American Chopsuey is a big Indo-Chinese favorite - it’s hard not to like this one! You just can’t go wrong with crispy noodles topped with a sweet, spicy, and tangy vegetable stir fry gravy.
I am a sucker for Indo-Chinese recipes! American chopsuey is one of my childhood favorites. I just love the gravy, which, combined with crunchy noodles, hits all the right notes - sweet, salty, tangy, crunchy.
In China, a chop suey is a simple vegetable stir fry with sauce. When this came to India, it was Indianised and served with crispy fried noodles - a genius addition that takes this stir fry to another level.
The best chop suey is served fresh, with the vegetables still crunchy. That’s why I prefer to make it at home and serve it right away. It might sound complicated, but it actually comes together in just 15 minutes once you’ve prepped everything.
Making American chopsuey at home gives me the assurance that my dish has been made using the best quality frying oil and fresh vegetables. Sometimes I feel like I’ve turned into my mom - always wanting to make sure my family gets the freshest food without compromising on taste. Who else?
- Only 30 minutes - and the prep takes the longest. Use a food processor to make quick work of all the chopping
- It packs in a lot of veggies - perfect for kids!
- It doesn’t require any exotic grocery shopping - very pantry friendly. Use what you have in the fridge
- So versatile - add some paneer, chicken or even seafood. Use the veggies you have at hand. Only don’t change anything about the lip smacking sweet and sour sauce!
Ingredients You'll Need
- Fried Noodles: So easy to make at home - I even have a fried noodle recipe for you to try. Or take a shortcut and just buy pre fried noodles. Also make extras because these disappear fast!
- Veggies: Chop suey is pretty versatile so you can add any veggies you have at hand. Thinly chopped carrots, capsicum, bell peppers, mushrooms, cabbage and onions work well in chop suey.
- Tomato Ketchup: This adds a tangy and sweet flavor to the stir fry - giving it that classic Indo-Chinese taste.
- Sriracha Sauce: A little bit of sriracha goes a long way in this recipe! I love the faint heat that it adds. If you don’t have sriracha, you can replace it with any red chili sauce.
- Soy Sauce: Either naturally fermented or naturally brewed soy sauce will work here. This gives the gravy that lovely brown color and adds umami to the dish.
- Corn Flour: For coating the noodles and thickening our stir fry sauce.
- Lime Juice: For tanginess! Don’t skip this!
- Sugar: Adding a little sugar balances out the other flavors, making this gravy super yum!
How to make American Chopsuey
- Bring water with salt to a boil in a saucepan or pot. Bring it to a boil and add noodles. Cook it according to package instructions or until al dente. If following package instructions, reeduce the cooking time by 60 seconds, this will help you judge the doneness of the noodles before it’s too late. I cooked them for 2 minutes in boiling water.
2. Drain the noodles and transfer onto a kitchen towl and air dry them, allowing the moisture to evaporate or get absorbed. Once the noodles are dry, sprinkle some corn flour and set aside. Heat oil in a pan and deep fry the noodles until golden brown. Remove from oil and transfer onto a plate lined with tissue.
3. Saute garlic and ginger with a tablespoon of oil in a wok or kadai on high heat until fragrant. Add onions and saute for 1-2 minutes. Add cabbage, bell peppers, carrot and beans. Saute on high for 2-3 minutes while stirring continuously.
4. Add ketchup, red chilli sauce/sriracha, salt, pepper, soy sauce, sugar and toss to combine.
5. Combine corn flour with 2-3 tablespoons of water and add it to the wok. Stir to combine and ensure there are no lumps.
6. Add 1 ½ cups of water and mix to combine. Bring the sauce to a boil and reduce the heat to a simmer.
7. Cook for 3-4 minutes or until desired thickness is achieved. You can add more water to adjust the consistency according to your liking.
8. Serve the gravy hot over fried noodles!
Richa's Top Tips:
Preparation: Make sure all the veggies are prepped and ready to go as Chinese stir fries cook really quickly!
Chopping: Cut the veggies into thick juliennes or strips (as shown) so that they don’t go soggy too fast and stay crisp.
Lime Juice: This is an important element to the sauce as the tanginess really helps balance out the other flavours, but it should be added right at the end to keep its freshness.
Serving: Once you pour the gravy over crispy noodles, serve this immediately so that the noodles do not become soggy. You can serve separate gravy bowls for whoever is eating to pour themselves.
Air Fryer Noodles: We tested air frying and deep frying the noodles because they were the only ‘unhealthy’ element of this dish. And honestly, we couldn’t tell the difference. Find the method for deep frying noodles in the recipe notes below.
