Portland Community College | Portland, Oregon

Episode Transcript

Transcript edited by Hannah “Asher” Sham

Intro

Kylo: You’re listening to Let’s Talk!. Let’s Talk! is a digital space for students at PCC experiencing disabilities to share their perspectives, ideas, and worldviews in an inclusive and accessible environment. The views and opinions expressed in this program are those of the speakers and do not necessarily reflect the opinions or positions of Portland Community College, PCC Foundation, or our community partners. We broadcast on our home website, pcc.edu/dca, on Spotify, on XRAY, 91.1 FM and 107.1 FM, and KBOO Community Radio, 90.7 FM.

Welcome & Guest Introduction

Zoe: Hi, everyone. Welcome back to A Slice of Life. I’m your host, Zoe. Our special guest host today is April. Why don’t you give us a “hello” and an introduction, April? 

April: Hello. My name’s April. I’m very honored to be here with Zoe. Zoe is amazing. I love them very much and I’m very looking forward to sharing this dish that I have with a story. Thanks! 

Zoe: Oh, fantastic. Well, let’s not keep everyone waiting. What kind of dish are we eating today? Or, well, preparing and then eating 

Cheater Coconut Curry & Perfect Rice

April: So, today, this is one that I call a, “Cheater Coconut Curry” dish, and I put chicken, I usually get the boneless, skinless chicken. Actually, it’s very easy to do and I started doing this about 20 years ago, when I first went blind. Do you want me to tell you what’s in it or- 

Zoe: Oh, sure! 

April: like a basic… 

Zoe: Just a basic overview. We’ll get into the details later, of course.

April: Very good. But, it has chicken and vegetables, and then you cook it and put it over rice, and I love it. 

Zoe: Now that does sound divine. My little contribution here, which I thought would go perfectly; this is actually a really interesting technique that I picked up. Because, the chef that I learned this recipe from, actually, was teaching me how to make Lamb Rogan Josh.

April: Oh, my goodness! 

Zoe: Oh, yeah! It was really divine. He taught me this technique that he would use and I was like, “Really? I’ve never thought about this before.” But, it’s basically a way to just like brighten and make your rice more lively. We’ve got some rice over here that we’ve washed three times and we currently have a little bit of water in there. Some people like their like two parts water to one part rice. For me, my personal trick is, when you have washed your rice and when you fill the pot with water; if you stick your pointer finger in there, as long as the water comes right up to about your first knuckle or a little bit less if you want a slightly drier rice, you’re good to go.

April: Excellent. 

Zoe: Yeah. So, I’ve got it here. I’ve got my rice cooker just in warm mode. I’ve added a little bit of rice wine vinegar, because just like a splash helps make it fluffy and keeps the rice from sticking too much to each other. Mine is just a seasoned rice wine vinegar with a little bit of salt and a little bit of sugar. I’m just gonna go ahead and hit down there, and there we go. The rice is cooking. 

April: Excellent. So, the one thing that’s beautiful about this dish is you can go any way you want. You can make it inexpensive with like leftover vegetables and some potatoes or onion. You don’t even have to put meat in it, or you can buy chicken and put it in. That’s what I like to do, and I usually get boneless, skinless chicken breast from Trader Joe’s. There’s a curry sauce, potatoes, carrots… I love you said you wanted to add some peanut butter, which is gonna be beautiful, and it’s a Yellow Curry. It’s gonna be lovely. And what’s great is Zoe is gonna be really making it. Zoe is a much better chef than I am in terms of coming up with amazing ideas and- 

Zoe: No, you’re giving me too much credit! Some of my inventions frighten people! But, in this case we’re adding just a little bit. We were going to put cashews in the rice, but I felt like for folks that might have allergy, you can skip the cashews. It’s a nice texture, a nice nutty flavor. I like the peanut butter, because not only does it bind everything together, help make it a little bit less liquid. But, it also slightly cuts down the spice if you’re a little bit afraid of the spice. 

April: Yes. I know that’s wonderful on both parts and it’s gonna be amazing. Peanut sauce with chicken and with the curry. 

Zoe: Yeah. 

Prep & Knife Safety Tips

April: So, we’ve started the rice and now I’ve minced the onions. Should we get out the chicken, or how do you wanna do this? 

Zoe: What we’ve actually done here is, April has wonderfully minced the onions. Now you can just do a rough chop or whatever you like for your onions. I like mine in slices, so I will slice my onion and then break it up my hands get rid of those membranes and whatnot. But, you can cut it pretty much however you want. We’ve just minced it here and we’ve already got here the boneless skinless chicken breast, which we’re just using today. Nice lean protein. You can always use something else like a bit of cheese, like a Paneer Cheese, or something. But, April has actually already sliced and diced up all our chicken already, so that there is perfect. I’ll give it a quick rub with some spices before we throw it into the pot, but we don’t need to bring it out until the pot is piping hot with the oil and ready to go.

