"How did you make that chicken??" Joe insisted on knowing. He couldn't stop talking about how tender and juicy and perfectly cooked it was. I had just thrown some ingredients in the fridge together as a stir-fry, and he loved it. "Is it dark-meat chicken? Thighs?" No. "Then what did you do to it?"
I had fun drawing out the suspense. I had just taken chicken breasts, cut them up, and marinated them for a few minutes in soy sauce, cornstarch, rice wine vinegar, and a bit of baking soda. A later conversation with my mother revealed that restaurants use the baking soda to tenderize beef, not chicken; egg white is used for chicken. Whatever, Mom, it works. No, you won't taste the baking soda, and I wouldn't be worried about consuming it -- it's in baked goods all the time. Worth noting: I like this brand of oyster sauce because it has no MSG.
Kind of worth noting: I have childhood memories of my mom seating me in front of piles of snow peas and having me peel off that tendril at the top and down the side. It annoyed me as a kid, especially since I hated vegetables until college, but I smile to think of it now.
Kind of worth noting: I have childhood memories of my mom seating me in front of piles of snow peas and having me peel off that tendril at the top and down the side. It annoyed me as a kid, especially since I hated vegetables until college, but I smile to think of it now.
My other guess as to why the chicken turned out so well is that I always try not to overcook meat. I think people get so afraid of undercooking meat that they dry it out and toughen it, and I cooked the chicken just until it was done.
Throw in some garlic and slightly crunchy snow peas, and you've got a delicious and healthy dinner. And a Joe who won't stop eating the chicken when you try to photograph a blog post.