The Difference Between Chop Suey and Chow Mein in Chinese Cuisine (2024)

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The Difference Between Chop Suey and Chow Mein in Chinese Cuisine? ›

So, how is chow mein different from chop suey? Chow mein is also a dish that consists of meat, vegetables like cabbage or bok choy and a sauce, but unlike chop suey, it is always served with stir-fried noodles. The noodles in chow mein are stir-fried with the other ingredients, giving them a succulent texture.

The Base: It's crispy stir-fried noodles. In fact, this is the easiest way to spot the difference between chow mein and chop suey. If there's rice, it's chop suey. If there are noodles, it's probably chow mein.

Chop suey (usually pronounced /ˈtʃɒpˈsuːi/) is a dish from American Chinese cuisine and other forms of overseas Chinese cuisine, generally consisting of meat (usually chicken, pork, beef, shrimp or fish) and eggs, cooked quickly with vegetables such as bean sprouts, cabbage, and celery, and bound in a starch-thickened ...

The chow mein you're likely to see at your average fortune-cookie-serving American Chinese restaurant usually features dried or fresh noodles that have been stir-fried to the point of crispiness. Traditional chow mein noodles are still fried, but less so, resulting in a softer texture than American-style chow mein.

Chop Suey is just a slightly westernised version of a classic, basic Chinese stir fry.

The term 'chow mein' means 'stir-fried noodles', also loosely translated as "fried noodles" in English, chow (Chinese: 炒; pinyin: chǎo) meaning 'stir-fried' (or "sautéed") and mein (simplified Chinese: 面; traditional Chinese: 麵; pinyin: Miàn) meaning "noodles".

Chop suey can be healthier if it's made with steamed vegetable and rice opposed to chow mein made with fried noodles. You can, of course, alter the chow mein using boiled noodles for a better option.

The careful combination of ingredients like soy sauce, sesame oil, oyster sauce and sugar results in a chow mein sauce that has hints of both savory and sweet notes.

Chow mein is a traditional Chinese dish made with egg noodles and stir-fried veggies. We love adding a protein and our favorite is chicken, but you can try different meat or tofu.

The term vermicelli encompasses a broad category of thin Asian noodles. The noodle must have a diameter of less than 0.06 inches (1.5 mm) to be classified as vermicelli. The most popular type of Asian vermicelli noodle is rice vermicelli.

Does chop suey have noodles? ›

Meat and vegetables are chopped up and stir-fried with a sauce, but since it was invented to use whatever meat and vegetables were on hand to make a quick Chinese-inspired dish, the same philosophy translates into your kitchen. There are no noodles in chop suey; instead, the stir-fried mixture is served over rice.

Cantonese Chow Mein vs.

Chow mein found in China is much more delicate. Traditional Cantonese cooking is actually known for its soft and elegant flavor profiles. While there's still a heavy amount of flavor, the more common ingredients are napa cabbage, leeks, carrots and thin slices of pork.

Although the two dishes may seem similar, the way they are prepared sets them apart as distinct dishes. The sauces for each dish are markedly different, with chop suey usually having a thicker, starchy gravy-like sauce, while chow mein is prepared with a thinner soy-sauce based topping.

It's a Chinese-American dish, not a Chinese dish

Whatever its origin, chop suey quickly became a familiar part of Chinese-American cuisine–many early restaurants that served Chinese-American food were known as “chop suey houses,” according to Rhitu Chatterjee writing for NPR.

I have seen descriptions of Subgum Chow Mein as “Sub gum Chow Mein is a mixed dish. Two different kinds of meat and maybe noodles and rice together. Chow mein is noodles only and other contents vegetables or meats but no rice”.

The American Chopsuey is sweet and sour with a bright orangish-red colour. It is like a one-pot macaroni pasta meal cooked with beef and vegetables in a sweet tomato sauce. Whereas the Chinese Chop Suey is savoury and spicy, served with rice or noodles.

There are actually two kinds of chow mein: a crispy version and a saucy version. Calling one crispy is kind of confusing because both versions should be crispy, but the main difference is how the sauce is incorporated into the dish.

Chow mein gets its signature flavor from the thick, dark homemade sauce the noodles are tossed with. It's the perfect balance of sweet and salty and makes putting down your chopsticks absolutely impossible.