Culinary legacy of Detroit’s Chinatown lives on
Culinary legacy of Detroit’s Chinatown lives on
2024-05-17
The U.S. Midwestern city of Detroit once had a thriving Chinatown. But depopulation and urban decline have forced many Chinese American establishments in the city to close up shop. And while that historic neighborhood has disappeared, one culinary legacy is well remembered and remains a favorite among locals.
Chinese American Gary Mui opened his own restaurant in 2020 after working in kitchens most of his adult life.
During all that time, he’s been making a battered and fried chicken dish, topping it with soy sauce, oyster sauce and chicken stock gravy, served with white rice over a bed of lettuce and almond slivers.
Gary Mui
Restaurateur
Put it all together, it becomes, like, a magical flavor, where the lettuce soaks up the grease from the chicken and the rice blends well with it together.
Native Detroiters call it almond boneless chicken, or ABC. It’s not quite as common in other areas of the U.S., and many who have moved away dream of it.
Member of public
I know very well the only place you can get it is back home.
But the origins of war su gai, as it’s also known, are up for debate. The dish appears on restaurant menus from Detroit’s historic Chinatown dating back to the 1960s.
Curtis Chin wrote a book about growing up in his family’s restaurant. He has his own theory of why the dish took hold in a city with a large Black population.
Curtis Chin
Author
It might have been the adaptation of a traditional Chinese dish called almond pressed duck, which was duck, you know, breaded and fried. But then changed to accommodate a more Black palate, or people from the South, which had fried chicken, because it really is just a fried chicken dish with an Asian gravy.
Detroit’s Chinatown faded away by the early 2000s, but the area may be due for a revival. The Peterboro restaurant opened in 2016 on a site that once housed a Chinese grocery. Almond boneless chicken is one of its bestsellers.
Martin Van Alm
Restaurateur
And I think it is absolutely a nod to the area, to Chinatown.
Chin thinks ABC is so good, it’s destined to move beyond its point of origin.
Curtis Chin
Author
I don’t see any reason why almond boneless chicken can’t be a national craze. I mean, it’s basically fried chicken with gravy. Who doesn’t love that?
A Detroit signature food that might no longer be kept under local wraps.
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底特律人氣料理杏仁酥雞 來自唐人街的好滋味
2024-05-17
美國中西部城市底特律曾有個繁華一時的唐人街，雖然這個歷史悠久的街區已經消失，但美味料理並沒有被遺忘，還深受當地人的喜愛。
華裔美國人Gary Mui在廚房工作多年後，2020年開了自己的餐廳。
這段時間，他一直在製作一份裹著麵糊的炸雞，上面撒上醬油、蠔油和雞湯汁，配上白米飯，上面鋪著生菜和杏仁片。
[[餐廳老闆 Gary Mui]]
“把材料全部加在一起，就出現了神奇的味道，生菜吸收了雞肉的油脂，搭配米飯，完美結合。”
這就是底特律人口中的杏仁酥雞，或簡稱ABC，讓許多離鄉的人仍念茲在茲，這在美國其他地區可不常見。
[[民眾]]
“我很確定若想吃，就是要回家一趟。”
鍋燒雞的起源眾說紛紜，這道菜出現在底特律歷史悠久的唐人街的餐廳菜單上，歷史可以追溯到60年代。
作家陳國材家裡開中餐館，他有一本書提到他是在餐廳長大的。對於這道菜為何在黑人人口眾多的城市流行起來，他有自己的理論。
[[作家 陳國材]]
“它可能是中國傳統菜餚杏仁鴨的改編版，它是用鴨肉裹麵包粉油炸而成。但後來為了適應更多的黑人口味，或者來自南方的人，他們吃炸雞，因為它實際上只是帶有亞洲肉汁的炸雞。”
底特律的唐人街在2000年代初逐漸沒落，但也可能重生。2016年開張的Peterboro餐廳，原址曾是一家中國雜貨店。杏仁酥雞是其最暢銷的產品之一。
[[餐廳業者 Martin Van Alm]]
“我認為這絕對是對這個地區、對唐人街的認可。”
陳國材認為杏仁酥雞太好吃了，而且會不斷超越自身。
[[作家 陳國材]]
“杏仁酥雞沒理由不能成為全國性的熱潮，它基本上就是炸雞，誰不喜歡炸雞？”
這道在底特律才吃得到的特色料理，或許也將在其他區域流行起來。
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