The Authentic "Chicago Chop Suey" recipe and Chinese Chop Suey History.

The dish chop suey falls into the category of American Chinese cuisine, featuring meat (either chicken, fish, beef, shrimp, or pork), quickly cooked with vegetables like bean sprouts, bok choy, and celery, all mixed together in a gravy-like sauce and served over rice. If served over stir-fried noodles instead of rice, that's a variation on chow mein. 

This is the bastardized, thoroughly American version made with ground beef, macaroni, and tomato sauce, called American Style Chop Suey.

CHOP SUEY'S ORIGIN AND HISTORY

Much of what we know as typical Chinese food was brought over by immigrants from the Toisan region of China. It was a population of poor farmers who assembled dishes using their crops and livestock, mostly eating mixed vegetables and fried noodles, utilizing every part of the pigs and fowl they raised. According to historian Yu Reniu, the English phrase "chop suey" is borrowed from the Toisanese "Tsaap Slui" (雜碎 = 'Chop Suey' in Traditional Chinese), two characters that together refer to entrails and giblets.

Chinese immigrants first arrived in the United States in large numbers in the 1840s, heading to California during the gold rush only to be met with violent prejudice; many eventually settled in New York, where they still dealt with racism and xenophobia but were at least slightly more tolerated.

Chop suey was an early favorite, and it was first mentioned by a prominent Chinese-American journalist, Wong Chin Foo, in a list of typical dishes he thought might appeal to Western tastes. As he explained, "chop soly" would often be quite varied:

Each cook has his own recipe. The main features of it are pork, beef, chicken, mushroom, bamboo shoots, onion, and green pepper … accidental ingredients are duck, perfumed turnip, salted black beans, sliced yam, peas and string beans.

Yet that it could properly be called the 'national dish of China' was not in any doubt.

Chop Suey Restaurant on Clark Street, Chicago. Circa 1905.

In 1883, a Chinese grocer was accused of cooking dogs and cats. In 1885, a Chinese journalist and activist, Wong Chin Foo, wrote an article for a New York culinary magazine called "The Cook," dispelling rumors that Chinese immigrants were cooking kittens and puppies. 

The article sings the praises of Chinese cuisine, and in it, he lists "chop soly" as one of his favorite dishes, one that he explained every chef had their own personal recipe for, but at the core was that same Toisan principle of mixed vegetables and meats. The article was enough to inspire American journalist Allan Forman to visit New York City restaurant Mong Sing Wah, Atlas Obscura explains, and in his review of the place, pens the first description of chop suey as it came to be known in NYC Chinese restaurants. Soon the dish spread elsewhere, and every chef put their spin on it to suit their specific clientele's taste. Before long, it would become more representative of American cuisine than Chinese culture.

THE DECLINE OF CHOP SUEY

Chop Suey Matchbox Artwork, c.1935.

In the 1900s, chop suey was the "it" dish, and soon New York City was home to hundreds of Chinese restaurants selling it. Throughout the 1920s, the dish became ubiquitous, with recipes appearing in women's magazines and United States Army cookbooks.

In 1922, a white American University of Wisconsin graduate started the La Choy company with a Korean-American business partner to cash in on demand for "Asian" ingredients. In 1925, Louis Armstrong released the song "Cornet Chop Suey." Restaurants across the country started popping up to sell chop suey and advertised the dish with large, decorative signs with English lettering whose strokes mimicked those of Chinese characters (this font would later become known as "chop suey"). It seemed like chop suey couldn't fail. So what happened?

The shift began partly when chef Cecilia Chang opened "The Mandarin" in San Francisco in 1961. In 2015, Chang (who died in 2020 at 100 years old) told PBS, "I decided, well, since Chinatown the food is pretty bad, a lot of chop suey, I think I want to introduce real Chinese food to Americans."

Once Americans realized that people in China weren't actually eating chop suey, demand for the dish faltered. Suddenly, all they wanted was to taste authentic Chinese cuisine, even while other Americanized dishes, like General Tso's chicken, were quietly being invented in Manhattan. So why is General Tso's still so prevalent on menus while chop suey has fallen by the wayside? How do consumers decide which "non-authentic" Chinese dishes are acceptable in Chinese American cuisine and which aren't? There's no concrete answer, but perhaps it's because as the first to rise, chop suey also had to be the first to plummet. And the makeup of the dish is replicated in many other ways throughout other menu items; beef and broccoli are essentially a spin on chop suey, or at least embody the Toisan sensibility that bore chop suey.

