Others claim the Ambassador often suffered acute indigestion after being plied with rich foods at obligatory banquets. They say he devised this dish to appeal to both American and Oriental taste. Some believe chop suey has a New York City origin, and go so far as to claim it was invented in 1896 by Chinese Ambassador Li Hung-ChangвЂ™s chef. That nightвЂ™s menu proved unpalatable to him, so he excused himself from the table and whipped up his own dish out of whatever he could find in the White House kitchen. (Parents everywhere have learned this trick - when all else fails, throw everything that doesnвЂ™t move too fast into one bowl, mix, heat, and christen it with an exotic name like вЂњIndians on the War PathвЂќ or вЂњFootball Fiesta Surprise.вЂќ Kids will then eat it, no matter what horrible thing it contains.)ДЄnother вЂњoriginвЂќ claims a uniquely-mannered Chinese man was invited to the White House for dinner. When all the food they had to cook for dinner was an array of leftover odds and ends, they cooked it all together and called it chop suey. Yet another squares the responsibility on the shoulders of immigrant Chinese cooks charged with feeding laborers on the Pacific Railroad in California in the mid-1800s. Not knowing any better, those being insulted loved the dish, and much to the amused bewilderment of their tormentors, returned time and again to order it.ДЄnother account credits a resourceful cook who whipped up a dish of leftover meat and vegetables to placate a group of drunken miners. According to a favored bit of lore, chop suey is a mispronounciation of вЂњchopped sewage,вЂќ an angered Chinese cook having mixed together the dayвЂ™s garbage in a bit of broth and presented it to San Francisco restaurant patrons whoвЂ™d earned his ire. Its origins are as mysterious as the dish itself is guileless. Whatever is added, the underlying integrity of the dish is never compromised - chop suey must always be bland. Different regions add in other ingredients, with bean sprouts made part of the offering in one area, and sliced water chestnut and bamboo shoots another. (Which right there should tell you this dish probably isnвЂ™t authentically Chinese - the Chinese would not dishonor honest vegetables so.) This popular menu item traditionally incorporates celery, onion, and thin noodles in a starchy sauce barely touched by soy sauce. is a bland mixture of overcooked vegetables. In the case of chop suey, this expectation may be misplaced.Д¬hop suey as served in the U.S. Not everything offered on a typical Chinese menu is authentically Chinese, but a presumption has grown that at least the major items of fare are.

S.o.a.d. chop suey