Susan Jung—a food writer, famously known as the ‘fried chicken lady’—speaks about her book Kung Pao & Beyond, and how she started writing about food. Edited excerpts:
You’ve extensively written about food. How did you get into this space?
I was very lucky. I was working as a pastry chef in Hong Kong, and was offered an office assistant job at the South China Morning Post—answering phones, sending faxes, etc. But I was told I’ll have the chance to write and I took it, even though it was a very low salary.
I went from being a pastry chef and a boss to being told what to do. Nevertheless I worked hard, and they saw that. Six months later, they were looking for a new food editor and they asked me if I’d like to take up that position. And I did!
Your book, Kung Pao & Beyond, was quite well received after its release. What drove you to do such a deep-dive into fried chicken?
I love fried chicken, and I think every person who eats meat loves fried chicken (laughs)! It’s something that’s served at fast food places and even at fine dining restaurants—although they might serve it with caviar. And I think it shows how versatile the dish can be. Because chicken in itself tends to have a neutral flavour, and you can give it many different tastes.
When we talk about food, it’s almost impossible to ignore how much of a political tool it is. In the past few years, we’ve seen people increasingly talk on social media about food from Palestine to Ukraine to Sudan. How do you perceive this geopolitics of food?
I don’t think of food as political. For me, it’s something that brings people together. When you share a meal with someone, you wave down your barriers. And you won’t share a meal with your enemy. If you eat with someone, they automatically become a friend to you.
Food has also been a way to oppress and appropriate cultures. Does writing about food, and opening people up to different aspects of it, help change or challenge these perceptions?
I don’t think making a recipe from another culture is appropriation, since I would try to make it as authentically as possible. But authenticity is not black and white. It would depend on where you’re making the dish—when my grandmother moved to the United States, she was making food with ingredients that weren’t necessarily available in China, so her changing the recipe is not making the food inauthentic. Food always has a way to adapt. For instance, I find Sino-Indian food very interesting, which was brought to India by Chinese immigrants who made it spicier, more garlicky. Every time food adapts, it becomes a different cuisine. As long as it is delicious, nothing else matters.
Food is also linked with the history and culture of different places. For instance, in the US, fried chicken has its roots and origin in slavery. Did you come across any such interesting linkages over your long career of writing about food?
Personally, I’ve not written about fried chicken in the US which does have a link to slavery. I’ve focused on fried chicken recipes from east and southeast Asia that, luckily, do not have any such ties.
What are you working on now? Will we be seeing another book from you soon?
The book that I want to write next is about an ingredient that is normally seen as ‘low-class’—the innards of an animal. There’s an increasing push towards sustainability and using up the whole animal. But a lot of cultures do not like to use the insides such as the brains, the stomach, the intestines—and they think of it as something that poor people eat. But I want to explore more of that.