AMERICAN CHOP SUEY

American Chop Suey, our very own classic

If there is a classic American dish, I think this is probably it. If you have 10 Americans in a room, no matter what the mix in demographics, my money is on the bet that every one in the room knows exactly what American chop suey is. No two cooks’ American chop suey tastes the same, even though most everyone is using essentially the same ingredients.

Do you have your own version ?

I was talking with a friend the other day (my oldest best friend Doreen), about getting ready to upload Ricky’s American chop suey recipe. I knew right away that the recipe was a non-starter for her when she immediately said “Well, I add tomato soup to mine, like my mother did”. Oh, perish the thought that we desecrate Doris’ time tested recipe!

Doreen is not alone. Many people I have talked to about how good this is recipe, steer the conversation to how they make their version. Like lots of other dinner cooks, I had my own version of American chop suey which got cast out after the first time I made Ricky’s recipe.

This recipe might be better

I don’t know if you have been following us, but I have already confessed that there are times when one of Ricky’s recipes will hit me right where it hurts; the demon ego.😡 Sometimes I struggle to accept my own conclusion, when I realize a recipe of his is easier than mine AND it TASTES BETTER! How silly is that? That’s exactly what I love about these recipes, very easy and delicious. It is acknowledging the “better than mine” part I have a hard time swallowing (pun intended😊). But here it is. Mine was good, but his is better.

As for Doreen, after brief consideration she tried Ricky’s recipe and she loved it. Her husband likes hers (Doris’s hand me down recipe) better, so they alternate which one they have when it’s time for American Chop Suey.

If you don’t have a recipe of your own for American chop suey, you hit it rich. You will never need another one. If you have a recipe of your own, but don’t mind trying new recipes of old favorites, give this a try. You too may abandon your old way of making American chop suey and adopt this recipe as your own. It is that good and that easy.

Anyone can make this recipe, anyone

The posting of this recipe is going to make good on a promise I made a couple of years ago. In a patch of woods located in New Hampshire, known as Effingham, I came to know a beautiful lady who goes by the nickname Sam. In conversation, she told me she had never learned how to cook. BINGO! I told her that she was our target audience; that Ricky’s recipes are great for those that are kitchen challenged. She said she might try making American chop suey when we posted it. Well, here it is, how about it Sam?

Here’s what YOU WILL NEED:

About ingredients

Ricky uses pasta shells for his American Chop Suey because they hold the sauce well. Of course, any pasta you have on hand will do, or stick with the classic elbow pasta. It’s all about the sauce!

Have you read about my homegrown herbs yet? The white bowl in the picture shows my dried oregano and dried basil. When I use my homegrown 🤭 in a recipe, I crush them by hand. There is a burst of aroma which is heavenly. They really pack some flavor. You can learn more about growing and using your own herbs in CLAUDIA’S COOKING TIPS. Look for Cooking with Herb and Back Porch Herb Garden and It’s Drying Time Again.

Why 85% ground beef

Do you know what it means when the label on ground beef shows a percentage on it? When a butcher is “grinding” hamburg, they are using lean beef and beef fat. They need to add the fat to add flavor, moistness and texture. The percentage on the label tells you how much of the meat in that package is lean beef. It follows then, that the rest of the grind is fat.

Next time you are in that section of the meat case, take a look at the difference in color between the packages of hamburg depending on the percentage of lean beef. The more lean meat in the mix, the more red it is. As the percentage of fat increases in the mix, the color gets lighter, which makes sense since the fat is white.

In this recipe we urge you to use 85% ground beef. That means 15% of the ground beef is the fat content. The rendered fat from the hamburg is a major factor in the flavor and texture of this sauce. Ricky has found that the 85% gives the best end result.

If you have to make a choice, due to the difference in the price of 85%, we would suggest you cut down to 1 pound of 85% ground beef, rather than decrease the lean meat content to 80% or 75%. If you do use 80% or 75%, the fat may not fully incorporate into the sauce, even after cooking for the full 1 1/2 hours. That doesn’t bother either of us, we mix it all in anyway. If you rather, you can spoon the excess fat from the sides of the skillet before adding it to the pasta.

This is WHAT TO DO:

It’s this easy

Chop

Chop the green pepper and onion.

Get the meat and vegetables in the skillet

Do not add any oil to the skillet. You don’t need it. Turn the stovetop to medium high heat. In a 10 or 12 inch heavy bottomed skillet add ground beef (broken by hand into large chunks), chopped green pepper and onion.

Cook & stir

Cook on medium high heat until most of the pink is gone from the ground beef. It will only take about 3 minutes. Stir frequently to prevent sticking. As you are stirring, with your spoon or spatula break large pieces of ground beef into smaller pieces. The ground beef breaks apart much easier when it is cooking than it does when it is raw. DO NOT drain the fat that has rendered, it will incorporate as you stir during cooking. The fat is a major part of the flavor.

Add the the rest

When the ground beef is just cooked through, not browned, add the canned crushed tomato, basil, oregano, salt and pepper.

Simmer

Mix the ingredients together, and bring the sauce to a boil. Turn the temperature down and simmer, covered, for a full 90 minutes (1 ½ hours). If your skillet doesn’t have a cover that fits tightly, use aluminum foil to cover the top. Keep the skillet covered except to stir a few times during cooking.

As the sauce cooks you will notice that the rendered fat has come to the top and puddles around the inside edges of the skillet. While you stir, you incorporate the rendered fat into the sauce. That is the key to what makes this sauce so irresistibly thick and rich.

Cook the pasta and mix the sauce in

Cook the pasta shells (or your favorite American chop suey pasta) according to package directions. When the pasta is fully cooked, drain it, put it back in the pan, add the sauce and mix it all together gently until the sauce is fully incorporated.

Serve