Chop Suey — The Recipe That Tastes Like Home No Matter Where Home Is

The book manuscript is at 105,000 words. Chapter Eleven done. Chapter Twelve — the final chapter, 'Dinner at 1800' — is started. This is the chapter that holds everything together. The chapter that explains why the title matters. Why 1800 matters. Why a specific time on a specific clock in a specific kitchen is the most important coordinate in a military family's life. I wrote: 'My mother served dinner at 1800 every night for thirty years. Not because it was convenient. Not because it was expected. Because 1800 was the one thing she could control when everything else was controlled by the United States Navy. The orders came and went. The bases changed. The deployments started and ended. But dinner was at 1800, and that constancy — that stubborn, defiant, ridiculous constancy — was the axis around which our family spun. Everything could change. Dinner didn't.' I read it back and cried. Because it's true. Because 1800 IS the axis. Because my mother, who never wrote a book or published an article or had a blog or earned a dollar from her words, created the central metaphor of my entire career by putting dinner on the table at the same time every night for three decades. The final chapter also includes: the PPD, the therapy, the recovery. The blog, the column, the book deal. The moment I stood in my desert kitchen and cooked Thanksgiving alone and understood that I was Donna. Not becoming Donna. WAS Donna. A different version. A younger version. A version with a laptop and a blog and a broken mixer. But Donna. Fundamentally, irreducibly Donna. Clara read the chapter outline and said, 'This is the perfect ending. Not a summary. Not a reflection. A declaration: dinner at 1800. Always. Everywhere.' Always. Everywhere. Made Mom's pot roast tonight. The food of endings and beginnings. The food that appears in more chapters of this book than any other recipe. The pot roast IS the book. The soy sauce, the red wine, the slow simmer. The thing that smells like home regardless of where home is. Two more weeks of writing. Then the manuscript is done. Then the book is real. Dinner at 1800. The book. The life. The same thing.

With the manuscript nearly finished and that final chapter still ringing in my chest, I needed dinner to feel exactly like what I was writing about — constant, grounding, and unmistakably home. Mom’s pot roast is the soul of this book, and when I can’t do the long Sunday braise, Chop Suey is what holds the same territory: the soy sauce, the savory simmer, the smell that says someone is here, someone is feeding you, everything is okay. It’s the 1800 meal that works on a Tuesday in the middle of Chapter Twelve.

TRANSITION_START

Chop Suey

Prep Time: 15 minutes | Cook Time: 25 minutes | Total Time: 40 minutes | Servings: 4

Ingredients

• 1 lb pork tenderloin or boneless pork shoulder, thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce, divided
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch, divided
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, sliced into half-moons
• 3 stalks celery, sliced on the diagonal
• 1 cup sliced mushrooms
• 1 can (8 oz) sliced water chestnuts, drained
• 2 cups fresh bean sprouts
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 tablespoon oyster sauce
• 1 teaspoon sesame oil
• 1/2 teaspoon ground white pepper
• Salt to taste
• Cooked white rice or chow mein noodles, for serving

Instructions

1. Marinate the pork. In a bowl, toss the sliced pork with 1 tablespoon soy sauce and 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch. Let sit for 10 minutes while you prep the vegetables.
2. Sear the meat. Heat 1 tablespoon of vegetable oil in a large skillet or wok over medium-high heat until shimmering. Add the pork in a single layer and cook without stirring for 2 minutes, then stir-fry until no longer pink, about 2 minutes more. Transfer to a plate and set aside.
3. Cook the aromatics and vegetables. Add the remaining tablespoon of oil to the pan. Add the onion and celery and stir-fry over medium-high heat for 3–4 minutes until just softened. Add the mushrooms and cook another 2 minutes. Stir in the water chestnuts.
4. Build the sauce. In a small bowl, whisk together the chicken broth, remaining 1 tablespoon soy sauce, oyster sauce, sesame oil, white pepper, and remaining 1/2 tablespoon cornstarch until smooth. Pour the sauce over the vegetables in the pan.
5. Simmer and combine. Bring the sauce to a gentle simmer, stirring constantly until it thickens, about 2 minutes. Return the pork to the pan, add the bean sprouts, and toss everything together. Cook for 1 additional minute until the sprouts are just wilted and the pork is heated through. Taste and adjust salt as needed.
6. Serve at 1800. Spoon over steamed white rice or chow mein noodles and serve immediately.

Nutrition (per serving)

Calories: 310 | Protein: 28g | Fat: 12g | Carbs: 18g | Fiber: 3g | Sodium: 720mg