East Meets West

I was messing around the kitchen tonight with my mother. We only had a 1 lb of chicken between us, a pantry full of canned goods, and a few odds and ends I picked up on the spur at the moment at this weird Asian supermarket I decided to explore this afternoon. She wanted to make chicken potpie or chicken fajitas, both of which did not sound good tonight to my picky palate. I told her to stand down, and took over the preparations.

I had really wanted some hot and sour soup, which is why I had wandered into that Asian supermarket to begin with. First of all, it is located in the most strictly all-American neighborhood strip mall you can image. At one corner, a Walgreen’s dominates, with its large red sign promising delivery from all kinds of aliments to the young and old alike that live in the area. On the other end, an H&R block, looking strangely vacant this time of year, is squeezed in next to a Subway. The rest of this strip mall is the Asian Supermarket. I was wondering about this, and today I saw multitudes of Asian folk heading into the market. So I wandered in. It was amazing! They had rows and rows of fresh vegetables, all reasonably priced. It was difficult to name some of them, as I had never seen them before and most things where written in Chinese. I did manage to locate a few things I recognized, cilantro, ginger, mushrooms, and I picked these all up for pennies. Then I wandered through the store, finding some chili paste I knew I could use. Their meat area amazed me. They had all sorts of strange things I would never eat, including cow hearts, pig knuckles; chicken feet packaged by the pound. But then they had regular stuff like pork and beef, cuts that I recognized. Some items in the sauce aisle looked interesting, but it was all in some type of Chinese, so I was hesitant to buy. They had all sorts of interesting rice, noodles, and tea. I'm looking forward to visiting again!

Anyway, this is the recipe I sort of threw together from some of the items I had laying around and some of the items I found in my treasure hunt. It was very tasty, and cleared out the sinuses. After eating this, you won't need the remedies from the Walgreen’s. I call it East meets West Chicken Soup. It is very easy, and doesn't take much time.

4 servings, or two really hungry people servings with some leftovers for lunch.

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into strips or cubes
2 cans low-sodium chicken broth
1 can of pinto beans, drained.
1 can of petite cut diced tomatoes
1 can of corn, drained.
1 small white onion
1/2 green pepper, diced.
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
1 teaspoon fresh grated ginger
1 teaspoon Cheyenne pepper
1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
dash of paprika
1 teaspoon white vinegar
1 tablespoon white sugar

Cook chicken in stock pot until cooked through, then add green pepper and onion, cooking until onion is clear. Then add broth, corn, tomatoes, and beans. Stir. Then add salt, pepper, ginger, Cheyenne pepper, red pepper, paprika, vinegar, and sugar. Stir. Cook on low at a low simmer about 20 minutes. Enjoy!