As we are talking specifically about two dishes, let's take a look at them separately right at the beginning. Chow mein is basically stir-fried noodles; its name comes from chau-mèing, which belongs to the Taishanese dialect of Yue Chinese. 'Chow' means fried, whereas 'mein' refers to noodles. Two main kinds of chow mein exist; the first one being steamed and the other being crispy (Hong Kong style). The former is soft and mostly made up of long rounded noodles, whereas the latter is more dry and crispy, and made up of flat noodles. Chop suey, on the other hand, is an American-Chinese cuisine, and could also be called other overseas cuisines such as Filipino cuisine, Indian-Chinese cuisine, Polynesian cuisine, Indonesian cuisine, etc. It was thought to be invented in 1896 by the Chinese ambassador Li Hung Chang's cooks, who cooked the dish for some American guests for dinner. The recipe consisted of celery, bean sprouts, and meat in a tasty sauce. Although, the true tale of its invention remains a mystery. The term 'chop suey' originates from the English translation of the Mandarin tsa-sui, and the Cantonese tsaâp suì. The dish can be either cooked with a base of rice or deep-fried noodles, the latter being more popular. A very basic difference between the two is that, in chow mein, the recipe itself includes adding cooked noodles to the cooking sauces, vegetables, and meat (optional). However, in chop suey, the mixture of cooked vegetables and meat (optional) along with the sauces is served over already cooked rice or fried noodles. Let's take a look at the difference between chow mein and chop suey by way of a side-by-side comparison. You might be hungry after reading all these yummy things about your favorite Chinese food. Make a shopping list of the ingredients you don't have, and begin cooking these two delicacies. I am sure you'll love the homemade version better.