The origin isn't known for sure, although u003ca href=u0022https://passionatefoodie.blogspot.com/2020/04/the-origins-of-american-chop-suey.htmlu0022 target=u0022_blanku0022 rel=u0022noreferrer noopeneru0022u003eone storyu003c/au003e by Richard Auffrey is a fascinating read. Another story explains a Chinese chef at a Californian mining camp made a dish using whatever he had to hand and called it u003cemu003etsa suiu003c/emu003e, which is Mandarin for miscellaneous broken pieces. It's basically a combination of any meat, vegetables and sauce ingredients rather than a specific set recipe.