Chop meat and vegetables separately. Brown meat in peanut oil. Add vegetables and pour in 1½ cups water. Boil for 10 minutes.
Add MSG to ½ cup water (skip this step if not using MSG). Mix together MSG mixture (optional), salt, sugar, soy sauce, cornstarch, and molasses to make the gravy. Let entire mixture come to a boil to thicken. Add meat and vegetables and stir.
Serve with rice or crisp Chinese noodles.
Note: To make chow mein, use the same recipe but chop the vegetables and meat finer than you would for chop suey and serve with crispy noodles rather than rice.