CHOP SUEY

Chop Suey ( Filipino style )

Hello friends and foes, it's another weekend so another great occasion for my cooking talent to show off and get punched in the face during the ending credits of this awesome sarap recipe I have prepared for the week. After the resounding success we had last time with the aluminum filled Embutido  ( I ate it alone and it lasted for 5 days!),  this time R advised to go through a metal cleansing diet of vegetables. That's why she thought an easy to prepare classic Chop Suey would be perfect since it will allow me to get to know better my vegetables and make friends with vitamins (as she thinks i need to socialize more) . Well, little did she know that frozen vegetables are on sale this week so that makes my life way easier since no chopping is involved! But for the sake of the recipe we will still chop some stuff ( we wouldn't Suey would be unhappy ). Now, I don't know who Suey is but I guess she/he was important enough to have a dish named after her/him, so if the name was trademarked she/he's probably rich ( Suey, in case you are reading this, there's tons of space for sponsor paid adds on this blog! Also, Pie's mangos are tasty!)

So, with Suey's approval,  we are going to start this awesome recipe.

Now , in order to get into the mood for cooking, first call your mom and ask her how bad your Chinese horoscope is for this year. After you get depressed enough, go outside and buy the frozen vegetables,a bag of California mix and one of Asian Style stir fry mix,  because nothing says Chop Suey as and asian american blend of vegetables! If you are based in Canada, just buy normal vegetables and stay outside the shop for 5 minutes trying to catch a pokemon, the result will be the same: fresh frozen vegetables (and a cold for you). 

Now that the most difficult part is done, let's see how to prepare this filipino style!

First get 1 kg of sugar and pour it inside a pot of water.. naaaah, I'm kidding, we only put 1/2 kg of sugar. Ok, kidding again, no sugar, that's not what filipino cooking is about! ... Or at least this particular one. Why? Because, hidden deep in the darkness of the kitchen cupboard I didn't explore since last year, lies a pack of Mamacita's easy to prepare gravy sauce for chop suey and pancit canton ( thank you R!)! Well, now that this is taken care of , my job actually became a walk in the park, so I'll jog you through it ! (Jokes aside though, what makes this recipe filipino style is the fact that you can put everything you find in the fridge inside. The gravy will do an awesome job on blending all ingredients into an homogeneous taste and flavor which will make your stomach jump of joy as on your first day of marriage.)

Anyway, let's start by letting a cup of red rice quietly cook on a corner of the stove, while:

Step 1: name an onion Suey and chop it while crying loudly in the process ( I never learn, do I)

Step 2: get some garlic and repeat step 1. If pieces are to big, repeat step 1 again but don't get stuck in a crying loop.

Step 3: I didn't mention before , but you have a choice : the blue pill - tofu raw cheese that will end the story, let you wake up in your own bed and believe what you want to believe about your dish, or the red pill: chicken and liver, which will get you to wonderland and show you how deep the cooking pot really goes. Now, if you're a filipino, you'll probably throw both pills inside the pot and add some hotdogs to top it up because that's how one should really deal with crushing life decisions.

Step 4: go back to step 3 and also add the onion and garlic from step 2 and 1 to the pot, along with tasty coconut oil ( for flavor and healthy amino-acids)

Step 5:it's time for vegetables! The recipe states that veggies should be simmered a bit and then placed in iced water to preserve colors ! Now, since we already use ice frozen vegetables I figure we can skip that part so we just toss them in the pot on top of the other stuff!

Step 6: prepare the Mamamcita's chop suey gravy mix! How? easy enough, with a touch of improv: mix the mix with water and passion and add some of the awesome breadcrumbs ( italian style) left from last week's cooking - Yum! ( I did that instead of corn starch to make the sauce a bit more solid)

Step 7: Remove the plastic cover and toss the gravy on top of step 5 and watch the magic happen: flavors are mixing together in a magic blend of smell and color that would make your mouth water with great expectations!

Meanwhile: At any point during your mouth watering process, take a moment to be thankful for the awesome people in your life and also boil some quail eggs . As such, I deployed 5 normal chicken eggs in a very small pot because size doesn't matter! so small or big ( eggs) quail or chicken, we make no racial differences when it comes to a politically correct chop suey, and that's a good guideline for your general life conduct: live your life as you would do your chop suey, colorful, frozen and healthy.

Also, if you didn't before, check the rice pot and realize you didn't turn the stove on, so this is a good time to do so. And in case you chose the chicken red pill at step 3, add a cube of concentrate inside the rice also, will be wonderfully complementing the main dish taste.

And that's how it all ends, not with a bang but with a pot not big enough to accommodate all the stuff you've put inside ( because size doesn't matter) .

Serve it on a dish with rice, egg and happiness, and always remember those words : during step 7 you should have also added 2 spoons of oyster sauce and pepper! Also you need some cabbage. Sarap! mmmMMMMMmmmm!