family fun

Over Christmas break, my family started posing the question, "what's for dinner?" What happened next is the proof that families really can work together for the greater good.

I had already removed frozen egg rolls and oriental-style vegetables and placed them in the fridge to defrost. So I suggested Asian. Instantly all 4 of us started searching the cupboards, fridge, freezer and garage floor(not-yet unloaded groceries is an excellent source of instant treats in my home) for all the asian food we could find. Quick decision making and rebuttals were being shot across the room. "What about sweet and sour sauce?!" "We have 3 kinds in the fridge." "Is this enough vegetables?? I mean there are four of us and I just don't know if there are going to be enough vegetables!!!" Panic and doubt fill the kitchen. My dad gets a worried look upon his face when we realizes that there is only 1/2 a bottle left of the low-sodium soy sauce. He grabs his keys and starts for the door saying he will be at the store and can get anything else we may need. We three, with looks of confusion and disbelief confirm that he will not need more than 1/2 a bottle and everything would be okay without going to the store. I start cooking the rice and vegetables in a wok. Dad gets his wonton soup and the pot-stickers going (first he corrects me on how to cook them because he is the master of Japanese cuisine. Apparently you have to wait until the oil crackles to put in the pot-stickers and water or they will be soggy.) Mom and Benj try to figure out the deep fryer that he gave her a year previous. She did not know how to use it because she had never pulled it out of the box - a fact that Benj had alluded to exactly 3 hours before the current events took place. We began to set the table, complete with chopsticks and condiments. I couldn't believe where all the bottles came from, because in a matter of seconds the table was covered with 15 bottles filled with sauces I may have never heard of. We finally sat down and began to enjoy our oriental feast. There was plenty of every dish to go around. When comparing sweet and sour sauces, my mom said the following: "Well I don't like that one. The Trader Joe's sauce is much better. This other cheap brand doesn't know what they're doing." "Mom, this is Kikkoman sweet and sour sauce...." As it turns out, the "cheap" Kikkoman brand was a simmer sauce, which explains the off-color flavor.

I may not have mentioned two very important facts to clarify this story. One, my family takes food very seriously. Two, we lived in Japan and thus understand the special aesthetic of asian food. The end.