I had no idea that there was a stereotype about African Americans having a strong affinity for fried chicken until Dave Chappelle informed me. I find that I am generally behind the curve on bigoted and racist shorthand and "facts". A loss, I know.
I mention this because a conversation with EOS when she visited prompted me to say the following: "Asians have a strange relationship with chicken." Em had seen an ad on the subway with a woman indulging in Freudian enjoyment of a fried chicken drumstick and I was reminded of an ad for chicken I had seen in Thailand. In the ad a young man, who has seemingly just been beaten in a fight, is being screamed at by a disappointed father. The viewer (or at least the viewer who does not know Thai) is left with the impression that the son tried his hardest. The son goes home to his apartment...defeated...exhausted...sad...and takes a shower. Meanwhile, his father realizes that he has a good son and, in an expressive act of manly love, leaves a box of fried chicken at his son's door, rings the doorbell, and books it. Love: Say it with chicken.
In Korea, chicken is a separate entity. Meats appear to be generally separated: you go to one kind of restaurant for beef, another for pork and, in particular, chicken has its own domain. I would go so far to say that chicken has its own empire:
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