Sonoran chop suey is a crunchy, light twist on the crowd-favorite dish

One dish I grew up eating from my mother’s kitchen may not fit the expected Sonoran profile of fried beef and potato tacos, machaca con huevos, tamales and carne asada. However, this noodle dish is just as typical of Hermosillo as the world famous Sonoran hot dogs.

I'm talking about chop suey. Yes, the same chop suey found in every Chinese-American restaurant from coast to coast. What's interesting is that this dish doesn’t have much of a home presence in American households the way it does in Sonora. Even in Mexico, this homecooked noodle dish is limited mostly to home kitchens in Hermosillo.

The recipe presented here is a blend of traditional Chinese technique and the simplified style of chop suey found in Hermosillo. The dish is lighter, a bit crunchier and overflowing in bean sprouts. While chicken is used here, as was most typical from my mother’s kitchen, pork or beef would be just as satisfactory.

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A few tips before you start cooking:

• To more easily cut the chicken to the necessary thinness needed for quick cooking, partially freeze the chicken breast till it is firm, but not frozen solid, approximately 30 minutes.

• Slice chicken across the grain, and cut into quarter inch slices, about the thickness of a pencil. Cut the chicken further into bite size pieces.

• Marinating the chicken in soy sauce, oil and cornstarch is a method called velveting, which produces a more flavorful and tender chicken and prevents the dryness that can occur when stir frying.

Sonoran chop suey recipe

Makes: 4 servings

Ingredients:

For the chicken:

• 1 teaspoon vegetable oil

• 1 tablespoon soy sauce

• 1 teaspoons cornstarch

• 1 pound chicken breast, cut into ¼-inch slices

For the Chop Suey:

• Cooking oil, as needed

• 1 small white onion, ¼” sliced

• 2 stalks celery, ¼” sliced on the bias

• ¼ head of green cabbage, finely shredded

• 12 ounces mung bean sprouts, rinsed very well

• 1 tablespoon dry sherry vinegar

• 2 tablespoons soy sauce

• 1 teaspoon cornstarch

• 2 cups steamed jasmine rice, for serving

Preparation:

1. To velvet the chicken: In a medium bowl, mix together oil, soy sauce and cornstarch and whisk into a smooth slurry. Add chicken and massage the slurry into the meat until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Allow to marinate for 20 minutes at room temperature.

2. Heat a wok or large deep pan over medium high heat. At the first sign of white smoke coming from the wok, swirl in 2 tablespoons of oil around the perimeter and gently place the marinated chicken in the wok in a single layer. Cook for 15 to 20 seconds, and turn as soon as the chicken releases from the pan. Cook for an additional 15 seconds, or until the chicken’s surface is no longer pink. Remove chicken from wok and set aside.

3. Immediately add onions and celery to the hot wok, stirring to prevent sticking. Once softened, after approximately 2 minutes, add cabbage and continue to cook while stirring. After 2 minutes of stir frying, add bean sprouts and stir well to combine all ingredients. Cook until bean sprouts are wilted, but retail some crunch, about 5 minutes or so.

4. Return chicken to the pan to finish cooking for about 2 minutes, then deglaze with dry sherry vinegar. Mix together soy sauce and cornstarch into a smooth slurry. Add to the pan and turn ingredients to coat. Cook for an additional 1 or 2 minutes to remove the taste of the cornstarch and allow to thicken.

5. Serve chop suey over a bed of steamed white rice and season to taste with more soy sauce.

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This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: How to make Mexican-style chop suey