Wartime Chop Suey (1943)

 Cooking on a Ration; cooking is still fun! (1943), by Marjorie Mills 

“What’s the plan for dinner?” asked my husband. “Wartime Chop Suey!” I said. 

 “In… in what way is it ‘wartime?’”

“It’s full of secrets?”

“What is chop suey?” asked 10 year old. 

“It’s a Chinese-American dish.  I don’t think you’ve ever had it.” 

“Oh. If it’s bad, do we have to eat it?” 

“Nope.” 

“Okay!” 

 Above: 12 year old makes sure the dog is in the picture. Also, 3x as much meat as the recipe calls for. It was the smallest package I could find. 

Wartime Chop Suey 

2 tablespoons fat (I used bacon fat, to give it the best possible chance) 

1 cup sliced onion 

1/2 pound fresh pork, cut into strips 

1/4 cup uncooked rice 

4 bouillon cubes 

4 cups water 

3/4 teaspoon salt 

1 cup green pepper 

1 cup celery strips 

1 1/2 teaspoon Soy Sauce, or 2 tablespoons ketchup (I used both!  Wheeee!) 

2 cups ready to eat rice cereal 

1 tablespoon butter

Hear fat in heavy frying pan. Add onions and meat; cook until lightly browned. Add rice and stock (made by dissolving bouillon cubes in hot water). Add salt; cover and simmer about 20 minutes.  Add green pepper, celery, and Soy Sauce or ketchup.  Cover and simmer 20 minutes longer. Serve at once with rice cereal which has been heated in butter. 

Mmm, fried in butter 

Why is there only 1/4 cup of rice to a quart of liquid? And WHY COOK THE RICE FOR 40 MINUTES

Verdict: Not… actually that bad?  With the ratio of liquid to rice, it’s really on the soup or stew side. Everyone finished their servings, unforced.  Kids said it was better than most of their school lunches, and then argued with each other over whether the school’s chili was good or not.   Afterwards, I saved the leftovers and said it was fair game for someone to pick the tasty bits out of later, by which I meant the pork, as the rice was almost dissolved and bell peppers are meh. Both kids scampered over to the pan of butter fried generic Rice Krispies, and polished them off. Because they were DELICIOUS. 10 year old said she would like a bowl full of butter fried Rice Krispies in broth, like a cereal soup.