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The Mystery of the "Chicago Chop Suey" Building.

This little restaurant building is in Guadalupe, California, about 220 miles south of Los Angeles. The signs on the windows say “Please do not lean your bicycles on the building. Thank you.” The sign on the fence replaces the word "building" with "fence." The building was constructed in 1926. According to a map showing the locations of Japanese American-owned businesses in 1940, this restaurant was originally named the "New York Chop Suey."

As chop suey was a traditional American-Chinese concoction, it’s interesting and confusing that it was owned by Japanese or American-Japanese people. The Japanese population was rounded-up and placed in internment camps in 1942. Few came back to Guadalupe. A couple of white allies tried to guard some of their buildings, particularly their Buddhist temple, but eventually ran out of town. After which, what wasn’t taken over was vandalized, often beyond repair.

Why Chinese Restaurants Nearly Became Extinct in Chicago.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

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The Authentic Chicago Chop Suey Recipe.

12 servings

Preparation time: 45 minutes

Cooking time: 2 hours

INGREDIENTS

1 1/2 pounds of lean boneless pork cut into 1-inch cubes

1 1/2 pounds of beef (your choice) cut into 1-inch cubes

1/4 cup peanut oil

2 cups beef or chicken broth

1 teaspoon salt, or to taste

1/2 teaspoon pepper

2 to 4 tablespoons of peanut oil

1 pound of mushrooms, sliced

3 medium yellow onions, halved, thinly sliced through the stem ends

3 cups diagonally sliced celery

4 cups chopped bok choy

2 red bell peppers, seeded, diced

1 cup chopped green onions

1 package (6 ounces) of fresh trimmed Chinese pea pods, or thawed if frozen

3 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch

1/4 cup each: soy sauce, oriental bead molasses, water

1 cup frozen peas

1 pound fresh bean sprouts, rinsed

1 can (8 ounces) of sliced water chestnuts, drained

1 can (8 ounces) of sliced bamboo shoots, drained

Hot cooked rice

Optional: 

                 1 or 2 raw eggs, cooked in the Wok or pan just before serving

                 1 can (8 to 15 ounces) whole spear baby corn on the cob, drained

                 Chow Mein Noodles

                 Thinly Sliced Carrots                 

COOKING DIRECTIONS

1. Cook meat, in batches, in 1/4 cup hot oil in a Wok or Dutch oven until brown on all sides. Put all browned meat, broth, salt and pepper in a pan. Heat to boil; reduce heat; simmer, covered, until meat is tender, 1 to 1 1/2 hours. Reserve. (This can be done in advance.)

2. Heat a Wok or very large skillet until hot. Add 2 tablespoons oil. Add mushrooms and onions; stir-fry until limp. Add more oil to the pan if needed. Add celery, bok choy, red peppers, green onions and pea pods. Stir-fry until crisp-tender, 2 to 4 minutes.

3. Blend cornstarch, soy sauce, molasses and water until smooth. Stir into the meat. Cook, constantly stirring, until slightly thickened.

4. Stir cooked vegetables into the meat. Stir in peas, bean sprouts, water chestnuts and bamboo shoots. Cook just until heated through, about 2 minutes. 

5. Serve immediately with hot rice. 

Extra: Allow diners to add chow mein noodles to their dish so they keep their crispness.

Why Chinese Restaurants Nearly Became Extinct in Chicago.

Compiled by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.

The Disappearance of Candy Lady, Helen Vorhees Brach, Unwrapped.

The name "Brach" conjures up thoughts of candy corn, caramels, chocolates, and various other delicious bagged confections and hard candies. 

However, in the annals of crime, the name Brach conjures up Helen Vorhees Brach, the wealthiest woman in the United States, to disappear and be presumed murdered.

Started in 1904, the E. J. Brach & Sons candy company at one time sold two-thirds of the bagged candy in the United States and operated the largest candy manufacturing plant in the world. In 1966, the founder's son, Frank Brach, sold the company to American Home Products Corp. for $136 million ($1.1 billion today).

The Candy Lady, Helen Vorhees Brach

Frank took his fortune and retired with his third wife, Helen Brach, a red-haired Appalachian hat-check girl he'd met at a Miami Beach country club. They were married in 1950. When Frank died in 1970, Helen's share of the Brach fortune totaled nearly 160 million in today's dollars. The millionaire widow spent her time socializing with female friends, riding in her pink and lavender Cadillac (Brach's brand colors), her Brach's Candy Purple Rolls Royce, and giving generously to the welfare of animals.

