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this post was submitted on 02 Feb 2026
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Showerthoughts
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A "Showerthought" is a simple term used to describe the thoughts that pop into your head while you're doing everyday things like taking a shower, driving, or just daydreaming. The most popular seem to be lighthearted clever little truths, hidden in daily life.
Here are some examples to inspire your own showerthoughts:
- Both “200” and “160” are 2 minutes in microwave math
- When you’re a kid, you don’t realize you’re also watching your mom and dad grow up.
- More dreams have been destroyed by alarm clocks than anything else
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This might be true for the shittiest of Chinese-American recipes. Just like OP, I don't know where you're getting your sesame chicken, but I suggest you stop going there.
Now, regarding the bases being mostly sugar, if you're talking chemically, your statement is true: starches are just chains of sugar. But if your GTC and SC only differ by crushed red, you're getting robbed.
Source: worked pantry/prep in the most popular Chinese take-out-only joint in Albany NY while in college. GTC was by far the most popular dish, averaging ~700 orders per night, pre Internet.
Granted, Chinese-American recipes are chaos. In my experience though, the best GTC recipes use whole japones chiles which are toasted in oil to make them more fragrant and a much more attractive presentation. Rice wine vinegar, garlic, ginger, and oyster sauce are the other primary notes. The balance of these notes IMO are what define the signature of the best GTC for any given restaurant, and everyone is just bringing their own spin to that mix.
Some of the comments here and some of the "Best GTC/SC Recipe EVAARRR!" that I see on the interwebz... Holy hell, y'all. I want to come cook for you, because... DAMN. There's some genuinely so-shitty-it's-hilarious-yet-tragic C-A recipes out there.
Yes, I worked in a Chinese takeout retaurant, too.
There is no "technically" about it. Your list of ingredients there quite carefully left out the entire ladle full of cane sugar. By volume it's about one third of the sauce by way of how every takeaway place I've ever seen prepares it.
0_0 Yowza... even if it's "just" a #1 ladle, that's a shit-ton of the white stuff. The place where I worked used ~1.5tbsp of white sugar per pound of chicken thigh. I... almost want to try one of these recipes you mentioned just so that I can get dessert and dinner in one container. :D
That's basically what it is. The stuff is incredibly sweet.
There's a reason people like it. The same reason people call it sugarchicken.