Chicken Chop Suey 雞球炒雜碎 (Cantonese: gai kow chow chap sui) is not authentic Chinese food? I’m not so sure about that. I ordered this dish once in my life and it was for the sole purpose of writing this recipe. We ordered from an authentic Chinese-Canadian restaurant. And I also did some research on chicken chop suey beforehand so I had an idea of what it was but I just needed to verify. And it was just as I thought; I had eaten this dish all my life and I didn’t know it was Chop Suey!
Some history first…the term “chop suey” came from the United States in the 1800’s during the California Gold Rush. Early Chinese settlers were predominantly Cantonese from Taishan, Guangdong. To save money, many of these settlers would make stir-fries from organ meats and vegetables on hand. The word “Chop 雜” refers to a variety of organ meats. And the word “Suey 碎” means broken pieces. Some of these settlers opened up restaurants and found that locals didn’t eat organ meats so they replaced them with beef, chicken and pork. This dish is pretty much a stir-fry of meat and vegetables on-hand with a soy sauce slurry to combine it all together. Then served with rice.
I find that Chop Suey 炒雜碎 is very similar to another Cantonese dish that is generally called Sautéed Beef on Vegetables 菜遠牛肉 (Cantonese: choy yuen gnau yoke). These dishes are very typical home cooked dishes. We use any protein and vegetables we have in the fridge, stir-fry it and add a sauce to it. So, in my opinion, Chop Suey 炒雜碎 comes from this line of traditional home-style Chinese dishes. We just call it something different.
In my Chicken Chop Suey 雞球炒雜碎 recipe, I’ll show you how to make smooth, soft and tender chicken pieces fried with vegetables and a delicious sauce to bind it altogether. It’s the perfect comfort food. It pairs perfectly with some Hot and Sour Soup!
Chicken Chop Suey 雞球炒雜碎
Ingredients
- 600 g Chicken breast sliced
- 100 g Celery
- 200 g Gai lan (aka Chinese broccoli, jie lan, Chinese kale, kai-lan)
- 200 g Zucchini
- 200 g Mushrooms
- 100 g Carrots
- 4 cloves Garlic
- 3 slices Ginger
- 1 tbsp Cornstarch
- 2 tbsp Oyster sauce
- 1 tbsp Dark soy sauce
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 150 ml Water
- ¼ tsp White pepper powder
- 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine
- 5 tbsp Oil
- 1 tsp Salt for soaking chicken
- 2 cups Water for soaking chicken
Ingredients for chicken marinade:
- 2 tbsp Potato starch
- 1 tbsp Light soy sauce
- 1 tsp Sugar
- 1 Egg white from one egg (approx. 3 tbsp)
- 1 tbsp Oil
Instructions
- Slice chicken into approx. 3 mm thick slices
- Soak chicken in 2 cups of water. Add 1 tsp salt and mix well. Be sure that water covers all the chicken. Add more water if necessary. Soak for 15 minutes
- Rinse chicken and squeeze out excess water. Use paper towel to absorb any excess water
- Marinate chicken with 2 tbsp potato starch, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar and egg white of one egg. Mix with hands and squeeze the chicken meat to help it absorb the liquids for 2 minutes. Add 1 tbsp oil and mix well. Set aside for 30 minutes
- Slice all vegetables approx. 3 mm thick and to your preferred length
- Chop 4 cloves of garlic and prepare 3 slices of ginger
You may also mince the ginger if you prefer. I like to use sliced ginger so that I can easily fish them out as I only like to use it for flavour and not to consume - In a small container, combine 2 tbsp oyster sauce, 1 tbsp light soy sauce, 1 tbsp dark soy sauce, 1 tsp sugar and ¼ tsp white pepper powder. Mix well and set aside
You can mix the sauce together first or add them individually in Step 17. - In another container, add 1 tbsp cornstarch and 150 ml water to make the slurry. Mix well and set aside
- Bring a pot of water to a boil. Add carrots first since it’s denser unless you want your carrots to be crunchy. Boil carrots for 1 minute and then add other vegetables. Blanche for 1 minute. Remove from water and strain in colander
Blanching vegetables before stir-frying can help the vegetable retain its colour and it will reduce stir-frying time to preserve texture 
- Heat wok on high heat. Then add 5 tbsp oil
- Give the chicken one last mix and add to the wok. Arrange in single layer and leave it to cook for 1 minute or until slightly golden in colour
- Flip the chicken pieces over and cook for another minute or until slightly golden in colour. Stir-fry for another 30 seconds. Remove chicken from heat and leave the oil in the wok
- Put the ginger into the wok and stir-fry until ginger is golden. Add garlic and stir-fry until aromatic
- Add blanched vegetables to the wok. Stir-fry for 1 minute.
- Add the chicken back into the wok
- Add 2 tbsp Shaoxing wine around the side of the wok so that it trickles down to the bottom of the wok. Stir-fry for 1 minute.
By allowing the wine to touch the hot wok directly will release the aroma of the wine making your stir-fry much more flavourful. This is an important technique in Chinese cooking. You could also do this with soy sauce to bring out more flavour - Add the pre-mixed sauce to the chicken and stir-fry until fully mixed
Soy sauce can be added to the side of the wok for greater aroma but this is not recommended for oyster sauce and sugar because they will burn. I chose to pre-mix the sauces together for simplicity sake but you can add the sauces separately to enhance flavour - Taste test and make adjustments if necessary
- Stir the slurry and pour into the wok. Stir-fry until the sauce thickens
- Serve
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