Chinese Cooking…Sort Of

Not to toot my own horn or anything but I’m rather good at cooking. There’s plenty of things I can’t do very well but cooking isn’t one of them. Whether it’s French, Italian or even Indian food, I can probably put something together given some time in the kitchen. However, strangely enough, I’m not particularly skilled at making Chinese food…which is rather odd since I’m, well, for all intents and purposes, Chinese. It’s not like Chinese food, for the most part, is all that complicated either although, like every other kind of cooking, it takes some serious talent to master. I’m just not all that good at it.

I was a bit bored and forgot to go grocery shopping earlier in the day in lieu of buying HDMI cable and a stack of Blu-Ray movies for my PS3. I originally planned to make something else (I was thinking a take on a chicken cordon bleu…which is a fancy pants Frenchie name for chicken with ham and cheese…but I like to put mushrooms in it too.) but thought I’d try doing something different today. I sliced up the chicken breast I had and marinated it, leaving it for about an hour before cooking. I scrounged up whatever I could find in the fridge, this time being some carrots and asparagus thought I could just make a simple sort of stir-fry spaghetti like I have at Chinese restaurants all the time.

I’m no good at putting anything I do in the kitchen into words. If you want like…recipes, head over to Chow Times. I’m horrible at teaching stuff…especially in the kitchen since I don’t do any measuring or whatever. It’s all through taste, feel and trial/error. Maybe I should try doing Dot Com Kitchen like Stephen. I guess I’ll just say this Gordon Ramsay-style.

Hot pan, olive oil, minced garlic. Chicken…sear. Asparagus…olive oil…salt and pepper…bake (yes, bake). Carrots…jullienne…blanch (lightly). Linguine…blanch. Everything in the pan…soy sauce…oyster sauce…hot chili sauce. Done.

Chicken breast has a sort of bad reputation for being dry but it’s very moist if you cook it properly…meaning not too much. Everyone is afraid of salmonella or e-coli and overcooks the chicken to hell.

I’m not sure if there is ever asparagus in Chinese cooking but close enough. I’d love some bean sprouts and red/green peppers but I wasn’t about to go out specifically to buy them. This is probably not as good for you as some of the other food I’ve made in the past since there’s probably more than a bit of sodium but hey, the linguine is whole wheat and, unlike some Chinese restaurants I know, at least no one sneezed in it

…well, other than me.

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