As I was thinking about how to make today's post relevant to both my blog and to the topics we discussed in class Thursday and going through my notes, I suddenly decided to re-watch one of the video lectures we discussed in class about "Dubious Gastronomy," narrated by Robert Ku, an Asian American Studies professor at SUNY Binghamton. I will post the video below (it's pretty long) but basically Professor Ku's whole lecture was focused on the stigmatization by Asians of certain culturally-adapted Asian-American foods, like Chop Suey, California Rolls, and dishes made with SPAM, distinctly "fake" and "unauthentic" foods created to appeal to the conservative American palate and how inaccurate and ignorant it is to even label something as "authentic." As Robert Ku says:
"The Asian presence [in America] is a dubious thing, neither legitimate nor
authentic, neither Asian nor American. It is perpetually liminal, always
conditional, never value free, and unnaturally hovers above, below, and in between
easier discrete categories."
We've been talking a lot in class recently about the concept of "authenticity" and it really got me thinking how many times in my life I have turned up my nose at an Asian restaurant that served orange chicken or have made this puckered, disgusted face whenever someone told me they had just eaten at Apollo's (a local Chinese restaurant in Ithaca) or at a Panda Express. I had previously thought myself a real champion of authentic Asian food, believing the food of my household to be the truest form of "real" Asian food out there. Yet little did I realize how much of the things my dad cooked up at home were not only not commonly cooked in China but also have been adapted and changed around to suit my picky tastes and lack of quality ingredients here. My dad had in fact, created his own version of "authentic" Chinese food, which goes only to show how socially constructed the term "authentic" is thrown around nowadays. I mean, how can something be still considered "authentic" if it has to cross physical not to mention cultural barriers to reinstate itself into a new place? Even that minimal action of translocation alone is significant because it indicates not only the beginnings of a new cultural negotiation taking place but also the creation of a new "authenticity", which Professor Pham says, is only true to itself.
Which brings me back to the main players of today's blog post: pineapple fried rice and chicken teriyaki, two common dishes served in Thai and Japanese restaurants respectively. I am not Thai nor Japanese, therefore as a cultural outsider, I have no idea whether the dishes I cooked up Wednesday night were "authentic" or "real" at all. The fact that I decided to even pair them together in my dinner could suggest how culturally ignorant I am of these foods, that I can just mix them together without the slightest thought. But I argue that despite not knowing how "authentic" they really were, I had nevertheless, intentionally, even unapologetically mixed them together because I had subconsciously decided that I didn't care what "other people" (who would even have the energy or time to care anyway??) thought of my culinary choices. I had only wanted to create my version of an Asian dinner I deemed fitting for my college-student tastes; therefore in my mind, it was authentic (and crazy-delicious) enough for me.
By the way, I know I cannot be the first person who has done this before but my overall point is to remind you guys that because nothing is culturally static, there no such thing as something being "bastardized" or "contaminated" or "unauthentic." Let us, then, just give some credit and recognition to those great and sometimes necessary changes Asian food has underwent in order to survive and endure to this day. It is, after all, what drove Chinese food to be such a staple of American food culture today. Why deny it when you can embrace it and appreciate it for its history and the opportunities and visibility it has brought to millions of Chinese immigrants in America?
So now that I'm done with my whole academic spiel, go check out these recipes I've adapted from RasaMalaysia and Beyond Kimchee!
Pineapple Fried Rice
INGREDIENTS:3 cups overnight steamed rice2 1/2 tablespoons oil3 large eggs, lightly beaten2 cloves garlic, minced6 oz chicken, cut into cubes (optional)1 cup pineapple cubes1 cup frozen mixed vegetables, defrostSalt, to tasteFor seasoning1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce1/2 tablespoon fish sauce1/4 teaspoon sesame oil, optional3 dashes white pepper
INGREDIENTS:3 cups overnight steamed rice2 1/2 tablespoons oil3 large eggs, lightly beaten2 cloves garlic, minced6 oz chicken, cut into cubes (optional)1 cup pineapple cubes1 cup frozen mixed vegetables, defrostSalt, to tasteFor seasoning1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce1/2 tablespoon fish sauce1/4 teaspoon sesame oil, optional3 dashes white pepper
DIRECTIONS
1. Break up the lumpy overnight rice with the back of the spoon or fork, or with your hand. Mix all the ingredients for the seasonings in a small bowl.
2. Heat 1/2 tablespoon of the oil in a wok over high heat and cook the eggs first. Use the spatula to break the eggs into small pieces. Set aside. Reheat the wok with the remaining 2 tablespoons oil and stir-fry the garlic until aromatic.
3. Add the chicken and pineapple pieces and stir-fry until the chicken is half-cooked and the pineapple cubes are slightly caramelized before adding the mixed vegetables. Stir to combine well. You can skip the chicken part if you choose to make it without.
4. Add the rice into the wok and use the spatula to stir-fry continuously until the all the ingredients are well blended.
5. Add the Seasonings into the wok, blending it well with the rice and ingredients. Return the cooked eggs into the wok and combine with the rice. Dish out and serve immediately.
Chicken Teriyaki
INGREDIENTS
2 lbs (900g) chicken drumsticks or bone-in thighs, preferably skin removed
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4" ginger, minced (half the amount of garlic)
4 tablespoon low sodium soy sauce
4 tablespoon pineapple juice
2-3 tablespoon light brown sugar* (I feel that less sugar is better, you are not making candied chicken after all)
1 tablespoon rice wine, optional (I accidentally used cooking wine instead of rice wine...probably did affect the taste somewhere)
1 teaspoon sesame oil
dashes of black pepper
* Adjust the amount of sugar depends on your preference.
DIRECTIONS
1. Place chicken in a non-stick surfaced skillet.
2. In a small mixing bowl combine the rest ingredients except the sesame seeds to make sauce, drizzle the sauce over chicken.
3. Cover the skillet with a lid or foil and bring to boil over medium-high heat. Reduce the heat to medium-low and cook for 7-8 minutes. Turn your meat to the other side and continue to cook for another 7 minutes.
4. Remove the cover, raise the heat to medium-high. The sauce will start to boil rapidly.
5. Continue to thicken the sauce; the sugar in the sauce will be caramelized and the sauce will turn into a thick glaze. Toss the chicken occasionally to coat evenly as you thicken the glaze.
6. Be careful not to burn the glaze. You might need to reduce the heat at the last minutes.
7. When you see the most glaze sticks to chicken and become slightly dry to the bottom of skillet, they are done. Remove the skillet form the heat and sprinkle sesame seeds over chicken. YAY, you are done!
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| Oh the wonders of Instagram, making my sad food pictures seem like art. |
Aaanndddd.....that's all I've got today, folks! Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Oh, here's the video I promised:
Oh, here's the video I promised:
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