There seems to be a little disagreement between experts as to whether this Chinese-American dish was created after immigrants arrived in America, or whether it’s traditional in China. It really doesn’t matter which is correct because chop suey has become a staple in American Chinese restaurants.

The term chop suey comes from Cantonese and means odds and ends. This is a very fitting name for a dish that’s made up of a somewhat variable mixture of ingredients such as vegetables, meat and egg. It is served with either noodles or rice so you can soak up the delectable flavored sauce.

Because chop suey can be made from such a wide variety of ingredients, you can find hundreds of different recipes online. You and your elderly loved one could have fun browsing through all the pictures and looking at the ingredients and then deciding which ones to try. Here’s one you can try:

Chop Suey

• ¼ cup shortening
• 1 ½ cups diced pork loin
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 cup diced celery
• 1 cup hot water
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/8 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 can (14.5 ounce) bean sprouts, drained and rinsed
• 1/3 cup cold water
• 2 Tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tsp soy sauce
• 1 tsp white sugar

1. Heat shortening in a large, deep skillet. Sear pork until it turns white, then add onion and sauté for 5 minutes. Add celery, hot water, salt and pepper. Cover skillet and simmer for 5 minutes. Add sprouts and heat to boiling.
2. In a small bowl combine the cold water, cornstarch, soy sauce and sugar. Mix together and add to skillet mixture. Cook for 5 minutes, or until thickened to taste.

The nice thing about chop suey is that you can serve it over noodles or rice and you have a balanced meal. You can adjust the seasonings or make substitutions on the vegetables. You could use a combination of chopped Swiss chard and small florets of broccoli and sliced mushrooms.

Chop suey is a meal that’s pretty easy for almost everyone to eat. The pieces are already fairly small and pork loin is a fairly tender, soft type of meat. You can make it vegetarian by substituting 1 ½ cups chopped green beans and cabbage for the 1 ½ cups diced pork loin.

Meal time can sometimes be difficult for your elderly loved one. If you are not able to help them every day and they are not cooking very much anymore, their diet can really slide into some unhealthy eating habits. Consider getting an in-home care provider who can come into your loved one’s home for a few hours each day to make a home-cooked meal, clean up after and help with other personal or home care tasks as needed.