Marc Neermann, of Norcross, Georgia, was looking for a recipe for chop suey like his grandmother made in the 1950s or early 1960s. The main ingredients, as far as he and his mother can recall, were beef and possibly pork, bead molasses, bean sprouts, water chestnuts and soy sauce. It was served over white rice.

Rosalia Case, of Ellicott City, Maryland, said her mother made this type of chop suey during the ’50s and ’60s and that it was a family favorite for Sunday night dinner.

Case thought her recipe might be very similar to what Norcross was searching for. She said her mother’s version did not include water chestnuts, but that might have been a personal preference. She is not sure where her mother got the recipe, but it possibly came off a can of chow mein noodles or bean sprouts.

The recipe calls for round steak, but it certainly could be made with pork tenderloin instead or even a combination of the two.

Bead molasses is similar to light molasses in color, texture and sweetness. It is commonly used in Asian dishes to add flavor and color. If you have trouble locating it, you can substitute light molasses or an Asian-style brown sauce. I used a low-sodium soy sauce and also added some water chestnuts for crunch.

In the 1950s and ’60s, this type of dish was what passed for Chinese cooking in this country. Though we’ve come a long way since then, this American-Chinese dish is surprisingly good and simple to make without a lot of fancy or pricey ingredients or time-consuming prep work.

Requests

Patty Wolfe, of Bend, said that she grew up in central Indiana and in the early 1960s, her sister-in-law made a breakfast casserole that was quite unusual at the time. As she remembers it, the dish was a bed of white rice that had several indentations filled with single whole eggs. It was then topped with some kind of sauce or soup, and perhaps cheese, and baked. Wolfe said it was “super-delish” and she was hoping someone might be familiar with this dish and be able to share the recipe.