In Mandarin, the word is jí, and in Malay it's chepat. In an 1838 article, 'Chinese English,' the magazine defined 'chop-chop' as 'the sooner the better,' but made no mention of the phase being rude or curt.Īccording to Hobson-Jobson: The Definitive Glossary of British India, the noted Anglo-Indian dictionary published in 1886, the phrase originates from the Cantonese word kap, or 急 (which means 'make haste'). Two years later, it would also appear in The Penny Magazine, an illustrated English publication geared toward the working class. The Oxford English Dictionary traces the first usage of 'chop chop' in print to an 1834 article in the Canton (Ohio) Register. Several etymological dictionaries trace the origins of the word to a version of pidgin English used on ships (and later by Chinese servants and traders who regularly interacted with foreigners). Wikipedia and The Phrase Finder both talk about the etymology of chop chop, meaning 'hurry up' or 'quickly, quickly!' Over-crowding your pan while cooking will result in steaming versus frying or sauteing and will make them soggy.Perhaps your dad added the 'suey suey' part on his own, maybe for humorous effect? Make sure that the size of your wok or skillet is big enough to accommodate all the ingredients. This process will preserve the vibrancy, flavor, and nutrients of these. Another good tip that you can use is to parboil (to drop your vegetables in boiling water for a minute) then blanch (submerge them in ice-cold water) them. It's best to always cook the ones that take longer to soften then add the ones that cook quicker later. So make sure to be mindful of the cooking time. Foxy Tips for a Vibrant and Delicious Chop Sueyĭo not overcook your veggies! This is a big no-no when making this dish, you want vibrant and tender-crisp, not soggy and gray vegetables. Other Options- as if having a counter-full of veggies, meat and seafood are not enough, some also like adding hard-boiled quail eggs, and fried firm tofu. Seafood Options- If you opt to add seafood on the already flavorful mix of your Chop Suey, the best options would be shrimps, prawns, scallops, squid, and mussels.

The ones made here in the Philippines usually include pork or chicken liver, chicken heart, and gizzard. Pork, beef, and chicken being the most favored ones. Meat Options- there are also several meat options that you can choose from. On this recipe, I also used Pak Choi and Sugar snaps freshly picked from my backyard garden. Vegetable Options- You can use leftover vegetables on your fridge that needs to be cooked soon or harvest them fresh from your own veggie garden! The most common vegetables used for this dish are cabbage, carrots, onions, celery, bell pepper, cauliflower, broccoli, garlic, young corn, mushrooms, beans, bamboo shoots, and bean sprouts. It is mostly described as a 'stir-fry of vegetables, meat, and seafood that comes with a thick sauce.' This is the reason why Chop Suey has no exact formal definition. You can choose whatever you want or omit the ones you do not like. The good thing about cooking Chop Suey is that you can use as many varieties of vegetables, meat, seafood, and other additions as you like. The one I made, of course, is the Filipino way of making this mouth-watering dish that we eat with steamed with rice. But I have always known this dish to be paired with rice.

Some historians claimed that this dish is originally noodle-based kind of like Chow Mein. This dish was somewhat made haphazardly by mixing whatever available ingredients or leftovers were at that time and tossing it into a thick sauce- then viola! - Chop suey was invented! Nevertheless, I saw a common trend in those stories. Foxy Tips for a Vibrant and Delicious Chop SueyĪs I was doing my research on this recipe, I was surprised to learn that the exact origin of this famous dish is still unknown! Yes, we know that it is an American-Chinese cuisine but there were so many accounts of how, when, and who started this dish that until now, are still left unproven.

Delmar chop suey