I Couldn’t Find This Dish Until One Day….
Twenty years later, it made an appearance
It was a really hot day. Beads of sweat were forming on my forehead as I walked home from the school bus. I dumped my bag in my room and wondered what my mom might have prepared for lunch. She always gave me a little something to keep me going until dinner time. She was a great cook, a true legend in our family who always made time to cook meals from scratch. Amongst the endless varieties of ways in which she showed us love, cooking and feeding people was one of her most practiced.
I sat down on the dinner table and played with my Viewmaster. A Viewmaster was a toy that resembled a pair of binoculars, and worked by inserting a photographic spinning “reel” into a slot which kids could scroll through. Looking through a “Heckle and Jeckle” cartoon reel, I was bemused by the pair’s antics as usual.
My mom popped out of our small kitchen and served me an unassuming dish of chicken with rice. Except wait — what was this?! This chicken had a bit more “red stuff” in it than usual. To be honest, I didn’t pay that much attention to it beyond this small observation. I was distracted by my toys.
This changed quickly after the first few bites, however. That sauce — I remember that sauce so vividly. It was very tangy and spicy at the same…