April: Excellent. One thing about we were discussing earlier, Zoe and I, about using knives that you want to wear, especially for being blind or any kind of shaking or tremors. They have these cut gloves that are really nice. Make sure you fold your thumb in, fold your fingers in; that straight part along the knuckle, so that way you will not cut any fingers. Also, you’re gonna grip the blade on either side with pinching it with two fingers. Some people put the finger on top of the knife, which is very unsafe. To get yourself out of that habit, you said to… 

Zoe: Take a pen and, if you have some sight, just draw a little X on your finger or a line on it. Because, it’s not only is it unsafe, it really stresses the hand when you cut that way. So, it’s just not great overall. Put a little X on there, and it’s a reminder to good safety practices. Cut gloves are always really wonderful as well. Safety first. 

April: Also, a towel underneath the cutting board will stabilize it more. 

Zoe: Yeah, just like a damp towel. 

April: Exactly. Just a little damp, exactly. So, I’ve got some minced onions for you. 

Zoe: Lovely. Why don’t you just go ahead and add them into that ceramic bowl that I gave you?

April: Okay, so they’re in there. 

Zoe: Divine. Excellent. What would you like to do next? 

April: I think what we should do is, I’m gonna cut up these carrots here. 

Zoe: Sure. 

April: And then, we need to cut up the, um… 

Zoe: For the carrots, what are you wanting to do? Do you do a quarter moon, half moon, or just the full circle?

April: Oh, for the little carrots?

Zoe: ‘Cause we’re gonna kinda dice them. 

April: Yes, okay. 

Zoe: Yeah. So, we can do bigger pieces if you like. Really, it’s all up to you what you like to do at home. It’s about having some fun. Figuring out what textures you like. For me, I’ve found that I like my carrots a little bit soft, but with just a little bit of crunch still. ‘Cause they still retain that wonderful carrot flavor. I find, personally, I like half moons if it’s a smaller carrot, and quarter moons if it’s a large carrot. This is perfect. Yeah, since these are like kinda like already prepared carrots. They’re kinda thin already, so we’re doing the full circle, just about 2/3 of a centimeter across.

April: Okay. Should I put them in with the minced onions, and we’ll just s- 

Zoe: Yeah, we can toss it. We’ll- 

April: Okay. 

Zoe: Yeah, we can toss them in, because we’re gonna be doing like a quick fry on these. 

April: Yeah. 

Zoe: So, we don’t need to really sweat the onions down, especially ’cause everything’s gonna be cooking in that curry sauce too. With the rest of these vegetables, the carrots will need to cook down a little bit, and all the flavors are gonna combine beautifully in that first few minutes of frying. So, I’m so excited for that to happen. But, this is a doctored up, really wonderful recipe. I was talking with Kuma the other day about struggle meals. 

What Is a Struggle Meal?

April: Struggle meals? Tell me about this. 

Zoe: So, struggle meals are interesting because I actually got asked whether or not or how I see the recipes on my podcast by a listener and whether or not I saw them as struggle meals. Here’s the thing. I actually don’t. Well, let’s take a step back and define what a struggle meal is. 

April: Yes. 

Zoe: So, a struggle meal is, by how the name sounds, when you’re really struggling and you’re like, “I don’t have much at home, and I can’t do a whole lot. I’m gonna make a meal with what I have on hand.”. 

April: Exactly. 

Zoe: I watched a YouTube video detailing some interesting struggle meals and how good or bad they were. 

April: Oh, nice! Well, that’s important. I mean we all love to eat good food. 

Zoe: Well, you say good, and then- 

April: That tastes good.

Zoe: You get to like a slice of bread, tear that in half, Vienna sausage in the middle, and a whole bunch of ketchup and mustard. There’s your Hot Dog. I haven’t tried it. I assume it tastes fine. But, for me, the texture would be just a little bit off maybe. 

April: It’s the texture. That’s it. 

Zoe: Two of the interesting ones I definitely saw, actually; have you ever heard of those sort of chili cheese dog bakes? 

April: Hmm-

Zoe: Yeah, where you just take the canned chili, pour it in a pan, get out your hot dog, chop it up, throw them in, and sprinkle a little cheese over everything. 

April: Cheese. Oh, yes, and some onions. 

Zoe: Well, no onions. It’s a struggle meal, remember? 

April: Oh, yes, right. Well, this is a struggle meal here because, um- 

Zoe: Well, sort of because I think the vein that I see struggle meals in is when you want nachos, but you’re taking tortilla chips, giving them a quick bake, and then melting Kraft Singles onto them. That right there is where I see struggle meals. This here isn’t a struggle meal. The meals that I like to present, and that the guests like to present too, are struggle meals in the sense that they may not be the most complex and they may not use real or really expensive ingredients.

April: Right. 

