Chicken Corn Soup
Adrienne Su
Despite corn’s known origins,
the dish proclaims itself German,
known as Dutch here in Cumberland
Valley. While it has in common
with my forebears a non-aversion
to bird feet and on occasion
giblets, the soup I first knew as chicken
corn contained neither. Suburban,
Georgian, and as proud as any neighbor
of our own Jimmy Carter,
I saw no contradiction in Del Monte
and Swanson in a Chinese recipe;
that was how it had always been.
For this comforting one, you opened
two cans (broth, creamed corn),
warmed the contents in a saucepan,
then added watercress for an instant
first or last course, actual chicken
optional. But now that I’ve dwelled in
Dutch country for a generation,
the name evokes a hearty main,
a long-simmered production
dependent on sweet corn in season,
although most cravings kick in
when it snows. Thus the solution:
in winter, be a Chinese American
from nineteen seventy-seven;
in summer, check out the garden.
The International Aisle: Asia
Adrienne Su
Taste of ____.
Cup O’ Noodles.
Chinese Restaurant Tea.
Envelopes: curry, miso soup.
____ Kitchen.
My Mother's Pantry
Adrienne Su
Cured ham,
rice wine, wine rice,
gefilte fish, Dole fruit cocktail,
thousand-year eggs, chrysanthemum
tea, rice.
This Is Just To Say
Adrienne Su
I have eaten
the preserved plums
that you hauled
on the plane
and which
you were probably
saving
for the rest of the year
Forgive me
they were memory incarnate
so salty
and so sour