Cap cay (pronounced: tsaap tsaay, traditional Chinese: 雜碎, simplified Chinese: 杂碎, hanyu pinyin: zá suì) is Indonesian food that is from the influence of Chinese food. Indonesian people already adapt this recipe and is eaten everywhere throughout Indonesia by everybody, not only by Indonesian Chinese.
But Indonesian Chinese version is more elaborate and consists of more ingredients including chicken liver and baby corn. The word "cap cay" is from Chinese Fujian dialect which means "mixed vegetables". Americans know this food by the name of "chop suey" but the Indonesian style is a bit different.
Many people think that this recipe must use ten kinds of vegetable because the word "cap" in Fujian dialect very much resemble the word "cap" from that very same dialect which means "ten". But actually, how many types of vegetables used is not important. Although this is a vegetable recipe, you can add pork, beef, chicken, tofu, meatball, fish meatball, or shrimp too.
Actually, you can add all kinds of ingredients you think would fit in. Pork is usually used by Indonesian Chinese. Indonesian Muslim replace the pork with beef or chicken. This recipe is very easy and fast to cook.
Ingredients
10 beef meatballs, sliced thinly and round
2 carrots, peeled and sliced thinly diagonally
100 g cauliflower, cut according to each peace of the flower
100 g mustard greens, cut about 3 inches length each
2 green onion, sliced diagnally about 1 cm length each
2 cloves of garlic, chopped
2 teaspoon ginger, chopped
1/2 big Indian onions, sliced thinly
1 teaspoon olive oil or vegetable oil for sauteeing (see: Opor ayam for details of Indonesian style sauteeing).
Indonesian Chinese prefer to use or add a bit of pork fat for more flavour.
100 ml chicken stock
For sauce use 1 teaspoon cornflour dissolved in 50 ml water
Pepper and salt or salty soy sauce to taste
Method
Heat oil.
Sautee garlic and ginger until it smells good.
Add Indian onions, stir until wither.
Add meatballs and carrot, cook until the carrots are wither.
Add stock, cook until boiled.
Add cauli flower, mustard greens and green onion. Cook until the vegetables are crisp but still fresh.
Add the solution of cornflour.
Add pepper and salt (or salty soy sauce) to your taste. Stir a bit.
Cook until the sauce is thick enough.
Serve hot with rice or eaten by itself.
