Also known as Chinese New Year cake, this delicious treat and I have a very strange history. One that you wouldn't be able to deduce from the way I scarfed half of one down this morning.
You see, there was a time, many, many, years ago (okay, more like a couple), when I did not reel in aversion whenever the word 'cook' was mentioned, nor flee like the wind whenever asked to help out in the kitchen. Yes, once upon a very long time ago, Grace could actually cook.
What does this have to do with Nian Gao, you ask? Well, it was one fateful encounter on a quiet weekend morning that forever changed how I viewed the entire culinary art. Little, innocent, untainted, naive me craved the chewy goodness of Nian Gao. But alas, nobody was available to steam some up for me. And so, I confidently cut a slice, put it into a bowl, and proceeded to stick it into the microwave. Next came the dilemma of deciding how long to microwave the delicacy for. After a couple seconds of intense deliberation, I figured 3:00 would probably do the trick.
Long story short, when my parents awoke from their afternoon nap to the sound of the smoke detector and a thick, choking smell in the air, they were not pleased.
And I never did get my Nian Gao.
That is the story of how the pursuit of one delicious dish destroyed any chances of me ever becoming a world-class chef.
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