Chinese Chop Suey

Now that my husband and toddler and I have completed our move to the new place and my kitchen is put back together, and we FINALLY have internet again after almost 3 weeks without it.....I can finally start cooking and blogging again. You know, it's nice to eat out occasionally and not have to clean your kitchen up after cooking, but when you have to eat out because your kitchen is packed and you can't find the boxes with the pots and pans or dishes and silverware a midst all the other boxes...and when you do find them, the cabinet locks haven't been installed yet so your VERY quick toddler pulls everything out of the cabinet as soon as you put it in......it gets REALLY old. So I am very happy to say that the cabinets and drawers are secured and everything is in it's place and I can cook again!! Woot woot! 

This is one of those recipes our Grandmother made, and subsequently our Mother makes. I'm honestly not sure where this recipe came from originally.  I have altered the recipe a little from the way our Grandmother made it. She used canned bean sprouts and the liquid from the cans, where as I prefer fresh bean sprouts and beef stock. I also decreased the amount of onions she used and add in some bok choy, which is what our Mother does as well. Our Grandmother usually served this over mashed potato, which I actually do like even though it sounds a little odd....but hey, who doesn't eat some odd combinations now and then, right? I made Jasmine Rice to go with it this time. One of our cousins told me a few nights ago that her Dad likes to eat it on white toast. So you can serve this over whatever you want really. If you want it with pasta I'm sure that would work too.  Ok, on to the recipe.

In a large saute pan or sauce pan, heat a little olive oil over med heat. Add the onion, celery and bok choy with a pinch of salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste. Cook until they begin to soften.

Meanwhile, in a separate pan cook the ground beef until it's done. 

Add the cooked ground beef, bean sprouts, soy sauce and beef stock (and mushrooms if you're using them-I didn't this time as my husband does not like mushrooms).

And cook for a few min until the veggies soften. Stir in the cornstarch water mixture and cook a few min until the sauce thickens. If you want it thicker, add a little more cornstarch and water until you get the consistency you're looking for. 

I served it over rice, but you can serve it over mashed potato (the way our Grandmother did), or toast (the way one of our Uncle's likes it) or even pasta if you wish. I didn't have any crispy chow mein noodles (found in the Asian isle in most grocery stores) at the time but you can top it off with a handful of them for a little crunch. 

Chinese Chop Suey

1 lg onion, sliced

4 lg stalks celery, chopped

6 bok choy stalks, chopped

1 12 oz bag fresh bean sprouts

1 lb ground beef

1/2 C  soy sauce

about 2 C beef stock

8-12 oz fresh mushrooms, sliced or 2-3 4 oz cans sliced mushrooms, optional

salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste

2-3 t rounded cornstarch stirred into 1/2 C water

In a large skillet or saucepan cook onions, celery, and bok choy with a pinch of salt, pepper and garlic powder to taste in a little olive oil until they begin to soften. In the meantime cook ground beef in a separate skillet with a little salt pepper and garlic powder if you wish until done. Add ground beef, bean sprouts, soy sauce and mushrooms if using to vegetable mixture. Stir in beef stock. Cook a few min until veggies soften. Stir together about 2-3 rounded teaspoons of cornstarch into 1/2 C water and stir into chop suey. Cook a few min until it thickens. Serve over rice. Gramma usually served this over mashed potato.Top with warmed chow mein noodles for a little crunch of you like.

Enjoy!                                            

Sandi