American Chop Suey Recipe

This is my variation of a classic comfort food. This recipe makes a large batch that your family can enjoy for lunch, dinner, or at snack time.

We used to get this all the time as a school lunch. One day when I was about 18, I was thinking of what to eat for dinner, and I decided to try making this. For the recipe I just used my imagination. I was very encouraged when my father tried some and said "Hey, this is pretty good!", and I've been making it ever since.

Before You Begin

Ingredients

• 680 grams (1 1/2 lbs) Ground Beef. Mixed pork/beef works, too.
• 1,600 grams (4 14 oz. cans) Canned Whole Tomatoes, undrained. 'Diced' type will work, too.
• 400 grams (4 cups) Elbow Macaroni or similar noodles. I typically use two 250 gram packages of 'Salad Macaroni' when available so I get a little extra volume. Other spoon-sized noodles will work.
• 340 grams (2 cups) Onion (Yellow or Brown), chopped. About 2 medium onions.
• 300 grams (2 cups) Green Bell Pepper, seeded and chopped. You basically want equal amounts of onion and pepper. If using 'piman' peppers you'll need five or more.
• 11 grams (2 cloves) Garlic, fresh minced.
• 5.69 grams (1 tsp) Salt.
• 1.15 grams (1/2 tsp) Black Pepper, fresh ground.
• 3.03 grams (1 tbsp) Oregano (dried type).
• 0.45 grams (1/4 tsp) Cayenne Pepper.
• 29.6 ml (2 tbsp) Oil, Butter, or Margarine. I usually use Olive or Canola Oil, whichever is nearby.

Preparation

1. Sauté Onions and Green Pepper in the Oil plus Salt over medium heat until Onions are translucent and peppers are soft (about 10 minutes). Stir frequently to prevent burning.
2. Add Garlic, continue cooking for 1 minute.
3. Add Meat and brown. Alternatively, you can brown in a separate pan and drain to reduce fat.
4. Add Tomatoes, Oregano, Black Pepper, and Cayenne Pepper. My gas stove is very hot, so I also add 1 cup of water which will mostly evaporate. Adjust this amount for your stove.
5. Bring to boil, then reduce to low and simmer for 30 minutes. Stir occaisionally, and mash the tomatoes but leaving some tomato chunks. Keep reading below.
6. Prepare the noodles as per the package instructions if you haven't already done so, timing this to coincide with the completion of the sauce.
7. When everything is cooked, combine the noodles and the meat sauce mixture.

Serving Suggestions

Storage

References