Sugarlace

Chinese cooking is an integral part of Filipino cuisine. Alot of Filipino dishes have a Chinese element – may it be in the origin of the dish, ingredients, the manner in which the food is cooked, or the actual name of the dish. It is fair to say that mainstream Filipino dishes have been heavily influenced by a concoction of different cultures, including Chinese, Spanish, Malay, and good old American.

I grew loving this vegetable dish, Chopsuey. It’s a Chinese dish adopted by Filipino cuisine using both Chinese and Filipino ingredients.

Chopsuey could be meat based or purely vegetarian. I like my chopsuey either with chicken or seafood. I feel that if it has more meat than white meat it defeats the whole purpose of Chopsuey being a vegetable dish. But I digress…

This recipe is mum’s that I’ve altered to my own liking. She makes hers very bland, while I like mine tastier and with more aromatics (ie sesame oil). I also like using strong-flavoured (yet artificial) fish cakes, while she uses chicken meat and gizzards which I’m not a big fan of. But, do whatever you feel like doing – the beauty about this dish is that you can use whatever’s in season, with the freshest vegetables you can find!

Chopsuey

Makes approximately 6 servings

1 tbsp olive oil

3 cloves garlic, minced

1 onion, chopped

1 carrot, sliced

1/2 medium sized cabbage, shredded

1 chokoe, peeled and sliced

1 medium cluster broccoli

1/2 medium capsicum, sliced

1/2 cup chicken  broth

1 tbsp fish sauce

A few sploshes of sesame oil

1 tbsp cornstarch mixed with 2 tbsp cold water

Salt & pepper

Other mixed vegetables to your liking – eg. mushrooms, celery, baby corn, peas, etc

Chicken breast, mixed seafood (eg prawns, seafood extender, fish cake, calamari), tofu (if making a vegetarian chopsuey) or beef stir fry cuts

Quail eggs (comes in tins from Asian shops) – optional. I just used normal hard boiled eggs.

1. Saute garlic and onions in olive oil. Add the fish sauce, chicken broth, salt & pepper, and meat (eg chicken, seafood, beef) or tofu. Cook until meat is slightly tender (5-10 for seafood, 20 mins for chicken, 30 for beef).
2. Add the “hard” vegetables – eg carrots, chokoes. Put on lid and cook until vegetables are partly cooked.
3. Add the “green” vegetables – eg broccoli, cabbage, celery. Put on lid and cook for about 3 minutes. You don’t want to overcook the vegetables otherwise they just get soggy and limp.
4. Add the “soft” vegetables – mushrooms, capsicum, baby corn, etc.
5. Add a few sploshes of sesame oil for aromatics. Put on lid and let the steam cook the vegetables for a minute or two.
6. Stir the cornstarch and water together, and add to the vegetables. Stir everything until the sauce becomes thick – this is because the dissolved cornstarch acts as a thickener when combined with heat.
7. Serve with hard boiled eggs if desired and rice. Enjoy!