What is more American than Chop Suey? White bread? Bacon Bits? Chop Suey is not Chinese, but is a Chinese-American delicacy which originated in the 19th century, either with Chinese laborers working on the U.S. transcontinental railroad, Chinese immigrants in San Francisco, or Chinese ambassador Li Hung Chang’s cooks while he was visiting New York. Whatever the origin, restaurants sprung up like the mushrooms that garnish the dish. A typeface bearing its name and another called Bamboo are still one of the West’s most recognizable stereo-types.
