Chop Suey - modified to be Mamoy-friendly

According to Wikipedia, Chop suey (Chinese for 'mixed pieces') is an American-Chinese dish consisting of meats (often chicken, beef, shrimp or pork), cooked quickly with vegetables such as bean sprouts, cabbage, and celery and bound in a starch-thickened sauce. It is typically served with rice but can become the Chinese-American form of chow mein with the addition of deep-fried noodles.

Chop suey is part of American Chinese cuisine, Canadian Chinese cuisine, and, more recently, Indian Chinese cuisine. Filipinos also have their own version of chop suey. The typical Filipino-Chinese variation includes ear fungus (also known as tenga ng daga in Tagalog; lit. ear of the rat), carrots and chayote along with the cabbage. Some may even include bell peppers and/or cauliflower. --> ear fungus?!! Well, it may sound ick but tenga ng daga is indeed a staple in the Pinoy version of this dish. My version is way, way simpler so no ear fungus for me.

Here is the recipe that I used for last night's dinner:

Ingredients:
1 pc chicken breast
1/2 head of cabbage
2 medium carrots
10 pcs of baguio beans
1 can of pre-cut baby corn, drained
1 dozen quail eggs
2 tbsp minced garlic
1 small onion, peeled and thinly sliced
3 tbsp soy sauce ( I used Kikkoman ss)
3 tbsp oyster sauce (Kikkoman too, I love this brand)
2 tsp vegetable oil (I used Golden Fiesta)
3/4 cup of water
salt and pepper, as needed


Preparation:
Cut the chicken into thin strips about 1/4" wide (I opted for chicken because that's what we have in the refrigerator then). Sprinkle the chicken with salt.

Trim the ends and sides of the baguio beans then cut into inch long pieces. Set aside.

Core and shred the cabbage into 1/2" wide strips.

Peel the carrots and cut into rings about 1/8" thick.

Hard-boil and shell the quail eggs.

Combine water, soy sauce, and oyster sauce.

Heat the cooking oil in a skillet (or a wok) until it starts to smoke. Saute the garlic and onions. Add the chicken pieces and stir-fry over high heat for about 3-4 minutes.

Add the carrots, baguio beans, and corn to the meat and continue stir-frying for about 2 minutes.
Add the cabbage and continue cooking over high heat, tossing until the cabbage begins to wilt.

Finally, add the quail eggs and water-sauce mix. Season with salt and pepper.


The verdict:

The Chop suey turned out pretty well. Of course, it wasn't restaurant caliber but for a 20-minute dish with limited ingredients and very little preparation required, it tasted good. I didn't use too much salt and pepper, and no cornstarch either (to make the sauce thick) because I needed the dish to be kinda soupy. We need a lot of broth for my baby's food. He liked it! Yey! My carnivore hubby liked it too. Miracles do happen. :)