Aug 33 min read

Clara Bow's Chop Suey

Bow biographer David Stenn joined us for this special tribute to the "It" Girl.

Clara Bow won a "Fame and Fortune" contest that led to a film contract. She was a natural talent and became a sex symbol, the first "It Girl" and the biggest star of the 1920s. Bow pursued men on screen in a way women had never seen before in films like Man Trap, Dancing Mothers and Hula. In 1927 alone she starred in Wings, the first film to win the Academy Award for Best Picture and her signature film It. Contrary to popular lore, she did succeed in sound, but was beset by scandal and exhaustion. While she retired in 1933, her films and life story are always being discovered by new generations. This year alone her lost 1923 film The Pill Pounder was discovered and Taylor Swift named a song in her honor. Ninety one years after her final film, Clara Bow is still relevant and timeless.

Recipe

There are several recipes out there attributed to Clara Bow. Her candor was rare and she openly admitted that she didn't cook. Since that is the case, I figured we could go in a different direction with this episode. Her biographer David Stenn told me that she loved Chop Suey and it was one of her most favorite things to eat. We decided to make that in her honor.

My friend and frequent collaborator Angie found this Chop Suey recipe from The Sacramento Union Newspaper from October 15, 1929.

Ingredients

12 oz cut chicken thighs bite size

garlic

1 tsp Chinese wine

2 tsp oyster sauce

2 tsp corn starch

1 cup chicken broth

2 cups rice

2 cups water

1/2 lb. bean spouts

1 dozen water chestnuts

3 stalks of celery

1 dozen white mushrooms

salt & pepper

Directions

Use vegetable oil and heat up on the stove in a wok or skillet. Add chicken and garlic and fry for 1 minute. Add celery and mushrooms and fry for 2 minutes. Add bean spouts and water chestnuts. Add additional salt and pepper, 1 cup chicken broth and 2 tbs oyster sauce. Then add 1 tsp corn starch and 1 tsp of water to create a slurry. Stir until thickened.

Special Guest

David Stenn's writing-producing television credits span from Hill Street Blues to Boardwalk Empire and include 21 Jump Street, Beverly Hills 90210 and The L Word. His first biography, Clara Bow: Runnin' Wild, was edited by Jacqueline Onassis and became a national bestseller. It was followed by Bombshell: The Life and Death of Jean Harlow (also edited by Onassis), which The New York Times cited as one of the year's Notable Books. “It Happened One Night…At M-G-M,” Stenn’s discovery for Vanity Fair of Hollywood’s best-suppressed scandal, brought vindication to rape survivor Patricia Douglas after sixty-six years in hiding; Stenn then adapted it into the documentary film GIRL 27. He is a passionate supporter of film preservation who serves on the Film Committee of the Museum of Modern Art in New York and Board of Directors at the UCLA Film & Television Archive in Los Angeles.

Angie Schneider is a board member and curator of the Hollywood Heritage Museum and collects memorabilia on Mary Pickford and Theda Bara. She blogs at “Tinsel and Stars" and is currently writing a cookbook on the recipes of Pickfair.