I think Mini-Jon had hiccups this morning. I also think he's still laying sideways because I felt the movements simultaneously on both sides of my belly. Naturally he stopped before I could get to Jon and let him see if he could feel it.

Just because I'm bored -


The Way I Cook:

Here's my recipe for General Cho's Chicken. I will give step-by-step instructions of how I cook:

6-7 boneless, skinless chicken thighs cubed. If you can't find boneless skinless chicken thighs at your grocery store it sucks to be you. Use chicken breasts, but lower the cooking time. Or you can debone and skin the thighs yourself. Again, it sucks to be you.

7-8 tablespoons cornstarch, made into a batter with one egg white and a little water. Too thin: add more cornstarch. Too thick: add a little water.

2-3 tablespoons soy sauce

1 tablespoon peanut oil

Put all these ingredients into a bowl. Let it sit for a while as you heat up a bunch of oil for frying. I like to use an iron dutch oven, because when you put things in it for frying, the temperature doesn't fluctuate. Put heat on medium high.

Cook the chicken in small batches for about 7-8 minutes. You might need to separate the pieces once you drop the pieces in or they might stick together. Drain on paper towels and transfer to even more paper towels on a baking sheet in a 200 degree oven.

Start cooking rice. This is how I cook it on an electric range: 1 cup long grain rice to 1 1/2 cup of water and a pinch of salt. Set pan to high and when it starts boiling, put lid on and set heat to lowest setting. Do not molest the rice for 20 minutes. Take off of heat and leave the pan alone for another 5- 10 minutes. Never at any point during cooking should you mess with the lid. Don't do it, I say. After 30 minutes total you are free to take the lid off and eat the rice.

While the rice is cooking:

2-3 cloves garlic
1 knob of fresh ginger, about the same mass as the garlic.

Dice these finely and set aside.

2 bunches green onions

Clean, separate green from white, cut green into pieces 2-3 inches long. Save the white parts for something else.

1 1/2 cups chicken stock
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 tablespoons corn starch
1 tablespoon Huy Fong chili sauce
1 tablespoon sugar (or splenda, other artificial sugar sucks for cooking)
1 tablespoon rice wine vinegar
1 tablespoon sesame seed oil

Combine and stir well. Sometimes I add a tablespoon of szechuan sauce if I can find it.

Heat 2 tablespoons of peanut oil in a wok or big skillet on medium high. Dump chicken in then sprinkle with ginger and garlic. Your ginger and garlic will not burn as easy if something is in the pan first. Add the green onion and stir to heat. Eventually add the stock mixture and stir until thickened. Spoon on rice (if you start this process right after you take the rice off the heat [but are still leaving the lid alone] you will time everything just right).

As you might notice, MY General Cho's Chicken resembles in no manner the General Cho's chicken you find in Chinese restaurants. Too bad; this recipe was modified to my and my husband's tastebuds.