Zoe: We’re not about that. We’re about making simple, wholesome, healthy meals that taste good, make you feel good while making them, and ultimately are, yeah, have some good nutritional value and can impress people around you. 

April: Actually, this dish I would say for me is both. Because, when I lost my eyesight, this was the dish I learned to make. Then my daughters loved it, so it impressed them. So, it was both. 

Zoe: Yeah. Everyone chops at the speed that they like to chop at. For instance, April, you’re chopping your carrots quite fast. Me, I’m sometimes kinda paranoid. Kitchen safety first! So, I’ll chop; sh- once slice down, move my knuckles out just a little bit, and I gotta line up the knife. Sh-

April: “One!” 

Zoe: Yeah!

April: “Okay, hold on! Two!”

Zoe: Oh! Too fast! Too fast! You gotta go a little slower!

Fingerling Potatoes & Crispy Potato Tricks

April: Okay. So, I’ve now cut up my carrots in little tiny circles that match, and they’re in with the onions, and now I need the potatoes, please.

Zoe: Lovely! So, this is something interesting. This is actually something that April and I agree on really; that a lot of other folks might be like, “Huh, do you really need to do that?”. We definitely love potatoes. But, in this stew, or this curry we should say, we are using small fingerling potatoes. Because, as opposed to the larger potatoes, these ones get creamy. They’re not, like too starchy. Cause with other potatoes; if you’re using large potatoes with the fry that we’re doing on these, you might have to chop them up pretty small, because you kinda want them to cook all the way through. But, with these, we can chop them up nicely, but they also have a wonderful texture and skin and flavor to them. 

April: And they melt and they actually are creamy. I love them! 

Zoe: They are divine!

April: Like Zoe was saying; you can use any kind of potatoes. But, if you can, the little fingerling potatoes, they usually come in a bag or a little net. 

Zoe: Oh, yes! I’ve opened our bag here and what we’re gonna do; make sure your vegetables are nice and washed. So, I’m going to take my potatoes and just give them a good thorough scrub off, rinse, take out any large eyes. I’m gonna pass these over to April as soon as I do so.

April: Sweet!

Zoe: So, give you a quick scrub-a-roo. 

April: Lovely. 

Zoe: I’m gonna pass you a handful of small potatoes. I’m gonna pass you another one. That should be all of them. 

April: Sure. 

Zoe: So, here’s our first handful of potatoes. 

April: Thank you. 

Zoe: I’ll grab a few more and then I will pass you the rest.

April: Very good!

Zoe: There we go!

April: Yes! I’ve never met a potato I did not like unless it had gone bad, and then it’s still good for something. 

Zoe: Well, you say that, but you haven’t had a russet potato in soup before. 

April: If you see a green potato, do not eat it! 

Zoe: Yeah, do not eat that! Lots of foods that are green, if they’re not supposed to be green, do not eat that!

April: Yeah. Stay away! Stay away! 

Zoe: Sorry, “Sam I Am”. But, you can keep your dirty eggs and ham to yourself! That should be enough potato. 

April: Very good! They’re all washed, and they’re very little. They’re like large bowling balls, or marbles.

Zoe: Yeah. They’re kinda like large marbles. Yes. How are you gonna slice them, April?

April: Okay. So, what I’ll do is I’ll cut them once kind of lengthwise, any way you want, and then I turn it while I’m still holding it, and then I chop it up a few more times. So, it’s all about the same- 

Zoe: Kinda like eighths as you’re chopping them?

April: Correct. Eighths. 

Zoe: They’re gonna fry wonderfully. ‘Cause, again, we’re just gonna quick fry these vegetables. The chicken is going to go in as well. The chicken will just fry a little bit, render down just a little bit, and then in that fat we’ll add in our vegetables.

April: Yes. The thing to do, also, is with the bigger potatoes, especially, is to soak them sometimes, if you have time. But, you don’t necessarily have to, but it does help. Especially if you’re frying them. But, these are really little and we’ve already rinsed them off. So, they’re being cut up small, in eighths, and- 

Zoe: Since these are going in a curry, I don’t mind too much the starchiness.

April: Oh, that’s a good point

Zoe: yeah, it’ll help bind together the curry a little bit too. 

April: Right!

Zoe: But, if you’re tired of your potatoes not frying up crispy. If you wanna get crispy potatoes you can actually slice them or rinse them off. Give them a little bit of a squeeze; pull out some of the starch. But, then you salt them, just a little bit, and let them dry. What happens is the salt pulls some of the water and the starch out of the potatoes.

April: Really?

Zoe: Yeah. 

April: Oh, wow!

Zoe: So, once you’re ready to go you just give them a wash. As in, wash off the salt the starch, then give them a really nice squeeze dry, and then just throw them in and start frying them. Because You removed a lot of the starch, it fries up nice and crispy without being mushy or anything.

April: Okay. 

