There was a little take out place in a Boston suburb that I used to frequent. The Chinese food was so good that even when I moved across town, I still went for their food. I would call right as I was getting in the car, and by the time I was there it was waiting for me. Maybe I should qualify this whole story by saying that I am a rut eater. I stick with one or two things until I get sick of them in regards to take out food, and then and only then, do I venture farther. This may seem shocking coming from someone who writes about food, but there are times when all I want is comfort food. To me, that means predictable. I had a bad day. I am in no mood for surprises.
The General’s chicken at Mei Ling’s had just a slight crunch or firmness to the coating. I later abandoned it for healthier fare, but for awhile I was on a General Gao’s chicken kick. Wait a minute, its General Tso. Whatever his name is, he made a pretty mean coating. Later, I found out that the slightly crunchy coating is so wrong. If you were really in Szechuan or wherever its from, the chicken should be a little more soggy and soft. I am not about to join the fan club for soggy anytime soon.
Can you imagine me winning a trip to China and sidling up to the counter to have a side of the General’s Secret Recipe, and telling people when I got back that Medford, Massachusetts, had better Chinese food than China does? Well, perhaps for those very reasons, I will never win a trip to China. I could, however, win a Blu-ray disc player from Sun-Bird. No, I am not talking about the late model car. Sun-Bird makes all sorts of seasoning mixes for Asian food that you can use in the safety of your own home. If you want to go ahead and make your General’s Chicken crunchy or soggy, you can go ahead. No members of the Food Police are going to come after you (as far as I know).
The Food Police may drive up to you and pull you over in China, however. They are not there to arrest you, but to clue you in that the General’s chicken is not traditional Chinese food! It was invented by a Hunan chef from Taiwan who emigrated to New York City. Allegedly, the world only started shouldering the responsibility of producing the crunchy or chewy dish in the 1970s. I don’t know when Sun-Bird first introduced its General Tso seasoning pack, but they do make one. I always wanted to experiment to see if General Tso’s shrimp could be invented. Maybe I will have to invent it this week.
To make the Sun-Bird General Tso, you will need to pick up a few additional ingredients. Soy sauce, oil, flour, and sugar are things that you will need to add the spice too. Whoops. You will need chicken, too, unless you want to be generous and make shrimp or tofu.
Sun-Bird is available at your favorite grocery store, and your least favorite one, most likely, too. It is up to you to decide whether you prefer to have award winning customer service or not. We are not going to force you. To enter to win a Blu-Ray player, pick up an entry form. They are located in your grocery store’s Asian aisle. If your store doesn’t have an Asian aisle, don’t panic. Wander over to the “ethnic” or “International” aisle. Hurry up. The contest ends October 31, 2009. After that, you will have to just break down and buy your own Blu-Ray, knowing that you can’t possibly win because you didn’t enter.
