chop suey

noun

Etymology: From Cantonese 雜碎／杂碎 (zaap⁶ seoi³, “mixed and broken”).

1. A stir-fried vegetable dish, served with pieces of beef or pork in a semi-thick sauce, and often soy sauce.

   “On the walls about were the hieroglyphic markings of the craft. Across this scene wafted the pungent fragrance of chop suey, dim sims and other delicacies in course of preparation for the funeral feast.”

   “There was feasting and joy from Shanghai to the Wall, What with dim-sims, chop-suey and crackers and all, And the donor of these, by the hook of my crook. Was Chiang Ki-Konglong, the Mandarin Cook.”

2. Steamed bean sprouts served in a semi-thick sauce, and mixed with a choice of meat and/or vegetables.

   “To someone who had spent part of their youth visiting a grandmother in Singapore, a lot of the food they served didn’t seem particularly Chinese to me: the flavour of chop suey with its chicken or pork or prawns, or chow mein, or the omeletty foo yung, never seemed quite right.”