American Chopsuey

By Prasanna Hede @savorybites0411

My loved dish whenever I visit any Indo - Chinese Restaurant.
I was a fan of such awesome dishes since childhood, when every weekend we used to go out in restaurants and hog whole meal consisting of dishes of different styles and cuisines.

I started developing this taste because of my sister. My parents on the other hand do not prefer to eat dishes which are tangy /saucy or milder in taste but they would love a fish or chicken Malvani or Maharashtrian or Goan thali :)

For me a wholesome bowl of chopsuey or stir-fried noodles or fried rice and these days even pasta would be so filling that I would not look at anything else after that!!

My kid on the other hand does not have any interest in these dishes, she loves a proper Goan meal...rice,sol kadi and fish fried :)
I am keeping my fingers crossed that she will develop the taste for these too :)

Well, I tried this dish with chicken, you can skip the chicken part and go for a vegetarian option and enjoy it!!

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 Cup Chicken, Shredded
  • 1/8 Cup Spring Onion, Chopped
  • 1/4 Cup Carrot, Shredded
  • 1/4 Cup Cabbage, Shredded
  • 1/4 Cup Capsicum, Shredded
  • 1 Tsp Black Pepper Powder
  • 2 Tbsp Ginger Paste or Shredded
  • 1 Cup Chicken Stock
  • 2 & 1/2 Tbsp Tomato Ketchup
  • 3 & 1/2 Tbsp Hot and Sweet Chili Sauce
  • 1/2 Tsp Sugar
  • 1 Tbsp Vinegar
  • 1 Tbsp Soy Sauce
  • Salt as per taste
  • 1 Tbsp Cornstarch , dissolved in 1/2 Cup Water
  • 170 gms Noodles or Chow mein
  • Oil as per need
  • 1 Egg, optional


Method:

  • In a pan, add sufficient water, when water boils, add little salt and cook chow mein until done.
  • Drain and keep aside. Rub a tbsp oil on chow mein.
  • To prepare sauce, in a pan, add 2 tbsp oil, add all vegetables,ginger paste and chicken and fry for 5 mins.
  • Add salt to it and fry for some time.
  • Add chicken stock, cornstarch mixture,all sauces, pepper powder, vinegar, sugar and cook till chicken is well cooked.
  • If you need more gravy then add more water and adjust the sauces accordingly.
  • Form nests from the cooked chow mein.

  • In a wide bottom pan, add sufficient oil and shallow fry the nests till the noodles are crisp.
  • For serving, in a serving bowl, place crisp noodles,pour sauce on the noodles.
  • Optionally, place a sunny side up egg on chopsuey.
  • Serve hot!!

Tips:

  • If you do not have chicken stock then you can skip it and instead use vegetable stock or just water but adjust sauces accordingly.
  • The chow mein is usually deep fried but I opted for shallow fry version. This one take a little longer than deep fry option as it takes a while to fry the noodles till crisp with very less oil.
  • If you do not want to use chicken and make this vegetarian dish then skip the shredded chicken and chicken stock, instead use vegetable stock and increase the quantity of vegetables.
  • You can serve this with sunny side up egg or skip it. I have not prepared that as I prefer chopsuey as it is.

Enjoy Eating!!