Buldak Fire Chicken

“Body, doorway that you are, be more than what I’ll pass through,” writes Ocean Vuong.

The world feels like it is on fire, and it is. Hope seems singed. “I felt things that made death so large it was indistinguishable from air,” Ocean says. People can’t breathe from COVID, from the ugly kneecaps of racism, from smoke issuing from little and big fires everywhere. The cancer is back, comes as no surprise.

Due to my body rotting at its core in a stubborn and untimely, merciless manner, I am stopped at yet another coda; not sure if I’m meant to sing the bridge or the chorus or the whole song over again next. So I’m not singing at all. I’m a still windchime in hurricane season.

“Stillness. That’s what it was/ the [wo]man in the field in the red sweater, [s]he was so still [s]he became, somehow, more true, like a knife wound in a landscape painting…” Hoping that the body I have after this course of treatment is more than a charred clearing.

Cheese Buldak Fire Chicken

Adapted from NYTimes Cooking

¼ cup sambal oelek sauce

2 tablespoons red curry paste

2 tablespoons light brown sugar

1 tablespoon Bee K’onscious honey

3 garlic cloves, peeled and minced (about 2 tablespoons)

1 (1-inch) piece ginger, minced (about 1 tablespoon)

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken thighs, cut into ¾-inch cubes

2 tablespoons neutral oil, such as canola or peanut

4 ounces sliced Korean rice cakes (optional)

6 to 8 ounces low-moisture mozzarella, thinly sliced

2 scallions, sliced, for garnish

Combine the sambal oelek, curry paste, brown sugar, honey, garlic, ginger, and soy sauce in a medium bowl and mix well. Add the chicken and stir until it is well coated.

If you’re using the rice cakes, swirl the oil into a large, oven-safe skillet set over medium-high heat and wait for it to shimmer. Add the rice cakes and cook, turning the cakes often, until they are a little crisp, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer the rice cakes to a small bowl and set aside. If you’re not using rice cakes, simply swirl the oil into the pan and move along to the next step.

Add the chicken mixture to the pan along with ¼ cup water. Cover and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the chicken is cooked through, 8 to 10 minutes, adding the rice cakes halfway through, if using. Meanwhile, heat the broiler in your oven.

Remove the chicken from the heat. Cover the pan with the sliced mozzarella, then slide the pan under the broiler. Cook until the cheese has melted and browned in spots, about 2 minutes. Remove from the oven, and sprinkle with scallions. Serve immediately, with rice.

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