Chop Suey is a quick and easy stir-fry perfect for busy weeknights. With chicken, quail eggs, tender-crisp vegetables, and flavorful sauce, it's nutritious as it is delicious!
Want a quick and easy meal that's as tasty as healthy? Chop Suey needs to be on your regular meal rotation!
- It tastes as good as it looks! This vegetable dish is a festive and delicious addition to family dinners or special occasions.
- It's packed with vitamins and minerals for a healthy and nutritious meal you'll feel good serving the whole family.
- It's quick and easy to make in under an hour.
- It's economical with simple, budget-friendly ingredients.
What is Chop Suey
Chop Suey, which means "assorted pieces," is a stir-fry dish popular in Chinese cooking. It traditionally includes bite-sized meat and assorted vegetable flash-cooked in a starch-thickened sauce.
Ingredient notes
The beauty of this recipe is you can use whatever vegetables and protein you have on hand. Check out the suggestion list below and pick your favorite combination!
- Vegetables-broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, carrots, baby corn, chayote, snow peas, bok choy, bamboo shoots, mushrooms, bean sprouts, bell peppers are great options to use
- Protein- chicken, pork, beef, shrimp, fish cakes/fish balls, kikiam, scallops, liver, gizzards, quail eggs, and fried tofu like in this chop suey with shiitake mushroom recipe.
- Sauce- use reserve liquid from poaching the vegetables. Flavor with oyster sauce and thicken with cornstarch.
Chop suey cooking process
- Blanch vegetables in salted boiling water until tender-crisp and submerge in a bowl of iced water until completely cool. Drain well lest the excess liquid will thin out the sauce. Reserve 2 cups of the poaching liquid (the one used to blanch vegetables).
- Fry liver a wide pan over medium heat until lightly browned but not fully cooked. Remove and keep warm. Saute onions and garlic in the pan until softened. Add chicken and cook, stirring regularly, until color changes.
- In a bowl, combine the reserved poaching liquid and oyster sauce. Add to the pan and bring to a boil.
- Cook, skimming scum that may float on top, for about 4 to 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through. Add the liver and cook for 1 to 2 minutes. Add parboiled vegetables, baby corn, and quail eggs and cook until heated through.
- In a bowl, combine ¼ cup of cold water and corn starch and stir until corn starch is dissolved. Add mixture to the pan, stirring gently. Cook for about 1 to 2 minutes or until sauce is thickened.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Stir to combine.
Helpful tips
- Cut the ingredients in uniform sizes to ensure even cooking.
- Do not skip parboiling the vegetables. Blanching in boiling salted water and then shocking them in an ice bath help maintain vibrant colors and crisp texture.
- Use a wok or wide pan to allow good distribution of ingredients and prevent overcrowding which can result in a soggy texture.
How to serve and store
- Chop suey is traditionally served for lunch or dinner and enjoyed with steamed rice, grilled pork belly, or fried fish.
- Cool leftovers completely and transfer to an airtight container. Refrigerate for up to 3 days. The dish doesn't freeze well, as frozen and thawed vegetables turn mushy.
- Reheat in a wide pan over medium heat to 165 F.
More vegetable recipes? Make this crispy pinakbet; it's a favorite at our house. Or try this flavor and nutrient-packed laswa.
Chop Suey with chicken, quail eggs, and tender-crisp vegetables is nutritious as it is delicious! This stir-fry is easy to make for busy weeknights and delicious on its own or with steamed rice.
Course: Side Dish
Servings
Ingredients
- 1 large carrot, peeled and sliced on a bias into ¼-inch thick
- ½ broccoli, cut into florets
- ½ cauliflower, cut into florets
- ½ cabbage, cut into 1-inch thick strips
- ½ red bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips
- ½ bell pepper, seeded and cut into strips
- 3 tablespoons canola oil
- ¼ pound chicken liver, cut thin strips
- 1 onion, peeled and sliced
- 2 cloves garlic, peeled and minced
- ½ pound chicken thigh fillets, cut into thin strips
- 2 cups poaching liquid (reserved from parboiling the vegetables)
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 5 pieces baby corn, halved crosswise
- 6 hardboiled quail eggs, peeled
- ¼ cup water
- 1 tablespoon corn starch
- salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Fill a bowl halfway with ice and enough water to cover ice. Add ½ teaspoon salt for each quart of water. Set aside.
- In a saucepan over medium heat, bring 3 cups of salted water to a boil. Add carrots and cook for about 1 minute or until half done. With a slotted spoon, remove from pan and plunge into bowl of ice bath.
- Add broccoli and cauliflower to the boiling water and cook for about 2 to 3 minutes or until half-done. With a slotted spoon, remove from pan and plunge into the ice bath.
- Add cabbage to the boiling water and cook for about 30 seconds or until half-done. With a slotted spoon, remove from pan and plunge into the ice bath.
- Add peppers to the boiling water and cook for about 30 seconds or until half-done. With a slotted spoon, remove from pan and plunge into the ice bath.
- Reserve 2 cups of the poaching liquid (the one used to blanch vegetables).
- Drain vegetables from the ice bath when they are cold.
- In a wok or wide skillet over medium heat, heat about 2 tablespoons of the oil.
- Add chicken liver in a single layer and fry until lightly browned on all sides but not fully cooked. Remove from pan and keep warm.
- Discard excess oil and wipe down the pan. Add the remaining 1 tablespoon of oil and heat.
- Add onions and garlic and cook until softened.
- Add chicken and cook, stirring regularly, until color changes.
- In a bowl, combine the reserved poaching liquid and oyster sauce. Add to the pan and bring to a boil. Continue to cook, skimming scum that may float on top, for about 4 to 5 minutes or until chicken is cooked through.
- Add the liver and cook for 1 to 2 minutes.
- Add parboiled vegetables, baby corn, and quail eggs, stirring gently to combine, and cook for about 3 to 5 minutes.
- In a bowl, combine ¼ cup of cold water and corn starch and stir until corn starch is dissolved. Add mixture to the pan, stirring gently. Cook for about 1 to 2 minutes or until sauce is thickened.
- Season with salt and pepper to taste. Serve hot.
Notes
- Cut the ingredients in uniform sizes to ensure even cooking.
- Drain the parboiled vegetables well lest the excess liquid will thin out the sauce.
- Use a wok or wide pan to allow good distribution of ingredients and prevent overcrowding which can result in a soggy texture.
Video
Nutrition Information
Calories: 236kcal, Carbohydrates: 20g, Protein: 13g, Fat: 12g, Saturated Fat: 2g, Cholesterol: 169mg, Sodium: 368mg, Potassium: 810mg, Fiber: 6g, Sugar: 7g, Vitamin A: 4720IU, Vitamin C: 165.6mg, Calcium: 103mg, Iron: 2.6mg
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
MARILYN SANTOS GABRIEL says
Tamang tama i will cook chopsuey today