Day 87: misconceptions gone
I’m not feeling too good today! Major brain fog. It’s like pea soup in here! But, I am happily surprised about today’s pick; not least because it’s another concept I have avoided most of my life that actually turned out to be gorgeous! I’m not surprised that a Nigella recipe was nice, you understand: I am surprised that I took great enjoyment in eating something that I have long despised. Sweet and sour sauce.
I, among many others I’m sure, am haunted by that unsettlingly radioactive-orange gloop you get with your chicken balls from a bad takeaway. You know, the stuff with a lone chunk of soggy, orange-stained pineapple floating about on top. Sure, it’s for some people, but it’s not for me. And I just want to make it clear I’m talking about the really, really thick, glupy, wobbly stuff that doesn't pour. I don’t know enough about the origin of sweet and sour sauce to criticise or comment on what’s authentic, but that particular stuff is not for me.
My housemate at university loved sweet and sour, and I - being haunted by previous radioactive visions - was one of those awful people that just turned their nose up at it. Something I try very hard not to do now! If you don’t like it, there’s no need for the over-dramatised facial expressions, right? Its also quite disrespectful. Now that I’m trying and eating more foods, I’ve become quite conscious of those screwed up, chewing-a-wasp kinds of faces that people pull in response to you telling them what you’ve had for dinner. Of equal irk are the moments on social media when someone comments negatively just because something doesn’t conform or align with their preference or taste. So, whilst that particular edition (whether it be authentic or not) of sweet and sour sauce may not be for me, I don’t deny it is for others and I respect that.
When someone suggested on Twitter (thanks, Aaron!) that I tried Nigella’s Sweet and Sour Chicken, I was hesitant: not six months ago would I have even given the time of day to the notion of pineapple with savoury food; but this cookalong is about trying new things, and thankfully for Nigella’s Stir-Fried Rice with Double Sprouts, Chilli and Pineapple (Day 5) my misconceptions were already nullified.
Nigella’s Sweet and Sour Chicken
I had diced pork (fillet) in the freezer, which probably should have been used about two months ago, so that’s what I used for this in place of the chicken thigh fillets. Everything else I kept the same, except for a little confusion over the rice wine vinegar: I had rice vinegar, but I wasn’t sure if that was the same; so I used a combination of rice vinegar and some Shaoxing wine. I won’t know until buy and try rice wine vinegar whether this was a good improvisation or not but it still tasted lovely!
I, of course, used the sliced water chestnuts: those crisp, juicy, pale-golden coins are a highlight in Chinese cuisine for me, and, when we get takeaway or dine out, I take great joy in selfishly picking out as many as I can find in the main dishes and putting them all on my plate. I take the same pleasure with bamboo shoots, too.
Flavour musings
Sweet and sour was a concept I never fully appreciated until today: thanks to Nigella’s Sweet and Sour Chicken, gone are my misconceptions that it only existed in the form of that unsettlingly radioactive-orange gloop from my uni days. I don’t deny that that gloop still exists, nor do I disrespect anyone who likes it, but it just isn't for me. And that’s okay. This, however, I will cook on repeat.
About one portion remains as leftovers, so I am thinking of something to do with it to bulk it up and feed us for a second night. The recipe should have fed us twice but I used less meat than stated in the recipe, so I can only expect it to go so far. I am thinking of making up more sauce and serving it as a soup-type meal with lots of rice noodles. Maybe mix through some of this new sweet chilli sauce I recently bought, which isn’t like most I see in the supermarkets: it’s not translucent; it doesn’t have bits in it and it contains tamarind, which adds a wonderful sourness. Not that I have any issues with the more popular orange/red translucent sweet chilli sauce, on the contrary: it’s wonderful poured over a block of cream cheese and scooped up with salted/spiced rice crackers.
