Beef mince is the star of our chop suey recipe. When tossed with crunchy vegetables, noodles and a soy and curry sauce you have the perfect, no fuss, budget dinner that the whole family will love. The origins of chop suey are unclear, all we know that like fortune cookies, chow mein and kung pao chicken it’s not a traditional Chinese dish. Instead, it turned up in America during the California gold rush, when the Chinese tried to create a familiar dish made from local ingredients. Where a standard chop suey recipe uses sliced beef, chicken, pork or prawns our favourite chop suey recipe uses beef mince. This not only makes it more economical but serves all appetites from grown-ups to kids.  What’s the secret to a great chop suey? The secret to a chop suey is making sure all the vegetables are cut into the same size pieces and you add them in the right order. We want our onions, celery and carrots softened so they go in first. Broccoli needs a bit of a crunch so it goes in later. Adding noodles is optional, but we add them to make the meal go further. If not using, instead serve your simple chop suey over freshly steamed rice.  The beauty of this simple chop suey recipe is that It falls into the category of recipes that we here at taste refer to as “crisper” cuisine, where you can swap and change the ingredients depending on what you have sitting in the fridge. Capsicum, zucchini, Asian greens, mushrooms and bean sprouts can all be added or substituted. Some either crisper recipe include our clear out the fridge frittata, Sunday supper souffle or use it up tortilla. We also have a few ideas for leftover bolognese like throwing it into a quiche, turning into a pie maker frittata or making lasagne rolls. Additional recipe notes by Alison Adams - Food Writer and Recipe Tester.