I spent some part of my childhood living in Puerto Rico, in a small town near Ponce. I was the only Chinese kid in my kindergarten class, and my aunt and uncle ran the only Chinese restaurant in town. It was usually flooded with customers (especially on pay day), possibly because the place also doubled as an ice cream parlor. In addition to healthy portions of tamarindo ice cream, there were huge platters of things like seafood fried rice with plantains and sweet and sour pork with fresh pineapples. It was considered Chinese by the local Puerto Ricans. My 5-year-old self, having recently moved from Guangzhou, thought it was Western food.
(Even though my little town lacked Chinese food, cities certainly had their fair share, as I learned after many weekends of eating at dim sum spots in San Juan and Ponce. It’s like going from rural Kansas to San Francisco.)
Many, many years later, having eaten my fair share of sweet and sour pork and lemon chicken in the US, I can reason that although these hybrid Chinese dishes aren’t very traditional, they are nonetheless part of Chinese diaspora culture. The Chinese started migrating the Caribbean since the early 1800s (more history here.) The more people who arrive and stay, the more begin to open restaurants. The more restaurants open, the more the foods, stir-fry techniques, and flavorings like ginger with soy sauce spread.
I’ll go more into the hybrid food my own family made in some later posts. For now, here’s a recipe for chicharrones de pollo, Puerto-Rican style, I modified from Recipezaar. Chicharrones in Latin America are usually pork rind cracklings, but in Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic chicken is also popular. Have you ever had fried chicken bits marinated in rum, soy sauce, lemon juice, and ginger? They’re quite incredible, especially if you marinate them overnight; post-frying, the rum juices almost burst out of the chicken when you bite through the batter shell.
I made an additional paprika onion side to go with the chicken cracklings. Since Dominican-style chicharrones usually have a paprika-laced batter, I sprinkled the sweated onions with some sweet paprika Jacob brought back from Hungary last month. I didn’t dice my onion up very finely, so it was a side to be eaten with the chicken. I imagine that if you chopped it up to bits, or used shallots, the result can almost be a dip. And of course, the chicharrones are perfectly fine on their own.
And since these are almost guaranteed crowd pleasers, I’m serving them up at a party this coming weekend.
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Other Global Chinese recipes:
Orange Sesame Chicken
Chicken Lollipops
Sweet and Sour Pork
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Chicharrones de Pollo with Paprika Onions
Serves 4
1 1/2 pounds chicken breast
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup rum
1/4 cup lemon juice
2 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
1 piece ginger, roughly chopped
3 large red onion, finely chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon paprika
Salt and pepper to taste
2 cups flour
1 tablespoon salt
2 teaspoons freshly ground pepper
Vegetable oil for deep-frying
Optional: Chopped Mint or cilantro for garnish
Cut chicken into 1-inch cubes. Mix together soy sauce, rum, lemon juice, garlic, and ginger in a bowl. Marinate chicken in mixture for at least 5 hours, preferably overnight.
Prepare the onions before frying the chicken: In a wok or pan, gently sauté onions and garlic over low heat until onions are translucent, about 15 to 20 minutes. Season with sugar and paprika, then salt and pepper to taste. Transfer to serving dish.
Combine flour, cornstarch, salt, and pepper in a large bowl to be ready for dredging chicken. Fill wok 1/3 or 1/2 way up with vegetable oil and heat oil to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Working in batches, dredge chicken in cornflour mixture, then shake off excess flour. Fry chicken until crisp and golden brown on all sides, about 2 to 3 minutes. Remove and place on a paper-towel lined plate to drain. Repeat with other batches.
Serve with paprika onion side and garnish with optional mint or cilantro.
“the rum juices almost burst out of the chicken when you bite through the batter shell.”
Holy deliciousness!
This looks great. What kind of rum did you use, presumably dark rum?
This is a special dish that I never heard before, thanks for sharing. :)
Fascinating bit about your history. How long did your family stay in Puerto Rico? Are your aunt and uncle still there or they moved to the US too? I noticed in this year’s Miss Universe pageant that two of the Caribbean contestants were Chinese.
i like this post! thank you for educating me a little about hybrid foods and the fact tht cooking techniques and recipes change so much as people travel. this is beautiful and is making my mouth water!x
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Lizzie – I used white rum since I didn’t have any dark on hand. White still seeps into meat very well. I would say try it with both.
Wandering Chopsticks – I was there just long enough to attend kingergarten. :) My aunt and uncle are still there; their restaurant is going on its 4th decade.
i can’t imagine anything better than regular chicharrones (fried bits of pork belly) but this one may come in close! delicious.
This sounds just absolutely heavenly.
Don’t know if you’re still checking the blog, I know you’re traveling, but you mention a cornstarch flour mixture, but don’t give amounts for cornstarch. I suspect it’s delicious either way, with the cornstarch adding lightness, but, if it’s not too much trouble and you get around to it, I would love to know how much cornstarch to the 2 cups of flour.
THANKS!
Ron – I would do half/half and compare the difference.
Hi..the chicharrones de pollo recipe looks delicious. I was wondering what would you suggest in place of the rum for those who cannot have alcohol? Even without the rum i’m hoping this will still keep the recipe delicious. Thanks for all the tasty recipes on your blog!
Looks delicious!