Why Fry First: The Science of Flavor

April: Now, for those that maybe are wondering, “Hey, you’re making a soup. Why are you gonna fry up the ingredients first?”. Would you like to say why that’s important? 

Zoe: Well, yeah. Because, with a lot of food and a lot of ingredients, cooking them releases all that lovely flavor and, not only that, cooking it changes the flavor. When you’re cooking an onion or frying an onion, have you ever looked at it and thought, “Ooh, I gotta turn it up really high,” and the onion starts to kinda brown and caramelize? You’re changing the flavor of the onion. You’re changing it to something else because the sugars in there are browning, caramelizing, and the onion itself changes flavor. 

April: That’s the science of food. By using heat, you can affect great changes; like Zoe was saying. Adding the salt and rinsing if you want to crispify it.

Zoe: You can trust Zoe! Zoe would never lie to you! In fact, I’m gonna tell you an amazing fact right now. 73.86% of all statistics are totally made up. 

April: What? You’ve got- I still fell for it! Oh, my gosh! Zoe gets me every time! Oh, my goodness!

Zoe: Sorry, sorry! But, yeah. When I first lost my vision my meal preparation instructor; she’s so, so awesome. Her name is Char. She told me that it’s a French word “Mirepoix”, or French word for “marriage”; when you’re frying the onions, like some of these vegetables, together. In these first few minutes of frying is when all the flavors come together. It’s a very important part of the cooking process. ‘Cause if you’re just boiling water, throw everything in, and throw your seasoning in; everything’s not gonna have a very uniform flavor and the texture is just gonna be like boiled chicken, boiled vegetables. Not that great. So, when you fry it, it locks in, seals that flavor into all the vegetables and it keeps that texture– firmer, crispier– without making everything like a chowder. 

April: Okay. So, I have this bowl with all the minced onion, the carrot, and the potatoes. What would you like me to do with this? Where is the cooking pot? 

Zoe: Lovely. Let’s hold off for now, and you can leave everything there, because are there any… Is there anything else that we should prepare in advance before we start? 

April: No. We just need a spoon to kinda tap the top of the coconut milk, and it’s a pull top. Whatever order you’d like to cook the vegetables and the chicken, and then we put everything in. 

Zoe: All right! So, let me pull- 

April’s Story: Learning to Cook After Vision Loss

April: This is considered basically a one pot, although we’re gonna put it over rice. I’m 57 now. I started going blind, I had a rare eye virus. So, I lost my eyesight in one eye in a week when I was 27 and then four years later it attacked my right eye. They were able to save a little bit. But, it was enough. I couldn’t do anything and so I went to school in Southern California and I they had a class called one pot cooking dishes and this was a dish that I learned. Because, technically, curry is seven different spices, something like that, and I was intimidated. But, I love curry. So, this is at Trader Joe’s. You can get everything at Trader Joe’s, actually. So, this is a can of yellow curry sauce, a can of coconut milk, but I agree with Zoe that I’m gonna get coconut cream in a can the next time. If you wanna make it thinner, you could add water. The vegetables and then we cook everything up and put it over rice. 

Zoe: Absolutely, yeah. For those that want something a little bit thinner, ’cause we’re using coconut milk for this one, you can always add a little water. I like mine nice and thick hence the cream. 

April: I’m gonna do that myself next time, ’cause I learn a lot from you. 

Zoe: The peanut butter helps make it thicker too. But, here. I’m gonna hand you the lovely spatula. 

April: Okay, wonderful. 

Zoe: It’s a silicone. 

Seasoning & Searing the Chicken

Zoe: I’m gonna lead you over here to this here pot. 

April: Okay, sweet!

Zoe: And, the burner is the far right one over here. 

April: Okay. 

Zoe: If you turn it to the right, that is high. If you turn it to the left, that is low. I’ll start the fan too. 

April: All right. So, I think we’re gonna go a medium low. We just need a little bit of oil in this? 

Zoe: Yeah. Here we are actually going to be using a little bit of oil. Would you like me to add the oil here? 

April: Yes, please. 

Zoe: There’s a bottle of oil here. 

April: Okay. You do that. I’ll grab the veggies. 

Zoe: Fabulous! Now we’re letting the pan and the oil and everything heat up. Because, you probably don’t need too much oil in here, because we’re not adding the vegetables first. Depending on what your specific recipe is we’re adding our chicken here and using the fat from the chicken, that we rendered down a little bit, to help cook the rest of the vegetables.

April: Do you have the chicken out? 

Zoe: Oh, I will in just a second. 

April: Okay. I’m gonna turn this off then. 

Zoe: It is off, right? 

April: Oh, I turned it on. Hold on. Okay. Sorry! 

Zoe: No worries! Let me just make sure there’s not too much oil in here. The pot is right there, and it is heating up. You can go ahead and start heating it up.

April: Okay. 

