As for the trickster cook, it's a good story but one with little real evidence to support it.Įither way "Flower Drum Song" got it wrong. Some anthropologists trace the dish back to a similar one in Taishan county of Guangzhou province. since at least the 1880s, namely “from the woks of early Cantonese American immigrants,” says the Smithsonian. Historian Andrew Coe says the Li Hongzhang story is most likely a myth since chop suey had begun to appear in the U.S. Perhaps with nothing at his disposal except odds and ends, Li’s chef inadvertently created the famous mixed dish. Legend says that on this very day in 1896, he rejected the food served to him at a banquet and asked his personal chef to whip him something up instead. The more popular theory attributes the dish to a visiting Chinese statesmen named Li Hongzhang. But we're not sure who the joke was on: the miners loved it and the dish became a hit. He threw together a “garbage” dish of random leftovers and sauce for some American miners who had rudely barged into his about-to-close restaurant. One says it was a wily Chinese cook in 19th-century San Francisco. While chop suey might be served with rice or noodles, chow mein is a fried noodle-based dish with a thinner sauce, meat or seafood, and various vegetables. The name - shap suì in Cantonese and zá suì in Mandarin - translates literally as “broken miscellany.”Ĭhop suey shouldn't be confused with chow mein. Like "Flower Drum Song" says, chop suey has everything in it “all mixed up.” The dish is basically a stir-fry of meat, egg, and vegetables in a corn-starch-thickened sauce. 29, we bring you the answers to these questions and more. You’ve probably heard of chop suey (or at least the ditty ), but do you know where it comes from and who invented it? Or, for that matter, what in the world it is? On this National Chop Suey Day on Aug. “You are like the Chinese dish the Americans invented. This recipe features in my debut cookbook Dinner.“I am happy to be both Chinese and American.” More quick and easy Chinese restaurant favourites For a more practical option, use soft lettuce leaves like Butter Lettuce or Bib Lettuce (US). Lettuce wraps are a fantastic quick and easy meal that also happens to be healthy. In Chinese restaurants, it’s served with crisp Iceberg Lettuce which tends to crack when folded. ☺️ Nowadays in Australia, they are found in both the Asian section and canned vegetable section of supermarkets (Woolies, Coles etc). If you can find them, I really urge you to use Water Chestnuts. It doesn’t have a strong flavour, but the unique thing about Water chestnuts is the texture.Įven canned, it is crunchy and a bit juicy and it’s a quintessential part of the Chinese Lettuce Wrap experience. Other common ingredients which I’ve included in my recipe are:Īnd those that border more towards “Western” Chinese have all sorts of other vegetables in it, like normal corn, capsicum etc. I don’t think there are definitive rules for what goes in Lettuce Wraps, but the common ingredients I see at Chinese restaurants are:Īfter this, things get a bit blurred. I would just as happily scoff down a meat free version of this as I would a traditional pork version. And it is one of those rare recipes that is genuinely great made entirely vegetarian. Get the sauce right and you can pretty much put anything into the filling. It takes more than just a splash of soy sauce to make a truly delish Lettuce Wrap. Lettuce wraps are made with ground / mince meat and vegetable filling with a savoury Chinese sauce spooned into lettuce cups, then wrapped into a roll shape to eat.įor a great Lettuce Wrap, it all comes down to the sauce. I may not know how to spell it, but I do know you’re going to love them!! How to make Lettuce Wraps The Chinese name for Lettuce Wraps is San Choy Bow which is how it’s written in menus at Chinese restaurants here in Sydney, though the spelling varies widely from place to place and I’m yet to find a definitive answer for what the proper spelling is. This is a reader-favourite recipe included by popular demand in my debut cookbook “Dinner”! San Choy Bow – Chinese Lettuce Wraps Also known as San Choy Bow, it’s arguably the ultimate “just happens to be healthy” food in the whole wide world …. One of my favourite Chinese starters – Lettuce Wraps with pork or chicken, loads of hidden crunchy vegetables in a tasty savoury brown sauce, bundled up in fresh lettuce.
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