Brach was a dog lover and owned two, Candy and Sugar the Poodle. Both dogs are buried at the tomb.

Helen Brach owned this cool 1971 Rolls Royce Corniche finished in a special-order magenta color that Rolls Royce named "Brach Candy Purple."

In 1973, ubiquitous con man and gigolo Richard Bailey was introduced to Helen at a dinner party. The almost 20-year younger Bailey showered her with flowers, gentlemanly attention, and dancing. Helen enjoyed Bailey's company, and they became a regular pair in social circles. Still, Bailey couldn't resist swindling the Candy Lady, as he and his crooked buddies liked to call her. Bailey bought three rundown racehorses from his brother in 1975 for $18,000 and sold them to Helen for $98,000 (nearly $500,000 today). When Bailey tried to sell Helen more horses a year later, she grew suspicious and reportedly hired an independent appraiser who confirmed that her horses were essentially worthless. Helen detested being cheated on, especially by someone Helen dated. A friend suggested that she should go to the local district attorney. She told the friend that she'd take care of it when she returned from a checkup at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota.

After nearly a week of tests, a healthy Helen checked out of the Mayo Clinic. On her way out, she stopped at the clinic's Buckskin Shop to buy cosmetics. The cashier, Phyliss Redalen, recalled Helen saying: "Please hurry and finish wrapping. My houseman is waiting." Once Helen stepped outside that Thursday, February 17, she was never heard from again.

The houseman was John "Jack" Matlick, hired by Frank Brach in 1959 as a chauffeur and the handyman of his estate in Glenview, Illinois, just north of Chicago. Whether the Brachs knew that Matlick had been in prison for various offenses, including aggravated robbery and that he regularly beat his wife is doubtful. After Frank's death, Helen expanded Matlick's duties to running her Glenview estate.

Strangely, Matlick didn't report Helen's disappearance for two weeks. He told police he'd picked her up from Chicago's O'Hare International Airport on the 17th and drove her home, where she stayed all weekend. He said on the following Monday, he dropped Helen at O'Hare around six in the morning to travel to her recently purchased condo in Fort Lauderdale. After that, he never heard from her again, he said.

Helen's paramour, Richard Bailey, told police he'd been staying at The Colony Hotel in Palm Beach with a young woman. He said Matlick explained over the phone that Helen would arrive in Florida on Monday, the 21st, so he prepared to see her. When she didn't arrive in Fort Lauderdale on Monday, he called her house again, he claimed, but Matlick answered each time and told Bailey she wasn't in. Bailey told police he gave up inquiring about Helen because he thought she'd dropped him for another male admirer.

Unbelievably, that's where the investigation ended. The clues dried up, and no one pushed authorities to dig deeper. Helen's closest relative was a brother living a simple life in Ohio with absolutely no curiosity. A court declared Helen dead in 1984, and her friends, relatives, and charities moved on much wealthier than before. To this day, no one has been able to explain what happened to Helen Brach with any reliability. Though several theories have floated about, there are three that stand out above the rest:

The Butler Did It

John "Jack" Matlick

Jack Matlick said he picked up Helen at O'Hare; however, the Mayo Clinic clerk recalled Helen saying her houseman was waiting on her, presumably outside the clinic in Minnesota. No one saw Helen at the airport or on a plane. Matlick also said Helen stayed at her Glenview home for three days and four nights upon her return. Yet, Helen's friends didn't hear from her, calls to her home were answered only by Matlick, who told callers that Helen wasn't in, and the painters working inside the house that weekend didn't see her. Matlick said he took Helen to O'Hare at 6:00 a.m. to travel to Florida, but Helen hated mornings and the first flight for Ft. Lauderdale didn't leave until 9:00 a.m. Again, no one spotted Helen at the airport or on a plane. No friends in Chicago or Florida, particularly those who typically picked her up at the airport, had heard anything about her traveling to Florida.

Moreover, no airline ticket was purchased in Helen's name to fly to Florida or anywhere else. Helen's gardener chillingly explained to detectives that he'd seen Matlick with two strangers standing in Helen's house that weekend. One was a young woman wearing a baggy dress and a wig similar to Helen's. Police also found in Matlick's possession a receipt dated February 21 (the Monday he said he'd taken Helen to the airport) for a toll exit near a farm owned by Helen in distant Ohio. Later, Matlick was accused of forging more than $13,000 in checks on Helen's account that February and stealing currency worth $75,000 from her home (all totaling $375,000 today). Matlick signed an agreement with Helen's estate to forgo a $50,000 bequest in her last will and testament in exchange for no charges being brought over the forgeries and stolen currency. Astonishingly, authorities lost interest in Matlick as a suspect, and he was never arrested. He died in 2011 of natural causes.