Zoe: So, we’ve got our lovely chicken here and what I’m going to do, really quickly, is throw in just a few seasonings just when it sears. All the flavor will lock in beautifully. So, what I’ve got here is a little bit of Pepper. 

April: Excellent. 

Zoe: A little bit of Salt. Then I’m bringing this over to my spice drawer real quick, so I can add a little bit of Onion Powder and Garlic Powder. 

April: All right!

Zoe: Yeah, it’s just warming up nicely, which is great! Lastly, of course, just for a little bit of flavor, and this is not too complex or anything, just a little bit of Bay Seasoning.

April: “Not too complex”! 

Zoe: Yeah. We have some Garam Masala too, that I can add. Then I’ll just close this up and just give it- 

April: You are a really good chef!

Zoe: Give it a shake and a toss and everything. Just get it all in a mix in there. 

April: That’s a great idea!

Zoe: All right, perfect. Now I will pass this back to you, April, and you can add in the chicken!

April: All right, very good. Just this one cooking session with Zoe, I’m learning new tricks on how to make my curry way better! 

Zoe: You can just pour the chicken into the outer bag. 

April: Yes, I’m gonna do that. 

Zoe: And then give that a toss with the seasoning. This being one of the first recipes that you learned after losing your vision; definitely, thank you so much for sharing this!

April: Yeah!

Zoe: One of the first recipes that I learned, outside making rice and whatnot or a whole tray of bacon, was a lovely mashed potato. 

April: Mm…

Zoe: But, it was a really loaded mashed potato. ‘Cause, it was a mashed potato base with mixed vegetables, like diced carrots, a little bit of corn, maybe some peas, green beans.

April: Wow! 

Zoe: Then I was thinking about bacon, but I had to go with sliced little smokies, with the cheddar in them- 

April: Oh, my god!

Zoe: Because, it infused the potatoes with so much flavor! Add a little bit of milk, a little bit of butter, perfection. Absolute perfection! 

April: Okay. So, now I’m putting the chicken in. 

Zoe: Go for it.

April: Okay. You can smell the chicken! I’m turning it up to… See, I’m used to- I have at my place a- 

Zoe: A gas burner, yeah … 

April: Gas stove, so…

Zoe: Here we’re using electric coils, so it’s gonna a little bit of time to heat up. 

April: Yes. So, I’m gonna turn it to a medium or- 

Zoe: Yeah, medium works. Which is pretty much 20, 60 watts.

April: All right. I’m gonna turn it up. I can always turn it back down. Now, I have three daughters and this was one of their favorite dishes. It would impress them, because it was easy for me. I had a lot of eye surgeries; like five. Each eyeball got taken out five times. 

Zoe: Oh, my! 

April: So, energy-wise, that affects us because the eyes are connected to the brain and recovery time. They say that healthy eyes use like 40% of the body’s energy; just perfectly healthy eyes. So, anything over that, we’re gonna be much more tired. 

Zoe: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.

April: I was also young, so I was trying to work, and I had teenage girls. 

Zoe: Mm-hmm. 

April: Actually, after this dish, I didn’t cook for about 20 years until I went to the OCB where Zoe and I met. They have an amazing Kitchen Culinary Program there and I learned how to use the oven and stove again. But, this dish was one that I used to make for my twins and they love it. In fact, they both said I should make this dish. 

Zoe: Oh, my. 

April: All three of my girls, I mean. 

Zoe: How fabulous! I’m really honored. So, we’ve given it a sear and a flip. It sears on both sides. Now, let’s add in our vegetables.

April: Very good. I’m gonna grab this bowl.

Building the Curry: Spices & Toasting

Zoe: So, now our vegetables are going in to fry along with the meat and just to sweat down. We’re not trying to caramelize or burn anything here. Just frying it gently and letting it sweat down a bit. Getting all those lovely flavors to release, combine, and work together.

April: As Zoe was talking about earlier, this really will bring the flavor out of anything that you’re making; is to always do this to your food if you’re cooking it. Even if it’s a soup. Like you said- I forgot that it meant, “marriage”? 

Zoe: Yeah, “mirepoix”. Yeah. In French means marriage, and right now the vegetables are combining. I’m gonna step over to here, April. Let me get my garlic and some of my seasonings just to throw into the pot! 

April: Very good! Then after that, when you’re ready, I’ll add in the curry. But, Zoe is going to fancify it again. Because, Zoe’s fancy. 

Zoe: Give me just a second. Yeah. I’ll come over here with a few iterations. I’ve got some spices here that are really lovely. First, here is onion powder, obviously.

April: Okay, so we have a little Onion Powder. 

Zoe: Along with some fresh garlic that we add, just a little, you can never, ever go wrong with just a little bit of garlic powder.

April: Hmm. Very true. 

Zoe: Did I say a little bit? Make it a little bit more! And lastly- You know what? I changed my mind. “Not lastly”. I’m gonna add in some dried basil in here too. 

