discovered. In order to create something quickly, he added all the ingredients he had on hand to one pot and cooked them up. One included a chef named Lem Sen claiming the rights to the dish and attempting to keep any chop suey restaurant from recreating it without paying for the privilege.Īnother story tells of an exhausted chef who had already closed his restaurant when diners asked to be served.

More extreme myths and legends regarding this popular dish evolved. The Chinese immigrants that settled in the west during the Gold Rush founded successful restaurants that appealed to both American tastes-and wallets-and still provided their Chinese American communities with flavors of home. The name in several Chinese dialects can be translated to “odds and ends,” an ancestor of the back-of-the-fridge dish that could be adjusted inexpensively and to fit your preferred flavors.Īccording to other stories, chop suey was, like crab Rangoon and fortune cookies, truly the product of American immigration. Many of the origin stories for chop suey trace the dish back to China, pointing to its popularity in areas heavily populated by Chinese immigrants. It speaks to the challenging history of Chinese immigration into America and how an American Chinese culture was born out of social and political struggle, out of innovation, creativity, and opportunity. While some of the origin stories are little more than myth and others easily navigate the more believable line of the American immigrant food experience, the truth is that chop suey is a representation of more than just a great meal made of bold and delicious flavors. Many theories abound regarding where and how chop suey first originated, how it evolved, and who can be credited with the initial idea. It is almost impossible to pinpoint the true history of chop suey, which is another reason why this dish continues to be as popular and interesting as it is today. It is an incredibly versatile meal, and you can substitute out your favorite meats and vegetables with ease, which makes it inexpensive, forgiving, and always delicious. It is served in a thick sauce over rice, but you can also turn it into a dish like chow mein dish by serving it over stir-fried noodles instead.Ĭhop suey is an excellent dish for beginners looking to cook Chinese food at home or expert chefs who want to experiment with flavors and ingredients. Why you can prepare chop suey with many different ingredients, it traditionally features some kind of meat, eggs, and leafy or green vegetable like cabbage and bean sprouts. There are many variations of chop suey, which is part of the reason it can be so difficult to trace the true origins of the dish. We believe that the more we know about where great flavors and unique recipes first originated, the easier it will be to both recreate them ourselves and add unique and personalized touches to ever-evolving dishes-like chop suey! It’s also why we’re dedicated to sharing the history, stories, and culture surrounding our favorite dishes. That’s why we provide a wide variety of ingredients, from tribute peppers to preserved black beans, so you can start achieving the flavors you love and sharing them with friends today. Here at Fly By Jing, we want to make it easy to begin bringing Chinese and Chinese American food flavors to your kitchen. It is a ubiquitous and delicious part of the Chinese American dining experience, but it has proven difficult to trace the origins of this dish, especially given how versatile and changing it is now and, presumably, has always been.

Chop suey is somehow one of the most well-known and least known Chinese American dishes available today.

First chop suey