AKA: The Friday Night Special is Kung PaOMG Chicken
For years I had a special Friday night ritual that involved a group of college and work girlfriends gathering at one of our apartments to order Chinese food, catch up on the week’s goings-on, thumb through gossip magazines, and share our latest dating horror stories and secret crushes. That lovely and much-needed ritual slowly unwound as some of the girls got married, had babies or moved away, but my need for Friday night Chinese hasn’t waned.
I subbed in Thai or Indian carryout for my Chinese fix for a while — most Thai and Indian dishes are naturally gluten-free, so it was an easy swap. Still, it wasn’t the same. And I really missed Chinese food, with the sweet and sour, the hot and spicy, the meats, vegetables, noodles and rice. I missed opening the little white boxes and watching the steam swirl up, missed eating the leftovers cold the next day. I wanted it all. Whenever I saw characters in movies or on TV calling for Chinese delivery, I’d wince. I bought a few cookbooks and a wok, but I never put them to use because it seemed like too much …read more
