Well Preserved Traditions

My husband and I just celebrated our seventh wedding anniversary almost two weeks ago, and over a decade of being together. Throughout the 13 years that I’ve known him, he’s always been very open about trying new foods. For both of us, food is deeply rooted in our childhood upbringing, albeit different styles of cooking with different parents. He was born to very young parents, and with one being in the military, his childhood cuisine consisted of LOTS OF potatoes (mashed or otherwise), Hamburger Helper, hot dogs, and canned peas mixed with chili, i.e. lots of fattening foods, otherwise known as quick-and-easy boxed meals. These days, at the mention of Hamburger Helper, he shakes his head in disgust, and within a minute, he looks like he’s about to throw up. On the other hand, I grew up with much older parents--a father who rarely cooked, and a mother who doesn’t particularly enjoy cooking, but nonetheless she can cook some fantastic meals. For a long time, she made these little jelly dumplings by hand every morning, and would carry them in two large baskets propelled by strings and take them around our district to sell. It was tough, back breaking work, but she did it to ensure that we’d all survive.

With that said, you’d think that I’d be more exposed to food and therefore learn to cook at an earlier age, right? Wrong. My husband and I’s upbringings led us in opposite directions. Dameion learned to cook for himself when he was young – not surprisingly, one of the first things he learned to cook was mashed potatoes, something that didn’t come out of a box. As for me, I was not allowed in the kitchen very often by my mother, and with being fed good food all the time, I didn’t have a lot of motivation to learn to cook myself. This continued all the way into adulthood.

As a teenager, Dameion went to live with his dad, who believed in standard American fare, hence his teenage years involved A LOT of chicken patties and near-expired milk. It wasn’t until he became friends with a Chinese/Mien kid that he was introduced to the Asian culture and its food offerings. Then he met me shortly after, and from that point on, his palette changed completely.

To this day, we eat a lot more Asian foods than American ones. It’s not to say that we would reject steak and potatoes if offered, but we tend to digress towards Vietnamese or Chinese foods (sometimes Japanese, however they are hard to make). In our household, we have a collection of Asian cookbooks, as well as many other Asian-inspired recipes stored in his phone. Not to mention, we go over to my mom’s house quite often, and he’s been introduced to different dishes cooked in different ways. What I love about my husband is that he’s always willing to try new things. As in the past decade or so, Vietnamese food (pho, anyone?) has blossomed as a food culture in Portland, we’ve been eating Pho for years. These days, if my mom or sister-in-law offers him something that he’s never tried before, he’ll eat it.

When we’re not being spoiled by my family, he comes up with his own recipes. Over the years of cooking (and working in the food industry), he has come up with a variety of dishes, adapted to his own liking. One in particular is my favorite, which I’ve included the recipe below. It is a simple chicken recipe consisting of using chicken thighs with certain spices and sauces and letting it work for itself through simmering. This recipe is a collaboration of sweets, spices, and savory—served with rice, it makes a very fulfilling dinner.

Dameion's five-spice chicken thighs*

Adapted from a random, unknown Chinese cookbook

Dameion's five-spice chicken thighs*
Adapted from a random, unknown Chinese cookbook

INGREDIENTS

5 teaspoons olive oil
5 chicken thighs
1/2 cup of water
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
2 tablespoons orange juice*
2 tablespoons reduced-sodium soy sauce
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon white vinegar
4 garlic cloves, minced
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes
1/4 teaspoon Chinese five-spice powder
Sliced green onions
Eight mushrooms* cut into slices 

DIRECTIONS

In a heavy bottom pot, heat oil over medium heat. Add chicken; cook 8-10 minutes on each side or until no longer pink. In a small bowl, whisk water, brown sugar, orange juice, soy sauce, ketchup, vinegar, garlic, pepper flakes and five-spice powder. Pour over chicken. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat; simmer, uncovered, 30-35 minutes or until chicken is tender, turning chicken occasionally. Keeping chicken in pot cut it with shears into chunks add mushrooms to skillet and cook for 1min. Sprinkle with green onions. Serve with rice. 

NOTES:

*You can use any type of mushrooms that you’d like; we typically use white since they are more economical, however this time we used crimini and they were also quite delicious.

*As far as tools are concerned, very little is needed except for either a 12-inch frying pan or a small Dutch oven. Both will cook the chicken quite nicely.

*Substitute OJ for lemon juice if you don’t have it, but we’ve found that orange juice works the best in this recipe.

*Optional: serve with a dash of sriracha and a few slices of cucumber.