Asian Cuisine

There can be no doubt that there is a connection between Asian cuisine and nerd culture. We can see this quite clearly on shows like Big Bang Theory where every other meal is Chinese, Japanese, or Pad-Thai. As such is seems appropriate for me to share my thoughts on some of these dishes for the enjoyment of my fellow n3rds.

Personal Experience

General Tso's Chicken (Yum!)

Admittedly I’ve never actually had Thai food, but after participating in the nerd culture for so many years, I would really like to (as you might imagine). However I have a fair amount of experience with both Japanese and Chinese food, so I’ll focus in on those.

Of course my first experience of Asian cuisine was Chinese food. In particular General Tso’s Chicken. I don’t know my Chinese history very well and so am unfamiliar with General Tso, but I can tell you the man had great taste. His chicken is amazing and I’m so very glad that he doesn’t seem to mind sharing it. Compliment this with fried rice and a well done egg roll and you have yourself a winning dish almost every time. Now I should mention that I recently learned to make fried rice, by which I mean I looked up a recipe online and then didn’t follow it at all and I have to admit that it has ruined me for restaurant prepared fried rice. Theirs is just not as good. If you’re interested in the recipe, it’s really easy. Pour olive oil in a skillet (it has to be olive oil, trust me) so that you can cover the entire bottom of the pan with a thin layer by letting it run from side to side on the skillet (seriously like 2-4 tbsp.… not a ton). Break 1 large egg into the skillet. Use a spatula to “scramble” the egg and then dump your pre-made pot of rice into the skillet before the egg is cooked all the way through. Let it fry a little on medium heat, flip the rice. Use the spatula to separate the rice and then flatten it back out (like they do at the hibachi grills) repeat. Add less sodium soy sauce so all the rice is brown (assuming it wasn’t already) flip, let sizzle, flip, repeat. Then once the rice seems to be really sticking together (or it starts burning, whichever comes first) it’s ready to go and you eat it. Absolutely blows restaurant fried rice out of the water. Anyway, the Chinese food venue also offers great options like sesame chicken, sweet and sour chicken, bourbon chicken, and others though most everything outside these dishes is outside my experience and thus something I can’t legitimately recommend without being a hypocrite, which is something I do my best not to do.

Of course my second experience in Asian cuisine was Japanese food, which for me (not really a steak or seafood fan) was a little different, but proved to be amazing when I was introduced to the white sauce. If you’ve never had white sauce, you’ve been missing out on both a large amount of calories and a flavor explosion that will just make you fall in love (with the food, not in general… it’s not like a love potion or anything). Of course my first forays into the world of sushi came shortly thereafter and while I’m not a sushi fanatic, I do find that I crave it every now and again, both for the delicious flavor combinations and the opportunity to show off my chop stick skills.

Conclusion

If you’ve never had the pleasure of enjoying a little Asian food, I’d strongly recommend you try it, especially if you’re participating in the nerd culture even a little. So if you’re a nerd and you’re hungry pick up the phone and get some Asian food delivered to your N3rd C0rn3r.