Boyfriend Rates My Food - Childhood Favorites and Platitudes

Yaki Udon

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

✅ Photo sent to family group chat

A little taste of his childhood gets me the high scores. He also sent a photo of my food to his family chat, the one true sign that he’s impressed.
Simple and quick to make, the power of nostalgia made up for any lack of sophistication and plating on my part. When asked what he thought of it, whether it lived up to his memories of his mom’s food back in Hong Kong, he replied with the familiar “it’s good.” A sigh of relief and a gold star for me. Top it off with a dollop of XO sauce, another element I didn’t need to spend time on aside from waiting on shipping. Yaki udon is a weeknight victory.

Pasta Puttanesca

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

❌ No photo sent to family group chat

Meals from my childhood don’t garner the same star ratings… Noted. It’s ok, Mom, pasta puttanesca is still a 5/5 for me, even if I “used the wrong serving platter.”

Chinese Okra

⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

✅ Photo sent to family group chat

While maybe not a “childhood favorite,” the flavors of this dish certainly came right out of his childhood. Seeing as I had never made okra before, I followed a Youtube recipe he sent me. Now, I’m a little heavy-handed when it comes to spice, and I often let myself get carried away when adding chili peppers… Sue me. In a dash to counteract the chilies, I added more dark soy sauce, which ended up making the whole thing too salty and too saucy. Hence the feedback, “good, but next time have less sauce.” Sigh. Well at least I made it into the family group chat.