April: Wow! Oh, that’ll be yum! That’s a great idea the Dried “Basil”. “Basil”? 

Zoe: Yeah. The Dried “Basil”. The “Basil”? “Basil”? 

April: Yes. “Tomato”, “Tomato”. 

Zoe: What do we have here, but some Turmeric. 

April: I caught Zoe talking to her spices. Zoe, I think it’s great to have that kind of attention. No, because they even talk about that intention when we cook, and I love that you are making sure all your food is happy! 

Zoe: Yeah, I’m making sure that it’s all about being expressive, creative in the kitchen. So, here what we’re gonna add is; for just a little bit of flavor and a little bit of heat for the vegetables and the meat, a little bit of red pepper. I hope you don’t mind. 

April: Ooh, yum! 

Zoe: A little bit of Garam Masala, which is a wonderful spice! Very fragrant. And a little bit of paprika, plus a good shake of this. Now with all those spices like combining beautifully- 

April: Mm-hmm … 

Zoe: go ahead and give that a stir, a mix, and once you think it’s fried together well enough; we can add in everything else. 

April: Okay. I think this is pretty- 

Zoe: Like a good toss so that everything’s covered well with the seasonings. Yeah.

April: All right. I’m getting all around the edges, bringing it in. Mixing up from the bottom. 

Zoe: Just making sure nothing sticks and nothing is burnt or anything. So, now what I like to do with curry– and you can tell me if you do this too, April– I put the curry paste in first, and I mix it together and let the spices toast for two minutes. 

April: Oh, okay. Well, I brought a jar of Curry Sauce. How do you wanna do it? 

Zoe: Do you wanna do sauce or paste? ‘ Cause I have both. 

April: I don’t know how to do the paste. If you wanna do the paste- 

Zoe: Yeah, go and use the sauce then. We’ll just allow everything to just simmer together and just toast for two minutes before we add the coconut milk. 

April: Okay. Well, I’m learning. Why is this? 

Zoe: Because when you toast the seasonings they release their flavor and aroma, and it becomes much more powerful, much more pungent. A really interesting example that I love to use are these things called Sichuan Peppercorns. Now, if you’ve ever experienced like a Sichuan restaurant, or like a Chinese spot- 

April: Yeah.

Zoe: You might have noticed there’s this interesting phenomenon that goes on called “Mala”, which is; “la” means “spicy”, and “ma” means like “numbing”. So, it’s like a “numbing spice”.

April: Oh!

Zoe: It’s a back of the throat burn that you get. But, if you just take regular Sichuan Peppercorn, just grind them up and throw them in, it’s not gonna work like that unfortunately. In order to get that wonderful burn, you have to toast them and get them to toss over. Like with the freshly toasted peppercorns; once they start to release their aroma into the air, everything smells so fabulous that you just can’t go back to using untoasted, or uncooked, seasonings or spices again. 

April: Wow! Did not know that! I love it! 

Zoe: The heat not only binds and combines all the flavors together, but it toasts the aromatics and releases all that fragrance.

April: Okay. So, I’m gonna put this here. All right. I poured in the coconut. Like I said, you can make it fresh, or how I’m doing. Because, Zoe’s way more proficient in this than I am. But, this was very basic for me. This was a struggle dish for me, because after this I lost more eyesight, and then I just stopped cooking up until when I met you in school. So, this dish means it’s a big dish for me.

Zoe: Oh, yeah. 

April: So, yeah. 

Zoe: Do you know, one other struggle meal I love, if any of you out there have heard of “Chicken Meat Floss”? It’s like a very Southeastern Asian thing where it’s shredded, dehydrated, really nicely seasoned meat. If you take some of that chicken floss, and then you take your steamed rice, and you just cook your steamed rice and add it in, mix it up together with a little bit of ginger and garlic, perfect struggle meal because it tastes so good. It’s just so simple, too. 

April: I love it! Okay. So, now I would probably put in my coconut. 

Zoe: Yeah, mix everything together with the sauce, so everything’s nice and covered, and then we can add in our coconut milk. Then, April, we have two options today.

April: Okay. 

Zoe: For me, I like just a little bit of sour to bring out all the flavors. Would you like to use a white Cooking Wine, or would you like to use Lemon Juice? 

April: Oh, I’m gonna let you decide. Because, I love everything you’ve just offered to do.

Zoe: I appreciate that. Sometimes I like tomato in my curry; ’cause there’s no tomato in here and it’s a yellow curry, I’d like just a little bit of acidity in there. A little bit of citrus. How about some lemon juice then? 

April: That sounds great! 

Zoe: Delightful. Once you add your coconut milk in and give that a stir. I’ll pass you the lemon juice. 