The Boyfriend Did It

Richard Bailey

After Helen's disappearance, Richard Bailey continued selling worthless horses and separating wealthy women from their money. In 1989, however, federal prosecutors in Chicago reopened the Brach case. Although they never learned exactly what happened to Helen, they indicted Bailey on 29-charges of racketeering, mail and wire fraud, and money laundering under the federal RICO statute, typically used in organized crime and drug trafficking cases. Bailey also was charged with conspiring to murder Helen Brach. Authorities believed Bailey hired someone to kill Helen to avoid arrest for fraudulently selling worthless horses to her and others. 

Bailey knew, so the prosecution's theory went, that Helen had learned she'd been swindled, and with Helen's wealth and connections, the Chicago justice system would likely throw him under the bus. 

Bailey waived a jury trial and pleaded guilty to racketeering and fraud but maintained his innocence regarding Helen's disappearance. In a federal sentencing hearing, a judge can consider all "relevant conduct," even if it falls outside the guilty plea. 

In doing so, the judge listened as notorious con man Joe Plemmons told the judge that Bailey had offered him $5,000 to kill Helen just weeks before she disappeared. Feeling that Richard Bailey was not repentant for his life as a swindler, the judge sentenced Bailey to thirty years in federal prison (this was a sentencing hearing to a guilty plea only—Bailey was not found guilty of Helen's murder beyond a reasonable doubt). Bailey was released from a Florida prison in July 2019 at eighty-nine, still proclaiming that he had nothing to do with Helen Brach's disappearance.

Richard Bailey, 89, was released Thursday, July 25, 2019, from a federal prison in Florida after serving his time. Although her body has never been found, Brach was declared legally dead, and investigators suspect her remains were dissolved in a chemical vat or blast furnace in 1977 with help from the Chicago Outfit when she threatened to expose horse traders who had swindled her out of millions of dollars. He was sentenced to 30 years on the "preponderance of evidence" that he was actually her killer, a supposition that Bailey has always denied.

Everybody Did It

Silas Jayne, Horseman and Criminal

Joe Plemmons called detectives in 2004 to tell them yet another story about Helen's death. This time, he implicated eleven people, including Matlick, but not Bailey, whom he had testified against ten years earlier. He said Helen had been murdered at the direction of Silas Jayne, a notorious bad man in Chicago's horse world, while Jayne was in prison for conspiring to murder his brother, George. Jayne didn't want Helen Brach going to the district attorney since his farm had sold worthless horses to Bailey for years as part of a scheme to swindle wealthy buyers. According to Plemmons, Jayne's cronies beat Helen unconscious in her Glenview home, then Plemmons shot her twice and cremated her body in a furnace. Most rejected Plemmons' story, and no arrests resulted. Plemmons died in 2016.

So that leaves Helen Brach's disappearance in 1977 as convoluted as that of Jimmy Hoffa's abrupt departure two years earlier. It should be beyond dispute that Jack Matlick knew what happened to Helen Brach, but he died without telling. Perhaps he killed Helen in Minnesota or shortly after her return to Glenview and transported her body to Ohio, where he buried it on the Brach farm. The motive may have been simple robbery to repay his mounting gambling debts. Yet, based on the gardener's remarks, Matlick may not have acted alone. Was Jayne's horse mafia or con man Bailey working with Matlick? Possibly, but it's not crystal clear that Bailey was involved. It's also difficult to believe Plemmons' 2004 story that Jayne and ten others conspired to kill Helen. Though it's a flashy horse mafia story, Jayne would've had to kill half of Chicago to keep that story quiet.

In the end, Helen made the mistake of keeping a violent ex-convict as her houseman and dating a lifelong conman who cheated women without shame. The hat-check girl could never have imagined that her millions would make her a target for murder when she accepted Frank Brach's proposal, and it was the unfair price she ultimately paid for becoming the Candy Lady.

February 17, 1977, the day Helen Brach disappeared, is used as her date of death. 

By Philip Jett

Edited by Dr. Neil Gale, Ph.D.