Fiona and I met my junior year right before I took off for
my summer study abroad in Hangzhou, China. She was asked to join the trip as a
group leader and translator to those like myself who knew only a few words in
Mandarin. I remember talking to her during our study abroad welcome party and
just having unending interest in her culture, customs, and thoughts.
When Fiona graduated from UNL she went on to get her
master’s degree from Boston College and now works as a public accountant in the
Bay Area in California. Not only am I extremely proud of how hard she worked to
get sponsored to work in the US, but I am really glad she went to school in
Boston and now lives in San Jose because I love visiting new cities.
I am also happy the table turned this week, and she came to
visit me in KC! I had the best two days off of work; going shopping on the
Plaza, having a picnic at the beautiful Nelson Art Museum lawn, listening to
local KC jazz over lemon drop martinis, and learning how to make authentic
Chinese dishes.
Fiona’s hometown is located in a Southern Sichuan region of
China and is famous for the birth of hot pot and super spicy food. Hot pot is
just what it sounds like – a hot pot of water, oil and spices that the table congregates
around to cook raw meat, veggies, and noodles. It is a ton of fun! Of course,
we had hot pot during her visit but she also taught me how to make two very
popular Chinese dishes – Coke chicken wings and a Chinese pan fried egg and
tomato dish. The recipes are listed below!
Coke Chicken Wings
Ingredients:
12 chicken wings
Fresh ginger
3-5 tablespoons Shoa Xing cooking wine
1 tablespoon sesame oil
2 tablespoons canola oil
2 tablespoons peppercorn
5-6 tablespoons soy sauce
2-3 teaspoons chicken broth powder
1 teaspoon sugar
1 ½ cups Coca-Cola
Directions:
Wash and cut slits into both sides of chicken. Cut about 10
pieces of fresh ginger. Add cooking wine, sesame oil, soy sauce, chicken broth
powder, sugar, and ginger to a bowl with chicken. Mix and let marinate for
20--30 minutes. To cook, heat canola oil on high in wok and add 2 tablespoons
of peppercorns. Add 1 ½ cups of Coca-Cola. Cook for 15-20 minutes or until
chicken is brown and most of the coke is evaporated.
Chinese Pan Fried
Tomato Egg Dish
Ingredients:
2 tomatoes
5 eggs
4 tablespoons canola oil
Fresh ginger
Garlic
Green onion
½ teaspoon chicken broth powder
Salt
Directions:
Cut tomatoes into small pieces and set aside. Whisk eggs and
add a pinch of salt. When ready to cook, heat wok with 4 tablespoons canola oil
on high. Add egg. Cook and move to separate dish. In same wok, heat another 4
tablespoons of canola oil on high and add garlic, tomatoes, ginger, chicken
broth powder. Add eggs back in add a pinch of salt and green onion and stir
until fully cooked. It should only take you about 5 minutes from start to
finish to cook. A super quick and easy side dish!
