Learning Project/Kade’s Kitchen: A Sweet and Sour Adventure on Facebook

Hello everyone, and welcome back to my journey in the Kitchen!

*Disclaimer* I did not follow through on the NYT Cooking app this week because it is a little bit more advanced for my current comfort level, and there is a paywall behind the app. So, it can wait for a few weeks! So, I narrowed it down to a noodle stirfry or a take-out favourite of something covered in Sweet and Sour sauce. I chose the latter because of the ingredients and because I would love to learn how to cook Asian food.  I also made white rice and boiled buttered cabbage with my S&S Chicken to complete the meal!

Picture of Sweet and Sour Chicken recipe

The video recipe is here, and I found it on Facebook. I decided to give that social media platform a starting edge in my learning project because they constantly pop up on my feed. I chose a relatively safe recipe without exciting ingredients to make the result edible! In that regard, I succeeded in a yummy meal!

The cultural history of Sweet and Sour sauce: it was created in China during or before the 1800s. On the surface level, it combines a sweet sauce and a sour meat taste that is prevalent in other Asian regions/countries like South Korea. Mine and the American versions have evolved to become the deep-fried Cantonese-originated scrumptious sauce of our dreams from Chinese take-out restaurants.

The dredge for the chicken used flour and eggs (which was quite fun, coating it with vigorous tossing movements in Ziploc bags). I don’t think it was an orange chicken like the home-cook content creator’s kids called it because the recipe did not have fruits or other traditional items. The sour category had vinegar, soy sauce, and garlic (salt). It uses ketchup, apple cider vinegar, and sugar as sweets. This means I cooked a semi-traditional Sweet & Sour Chicken; if you want a more historical recipe, the S&S Chicken is not for you.

Reflections and Overall Thoughts: 

1. I thought it was a healthier meal that only took an hour, and the recipe had some ingredients out of my comfort zone. Being confident is a new kind of calm in the culinary arts for me!
2. I also acquired new skills, such as chopping chicken, dredging, frying it in a pan, and cooking it in the oven with a sauce.
3. I am learning a task like cooking because of the transferable skills this can have for the classroom and life. As such, I notice how students feel about consuming content in different processes or even assignments.
4. To survive, a person needs to know it is a part of life, and doing it for university brings some fun to education. Seeing a different side to myself with technology is efficient and not draining!
5. This video’s technological use was significant due to its quickness and the ease of cooking the meal. Videos are the bread and butter of Facebook recipes since the commentary adds to my self-awareness when preparing and cooking the food on the screen. It is not one of the AI or fake pictures that do not follow through with the authentic recipe. I would use it again and could even compare it to the fake pictured ones for a learning objective during a week.
6. A part of me feels I should be doing two recipes a week: the first is a cooked meal, and the second is a baked dessert. I also want to start being prepared for this and have Sunday as my Learning Project day! What do my fellow learners/commenters think about this?

In week 3, I will explore another cultural dish through online recipe forums, try to improve my cooking, and be excited to learn more about the mysteries of the kitchen. Until then, have a fantastic week, and strive for curiosity!