A delicious assortment of chopped Vegetables & thinly sliced velveted Chicken covered in a Chinese Clear Sauce or Chop Suey Sauce for a Beautiful & Simple Chicken Chop Suey! This recipe is done old school style where a thickened flavorful clear sauce with a bit of sweetness coats the vegetables.
Chicken Chop Suey Ingredients
Chicken Breast, Cornstarch, Oil (or rendered chicken fat), Vegetables (Napa, Carrot, Onion, Bean Sprouts, Green Onions), Chop Suey Sauce (Water, Bouillon cube, Potato Starch, Sugar, Salt, MSG, White Pepper, Cream of Tartar).
Thinly Sliced Chicken Breast
Use 1/2 lb. of Chicken Breast or one Chicken Breast sliced thinly across the grain. Then use as is or velvet the meat, which will cause the meat to cook up tender with a silky smooth exterior.
With thinly sliced Chicken Breast, You can blanch as is with no velveting or added ingredients. Another option is to Starch Velvet the chicken and then blanch. The below is 1 Tbl of Cornstarch & Shaoxing Wine with 1/2 tsp Sea Salt.
Rendered Chicken Fat
This is an optional extra step that I often go for whenever I can to elevate the chicken flavors. This step can be skipped with using a neutral oil. If you have previously saved any chicken trimming and skin, chop it into small pieces and render this out for the fat to stir-fry with.
If using the rendered fat, then blanch the Vegetables and Chicken first and set it aside. Then start rendering out the fat. Once the bits are crispy and browned, you can remove them and discard. Then the pan will be primed for stir-frying.
Chop Suey Vegetables
The vegetables in this Chicken Chop Suey include;
- Napa Cabbage – Chopped into 1 inch sections
- Carrots – Sliced on an angle into thin strips
- Onions – Sliced into Wedges or Strips
- Bean Sprouts – added very last
- Green Onions – Chopped or sliced with the green tops added very last with bean sprouts if including
- Celery is optional and is sliced thinly on an angle
While for me a Chicken Chop Suey should always contain Napa, Carrots and Onions. Everything else is optional and depends what you have on hand. There is a whole host of other vegetables that can go in and may include any of the following;
- Mushrooms
- Bok Choy
- Peppers
- Garlic
- Ginger
- Celery
- Cabbage
- Snap Peas or Snow Peas
- Baby Carrots
- Broccoli
- Water Chestnuts or Bamboo Shoots
Chicken Chop Suey Sauce
Use Chinese Clear Sauce for the Chop Suey Sauce. While the below image shows an already thickened Chinese Clear Sauce. The Clear Sauce in this recipe will thicken after you lower the heat and add it to the wok while mixing. Combine all the ingredinets together in a bowl and set aside until needed.
Adjust the consistency as you see fit by adding more water to thin it out or adding a slurry of equal parts Cold Water & Starch to thicken it.
How to make Chicken Chop Suey
Prepare and make a mise en place for Chicken Chop Suey.
Velveted Chicken
Place thinly sliced Chicken into a small bowl with Velveted ingredients and set aside.
- 1/2 lb or 1 Chicken Breast
- 1 Tbl Cornstarch & Shaoxing Wine, each
- 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
Chop Suey Sauce
Combine the below Chop Suey Sauce ingredients into a bowl and whisk.
- 1 1/2 C Water
- 2 Tbl Potato Starch
- 1 Maggi Chicken Bouillon Cube
- 1/2 Tbl Sugar or more
- 1/2 tsp Sea Salt & MSG, each
- 1/8 tsp Cream of Tartar & White Pepper
Simmered Vegetables
Add 5 Cups of Water to the wok and set over max heat to bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the Carrots & Celery and simmer for about 3 minutes or until tender before scooping out and setting aside.
Simmered Chicken
After removing the Vegetables, add the chicken and let cook while mixing for about 2–3 minutes. Just until no longer pink. Scoop out and place with the carrots and celery. Empty the water and clean the wok.
Stir Fry Onions & Napa
Add Oil to the Wok while over max heat and add the Onions & Napa to stir-fry for about 3 minutes. Add the white parts of the Green Onions and lower the heat to medium.
If using rendered chicken fat, render it here before the vegetables over medium to medium low heat. Once crispy discard the crackling and add the above vegetables to stir-fry over max heat.
Chop Suey Sauce
Add the Carrots, Celery, Chicken, Tops of Green Onions, Bean Sprouts and Chop Suey sauce and mix well until fully thickened and serve right away.
The below image is Chicken Chop Suey with Sweet & Sour Boneless Pork Wings and Shrimp Fried Rice.
Ingredients
- 1/2 lb. Chicken Breast - or 1 Chicken Breast
- 2 Tbl Neutral Oil
- 1 Tbl Cornstarch & Shaoxing Wine - each, for velveting the chicken
- 1/2 tsp Sea Salt
- 5 C Water - for simmering vegetables
Chop Suey Sauce
- 1 1/2 C Water
- 2 tsp Knorr Chicken Broth Powder
- 1/2 Tbl Sugar - or more
- 1/2 tsp Sea Salt & MSG
- 1/8 tsp White Pepper & Cream of Tartar
Slurry
- 2 Tbl Potato Starch & Cold Water - each, mix well and again before using
Vegetables
- 8 Leaves Napa Cabbage - Chopped 1 inch
- 1 Large Onion - Sliced into Wedges
- 1-2 Carrots - Sliced thin on an angle
- Handful of Bean Sprouts - Added Last
- 1-2 Stalks Green Onions - Chopped into 1-2 inch sections, added Last
- 1-2 Stalks Celery - Optional
Instructions
- Velveted Chicken: Combine the Cornstarch & Shaoxing Wine together in a bowl and add the thinly sliced Chicken to toss and mix. Set aside. Combine into another bowl the Chop Suey Sauce and mix.
- Hard Vegetables: Add 5 Cups of water to the wok and bring to a boil. Add hard cooked vegetables (Carrots, and Celery if including) and boil until just tender, check the tenderness, it should just be done, about 3 minutes. Scoop out and set aside.
- Simmered Chicken: Add the Chicken to the boiling water and mix. Simmer for 2–3 minutes, or until no longer pink. Scoop out and set aside. Empty the water out and clean the wok.
- Stir Frying: Heat the wok up over max heat and wait until it starts to smoke. Add the fat and immediately follow with quick cook vegetables (Napa & Onion) and stir-fry for about 3 minutes or until tender to your liking. Keep it moving.
- Chop Suey: Drop the heat to medium and add the previously boiled vegetables, chicken, along with green onions and bean sprouts to mix through. Add the Chop Suey sauce and continue to mix until thickened, serve right away.