Food connects so many parts of our lives. Eric Kim has learned through his work as a food writer that “we can never really run from who we are”. At the beginning of the pandemic, he moved back to Atlanta to cook with his mother and work on the book Korean American and found a piece of his identity in the process. I recently received a review copy. Transcribing his mother’s recipes and turning them into his own illustrated his understanding of being an American who is also Korean. The recipes are specific dishes he fondly remembers from his upbringing, with some of his own takes. There are Korean flavors with American ingredients and vice versa, and a mix of both. It’s a personal look at life through food and how his family prepares these dishes with lots of endearing stories. A great example of how Korean and American concepts collide is Gochugaru Shrimp and Roasted Seaweed Grits. The creamy buttered grits are flavored with shredded gim, toasted seaweed, and sesame oil, while the shrimp are bathed in lots of garlic, gochugaru, fish sauce, and lemon juice. The richness of butter magically brings all of these flavors together. I also tried the Roasted Seaweek Sour Cream Dip, which I made with skyr from a local producer, and I marked the page for crunchy yangnyeom chickpeas with caramelized honey. Of course, there are numerous variations of kimchi and recipes that include kimchi, such as kimchi bibimguksu cold noodle dish with grape tomatoes, caramelized kimchi baked potatoes, and kimchi sandwiches on milk bread. There are a few recipes I look forward to making my own. I’d love to try some meatless fillings for Kimbap, but two options are included with Spam and Perilla and Cheeseburger. And I want to try Sheet-Pam Bibimbap with all kinds of veggies. There are fish, chicken and beef dishes; stews; vegetable recipes honoring Kim’s mother’s garden; and a celebration chapter. Rounding out the chapters is one for sweets, which features a must-try Dalgona butterscotch sauce for ice cream. However, it was the fried chicken with soy sauce that I turned to next.
Coming from Kim’s Aunt Georgia, this recipe is the crispiest chicken ever. The pieces are coated in potato starch and fried twice before tossing in a flavorful soy sauce glaze. I’ve fried things in all sorts of ways, e.g. B. in a plain flour coating, in a three-tiered breaded coating, in nut crusts, etc. But this was my introduction to using potato starch. It really makes an incredibly crispy exterior. I used thighs, legs and lots of wings from Shirttail Creek Farm. The sauce was a mixture of oil, chopped garlic, chopped jalapenos, brown sugar, and soy sauce. It was heated in a pan until bubbling and the twice fried chicken was tossed in it before serving. An important side dish are the chicken radishes. It’s simply pickled radishes in distilled vinegar that paired perfectly with the rich, fried chicken, and luckily I had some local radishes to use the day I made them.
Bright, tart radishes with the crispiest, flavoriest chicken was a fantastic combo. I highly recommend the duo. It can’t be easy for immigrants like Kim’s parents to navigate unfamiliar ingredients when trying to make the kind of food they know and love. But this book shows the evolution of just that and how new dishes have emerged. We are fortunate to be able to share in their inventiveness.
Aunt Georgia’s Soy Sauce Fried Chicken with Jalapeños
My Aunt Georgia’s fried chicken is second to none. I love how simple her recipe is, and in its simplicity—the careful combination of garlic, jalapeños, brown sugar, and soy sauce—lies great complexity. Your chicken will stay crispy for hours thanks to the potato starch coating and double frying, not to mention the hearty, flavorful glaze candying the outsides. For balance, be sure to have this with the somaek and chicken radishes.
1 whole chicken (3 to 3½ pounds), cut into 10 servings
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 cups potato starch
vegetable oil
7 large garlic cloves, thinly sliced
3 large jalapeños, thinly sliced
1/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
1/4 cup soy sauce
SERVED 6 TO 8
1. Place the chicken pieces in a large bowl or resealable plastic bag and season with salt and pepper. Add 1 cup potato starch and toss to coat each piece. Remove the chicken pieces and repeat the process. Place the pieces in the bowl or bag, sprinkle in the remaining 1 cup of potato starch and toss to coat each piece again. Set aside on a plate until the starch on the chicken looks moist, about 15 minutes.
2. Pour 2 inches of oil (enough to coat the chicken pieces while frying) in a large Dutch oven. Heat to 350°F over medium-high heat.
3. Line a plate with paper towels. Working in batches of a few pieces at a time, place the chicken in the hot oil and fry until lightly golden, about 4 minutes per batch. Transfer the fried chicken to the paper towels. Then fry the same pieces a second time until golden brown, about 8 minutes per batch. Place these twice fried chicken pieces on a wire rack until you’ve double fried all of the chicken.
4. In a medium skillet, combine ½ cup vegetable oil, the garlic, 2 of the jalapeños, the brown sugar, and the soy sauce and heat over medium-high heat until bubbles appear. Toss a few pieces of the fried chicken into the sauce and use tongs to quickly toss in the glaze until coated. Remove and place on a serving platter. Repeat with the remaining chicken.
5. Garnish the fried chicken with the remaining jalapeño slices and serve immediately or at room temperature when the soy sauce glaze is crispiest on the outside.
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