The Many Taste Grooves of the Chang Family

I had to remind myself what chop suey is (meat stewed and fried with bean sprouts, bamboo shoots, and onions, and served with rice) as I have never ordered it before. I love this idea that the aging father was on a quest to recall a simple dish as some of my favorite meals of my youth have been more simplistic (my mother's chicken and dumplings, my own ‘peasant soup', etc.). And then the twist at the end was sweet: the concoction that the brothers had made when they were bored (and perhaps a little resentful) at the restaurant composed of sugar, soy sauce, duck sauce, and then tea that the father unknowingly picked up.

Memory of food and of being around the table with family can be pretty strong.