Chow Mein as a hot dish is not something I would have expected, but this recipe from an old notebook delivers the goods. Chow mein is often confused with chop suey – both dishes have a vegetable mix and sometimes meat included. The difference is noodles vs rice, and the fact that chow mein is an actual dish in China, whereas chop suey was infamously created by a Chinese chef in America who had a bit of this and a bit of that left over to make into a stir fried dish. The original words “tsa sui” mean “miscellaneous broken pieces.” Interesting! There was a famous Chinese food company here in America called Chun King, which was founded by an Italian man, and sold canned chow mien among other things. The crispy fried noodles found at American Chinese restaurants and in grocery stores is what this recipe calls for.

Chow Mein Hot Dish

Brown 1 1/2 pound hamburger

1 cup celery & onion

Add:

1 can chicken rice soup

1 can cream of mushroom soup

2 packages frozen mixed vegetables

2 T soy sauce

Bake 1 hour – add chow mien noodles