Boiled Chicken Feet and Hundred –Year-Old Eggs: Poor Chinese Feasting speaks about a person’s journey to and from places that have made an impact in her life as an adult. The narrative touches on several aspects of the culture of the Malaysian-Chinese. The reader is convinced of the authenticity of the descriptions because the author of this piece is from Malacca, Malaysia. In the narrative, the main character talks about staying in the US and here, the author would again draw from her own experience as she has come to the US for graduate studies and have opted to stay in the country. Knowing about the author’s background and seeing that the culture she has described is not alien from her own, helped me believe that the cultural practices she describes in the narrative are indeed real. The reading of this particular text reflects my own grounding in a specific culture, time, and space. The discussion about the experience is detailed in the succeeding sections.
Introduced to family dynamics
The piece talked about the culture of the Chinese Malaysian as narrated by the only girl in a family with seven boys. She lives with her father, stepmother, siblings and aunts because her mother left her when she was young. From the narrative, the reader is told that her mother who had left her husband (the narrator’s father) was “a bad woman, a runaway wife” (Lim 218). What her mother did was unacceptable to the family and the stigma of such act was still felt by the main character who narrated that even if that happened seven years ago, the rest of the family are constantly reminded about it by her mere presence.
The family structure was revealed through the way the chicken parts of a meal were distributed, a practice that has been going on for generations. “The father receiv[es] the white breast meat, the sons the dark drumsticks, and the daughters the skinny backs, while the women [eat] the feet and the wings” [Lim 218]. From this scenario, the reader is informed that the male gender gets the resources while the female, who do the preparations, has to make do with the bony parts. This practice has been accepted also by the women themselves. The closeness of siblings was manifested by the main character’s visit to her brother who prepared the food that had been part of their growing up years. Although so many years had passed, the siblings still felt a bond with each other.
Learned about cultural practices
I learned about new dishes through this piece. Boiled chicken and hundred-year-old eggs are considered food for feasts as these are prepared during Chinese celebrations such as Chinese New Year and Hungry Ghost. Food also plays a central role among the Chinese and they are known for it. In America, Chinese dishes from various parts of China are served in restaurants. This literary piece, however, described in detail the activities that take place in the busy street stalls where the Chinese poor enjoyed their feast and they partake of dishes such as hundred-year-old eggs and boiled chicken feet (Lim 223). When cooked in the homes of Chinese Malaysians, the boiled chicken feet present cultural beliefs as well. Unmarried women cannot eat boiled chicken feet because if they do, when they grow up, they will leave their husbands (Lim217), thus the main character was strictly forbidden to eat even to go near boiled chicken feet.
Understood culture’s role in one’s identity
The narrator met her brother after 40 years and it was during this meeting that she realized how important the food she had in her childhood contributed to her identity.
Facing my morning’s breakfast of preserved vegetables and hundred-year-old eggs, boiled chicken feet an rice gruel, I knew my brother was offering me the best of our childhood together (Lim 224).
These dishes are integral parts of every Chinese person who grew up as a member of the poor sector in society. Such dish represents the Chinese Malaysians creativity and resilience in the midst of experiencing poverty in their society. These dishes accompany every Chinese-Malaysian’s memory of family feasts and cultural celebrations.
Conclusions
Lim’s Boiled Chicken Feet and Hundred –Year-Old Eggs has provided me an opportunity to understand a culture that is different from my own. My reading of this text introduced me to the dynamics of a Chinese-Malaysian family and I learned about specific cultural beliefs and practices. They prefer to eat freshly prepared food. The boiled chicken feet is cooked and should only be eaten by married women. Having chicken is a tantamount to a feast and was consumed on the holidays such as the Chinese New Year. The part that each member gets is pre-defined, with the father and the boys getting the meatier portions while the women get the bony parts. The role of food in one’s culture as well as in one’s identity is the take home message of this piece. Indeed, by reading this literary piece, I was able to gain an understanding about a specific culture and experienced a little about their life. I was introduced to the family dynamics, I learned about cultural practices, and I understood the role culture played in one’s identity.
References
Lim, Shirley Geok-lin Lim. “Boiled Chicken Feet and Hundred-Year-Old Eggs: Poor Chinese Feasting.” Through the Kitchen Window: Women Writers Explore the Intimate Meanings of Food and Cooking. Ed. Arlene Voski Avakian. Boston: Beacon Press, 1997. 217-225. Print.
