Chop Suey
Before General Tso’s Chicken became a staple, Chop Suey was the “Chinese” dish that most Americans could name. According to the History Channel, the dish’s origins can be traced to the California Gold Rush, when was invented by enterprising Chinese restaurateurs to satisfy a bunch of drunken miners. The chefs scraped together leftovers, doused them in soy sauce, and presented this as “shap sui,” which means “mixed pieces” or “odds and ends” in Chinese.