Chop Suey

This is a Hartline family recipe. It has a story!

Andy’s grandmother came to America in 1914 from Berlin, Germany. In the early 1930s she worked at a Chinese restaurant in Erie, PA called La Meda Tea Room.

She got this recipe from that Chinese restaurant and it has been a family favorite ever since. Andy’s mom, Diane, taught me how to make it a few years ago when they visited us in PA. She asked to see my biggest pot and promptly told me it wasn’t big enough. We headed to Kohl’s with my 30% off coupon in hand and bought a bigger pot. I will be honest, it is one of the only things I make in that pot but it is good to have when I need it!

Needless to say, this recipe makes a lot – if you are feeding a crowd, this is perfect! What is chop suey you say? Most chop sueys have meat, bean sprouts, celery, and egg in a thickened sauce. This recipe hits most of those criteria – minus the egg and thickened sauce although the sauce gets thicker with left overs. The base is pork – the most tedious part of this recipe is cutting the pork shoulder butt roast into small bite size pieces. The recipe says to use a 3-4 lb roast. I usually buy whatever size is at the store and cut as much as I need – weighing the meat on a kitchen scale until I have about 3.5 lbs. I freeze the rest and use for pulled pork later on.

Cutting the onions and celery takes some time but goes fairly quickly and you can do it while the meat is simmering for an hour.

You can find the bean sprouts and water chestnuts in the Asian food section of any grocery store.

Print

Chop Suey

Tender pork, onions, celery, bean sprouts, and water chestnuts in soy sauce served over rice.

Course Main Course

Cuisine American, Chinese

Keyword chop suey

Prep Time 45 minutes

Cook Time 1 hour 20 minutes

Total Time 2 hours 5 minutes

Servings 12

Ingredients

• 3-4 lb pork shoulder butt roast cut into bite size pieces
• 4 onions thinly sliced
• 1 bunch celery thinly sliced
• 3 cans bean sprouts
• 2 cans water chestnuts
• 1+ cup soy sauce
• crunchy chow mein noodles for topping
• cooked rice

Instructions

1. Cut pork into bite size pieces, discarding large pieces of fat.  *See note.  In a large pot, cook the pork on medium heat until brown.  Cover and let simmer for one hour.

2. While the pork is cooking, slice the onions and celery.  When the pork has simmered for an hour, add the onions and celery.  Cook until tender but not mushy.

3. Add the spouts and chestnuts.  I drain the chestnuts a bit but do not drain the sprouts.  Stir until it is all combined.

4. Add the soy sauce.  You may need more than 1 cup.  Taste it along the way and decide if you want more – it is all up to your taste.  Serve over cooked rice.  

5. *Note:  I buy whatever size pork roast is available.  I cut the meat and weigh on a kitchen scale until I have 3.5 lbs of meat.  I freeze what is left and use for pulled pork later on.