ep 01: "Cinderella got dressed for the party, dear!"

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A Bit About Sports to Introduce Mom’s Cinderella Theory

For anyone following the World Cup, you’ll know that Morocco’s loss to France in the semifinals was heartbreaking for many reasons but primarily because everyone loves the story of an underdog rising to the top. And as the first African team to make the World Cup semifinals, this team was just that. I, however, am no sports journalist and my investment in the World Cup has less to do with a technical love for the sport (I do not play and prefer not to remember my brief stint on my high school junior varsity team) and more to do with the stories and drama that emerge.

And coincidentally, the results of the Morocco-France game allow for a perfect introduction to my mother’s theory about Cinderella, which is featured in the first episode of “recipes for life.”

Leading up to the semifinals, several outlets described Morocco’s national football team as a “Cinderella team.” A quick Google taught me that in sports:

The terms Cinderella, “Cinderella story,” and Cinderella team are used to refer to situations in which competitors achieve far greater success than would reasonably have been best expected.

My mother would agree with the perspective that Cinderella is less of a fairytale about love and magic, and more a lesson about the ways in which fate, chance and luck play out in our lives when it comes to achieving dreams. To summarize, her Cinderella analysis is this:

Fate and luck are not within our control, but you can create more chances and opportunities for yourself by, like Cinderella, “dress(ing) up and go(ing) to the party.”

In a world with seemingly endless possibilities and options for how to live your life, it can be overwhelming to know what decisions to make about which job to take, which city to live in, etc. And the reality is that you won’t know until you know, so just get out and explore. Your 20s (and arguably the rest of your life) are for learning about the world and getting inspired, and much of that inspiration comes from meeting people from a wide range of backgrounds that can broaden your perspective. Perhaps discover something new you want to pursue—a new lifestyle, place to live, career, etc. Cinderella didn’t fulfill her dream of meeting Prince Charming by staying at home, but by getting to the ball and putting herself out there, she gave herself a better chance. And look how things turned out for her. You can’t control what doors open for you, but you sure as heck can knock on a bunch; and sometimes, you may luck out and meet a “贵人” (guìrén), a fairy godmother-esque figure who lends a helping hand.

In the case of the World Cup in which the Moroccan team is Cinderella and their dream/Prince Charming is the World Cup trophy, perhaps fate, chance and luck played out like this: There was never a guarantee that they would win (in fact, there was barely the idea that they would get as far as they did), but by showing up on the field and putting in the work, they made their chances of winning a lot higher. And perhaps luck came into play the day goalkeeper Yassine Bounou stopped three Spain penalties which sealed Morocco’s spot in the quarterfinals. And perhaps it was not their fate to win the World Cup but their fate to make history—I like this line written by Rory Smith for the NY Times:

Regardless of which team emerges triumphant on Sunday, though, which story line is reverse-engineered as destiny, on some level this will always be Morocco’s World Cup, the one that made it a trailblazer, a record-breaker, a watermark that will not fade. From this point on, a whole slew of achievements will all be the first since Morocco.

Whether you are getting out on the field or dressing up for the party, may we all be a little more like Cinderella.

I hope you enjoy this first episode of “recipes for life” :) And if you do wind up making the pork chops mom taught me, do send a photo.

Link to the first episode on Spotify here :)

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The Recipe: Garlic & Soy Sauce Pork Chops

Serves: 2-3

Time: at most 5 minutes of prep, anywhere between 12-24 hours to marinate, 10 ish minutes to cook

Ingredients

• 1 lb pork chops with the bone in

  • This is generally 2 or 3 pork chops depending on how thick they are. If you are shopping at Trader Joe’s, it’ll come in a package of 2 pork chops which is perfect

• ~ 5 medium garlic cloves (around half a head of garlic or ~15g if you want to use a food scale)

• 2 tbsp soy sauce

• 1 tbsp 黄酒 (frequently sold as 绍兴酒) (Shaoxing cooking wine)

  • You can substitute dry sherry, whiskey or beer

• 1 tsp white sugar

Cooking

1. The night before, prepare the marinade to marinate the pork chops.

2. Peel and roughly chop the garlic.

3. In a bowl, mix chopped garlic, soy sauce, Shaoxing wine and white sugar.

4. Add in pork chops and massage to marinate. Place chops along with the marinade in a large tupperware or plastic bag to marinate overnight in the fridge (12-24 hrs).*

5. Take the pork chops out of the fridge ~30 minutes before cooking.

6. With your hand or a utensil (depending on how you feel about handling raw meat), brush the chopped garlic off the pork chops. You don’t want any garlic on the chops when you cook them as they’ll burn, char and taste unpleasant.

7. In a pan, heat oil over medium to medium-high heat. Cook pork chops until golden brown with a little char—about 3-5 minutes on one side, flip, then cook for another 2-3 minutes on the other side. (Adjust cooking times based on pork chop thickness.)

8. Plate and let rest for a few minutes before slicing and serving. I like to eat this alongside some rice and Mexican grey squash/zucchini sauteéd with garlic.

*Hypothetically, if you are pressed for time and unable to do an overnight marinade, you could do a quick 2-4 hr marinade—add ~1/4 tsp of salt to the marinade and marinate the pork chops at room temperature for anywhere between 2-4 hours. I specify “hypothetically” because DISCLAIMER: According to the USDA, you “should not” keep marinated pork at room temperature for more than 2 hours. That being said, any time my mom has made the recipe like this, my dad has eaten it and he is “still kickin’ it.” So, do with that information what you will.

Photos For People Who Are Visual Learners Like Me

step 1: the chops

step 2: the chops, marinated

step 3: the chops, cooked