Trailer-Trash Sweet-n-Sour

Some people I’ve given this recipe have asked my why I call it trailer trash food when I wasn’t living in a trailer when I came up with it. To be fair, I was living in a house, but that house was under renovation and all of the sheet rock had been removed. Essentially, I was living in a huge room with transparent plastic sheets for walls. And I was working a graveyard security job at the time, so I was sleeping during the day. I’d come home to half a kitchen (because half the cabinets had been removed) and try to sleep while my friend (who owned the house) occasionally came over to work on it. Yes, it sounds awful, and it was. Everything I owned ended up covered in sheet rock dust, and I didn’t get a lot of sleep. Plus, I was in college, so I was trying to study in this environment too. But I suppose I really shouldn’t bitch about it. It was a roof over my head, and the rent was very low. Essentially all I had to do was pay for the power – which turned out to be damned expensive because there was no insulation. But that’s another story.

It wasn’t Hell. It wasn’t even close. It was just pretty fucking bad.

Bottom line – this is not a true “trailer trash” recipe. It’s more like a “remodel recipe” or a “demolition recipe.” Although this isn’t a recipe I could have come up with when I was living in my van, because you really need a stove. I mean, I didn’t do a lot of cooking when I was living in my van, because I didn’t have a camping stove or access to electricity. However, I won’t say that you can’t make this recipe if you’re homeless, because you can- easily. That’s the beauty of it, you can make this sweet and sour almost anywhere, and out of almost any kind of meat. (Although pork or chicken is still probably better than beef or pigeon). Rabbit and snake would work just fine if you’re so inclined. Aardvark or turtle would probably be good too. But chicken and pork are probably the easiest to get access to.

So here’s the trick – it consists of two primary ingredients – Yoshidas sauce and Salsa. That’s it. Use about two parts Yoshida to one part salsa. The type of salsa you use makes a big difference. If you like it hotter, then go for hot. If you like it chunky, than use salsa with big pieces of onion and tomato in it. Pace works pretty good, although I’ve done it with just about anything. You can get Yoshida’s sauce virtually anywhere, although it’s cheapest at Costco where you can get it in economy-sized containers.

Ingredients

• Yoshida’s classic marinade
• Salsa of your choice (I recommend mild and chunky)
• Some kind of meat (chicken or pork work best)
• Can of chopped pineapple (optional)

Instructions

While the exact proportions can vary a bit, I think around 2 parts Yoshidas to one part salsa works good, although there’s nothing wrong with 50/50 if you like a more salsa taste. Throw in a can of chopped pineapple if you want to make it more “Hawaiian.”

Put all the ingredients in a crock pot and let them cook for at least four hours. If you don’t have a crock pot and you’re homeless and all you’ve got is a paint can over a fire, you can still make this recipe. Heck, if you don’t have chicken or pork, cut up a block of spam and throw it in. (Although this is not going to be fantastic mind you). The type of chicken won’t matter much. You can also use pigeon (although cook it first because they often have parasites in the meat).

The taste of the completed product will vary depending on the quality of your ingredients. Assuming you use a crock pot and chicken breast, your end result will be very palatable. I mean, you can’t really mess this up. How can you screw up Yoshida’s and salsa? And it tastes great – like high quality sweet and sour. Your dinner guests will never know it’s a trailer trash recipe.

No, I’m not shitting you. Try it and see. It’s good stuff man. I’ve eaten a lot of this, and it keeps getting better every single time I eat it!