With Love, Fried Chicken
My meandering thoughts on Meghan Markle, Duchess of Sussex, new series. Plus the details on Roy Choi's fried chicken.
I will preface this by saying that this is MY type of content: I love to cook, host, and have consumed every bit of content from/about Martha, Ina, Julia, etc. My general consensus: I love watching un-relatable, wealthy folks do their thing! Meghan is so gorgeous and well dressed, I could watch just for that. She is undeniably charming.
I have two big hang ups that I've debated myself back and forth on. The first: not filming in her home. At first, I rolled my eyes. Of course, Meghan, with a notorious authenticity problem, is staged in a fake house. You have all the money in the world; how about building a shed/studio on your property to film, like Ina did? And that brings me to my internal debate: all of those women I've mentioned filmed in studios, NOT their homes. So why am I holding her to a different standard?
On the other hand, people crave authenticity more than ever, and it's also more accessible than ever! I love watching Meredith Hayden's "Dinner with Friends" from her real, actual home. It's not always accessible (caviar, champagne, lobster, designer clothing in a gorgeous barn-turned-house), but that's why I love it!
Of course I understand Meghan's battle with privacy, but her entire brand is home. As an amateur chef myself, I know how difficult it is to cook in a kitchen that isn't yours. You don't have you knives, pots, spices. You don't know that the front left burner gets hotter than the rest! I found it difficult to reckon with the two truths: privacy and safety are most important, but this entire series/her whole is all about HOME, and has been since the Tig. The genuine moments that arose (like Daniel's injury) lost their authenticity because of this (I couldn't help but think, that isn't Meghan's bandaid, it's probably the crew's, because we're not in her home). I generally got past this in future episodes.
My second hang up, and I am so sorry to say this about sweet Daniel, but I think he was a terrible choice for a guest in general, let alone for a pilot episode. He does not seem to have the same interests as Meghan, and almost seemed bored/awkward as she tried to teach him. I got the sense that they have more of a MUA-client relationship than friendship, ad that made the episode feel very disingenuous.
Compare this to Mindy, another non-chef, who met Meghan's creations with genuine enthusiasm and excitement, let alone the cooks and experts who were there to teach and guide Meghan through other episodes. Though I understand the context of their relationship, I feel Daniel was a very odd choice. Frankly, most of the episodes with friends would have been improved upon by making Meghan the student, rather than the teacher, by bringing in more experts.
I'm sure Meghan has a lot of friends/contacts who have the same passions she does. I myself, a normal person, have a fabulous gardener friend who I would have invited for a florals episode; another friend who owns a pizza food truck that I could cook with; and my mother, who is an epic host and made me fall in love with cooking!
I would have loved to see her with someone like Stanley Tucci, who has the same dorky enthusiasm and interests. I also think Tucci’s approach to his food show is a better one: more focused on meeting the experts than being the expert himself. I fear that Daniel's episode totally missed the mark for me, apart from Meghan learning from the beekeeper, which I thought was a super fun and great segment (similar to Roy Choi's episode).
And that brings me here, to Roy Choi! What an epic chef, charming entertainer and patient teacher. It was clear that Meghan was both nervous and contagiously giddy over being in Chef Choi’s presence. More of this! It was beyond fun and I learned so much through the episode. To the point that I even made the fried chicken; details below!
I think what I love most about this series is the high-low of it all. We’re frying chicken, making bread from scratch, cooking whole fish… and then pouring peanut butter pretzels into a new bag, which I love! So much of hosting is about presentation, and I love how she’s given both accessible and aspirational sides.
In general, Meghan is not meant to be relatable. She’s an actress turned literal royal. I love that everything seemed a little ridiculous, and I welcomed that escape, now especially. I also empathize with her; I can’t imagine how difficult it must be to put yourself out there time and time again and be told we don’t like you. I applaud her for this show, which clearly has been a goal and passion of hers for decades.
After watching Roy Choi’s episode three times back, I was able to get down the ingredients and steps for their fried chicken. See below if you’re interested in joining!
Chicken Brine
Orange juice
Lemon juice
Lime juice
Peeled and chopped ginger
2 tbsp salt
.5 c sugar
.25 c rice wine vinegar q
2 c. beer
.5 c whole milk
Peppercorns
Bring to boil, let cool, add chicken.
Brine for a couple hours or overnight
When ready to cook, bring brine to boil then add chicken for 8-12 mins until 85% cooked.
Dip chicken in your batter (I did flour/cornstarch/baking powder/soda water) and fry in 350º oil. I did this for about 8 minutes, then returned to 400º oil for 2 minute to get it GBD (golden brown and delicious!).
Sweet Thai Chili Sauce
Green onion
Garlic
Ginger
Serrano chili
Onion
Basil
Cilantro
Sesame seeds
Chili flakes
Sriracha
Thai chili sauce
Lime lemon orange
Blend!
Dry Rub/Salt
Salt (I would omit this)
Chili powder
Cayenne
Chili
Cumin
Chicken powder - chicken bouillon
My Gochujang Glaze
Gochujang
Lemon
Sugar
Hot water