“You should eat Chinese food in Dublin” —Mom

Matter-of-factly, Mom explains to Sis the amount of great Chinese food one can find in the Irish capital. And I roll my eyes, “Mom only knows that because I told her.” 

“Yeah, okay,” says Mom. “What dish was it that you had again?”

 “The chicken with the red dates and goji berries,” I answer.

 “Yes! Talk about traditional food, you never find that outside the villages,” said Mom.

Sis just got assigned a project in Dublin and I listed off must-do’s when Mom decided to chime in about the Chinese food. But she’s right, the best Chinese food outside of China can be found in Dublin—that’s according to one Anthony Bourdain. I saw his episode on Dublin when watching No Reservations, and knowing I was headed to Ireland for a week during my upcoming semester abroad in Belgium, I paid special attention.

Well, sort of. Bourdain made note of the amazing Chinese food and I thought, cool, but I just want to eat mashed potatoes.

Fast forward three months and I’m in Ireland, sick as a dog. All 30 of us were—trading different flavored cold medicines like Pokemon cards and carrying toilet paper with us because we ran out of tissues. I no longer wanted mashed potatoes, or steak, or stew—I really wanted Mom’s cooking. I wanted the congee, the steamed meats, and all the herbal remedies Mom would make that I never quite appreciated until I was a few thousand miles away. Unfortunately, that’s human nature—to never really understand what you have until it’s gone.

But thanks to Mr. Bourdain, I realized Ireland is the place to be sick because I could get pretty damn close to Mom’s cooking. Our hotel happened to be close to Chinatown, so I grabbed a few buddies and went on a hunt. We passed a couple of dodgy take-out places with ambiguous fried foods, but nestled between these lesser restaurants lied my savior. We were given the English menu first, filled with lo mein and General Tso type dishes, but I whipped out my heavily accented Cantonese, and was promptly given the “special menu.”

But I couldn’t read it because my Cantonese only extends to verbal communication, so, like a five-year-old, I relied on pictures. And then I saw it—a silky savory dish with notes of sweetness by way of red dates and goji berries—the steamed chicken dish I had been craving. At that moment, it was everything I wanted.

And so, thanks Ireland, this one’s for you—for providing me with the food and drugs to get better when Mom couldn’t do it herself. Also, you’re really pretty, too.

Prep: 20 minutes Cook: 10 minutes 

INGREDIENTS (FOR 2)

+ Oil and salt if you wish to season the chicken overnight, although it's not necessary.

PREPARE

1. Chop chicken into roughly two-inch pieces.

2. Rinse goji berries in hot water, finishing with a cold rinse.

3. Slice dates lengthwise. Each date should give you about three to four slices. 

4. Halve the ginger slices. Combine ginger with dates and goji berries, then work into the chicken.

5. Mix together the rice wine, soy sauce, corn starch, and sugar until it becomes gravy-like and light brown. 

6. Evenly coat chicken with the mixture and let it marinate for 15 minutes.

COOK

1. Bring a pot of water to a boil.

2. Put steamer in pot and place chicken in steamer.

3. Let cook for 10 minutes or until chicken is no longer pink and a beautiful, oily pool of sauce forms around the chicken.

EAT

Served best with a side of rice—and don't forget to spoon some of that flavorful sauce into your rice, similar to gravy.