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July 22, 2004
Quinn's Cabbage
I love cooking, particularly with others, and have a great appreciation for good food. Growing up in my household there is no way that I could have escaped without it. For the most part, I find the process of cooking incredibly relaxing. It evokes strong memories of childhood, most revolving around the emerging smells of a meal mixed with the sound of NPR wafting out of my mother’s old radio. In this sense, cooking for me is more of a tradition than an art. I am generally good at what I make (particularly if it involves baking), but I have my limits, and when I hit them I get frustrated.
Can someone explain to me why, no matter how much I observe, read cookbooks, and practice, I suck so badly at making Asian food? And when I say suck, I mean it. At this point, the only thing that I am remotely good at is making rice, which can be attributed solely to the rice cooker that I finally broke down and bought.
My friend Quinn’s stir-fried cabbage is my all time favorite comfort food. She has demonstrated the process on countless occasions—even given me her recipe—and I still proceed to screw it up every time. I follow every step, yet it never tastes right. Should Quinn ever grace my Brooklyn apartment again and receive a plate of my sorry attempt at stir-fried cabbage, she would disown me as a true friend. Either that or roll her eyes and order sushi.
Seriously, folks, what gives? How could I possibly be so bad at this type of cooking? Is it truly cultural? No matter what I make or what recipe I follow, I never get the spicing quite right, the wok quite hot enough, and the cook time down pat. I have never wanted to be a great chef, just an adept cook who is able to follow a recipe and then modify it. Even here, I falter. Why can’t Quinn’s Cabbage be as easy as chocolate chip cookies?
Posted by callalillie at July 22, 2004 2:44 AM | Food
, WTF?
so what is her recipe for the cabbage?
and i'm convinced that chinese food really isn't that hard, it just takes a lot of practice. that said, i don't come close to the quality that my mom has and i don't know how she does like 4 dishes in such quick succession.
Posted by: tien at July 22, 2004 8:40 AM
ooh, yes - can i get the recipe too? i love cabbage.
and i think the problem with chinese cooking is having the right ingredients. if you have those, then its significantly easier, but sometimes the authentic ones are hard to come by.
Posted by: dahl at July 22, 2004 8:57 AM
That would be up to Quinn :)
I just can't get it right, no matter how hard I try. In terms of the cabbage, it doesn't really have any special ingredients. Maybe part of it is psychological...though I think just might be a little challenged in this cooking genre.
Posted by: corie at July 22, 2004 9:01 AM
It's prob. not the making of it, but more likely the experiance and emotions surrounding your feelings for who you attribute your like of said food. Take for example my love of espresso drinks. It's actually my mother who got me started on them. Many years ago at the Gloria Jeans Coffee Bean in the Smith Hazen Mall (Which is now long departed -- Fuck You Starbucks!!! --- NO NO I didn't mean it) Mother would spoil me with a frozen cappuccino with whip cream and chocolate carvings. It was so tasty, the biggest treat, the only joy afforded to the fat kid forced to walk the endless horizontal leviathan-like tormenting miles of Lake Grove's retail mutliplex. Oh how I loved those drinks. If I close me eyes I'm almost there again. I can smell the beans, and feel the cool liquid rushing up the straw and coating the buds just past my lips with it's thick creamy smooth goodness.
It had been many years since I last went to the Gloria Jeans. Not too many around anymore. However, in the lovely Oak Park Illinois, I was fortunate to come across one in a cute little outside shopping plaza.
With much anticipation I got the drink. I was so excited. I held it for just a moment, even wrapped the glass with a paper napkin just like mom always did. I took a sip, and it wasn't the same. It didn't taste right. It never will again. I am no longer that fat kid forced to shop with his mother for hours on end who's only pleasure was that stupid drink, as tasty as it might be.
So perhaps it is the same with the cabbage. you probaby do it perfectly but it can never be like the way your pal does it for you. Alas.
But keep your reciepe. I hate f word cabbage.
Posted by: jason at July 22, 2004 12:34 PM
i am exactly the same way. i love, love, love to cook, but CANNOT get asian food right- even if i have the right ingredients. i just figure it's one of those things that is easier to buy.
Posted by: nicole at July 23, 2004 7:54 PM
