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American Chop Suey
1/2 cup onions, chopped and cooked a light brown in oil 1/2 cup celery, cut into small pieces and stewed 1/2 hour 1/2 cup cooked mushrooms, cut into small pieces 1 cup boiled rice 1/4 cup brown sauce 1 teaspoon salt 1/4 teaspoon thyme To make the brown sauce, cook one tablespoon flour in one-half tablespoon oil till brown, stir in one-fourth cup of the water in which the celery was cooked and two teaspoons of tomato juice. Mix the remaining ingredients with this sauce, and heat together in a double boiler.
A meatless vegetable-and-rice dish bound with a small brown roux sauce, from the era when "chop suey" meant any savoury mixture of chopped vegetables served over or with rice. The whole thing hinges on the roux: it must be cooked to a genuine nut brown or the finished dish tastes of raw flour.
- The brown sauceOne tablespoon flour to half a tablespoon oil is a very dry roux; stir it constantly over medium heat until it smells toasted and turns the colour of weak coffee, three to five minutes. Add the celery water off the heat to avoid lumps.
- Save the celery waterThe recipe assumes you have kept the cooking liquid from the celery, so do not drain it away. If it has gone, use a light vegetable stock rather than plain water, or the sauce will taste of nothing but flour.
- Celery timingHalf an hour of stewing is longer than modern celery needs, and may reflect a coarser, stringier product. Fifteen minutes at a bare simmer gives tender pieces and still yields enough flavoured liquid for the sauce.
- Mushrooms"Cooked mushrooms" here could mean tinned or simply stewed ones. Sliced button or cremini sauteed in a little oil until they have released and reabsorbed their moisture will give more flavour than boiling.
- Tomato juiceTwo teaspoons is for colour and a touch of acid, not tomato flavour. Tomato passata or a scant half teaspoon of tomato paste loosened with water does the same job.
- Double boilerUsed here only to warm the mixture through without scorching the thin sauce. A heavy saucepan over low heat, stirred, works as well; the quantity of sauce is small and catches easily.
- SeasoningA full teaspoon of salt is generous for this volume, particularly if the celery water was already salted. Add half, then taste at the end.
- YieldAbout three cups in total, enough for two as a light main or four as a side. It is a moist vegetable hash rather than a soup.