Firecracker Chicken

Firecracker chicken belongs to that proud branch of Chinese-American cooking in which subtlety has been politely shown the door. The chicken is crisp, the sauce is sticky, and the combination of sugar, garlic, vinegar, and chili arrives with all the restraint of a marching band in a library. At first it seems pleasantly sweet, then the heat begins to build, and somewhere around the third bite you realize the dish has been negotiating in bad faith. Still, you keep eating, because firecracker chicken understands an important truth about restaurant food: if you are going to set someone’s mouth on fire, you should at least make sure they enjoy it.