April: All right. So, I’m gonna grab my can of coconut. What I love about this is it is a pull top, so…

Overcoming Adversity

Zoe: Now, overcoming adversity in life, it can be hard, but that’s the message of this podcast. The message that we’re trying to convey, and that we want all of you to understand. Life can be hard. But, no matter where you go, no matter where you look, there’s always gonna be a little something that you can return to for comfort. In a lot of ways, that little something can give you the strength to move forward, to do the things that you wanna do, to reach for the stars and go for your dreams. Something as simple as this, you know. 

April: Mm-hmm. 

Zoe: I hesitate to even call it “too simple”. ‘Cause, this is not like a struggle-struggle meal. This is a wonderful yellow curry with fresh vegetables, fresh rice, freshly fried meat, and lovely seasonings that we’ve added ourselves.

April: True. 

Zoe: So, something as simple as this; that you might say, “Oh, this is like too easy.”. It really isn’t too easy. I’d say this is a perfect meal to make with a friend or a loved one. It’s a perfect warm meal to enjoy at the end of a tough day. So, April, thanks for coming on with me today.

April: Oh, my goodness! Thank you for having me on and letting me share something so special to me and my daughters. I just love also to see how you are making this dish. Like I’m learning from you. So, thank you very much for having me on. 

Zoe: It’s not just learning from each other. You’re very welcome. But, every personality and every person that is on this podcast that is featured; you learn something new every single time. Eventually it all comes together in this fantastic, fabulous, beautiful mosaic of tips, culinary footprints, and just the overall feeling of everything and togetherness. Just two episodes ago, we did a Lemon Ice Box Dream Pie. 

April: Wow! 

Zoe: I tell you right now, the filling was only like three or four ingredients, and there was a pie crust the meringue topping. The Meringue topping was literally Egg Whites, Monk Fruit Sugar. 

April: Okay, you are inspiring me to come up with a struggle meal.

Zoe: Oh, truly divine. So, have you added the coconut milk? 

April: I have and I’m mixing it all, so I think we’re ready for the next step. 

Lemon, Peanut Butter & Spiced Rice Oil

Zoe: We’re ready for, first of all, the lemon juice. 

April: Ba, ba, ba, ba!

Zoe: Yes. Oh, that was close. I almost handed you the Strawberry Fanta! This here- 

April: I see where your mind is going!

Zoe: Is the Costco Lemon Juice. I’m holding it out to you. 

April: Very good. Okay. 

Zoe: You just twist the top off and then there’s a small spout.

April: Okay. How much should I put in? 

Zoe: About a half a second shake.

April: Okay. 

Zoe: Again, I’m not using like measurements here. I love to just like roll with the punches and taste and flavor as we go. 

April: All right. Here we go. I’m gonna hand this back to you. 

Zoe: Yep. 

April: I do like that, actually, because it is good to just have fun in the kitchen and there are no mistakes.

Zoe: No matter where life takes you, no matter the challenges, the adversity comes from; we’re always here and the kitchen is a safe place to return to. If it’s a grilled cheese, something simple, no problem. Whatever makes you happy and makes you feel good doing it.

April: Exactly! 

Zoe: So, now that you’ve given that a stir- 

April: Yeah.

Zoe: I’m going to give you “Zoe’s Fun Extra Little Ingredient”. 

April: Oh, wonderful! 

Zoe: Yes. As soon as I put this whisk- 

April: Mm, I love the lemon in all this! Wow! The lemon really did add- 

Zoe: Yeah!

April: I like that!

Zoe: It starts to permeate through the air, the flavor and the aroma.

April: All the spices! Wow! 

Zoe: Now this is a new jar of peanut butter that I’m opening. 

April: Oh, my goodness. See I never knew why I never thought of this one when Zoe said, “Oh, let’s put some peanut butter in there.”. I was like, “What the heck?” 

Zoe: Yeah. It’s either peanut butter, or like sometimes some people will use like an egg yolk or something. ‘Cause with a lot of other curries, if you want more thickness, sometimes you add in some corn starch, or whatnot. I don’t personally like corn starch. 

April: Right. 

Zoe: I also don’t like pureeing my vegetables to make the sauce thicker. So, for me, just a bit of peanut butter really does the trick!

April: I love it!

Zoe: So, I’m going to give you this jar of peanut butter. 

April: Okay. 

Zoe: Here you go. Here’s the jar. Okay. You’re gonna have to mix the top just a little bit, ’cause the oil will separate. But, use a spoon please. 

April: Okay. 

Zoe: Just add like… 

April: This is a cute spoon!

Zoe: Like a decent spoonful. Like, not too much 

April: Zoe’s into the organic, so I’ve got a- 

Zoe: “Organic Jar of Peanut Butter”. 

April: Yeah, it’s got the, always the oil on the top. I grew up with this. So, what do you think? Like a tablespoon? 

Zoe: Let’s start with two-thirds of a tablespoon. You don’t have to add this. Anyone with a nut allergy, or anything.

April: Here we go. I’m gonna hand the jar to you. 

