Food Porn: American Chop Suey

By T. Fargo

Original post from Newsvine published Fri Apr 18, 2014 8:21 AM

    What is chop suey? In Chinese, the two characters for chop suey are pronounced "tsa sui" in Mandarin or in Cantonese "shap sui," meaning "mixed small bits" or "odds and ends." As a culinary term, shap sui refers to a kind of stew made of many different ingredients mixed together.  In New England there is a regional comfort food version of the Chinese original and aside from the name, there is really nothing Chinese about it.  It is a simple dish, hearty and tasty.

  The list of ingredients is pretty simple and readily available and should be shared with any prospective collage student, it could save their life.  Okay, maybe not, but this dish can be easily warmed up on a dorm room hot plate.  Recipe nuances do vary from one area of New England to another, but the basics are always the same:  Beef, tomatoes and macaroni.  Here's my approach:

Mise en place

Chopped peeled Romas, onions and garlic sweating it out, water boiling for macaroni- Hey! Macaroni!

• 1 pound macaroni cooked al dente and cooled
• 3 Tbsp butter or olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• 1 or 2 cloves Garlic, minced
• 35 oz can stewed or peeled tomatoes
• 1 can tomato soup
• 1 pound of lean ground beef 
• 1 1/2 tsp dry Basil
• 1 1/2 tsp dry Oregano
• Kosher salt to taste
• 1 tsp coarse ground black pepper
• 1 Tbsp sugar

Method

  In a large skillet place the butter or oil, the onion and garlic.  Turn heat on medium high and sweat out the vegetables.  Add in the hamburger, salt and pepper and fry until all pink is gone.  Add the dry herbs.  If you have whole peeled tomatoes, chop them into large chunks and add to the meat with all remaining juice.  Stir in the can of tomato soup, add sugar and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.  Adjust seasoning as desired.  Pour macaroni over meat mixture, stir to combine and serve immediately.  

If the dish will not be consumed immediately, place desired amount of macaroni in a bowl and spoon some meat mixture over the top.  Keeping the two separate prevents the macaroni from becoming mealy.

  I like to top mine with some Pecorino or Parmesean and dig in with a large spoon.  The macaroni glistens with a pale scarlet juice. The smell of meat and herbs meets my nostrils with flare.  I place a spoon full into my mouth.  The brightness of the tomato is tempered by the sweetness of the soup and sugar.  The macaroni holds the flavorful juice that squeezes out with every chew.  The satisfaction upon completion is rewarding with the repleteness of my belly.  I have the energy now to carry on to the next episode of Food Porn.