Article:
Journey to China and Louisiana via Food: Chinese Take Out Cravings
I think that I went through the grocery store one item at a time looking for an alien item called "oyster sauce." I had never made Chinese before and since the Americanized restaurants had gotten me good for hankerings for Moo Goo Gui Pan years later after eating it for so long I knew only one option - learn to make it myself! This craving thing had gotten to me on other items on said take out menus with egg rolls and hot and spicy shrimp.
I needed to go to one place in which I could travel to China and back to Louisiana in one step! Do you give up solving the riddle? It's the grocery store! Upon my arriving I got into one of those motorized carts and promptly sped to the bell peppers. I proceeded to look at them for fifteen minutes simply second guessing myself and taking it out on the vegetables. Little did I know that it would not be as bad as expected, because I expected to have to make this illusive and most important White Sauce from scratch! I barely knew what White Sauce was for crying out loud!
I meandered through the baking items on the first two isles and all of the while my gut was clenching because the teleportation isle, where China met Louisiana in a few steps, was next! I had memorized the ingredients that I would need (at least I hoped that I had remembered enough of them because I had something that I call "sugar brain," when I go to look for my head that I forgot and find my toes along the way that I didn't know was missing!) I literally had looked for the Oyster Sauce in every item on the shelves and when I reached the Asia section I took a deep breath because I knew that I was getting close. Here the unwanted happened; my motorized cart ran out of juice! I had no option but to abandon it right there and walk the rest of the way. Standing on concrete really hurts my legs and when this happens with the cart I am forced to walk and the people that has helped me reach things out of reach to me in the cart almost always gives me a look of derision as if to say that they won't be "tricked" by me again (same thing happens with my handicap parking, btw.) I must have been tired from all of that isle traveling because when I got to Asia I totally couldn't find the Oyster Sauce (which, coincidentally does not have anything to do with oysters!) I cracked and gave up. I asked for help from the lady in front of me because she totally liked like she knew what she was doing. She had no idea where it was at first but a few seconds later she was handing it to me! I thanked God right then and there! Problem was ...........
With my eyes off of the Oyster Sauce I was now concentrating on the next elusive item: white rice wine! Oh my goodness, I had never seen that item before but had an idea where to begin looking: maybe it was here hidden in all of these Asian sauces or in the wine section! Maybe ....... As luck would have it after a lot of looking there it was! I thought that I had everything that I needed so far on my own list of shopping adventures.
Life was looking good with my newly found items to make my Moo Goo Gui Pan! Except for when I got home. I don't think that I will ever let myself live this down! To my dismay I unpacked and put up the groceries and began to stare at my fresh lineup of sauces. Instead of seeing rice wine I saw rice vinegar. Instead of Oyster Sauce I saw something called "Mu Shu Sauce!" The only thing that was right in that lineup was Soy Sauce. What happened to my freshly picked sauces that I found on my list?! With a heavy sigh and with almost an exhausted feeling I sunk back against the counter with a new realization; that the "sugar brain" combined with my loosing my motorized cart and ferociously trying to remember the list of ingredients that I kept in my head (I had no opportunity to get the physical list at home because this was a spontaneous shopping trip) I had slight-of-handed myself! With some dirty double crossing fancy hand work my brain couldn't puck up, I righted the bottles with the wrong ones! Now I have to go back and get the right ones. I haven't gotten a chance to do so, but when I do I can go in with a cheaper list! After all of the Hell-bent I'm going to get my Moo Too Gui Pan if I die trying I am not giving up now!
To Joy!
Angie