Watch the Recipe Video
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American Chop Suey
Ingredients
Fried Noodles
- 150 Grams Hakka Noodles
- 4 Cups Water
- 1 Teaspoon Salt Or Add As Required
- 1.5 Tablespoons Corn Flour or Corn Starch
- Oil As Required For Deep Frying
American Chop Suey Sauce
- 1 Tablespoon Oil
- 1 Teaspoon Finely Chopped Ginger
- 1 Teaspoon Finely Chopped Garlic
- ¼ Cup Sliced Onions approximately
- ½ Cup Julienned Carrot
- ½ Cup Sliced Bell Peppers yellow and red
- ½ Cup Shredded Cabbage
- ¼ Cup Chopped Spring Onions green part cut into 1 inch pieces
- 4 Tablespoons Tomato Ketchup
- 2 Tablespoon Soy Sauce Naturally Fermented Or Naturally Brewed
- 2 Tablespoon Red Chilli Sauce or Sriracha
- ½ Teaspoon Black Pepper Powder
- 2 Tablespoons Cornflour
- 2 - 2 ½ Cups Water
- 2 Teaspoons Sugar
- 2-3 Green chillies finely chopped
- Juice Of 1 Lime
- Salt As Required
- Chopped Spring Onions For Garnish
Instructions
Fried Noodles
- Boil the noodles with salt and a teaspoon of oil till al dente. My rule of thumb is to boil the noodles for 60 seconds less than the package instructions.
- Immediately drain them in a colander and wash them thoroughly with cold water.
- Once they are completely drained, spread them out in an even layer on a sheet or parchment paper and leave them out to dry for 30 minutes.
- After 30 minutes, sprinkle the noodles with cornflour and toss them well.
- Heat oil in a cast iron skillet or frying pan till it starts shimmering (350F/ 180C). You can drop a small piece of noodle in the oil to check if it's hot enough. If there is no movement in the oil when you drop the noodle, it's not hot enough.
- Keep the heat to medium high, and add a handful of noodles to the oil, spreading them out. Deep fry them for 2-3 minutes till they are a deep golden brown. Do this in batches so that the temperature of the oil does not drop down significantly once you add the noodles.
- Drain them out on some tissue paper and let them cool completely before using. Keep aside.
American Chop Suey Sauce
- Heat oil in a wok or kadai and add ginger and garlic. Stir fry for 30 seconds or until fragrant.
- Add onions, carrots and capsicum and stir fry on high heat for 1-2 minutes or until onions are translucent. Add cabbage, spring onions and bok choy and stir fry again for 1-2 minutes on high heat.
- Add tomato sauce, soy sauce, red chilli sauce, black pepper powder and sugar and mix well until combined.
- Combine corn flour and water in a bowl and add to the wok. Add green chillies and continue stirring until the sauce thickens and comes to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 3-4 minutes or until desired consistency has been reached.
- Add lime juice. Sprinkle with spring onion greens and serve hot on top of fried noodles.
Video
Notes
- Preparation: Make sure all the veggies are prepped and ready to go as Chinese stir fries cook really quickly!
- Chopping: Cut the veggies into thick juliennes or strips (as shown) so that they don’t go soggy too fast and stay crisp.
- Lime Juice: This is an important element to the sauce as the tanginess really helps balance out the other flavours, but it should be added right at the end to keep its freshness.
- Serving: Once you pour the gravy over crispy noodles, serve this immediately so that the noodles do not become soggy. You can serve separate gravy bowls for whoever is eating to pour themselves.
- Air Fryer Noodles: We tested air frying and deep frying the noodles because they were the only ‘unhealthy’ element of this dish. And honestly, we couldn’t tell the difference. Find the method for deep frying noodles in the recipe notes below.
Nutrition
Conclusion:
The next time you’re craving something crunchy, tangy, spicy, and sweet, you know what to make! This veg chop suey recipe will definitely make your belly and heart full. There’s nothing like cooking up those childhood favorite meals!
You can check out my detailed blog post on Crispy Fried Noodles to ace them on the first go. If you like the crunch of fried noodles, you have got to try the Mumbai favorite Thread Paneer.
Another tangy and spicy favorite of mine is Chicken Manchow Soup, topped with crispy fried noodles.
Ruth W. Thomas says
This recipe is truly amazing. I tried it and it turned out very nice.
Rishika Komarla says
Thank YOU! 🙂
Vashishti says
Thanks for sharing the recipe