Jeff, the A.D.D. Chef

I’m not sure if the first Chinese chefs were A.D.D. but I can tell you that nothing satisfies my A.D.D.ness like cooking Chinese food. First, it has many small, manageable tasks: chop up this, cut up that, measure out a quantity of that liquid. Second, it uses some special tools: wok and cover, cleaver, special serving plates. Third, it requires some esoteric knowledge: where to purchase ingredients like Shao Shing Cooking Wine and how to stir fry vegetables so that they are soft and firm.¹ The best part is that all of these ingredients and tools come together in a three-minute lightning round that is centered on the all-mighty wok.

Heat up the wok. Add the oil. Is it hot? Good! Add minced garlic. Do you smell the aroma? Beautiful! Now add your cooking wine/salt/sugar mixture. Listen to that sizzle! Can you detect the wine’s fragrance? Excellent! Add more ingredients. Grab the bowl of marinating chicken. Scan the kitchen for the broccoli. There it is. Toss it in. Stir it together. Watch the sauce thicken and the broccoli turn bright green. One more minute and….that’s it! Three minutes have passed and you are done! You’ve created order out of chaos,² a/k/a Sliced Chicken and Broccoli. You’ve satisfied your A.D.D. need for multiple activities while fulfilling your other A.D.D. need: sharing the food - and fun - with friends and family.

1. That only seems like a contradiction but if you’ve eaten broccoli or snow peas that still retain a small crunch and are deliciously soft as you chew them, then you know that this is not a contradiction after all. [↩]
2. However, see: Conservation of Chaos [↩]