
Top with a whole cherry or with a whole berry in season. Pour a small ladle of the chop suey mixture in the space between the two mounds of ice cream. This is the chop suey mixture.” After making this mixture, “Now place any two desired kinds of ice cream in the usual mounds on the serving dish. “Take raisins, dates and figs, in equal quantities, chop them and mix with enough simple syrup of a heavy grade to permit the mixture to pour easily.
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The book also gave instructions on how to make a Chop Suey Double Sundae. Chopped nuts of all sorts may be added to the Chop Suey mixtures also sliced pineapple, candied fruits, shredded coconut, preserved ginger, and almost any confection of this sort you care to use.”

Or mix the chopped fruits with a heavy syrup and pour over the ice cream.” It then continued, “Chopped fruits are apt to get sticky and will work better with the addition of syrup. Place a scoop of ice cream in a cup and sprinkle it with the chopped fruit. Chopped dates, figs, and raisins make a good Chop Suey combination. It stated, “As the name indicates, these constitute various mixtures. Adkins, provided more information on the Chop Suey Sundae. The National Soda Fountain Guide (1913), by William S. The Detroit Times (MI), January 20, 1910, printed an ad for a fancier version of the Chop Suey drink, using 8 different kinds of crushed fruit, with walnuts, almonds, pecans and filberts, all diluted with pure maple syrup. Over the years, both versions would continue to co-exist, although the sundae style would eventually be more dominant. One of these sundaes is made by filling a glass with ice cream, pouring over the cream a syrup made of dates, figs, and maple syrup, and topping the whole with a sprinkling of chopped nuts.” It stated, “Chop suey sundaes are perhaps enjoying the widest popularity of all of the new aspirants for public favor in the ice cream line.
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It might be called a nocturne.” The writer watched as his server “…mixed together dates, figs, chocolate and soda water” and then commented that “The drink, when it was finished, looked like some sort of effervescent ink.”Īs a gimmick, the Daily Chronicle, August 6, 1903, published an ad for Brown’s Drug Store, noting that “every lady” who bought a Chop Suey Sundae would receive a free pair of “genuine Chinese chopsticks,” although you obviously couldn’t use the chopsticks for the fountain drink.Ī different version, something to eat rather than drink, was first mentioned in The Cleveland Leader, (OH), August 7, 1904. The drink gets its name because it resembles chop suey in hue. More details were given in the Indianapolis Journal (IN), August 2, 1903, noting, “The ingredients of the real chop suey of Chinatown are not used in the chop suey sundae. ” It was essentially a soda fountain drink, and a new fad that quickly spread across the entire country. It is a combination of dates, figs and nuts all flavored with a special mixture of syrups and ices. The article stated, “Chop suey sundae is a great favorite, it has absolutely none of the ingredients in the Chinese preparation from which it takes its name nor is it eaten with a chopstick. At this time, chop suey joints were hugely popular, so it was inevitable others would try to capitalize on its popularity.Īlthough there were multiple newspaper references to the Chop Suey Sundae in the first half of 1903, a description wasn’t provided until the Plain Dealer (OH), July 26, 1903.

The drink version was invented first, in 1903, but by 1904, the second version had also appeared, and both versions could be found all across the country. There are actually two different versions of the Chop Suey Sundae, one which is more of a drink and the other which is more of a dessert to eat. It was such a popular term that it was even co-opted by others, to apply to non-Chinese foods, such as the Chop Suey Sundae.Ī Chop Suey Sundae? Meat, vegetables and a brown sauce over ice cream? No, this sundae merely takes the name of that dish and none of the usual ingredients are present. The origins of chop suey are murky but the dish certainly had a strong impact. was chop suey, a mixture of meat and vegetables in a brown sauce. The most popular item in the earliest Chinese restaurants in the U.S.
