CEBU, Philippines - Call it picky, but I insisted for small slices of liver in my chop suey. I specified it with the fellow taking my order. I didn't demand for dragon liver, not even crocodile liver. I only sought chop suey with whatever liver was available, the kind of chop suey I grew up with.
The old restaurant along Colon Street served the most impressive chop suey I'd ever tasted in my life. Their kind of chop suey became the standard for the home-cooked version with the family. But they had since transferred location.
Then a branch of a fast-food chain opened near my place of work. On its immensely illuminated menu board was that rich mix of vegetables - the chop suey. I was a regular patron immediately and for a time. Then an incident turned me off completely, forever!
It was a Saturday night and I was coming fresh from a rousing performance of Basti Artadi's "Wolfgang." The last meal I had that day was brunch, so when the Pinoy group's rocking and head-banging effects on me subsided, the rumblings of my stomach took over my senses and sent me craving for my favorite chop suey.
I went inside the fast-food restaurant and ordered. After 15 minutes, the steaming mix of crunchy carrots and rich green chayote was served. I shoved aside the bell peppers and heads of broccoliso to fish out cuts of chicken liver, or pork liver, or any liver that I thought should be there. To my big dismay, there was none!
It raised my disappointment with the unsympathetic chef, who simply explained that they had the livers replaced with tofu to cut down on cost. In which case, the supposed "budget meal" should have been priced P20 less, sans the essential liver ingredient. Call it making a mountain out of a molehill, but I returned the meal tray to the counter, telling the manager to clear up the menu offering next time.
The city must be really running out of fresh supply of livers because, just lately, I found myself again in the same situation. The very thing that attracted me with a certain grill station's menu was their veggie section. On top of the list was "Mother's best chop suey." I didn't think kitchen-bound mothers would do shortcuts in their cooking. I knew for a fact that mom-chefs were very particular about ingredients, especially. But, again, the liver was missing!
So what does chop suey nowadays taste like? Anything but chop suey.
The dish is to be prepared with meat cuts in long, thin pieces. However, not even a hint of it is there anymore. I understand the importance of food costing in restaurants. But to mess with the key ingredients to the point of omitting some is just another story.
One more thing I notice - the oyster sauce is being crashed out too these days. My mom is a great cook and I know, from the consistency of the thickening agent, that it's nothing more than water and cornstarch. They've really chopped away a lot from the chop suey.
I suggest that costing staff at restaurants visit the grocery stores now and then. There's a condiments company that offers oyster sauce in sachets. Suggested retail price is only P5.
If they are not about to bring back the liver to the chop suey, they must be resourceful and creative enough to find alternatives that retain the integrity of the original dish. For sure there's a way, as I have pointed out with the oyster sauce part.
Then I might come back to ordering chop suey again in the restaurant.