Cooking Camp Day 3
Finally, Day 3 arrived. No last minute store runs. No leaks or technicians to fix those leaks. I arrived a little early so that I could finally set out the tables and hot plates (etc) to my liking. Having the physical space arranged “correctly” made me feel much better. I brewed tea while Jessica arranged the ingredients for the orange chicken next to the hot plate.
Bubble Tea, 1980s
Bubble tea was invented sometime in the 1980s. I couldn’t find a good “original recipe,” so mine is a mix of modern ones and what I could glean from Wikipedia. Which is sort of fitting, now that I think about it.
Boba Tea, Drink, 1980s
Four servings
Adapted from Wikipedia and SimplyRecipes.com: How to Make Boba Tea
Ingredients
4 c black tea
2/3 c tapioca pearls
2-3 tbl condensed milk
1-2 tbl honey
Ice
Tools
Pot (for boba)
Pot/kettle/microwave (for tea)
Slotted spoon
Bowl
Drinking glass
Boba straw
Make the pearls:
Follow the directions on the package
Brew tea:
Heat water to 212°
Place tea bags in a teapot, bowl, cup, or other receptacle, one bag per serving.
Pour water over. Steep 5 minutes.
Remove bags.
Assemble:
Once the tapioca pearls are ready, assemble: Scoop out boba with slotted spoon and put in the bottom of the glasses.
Add 1 cup of tea and 2 to 3 tablespoons of condensed milk. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of the honey and top with ice. Stir together and taste. Add more honey or milk to taste and serve.
I had purchased tea, boba straws, and two pounds of plain tapioca boba from Uwajimaya, a Japanese/pan-Asian grocery store. When I was at Fred Meyer, I decided to grab microwaveable pearls for a taste-test.
Boba were (and probably still are?) a common snack in Taiwan and a very smart person had the idea of adding them to tea in the ‘80s. From there, it’s blossomed into all of the many delicious combinations we have today. Most of the teens had had it before.
The tea was ready, but we needed to cook the boba. I am positive I fucked it up because at the end, it was a sticky, gluey mass. Some of the boba had melted, though others were fine. Not sure what I would do differently other than try a different brand. One of the teens asked to try the uncooked boba. While we waited for the water to boil, I asked a teen to fetch the microwaveable pearls (brown sugar flavor) and the teens asked if they could try that “raw,” too. The consistency of the microwaveable stuff grossed them out.
Once the boba was ready, we assembled our drinks. Not all of the teens were familiar with condensed milk, but they loved it. Not surprisingly, most of the teens asked if they could add more milk and honey to their drinks. They like sugar. Not that I can blame them. When I was their age, I would mix Kool-Aid packets with sugar and add a tiny bit of water, and then just eat it.
That’s one of many reasons why I’m fat but also why we were able to save up enough Kool-Aid points for a Gameboy.
Anyway, the teens very much enjoyed the bubble tea. They drank all of the tea, but there was a lot of boba left at the end.
Orange Chicken, 1987/late 1800s
When I asked the teens how many had had the orange chicken at Panda Express, every hand went up! This was the dish they looked forward to making the most.
Orange chicken was invented in 1987 by Andy Kao, a classically French trained chef from Taiwan, working for Panda Express in Hawaii. I’ve always kind of scoffed at orange chicken, but I honestly love this origin story with its mix of cultures and techniques. At its heart, it’s a simple dish, but it needed all of these pieces in order to become whole.
In turn, orange chicken was based on dishes from Hunan, such as tangerine chicken. I originally thought to just make orange chicken as it was originally made in the ‘80s, but that wasn’t enough of a challenge. I had a difficult time finding a good recipe for the Hunanese inspiration. Finally, I found a dish called “Orange Peel Chicken” from Tazcooks.com. I can’t actually speak to its historical veracity, but I’m calling it good enough. And it was good.
The recipe called for preserved orange peel, which I simply could not find. We would have to zest oranges. Luckily, the teens were up to the task (and I still had oranges with their peels). First we had to mix the marinade and let the chicken marinate. Most of the teens had not worked with raw chicken before and that grossed them out a little. At the same time, I’m glad I could give them that cooking experience. The first few times I cooked chicken on my own, I couldn’t eat it afterwards.
One fond memory: a teen mixing the chicken and marinade by hand, and happily exclaiming, “Look, the chicken is the same color as my skin! You can’t tell which is which!”
Before cooking, we still had to make a sauce, then finally we were able to combine all of the ingredients. The teens really liked it.
For the microwave component, I had purchased 14 bags of microwave rice. One kind teen took it upon himself to cook up a bunch of rice for all of us. Sadly, it was barely touched. I’d gotten so much because each packet said it was only one serving.
Side note, the teens kept looking at the pizza dough in the fridge, asking if we could make more pizza. I said sure, on Friday. But that would mean another change of plans and another trip to the store. Le sigh.
Finally the correct set up! All of the ingredients ready for the marinade.
