Seahawks 23, General Tso’s Chicken 3

(This fall we are combining our love of the football and our dream of learning to cook. On Sunday morning, following a trip to a local farmer’s market/major supermarket chain, we will be preparing a meal from the city of the Seahawks opponent. Then at halftime we will throw our badly burned hands in the air and make hot dogs.)

Seahawks vs. General Tso's Chicken preview.

As we wandered the aisles of Safeway shoplifting the ingredients necessary for General Tso’s chicken, we noticed it called for white pepper and white wine vinegar.

The Man can’t even keep his pigment free hands off ethnic food. (By ethnic food we mean Americanized foreign cuisine. We will never forget the disappointment we felt the first time we ordered pizza in Italy, "Scusi waiter, does this come with crazy bread?")

For this complicated recipe we borrowed the assistance of professional chef Seattlest Rachael.

Soon after her arrival she wiped the tears from our eyes and explained that if the cornstarch and water mixture is too stiff then simply start over and add less starch or more water. [Sniffle] "Thank you."

Calm, cool, and collected she taught us how to cut chicken knuckles first, so as to spare our fingers. Then she guided us through the sauce making, breading and cooking of the chicken in oil, and finally combining everything in the wok.

Like a mother letting her child pretend to drive, she let us do most of the work, except for this cook wok flip, where all the food was tossed in the air, hung here, and then landed perfectly. We were about to try, however, as we gripped the handle we thought better of it.

The final product was placed over rice and topped with sliced peppers and sesame seeds.

We couldn’t thank Seattlest Rachael enough for all of her help, and understanding (especially when we were checking the score of the Phillies game every six seconds). Also a tip of the cap to Car Domain Jason for letting us use his rice cooker, wok, and sock drawer.

Finally, a you’re welcome to anyone who up until now had been a few letters away from finishing yesterday’s New York Times crossword puzzle—128 Across: General _____ Chicken.

Next week: Seahawks @ Pierogis, 10am