# So, is bourbon chicken Chinese or Cajun? **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** liquor-alcohol\ **Created:** [August 3, 2008, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bourbon-chicken-chinese-or-cajun/458656 "2008-08-03T01:50:28Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![zeno](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zeno/32/15040_2.png) [@zeno](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zeno)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 1:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bourbon-chicken-chinese-or-cajun/458656/1 "2008-08-03T01:50:28Z")
I lived in NYC for 20 + years and cannot recall bourbon chicken being on the menu. I come down here to the malls and every chinese stand has it. I understand it is marinated in soy sauce. ---
**Author:** ![Shagnasty](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9dc877/32.png) [@Shagnasty](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shagnasty)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bourbon-chicken-chinese-or-cajun/458656/2 "2008-08-03T01:55:45Z")
I grew up in Louisiana and I pretty sure that it isn’t Cajun. It isn’t part of New Orleans cuisine (which is not Cajun either contrary to popular thought) either. It sounds like Chinese fusion cuisine. ---
**Author:** ![Gfactor](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/9de053/32.png) [@Gfactor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gfactor)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 2:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bourbon-chicken-chinese-or-cajun/458656/3 "2008-08-03T02:41:02Z")
Moved from General Questions to Cafe Society. **Gfactor** General Questions Moderator ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 2:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bourbon-chicken-chinese-or-cajun/458656/4 "2008-08-03T02:57:22Z")
It’s fusion, without a doubt. All the references call it “mall chicken.” Soy sauce and bourbon just aren’t in the same cookbook, until you find someone willing to fuse them. There are even people selling “marinade mixes” online. All you really need is soy sauce, brown sugar, ginger, vanilla, bourbon and a little garlic. ---
**Author:** ![Exapno\_Mapcase](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/exapno_mapcase/32/1051_2.png) [@Exapno\_Mapcase](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Exapno_Mapcase)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bourbon-chicken-chinese-or-cajun/458656/5 "2008-08-03T03:13:40Z")
Bourbon chicken is in all the mall food courts in Upstate NY. Delicious, too, for mall food. ---
**Author:** ![Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/df705f/32.png) [@Full\_Metal\_Lotus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Full_Metal_Lotus)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 3:19am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bourbon-chicken-chinese-or-cajun/458656/6 "2008-08-03T03:19:22Z")
Related Note… Ginger Beef (Breaded spicey Beef in Ginger sauce) Originated in Calgary, Alberta, Canada This may start a new thread about erstatz “chinese” food (chop suey, fortune cookies, etc) Regards FML ---
**Author:** ![bouv](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bc8723/32.png) [@bouv](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bouv)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 5:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bourbon-chicken-chinese-or-cajun/458656/7 "2008-08-03T05:11:28Z")
[QUOTE=Exapno Mapcase] Bourbon chicken is in all the mall food courts in Upstate NY. Delicious, too, for mall food. [/QUOTE] Damn straight, it is! The one place in Crossgates mall in Albany had for years a typod sign that advertised “Bouvbon chicken.” To this day I still wish I took up my friends’ offers to help me steal it. _sigh_ ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 6:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bourbon-chicken-chinese-or-cajun/458656/8 "2008-08-03T06:50:57Z")
No such thing in Lafayette Louisiana in 1980, at least. I’ve never seen it in NJ or California, or in New York when I was growing up (pre indoor mall). ---
**Author:** ![VarlosZ](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/d78d45/32.png) [@VarlosZ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/VarlosZ)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bourbon-chicken-chinese-or-cajun/458656/9 "2008-08-03T07:12:49Z")
[QUOTE=bouv] Damn straight, it is! The one place in Crossgates mall in Albany had for years a typod sign that advertised “Bouvbon chicken.” [/QUOTE] Heh, I had many lunches of bourbon chicken at Crossgates during college. It was good stuff, haven’t had it in years, though. ---
**Author:** ![unstrung](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/a698b9/32.png) [@unstrung](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/unstrung)\ **Post date:** [August 3, 2008, 6:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-is-bourbon-chicken-chinese-or-cajun/458656/10 "2008-08-03T18:23:18Z")
Whether it is cajun or chinese (or neither), I absolutely love that so many places in malls have it. These are usually the same places that give out the free samples (and there are usually 3-4 different ones in each food court), so I try to make a quick pass through mall food courts as often as possible for a quick snack…