This is a great example of a Chinese dish that goes by several names, depending on your geographic location. Chinese restaurants in the Netherlands call this Tjap Tjoy, but it’s comparable to the American Chop Suey, even though my version doesn’t call for soy sauce.

I’ve always been intrigued by Chinese dishes that have little to do with authentic Chinese food. These recipes are about as Americanized and Dutchified as they get, but that doesn’t make them any less tasty, though.

Here’s my Dutch-Chinese version. It’s a light dish chockfull of fresh, crunchy stir-fried vegetables in a very basic and mellow sauce.

The stunning wooden HK Living plates were provided by Fonq.

 
Ingredients:

1 pound velveted chicken breast
1 medium onion
1 medium leek
1 large carrot
1 small garlic clove
1 green bell pepper
1/3 cucumber
1/4 cup bamboo shoots
1 cup bean sprouts
2 1/2 cups vegetable bouillon
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 heaping tsp sweet hoisin sauce
(or regular hoisin + a pinch of brown sugar)
roasted Sichuan pepper salt (or regular salt)
2 tbsp corn starch mixed with 3 tbsp water
2 tbsp peanut oil

 
Optional:
4 to 5 oz sliced mushrooms
1/4 tsp Ve-tsin (if you want the ‘real’ restaurant version)

Directions:

Make sure you drain the velveted chicken well. Hot wok + water drops = trouble.

 
Traditionally you add mushrooms to tjap tjoy, but c’mon, who wants to be traditional? Okay, so I ran out of them. Shucks. Add 4 or 5 oz sliced mushrooms if you want to.
 

Gather all your ingredients. The trick is to keep everything you need within arms reach.

Peel and thinly slice the carrot. Or have someone else do it, like I did.

Turn the bell pepper into thin strips, slice the leek in rings, turn the onion into wedges and peel the layers apart.

 
Remember that slicing and dicing is supposed to be zen, as you work your way through all the veggies while murmuring through your teeth you’ll never make another one of my recipes again. The stir-frying itself goes wicked fast, I promise!
 

Peel the cucumber, remove the seeds and slice it into half moons or strips.

Mix the hot vegetable bouillon with the minced garlic and fish sauce.

Add the sweet hoisin sauce and stir well. Use regular hoisin sauce with a pinch of brown sugar otherwise.

Whisk the corn starch with the water until it’s lump-free. Whisk again right before adding it to the sauce.

 
Get your wok super hot! Hot wok, cool oil. That should be your mantra.
 

Pour in the oil and immediately add the carrot and bell pepper. Wok for a minute.

Add the onions and give it another minute.

Add the chicken strips and wok for 2 to 3 minutes. All this over really high heat!

 
If you wok is smaller than mine, you might even want to consider stir-frying in batches!
 

Add your bamboo shoots and give it one more minute.

In with the bean sprouts and cucumber. These should not be stir-fried for longer than, say, 30 seconds.

Pour in the hot bouillon, bring it to a boil and let it simmer for 2 or 3 minutes.

Add the slurry (whisk first) and season with the roasted Sichuan pepper salt or regular salt.

 
In my very humble opinion, the Sichuan pepper salt is what makes this dish taste exactly like it does in our restaurants! But then again, they also add MSG (Ve-Tsin) there and I don’t.
 

Spoon over steamed rice and dig in. This is my kinda spring comfort food.