Johnson Hu

BSTRO

42

TAIWAN

Johnson was happy as a kid in Taipei, living with his grandmother and aunt. His grandparents spoke the Sichuan dialect, having moved to Taipei in 1949 to escape the Communists, and his Taipei-born aunt spoke both Taiwanese and Mandarin, but everyone spoke Mandarin to Johnson, so that was his only native language. They lived in a juan cun—a government-sponsored, temporary village for low-income military dependents, close to a military base.

Johnson barely knew his parents as a child. His mother, already a US resident, had worked abroad since he was a baby—and since his parents had separated early, he’d only see his father occasionally on weekends. Even then, his father would mostly just give him money to go play in the arcades or to buy some tasty snacks at a nearby night market. He was close to his grandmother, though—so close that when, after she suffered a stroke and had a hard time speaking, little Johnson was the only one who understood her and would translate for everyone else.

“I ALWAYS ROOT FOR THE TAIWANESE BASEBALL TEAM; THEY ARE IN THE SOFT PART OF MY HEART.”

When Johnson was sent to go live with his mother in Singapore at age thirteen, he felt like he was leaving his family to stay with a stranger. A few years after that, she moved with him to Vancouver, and eventually to New York. Throughout all these moves, he was always a little homesick, never knowing where he was going to live next, but baseball was Johnson’s constant comfort. He’d always find a way to watch when his team was playing, and it never failed to make him feel at home again. “I always root for the Taiwanese baseball team; they are in the soft part of my heart.”

Johnson cherishes his team’s baseball hat, too—it’s dark blue with the five-petal plum blossom flower, the symbol of Taiwan. “Chinese Taipei” is the name of the team, “because of the politics there—but let’s not get into politics!” he says.

“When I go to the Night Market, I wear this. I feel like this has the most homelike feeling for Taiwanese—helps tell people I’m from Taiwan, helps start conversations with my countrymen, ’cause you know baseball is the national sport in Taiwan. When I wear this, it makes me feel like I’m part of the team, like I’m in Taiwan again.”

He hopes the food he sells at the Queens Night Market accomplishes the same for other full-grown Taiwan kids far from home.

DA JI PAI
Chicken Steak

Johnson remembers chicken steak bursting onto the Taiwanese street food scene about the time he was in fourth grade. His earliest memories of it involve getting dinner money from his grandmother and using part of it to buy a bento box and using the remainder to splurge on a chicken steak. These flavorful, crispy, and juicy chicken steaks fry up in a hurry. They’re usually served on the go in a cookie bag.

Makes 4 servings

4 chicken breast fillets

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 scallion, chopped

2 tablespoons light soy sauce

1 tablespoon soy paste

1 teaspoon ground white pepper

½ teaspoon five spice powder

½ teaspoon granulated sugar

2 cups (250 g) coarse sweet potato starch,* such as Queen’s Premium Sweet Potato Starch

Canola or soybean oil

1. Flatten the chicken breasts with a meat tenderizer until about ½-inch (13 mm) thick.

2. Combine the garlic, scallion, soy sauce, soy paste, white pepper, five spice, and sugar in a large bowl or container and add the chicken. Add about a tablespoon of water to evenly spread the marinade. Cover and marinate for at least 1 day in the refrigerator.

3. Remove from the refrigerator and discard any large pieces of scallion or garlic clinging to the chicken. Coat the chicken with the sweet potato starch.

4. Pour about 2 inches (5 cm) oil into a large pot or deep fryer and heat over medium-high heat to about 325°F (165°C).

5. Fry 1 chicken fillet at a time until evenly golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side. Serve in paper cookie bags if you have some!

* Coarse (or “thick”) sweet potato starch can be found in Asian groceries. Japanese panko bread crumbs can be used as an alternative if sweet potato starch cannot be found.