Zoe: Thank you. 

April: And I’m gonna add… Okay, so now I’m gonna put this in here to melt. That’s a great option for people that do not wanna do corn starch and love peanut butter. 

Zoe: Ooh, that’s delicious. 

April: Okay. 

Zoe: So, I’ve already got my spiced oil, but now that our curry’s almost done, I’m going to get my spice mix together and just drizzle it over the rice. All you do is in a pan– a medium pan– add just a bit of toasted sesame seed oil and then into there add your spices, just a pinch of cardamom, fennel, a little bit of allspice, some onion and garlic powder, a little bit of salt and black pepper. Very simple, just allow it to toast as the oil shimmers for about two minutes. The fragrances that were released into the air are divine. 

April: Wow!

Zoe: Once that happens, you take that and just drizzle it over your rice. Give it a mix, and then your rice is spiced, delicious, lovely, and ready to go. When the curry combines with everything, it is to die for. But, as is usual, we’ll do our best to keep you in waiting for the next time. We will have a picture of the curry and everything. But, you’re gonna have to give this a taste yourself and figure out what you think about it because we will tell you what we think on the next episode!

April: Thanks for having me, Zoe!

Resting, Residual Heat & the Taste Test

Zoe: Oh, we’re not done exactly just yet. Has the curry finished? 

April: I believe so. Let me just mix it up a little bit. 

Zoe: Okay. 

April: And then I think so!

Zoe: All right. Fabulous. Would you like to take a taste? 

April: I would love to take a little taste, yes. I think it’s warm. 

Zoe: Yeah, just give it a moment to cool down, of course.

April: All right. So, should I turn it off or leave it cooking? 

Zoe: Because, this is an electric coil, as opposed to your gas, you can turn it off and because the coil takes time to cool down- 

April: Yes… 

Zoe: It’ll keep the pan nice and hot, and things will continue to cook, like the residual heat will still continue to cook it. It’s the same idea as with some dishes where it’s like a “Kasudon”, or it’s something like that. With the vegetables, the noodle, and the broth and everything. For me, I like to crack an egg over the top and then turn off the heat- 

April: Oh!

Zoe: Because the residual heat- 

April: It’s still cooking…

Zoe: Will cook the egg. Yes. And it’s perfect afterwards. Oh, do you need a tasting spoon? Sorry!

April: No, it’s okay! If you’re cooking meat, to take it out when it’s done and then let it rest. Because, it is still cooking on the inside. 

Zoe: Yeah. The heat needs to disperse and that’s something very, very important. I remember, like just sitting down and just chilling and then listening in the background; there was like an “American Dad!” episode going on in the living room. The wife, Francine, she’s cooking a steak. I’m not even gonna try the voice. It’s a little too high for me. But, she’s going like, “This steak, I think it’s cooked. I don’t know if it’s done. I better take a peek.”, and she cuts into it as it’s grilling. 

April: Oh, no!

Zoe: And the gray alien character, Roger, he like goes over and is immediately like, “It’s ruined. The precious juice has been lost. Here, taste yours.”, she eats it and then he says, “Now taste mine.”, and she’s like, “It’s so good.” It’s because as everything’s cooking on the inside, especially like meat, you gotta let it rest a little bit, cover it with a little bit of tin foil after it finishes, just so that heat disperses and the juices don’t all run out. Because, if you cut into it as it’s cooking, the juices from the meat leak out and leave your like chicken, pork, or beef dry and like rubbery and we don’t want that.

April: No. 

Zoe: So, yeah, go ahead and give that a taste. Let me know if you need any other seasonings.

April: Oh, my gosh!

Final Words & Sign-Off

Zoe: Now don’t say too much more! Our listeners, that’s all you get now. Just a big old “wow!” Our dish is complete. We’ll take a picture and hopefully make all of you jealous with how it looks. April, thank you so much for being on here today talking about disability, talking about overcoming challenges. I am so thankful and so appreciative of you for being here, and you are genuinely a wonderful person. So, with that, any other words of advice for our viewers? 

April: Just as Zoe was saying, it’s not about getting through life without the challenges. It’s what we do with it that matters, and to just throw glitter on that hump and go with it. We’re amazing, so just keep going because we’re inspirational to others for real. 

Zoe: All right. With that, let’s sign off! This has been Zoe and “A Slice of Life.” We’ll catch you for the next time. And with that, bye everyone!

April: Bye, everyone!

Outro

Asher: Thank you for listening to Let’s Talk!, Portland Community College’s broadcast about disability culture. Find more information and resources concerning this episode and others at pcc.edu/dca. This episode was produced by the Let’s Talk! Podcast Collective as a collaborative effort between students, the Accessible Education and Disability Resource Department, and the PCC Multimedia Department. We air new episodes on our home website, our Spotify channel, XRAY, 91.1 FM and 107.1 FM, and KBOO Radio, 90.7 FM.