Shrimp chop suey is a delicious Chinese restaurant classic that combines fresh vegetables, juicy shrimp, and a flavorful stir fry sauce. Plus, it's super simple to make at home and ready in less than 30 minutes!
Chop suey used to be one of my go-to takeout meals when I was younger. It has the best stir fry sauce, fresh vegetables, and it simply tastes amazing!
This shrimp chop suey tastes just like the one at my favorite restaurant. It has a flavorful sauce, lots of vegetables, juicy shrimp, and it is super easy to make. I love to serve it over fluffy rice for a quick, delicious, and filling meal.
What is shrimp chop suey?
Chop suey is often mistaken for a traditional Chinese dish although it actually is a stir fry dish served in Western countries at Chinese restaurants. It typically consists of vegetables, some type of protein, a stir fry sauce, and either rice or noodles.
The part that usually distinguishes chop suey from other stir fry dishes (like this teriyaki shrimp stir fry or chicken yaki udon) is the sauce. It is often made with soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, and oyster sauce. This combination of ingredients lends the stir fry its unique flavor that you probably know and love.
If you love other types of stir-fries, I’m sure that you’ll love this chop suey! It is flavorful, mild, and packed with veggies.
Shrimp Chop Suey Ingredients
To make shrimp chop suey, you’ll need the following ingredients:
- Shrimp: Use peeled and deveined raw jumbo shrimp for this recipe. They can be bought fresh or frozen.
- Aromatics: Garlic and yellow onion should always be part of a delicious stir fry, so don’t forget to use them.
- Vegetables: For making shrimp chop suey, I love to use mushrooms, carrots, baby bok choy, red bell pepper, and bean sprouts. If you don’t like one of these vegetables, feel free to replace them with something you like.
- Homemade stir fry sauce: For the sauce, you’ll need soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine (shaoxing wine), oyster sauce, sesame oil, and some liquid (water or vegetable broth). The sauces should be available in any Asian grocery store.
- Cornstarch: Cornstarch is used to thicken the sauce.
How to make shrimp chop suey
Making shrimp chop suey is super simple! Just follow these steps:
- Prepare the sauce: In a bowl, mix together the soy sauce, Chinese cooking wine, oyster sauce, sesame oil, liquid, cornstarch, and some black pepper. Set the sauce aside.
- Sauté the ingredients: Next, preheat some oil in a pan or wok over medium-high heat. First, sauté the garlic and onion. Then add the shrimp and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Next, add the mushrooms, carrots, red bell pepper, and bok choy stems. Sauté until almost tender.
- Combine: Now add in the sauce. Add the bean sprouts and bok choy leaves. Stir and let the sauce simmer until it has thickened.
- Serve: Serve over rice and enjoy!
Tips & Notes
Here are a few things to keep in mind when you make this shrimp chop suey.
- Use your favorite vegetables. If there is a vegetable you don’t like, feel free to skip or replace it! There are no real rules here, so feel free to use your favorite vegetables to make this shrimp chop suey.
- Make sure the vegetables have the same cook time. If you want to sauté all vegetables at the same time, make sure that all vegetables have the same cook time. This can be achieved by cutting vegetables with a longer cook time into smaller or thinner pieces than those with a shorter cook time. That’s why I recommend chopping the carrots into thin slices.
- Don’t overcook the shrimp. Shrimp overcook very easily, so only sauté them for 1-2 minutes. They continue to cook with the vegetables, so don’t cook them through at the very beginning.
- Adjust the sauce consistency as needed. If the sauce is too thick, add more water. And if the sauce is too thin, dissolve some cornstarch in water and add more of it. I think the sauce is great as is, but your preferences or final result might be different. So just keep this in mind.
How to serve shrimp chop suey
Here is how you can serve this shrimp chop suey to turn it into a full meal.
- Rice: Basmati rice or jasmine rice goes really well with this shrimp stir fry! I usually use about ⅓ or ½ cup of uncooked rice per serving.
- Noodles: Another option is using noodles. I love Chinese wheat noodles (often labeled as quick cooking noodles) for making stir fries! They have the perfect size and texture. I haven’t tried this shrimp chop suey recipe with noodles yet, but I think you might need more sauce. So make 1 or 2 extra servings of sauce to make sure that every noodle is covered in delicious chop suey sauce!
Frequently Asked Questions
This recipe isn’t naturally gluten-free, but you can use substitutes to make it gluten-free! These would be tamari for soy sauce, gluten-free oyster sauce for regular oyster sauce, and mirin, sake, or dry sherry for the Chinese cooking wine. As Chinese cooking wine has a very unique taste, the substitutes won’t deliver the same results. But your stir fry is going to be delicious nonetheless!
Yes, absolutely! Just use firm or extra-firm tofu instead of shrimp and vegan oyster sauce (sometimes called mushroom stir-fry sauce) instead of regular oyster sauce. Follow the recipe as described and enjoy!
You can store leftovers in an airtight container in your refrigerator for up to 3 days. Reheat the chop suey in a pan or microwave. You might have to add some water to thin the sauce.
More quick and delicious stir fry recipes
If you love simple and tasty stir fry recipes that are packed with vegetables and protein, try one of the following recipes.
Shrimp Chop Suey
Ingredients
Shrimp Stir Fry Ingredients
- 2 tablespoons avocado oil or vegetable oil
- 1 yellow onion sliced
- 2 garlic cloves minced
- 1 pound shrimp peeled and deveined
- 1 cup sliced mushrooms
- 2 carrots cut into thin slices
- 1 red bell pepper cut into slices
- 1 baby bok choy stems and leaves separated, cut into slices
- 1 cup bean sprouts
Chop Suey Sauce Ingredients
- 3 tablespoons soy sauce
- 2 tablespoons oyster sauce
- 2 tablespoons Chinese cooking wine (shaoxing wine)
- 1 teaspoon sesame oil
- black pepper to taste
- 1 cup water or vegetable broth
- 1 ½ tablespoons cornstarch
Instructions
- In a bowl, mix together all sauce ingredients and set the sauce aside.
- Next, preheat the oil in a large pan or wok over medium-high heat. Then sauté the onion and garlic until the onion turns translucent.
- Now add the shrimp and sauté for 1-2 minutes. Then add the carrots, bok choy stems, red bell pepper, and mushrooms. Sauté until the vegetables are almost tender.
- Give the sauce a quick stir and add it to the pan. Add the bean sprouts and bok choy leaves. Stir until everything is combined and let the sauce simmer until it thickens.
- Serve with rice and enjoy!
Leave a Reply