In her memoir, “At the Chinese Table,” Carolyn Phillips (madamehuang) recounts a chicken recipe that won over even the toughest of critics.
When I first set out to impress my future mother-in-law some 40 years ago, I knew right from the start that this was going to be an uphill battle. A native of North China, she was the daughter of a warlord’s lieutenant. And imperious. And a champion scowler. And in utter denial over my alleged existence.
Charm didn’t work and my Mandarin was hopeless, so I spent weeks that autumn reading a pile of old Chinese cookbooks in our Long Beach studio apartment. My self-appointed job was to decipher the flavors she dreamed of, the Tianjin-style dishes she hadn’t enjoyed since she left her mother’s home four decades earlier. Before long I became adept enough at my newfound skills to feed my boyfriend scallion-flecked steamed breads tied into ornate little knots.
It at first didn’t occur to me to use our oven for those frantic feasts. But then one day inspiration struck as I roasted a chicken for just the two of us. I had read somewhere that peeled garlic cloves could be stuck under the skin to both perfume the flesh and crisp up the skin, so that’s what I did. Next, I jammed a bunch of trimmed green onions into the cavity to both flavor the chicken from the inside and keep the breast meat moist.
Sure enough, this became one of my main go-to recipes for my mother-in-law’s visits. The chicken’s insane aromas quickened her steps as she walked the short distance from our car to the front door. She’d look nothing short of ravenous by the time I greeted her with a cup of tea. Conversation would center around what was for dinner. And then she’d look me in the eyes and smile.
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