I always thought of this as a very American recipe. A whole roast chicken. It just seemed so American. Maybe because Chinese cooking almost never uses the oven, and rarely serves large, intact pieces of meat. Maybe because I thought of myself as American, being mixed-race and fifth generation Chinese. Maybe because I thought of my mother as American, and therefore thought of her cooking as very American. That didn’t last. One day a family friend, a very southern Black man (he and my mother used to sit around eating pigs feet, a dish that they both, and only they, loved), came to the house for dinner and commented on what an interesting dish it was. How he had never had a Chinese chicken cooked in this way. And so, I learned that this dish was Chinese.
Years beyond this incident now, I have more complex feelings about defining the authenticity of this dish. It uses traditionally Chinese flavors to be sure– hoisin sauce, garlic, and ginger. But it’s not a traditional dish. My mother invented it at some point, for no real reason that she can remember. She thought it would taste good.
How are we to define authenticity in Asian American cuisine? It’s a slippery question. Does authentic Asian American cuisine need to be traditional? Can fusion be authentic? And who is allowed to claim authenticity? I don’t have a perfect answer, but this recipe uses Chinese flavors, it was created by an Chinese American woman, and she passed it down to me. At the very least, it’s an authentic representation of the kind of food that my Asian American family eats.
Ingredients
- 1 whole chicken
- 4 tablespoons hoisin sauce
- 6 cloves of garlic, smashed and peeled
- 1 thumb-sized piece of ginger, sliced
- Salt, black pepper, oil
Steps
- Clean the chicken by removing giblets and patting dry with a paper towel. Rub the outside of the chicken with salt and chill in the refrigerator until ready to cook (up to 24 hours).
- When ready to cook, preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
- Remove chicken from the refrigerator.
- Mix together the hoisin sauce, garlic, and ginger.
- Rub the outside of the chicken with oil and black pepper. Then rub the chicken, inside and out with the hoisin sauce mixture. Truss the bird if you wish.
- Place the chicken in the oven to roast. Baste occasionally. The chicken skin will be very dark. If the hoisin mixture starts to turn black, reduce the oven heat to 325 degrees, and adjust the roasting time accordingly.
- Remove the chicken when the internal temperature reaches 185 degrees, about 2 hours, depending on the size of the chicken. Let the chicken rest for a few minutes, then serve.
Recipe and video by APALA member Molly Higgins. To learn more about APALA Community Kitchen, or to submit your own recipe, see the project page.