This oddly named self-serve meal of chow mein noodles, topped by a scoop of white rice, covered with chicken in sauce, and decorated with a mad conglomeration of toppings, has been blamed on the Burmese, Javanese, Hawaiian, Filipino, Chinese, and Mormon traditions, but I suspect it is the remarkable product of desperate Saturday night cooks. Like an Oriental curry, it is topped with a selection of dry roasted peanuts or sliced almonds or cashews, chopped tomatoes, chopped green or white onions, chopped bell peppers or jalapenos, cold frozen peas, pineapple chunks, soy sauce and coconut; but it also has to have grated mild cheese, and also may have an assortment of other bits such as sliced celery, raisins and tangerines. Wild eyed neophytes have even been known to offer maraschino cherries.
OK, it sounds weird, but it looks pretty and people seem to love putting the huge towers of food together and gobbling them up..

Soup topping/gravy

3 cans mushroom soup,
3 cans other cream soup, such as chicken or celery
3 cans milk
1 1/2 cups sour cream You can substitute 6-8 cups of thick gravy or cream sauce. Later you will add milk or broth to achieve desired consistency.

Starches

rice, 10 cups uncooked (that's about 4.5 pounds), may be prepared as saffron rice. Brown rice is tasty but not traditional.
crunchy chow mein noodles, 30 ounces for under rice, 15 ounces for topping

Chicken

chicken, 10-12 pounds bone in pieces, 5-6 pounds boneless. You can also use 10 cups of any cooked meat.
mushrooms, 1 1/2 pounds Note: For a vegetarian option, use a marinated lentil salad or any flavorful bean dish.
spices and herbs to taste

Toppings
dry roasted peanuts or sliced almonds or cashews, 10 ounces
chopped tomatoes, 6-8
chopped green onions, 2 bunches OR 2 medium regular onions, chopped
chopped bell peppers, pimento or jalapenos, 1 cup
cold frozen peas, 1 pound
pineapple chunks, 4 cans
soy sauce, 3 cups (I use low sodium soy sauce)
coconut, 10 ounces
Grated mild cheese, 2 pounds or 8 cups
sliced celery, 3-4 cups chopped
Occasionally:
mandarin oranges replace a portion of the pineapple
raisins, 1 cup
olives, chopped, 1/2 cup
8-10 hardcooked eggs, chopped (especially if there may be vegetarians)
3 cans sliced water chestnuts

Assemble everything and put someone to work chopping toppings.
Start the water boiling for the rice in a really big pot.
Debone and cook up the now chopped up chicken and mushrooms. Put in the second giant pot.
Add all the sauce stuff to the chicken except the sour cream. Start it simmering, nice easy heat.
Get your rice cooking.
Help the other persons with the toppings. Get them all on the table, put the nuts and coconut last in the line.
About 10 minutes before the rice is done, add the sour cream to the chicken, and thin the sauce to your preferred consistency with milk or broth
Set chow mein noodles, then the rice, then the chicken on the table in front of the toppings.
Call in the hungry hordes.