Low Carb Chow Suey Recipe

Chop suey is primarily a vegetable dish with the meat added for a bit of flavor, so it is naturally low carb. The low carb chop suey recipe below includes snow peas as an optional vegetable to include but keep in mind that snow peas are slightly higher in carbs than the rest of the veggies in this low carb recipe.

Serves 4 to 6

Ingredients:

1 pound pork or beef (don't use pork chops as they are too dry)
2 small bunches bok choy (can substitute broccoli if desired)
1/2 cup bamboo shoots, rinsed
1/2 pound fresh mushrooms, washed and patted dry with a paper towel
1/2 cup water chestnuts (fresh if possible)
1 large green pepper
2 stalks celery
1 onion
1/2 pound snow peas (optional)

Seasoning for Pork:
1 teaspoon soy sauce
1 - 2 teaspoons oyster sauce
1 teaspoon salt
Pepper to taste
1 piece (under 1 teaspoon) cornstarch (corn flour)

Sauce:
4 tablespoons water
1 teaspoon oyster sauce
3/4 to 1 teaspoon cornstarch (corn flour)

Oil for stir-frying


Directions:

Cut the pork into thin strips. Add seasonings to pork, adding the cornstarch last. Marinate the pork for 10 - 15 minutes.


While pork is marinating, prepare vegetables and sauce. For sauce: Mix the sauce ingredients and set aside.


For vegetables: Cut bamboo shoots into thin strips. Slice the mushrooms and water chestnuts. Cut the green pepper in half, remove the seeds and slice diagonally. For the bok choy, separate each stalk and leaves. Cut the stalk diagonally and cut the leaves across. Cut the celery diagonally. Cut the onion in half, peel, and slice thinly.


Place the vegetables on a large tray, being careful to keep each group separate (include the bok choy stalks and leaves), and set aside.


Heat wok and add oil. When oil is ready, add the pork. Stir-fry pork until redness is gone. Remove and set aside.


Reheat wok and add more oil. When oil is ready, stir-fry each of the vegetables. The order doesn't matter, but you can stir-fry the onions and celery together, (if desired you can cook these with the pork), and the green pepper and snow peas together. When cooking the bok choy, add the stalk first. Add salt to taste as desired while stir-frying each group of vegetables. Add water and cover wok while cooking bok choy, as it doesn't contain much moisture.


Reheat wok and add oil. Give the sauce a quick re-stir. Add and combine all the cooked ingredients in the wok. Make a "well" in the center and gradually add the sauce, stirring to thicken. Once it has boiled, remove the chop suey from the stove. Serve hot.


Nutritional Breakdown per serving:

Based on 4 servings, with snow peas: 379 calories (kcal); 26 g Total Fat (40 percent calories from fat); 19 g Protein; 18 g Carbohydrate; 60 mg Cholesterol; 751 mg Sodium; 5g Fiber

Substituting 1 pound flank steak for pork shoulder: 378 calories (kcal); 23 g Total Fat (35 percent calories from fat); 26 g Protein; 18 g Carbohydrate; 58 mg Cholesterol; 775 mg Sodium; 5 g Fiber.


More delicious Chinese recipes are available in Nicholas Zhou's cookbook "Real & Healthy Chinese Cooking".