comforts

The challenge of a good sauce is the same for all foods, at least for those who seek to master their cooking art, and that is to find an agreeable, harmonious balance of flavors. Complexity is achieved through the marriage of unique yet simple facets.

Soy sauce, honey, chili paste, and brown mustard would all be mixed rapidly, with intention, in a bowl when my dad used to make fried chicken, or when I adopted the recipe starting when I was in college. I might add in chopped garlic or something else, or maybe my dad did, but those four ingredients were all that was needed. We'd find other edible vessels for the sauce once the meal was over, and the further back you go and the younger we were then, the less expected these foods were. As kids, dipping raw broccoli into the sauce? A parent's dream!

I taught my roommate how to dredge today, using chunked chicken breast this afternoon. It was a giddy experience because I haven't fried anything in many months and wanted to get my hands dirty with some home-cooking. Three bowls: flour, egg, and bread crumbs. Left to right. I provided the necessary explanation as to why which did much in the way of etching itself into memory for him. I finished the cooking project solo but with supervision, and we crafted nearly a dozen chicken tenders that were appealingly browned and bite-sized. Not exactly chicken wings, but paired with a sweet and savory sauce of honey and brown mustard - exactly half of the soy sauce recipe my dad used to make - and it was delicious all the same.