It’s the midpoint of the Chop Suey Era in American dining, and you want to share in the fun. The kitchen churns out hundreds of gallons of the stuff daily, to be shoveled down by hundreds of thousands of happy customers every year.
You look around at the other tables and see big platters heaped with steaming mounds of brownish stew, either over rice, for chop suey, or noodles, for chow mein. You can have a club sandwich or a ham omelet, if you must, but the top of the menu lists Chin Lee’s specialties, which are chow mein and chop suey-six kinds of “chop sooy” to be precise. A black-bow-tied Chinese waiter hands you the menu for the 70 cents dinner, and you scan the choices. On the dance floor, it’s strictly catch-as-catch-can, with gum-chewing shopgirls from Gimbel’s dancing with shopgirls, while Wall Street clerks look on hungrily, and a gaggle of girlfriends from the Bronx tries to catch the eyes of a group of slumming Princeton boys. On the main floor, dozens of white-clothed tables surround a dance floor and an all-Chinese jazz orchestra wailing away at breakneck pace, while above there’s a second floor, with more tables and a balcony overlooking the dancers. He finds you a table off in a far corner and disappears, leaving you to survey the surroundings. The entrance is on 49th Street, under a movie-theater-style awning that lures you up a brightly-lit flight of stairs to a coat check, a crowd of people milling about and the clatter of plates and the noise of a frantic jazz band.įinally, the unsmiling Chinese maître d’ nods your way, pulls menus off a pile and leads you through a maze of tables crowded with shouting, smiling, eating diners. Around them, the words “DINING,” “DANCING” and “NO COVER CHARGE” are spelled out by blinking yellow bulbs. It’s winter of 1939 and the big, bamboo-style letters on the sides of a building at Broadway and 49th Street blaze forth the name “CHIN LEE” late into the night.
He said that he would have preferred something saltier and spicier! Su Er'niang: Some nerve he has talking like that! And to think that I was kind enough to offer him some! Su Er'niang: You see? I get all worked up just thinking about it. Su Er'niang: Once he was finished, I asked him if he liked it. He looked quite tired, so I offered him some. Who else!? Su Er'niang: After working all morning to prepare the food, I saw him looking after the warehouse all by himself. Su Er'niang: Why, that manager of the warehouse, Gou San'er. If you like it, please come back and buy some more! (Obtain Zhongyuan Chop Suey ×4) Who's the fool that disagrees?
#TASTY CHOP SUEY FREE#
Su Er'niang: I have some customers who never used to go near any kind of animal innards, but after they'd tried it here they simply fell in love with it! Su Er'niang: Go on, have a taste! Free of charge. Su Er'niang: There's nothing to worry about, everything's washed thoroughly before I use it.
Not a hint of fish in that wonderful aroma! Su Er'niang: But it sure is troublesome having to explain the name to every outlander that shows up to eat here, whew!. Su Er'niang: After a quick deep fry, they're ready to be enjoyed. Then you add some Tiger Fish gelatin along with some starch and other ingredients, and roll it into meatballs. Su Er'niang: It all starts with rinsed giblets that's chopped into mince meat. Su Er'niang: But Zhongyuan Chop Suey is a local specialty here in Chihu Rock. Su Er'niang: I know, I know, the name sounds a little odd. Su Er'niang: Sure thing, we've got hot chop suey fresh from the oven! (Opens shop) Chop suey.? Su Er'niang: There's nothing better than piping hot Zhongyuan Chop Suey! Su Er'niang: There's only one fool who would ever say otherwise! I'd like to buy a snack.
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