(click on photo for shot-by-shot food styling and photography analysis of some of the photos that led up to the “money shot”)
Chinese restaurants in China don’t really have Chinese Chicken Salad on their menus, it’s a creation of Chinese-American restaurants! According to Cecilia Chiang, author of The Seventh Daughter: My Culinary Journey from Beijing to San Francisco
(one of my all time favorite Chinese American cookbooks), lettuce was rare and imported in China, and “salads” referred to pickled items. But, I still love a good Chinese Chicken Salad, especially if it’s got a tangy, sweet sauce and crunchy bits of fried wonton strips.
But please, Applebee’s restaurant, can we rename your “Oriental Chicken Salad” to something more hip? Asian Chicken Salad or Chinese Chicken Salad would be much better. Oriental is such a dated word…so..19th century!*
Recipe for Chinese Chicken Salad is below.
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Food Styling and Photography
Many of you requested that I continue posting my shot-by-shot analysis of all the failed photos that led up to this one that I like…my “money shot.” I also show you my photo setup - which really doesn’t change too much during the “NOT-winter” season. I use natural light as much as I can, and when dreary winter comes along, I switch to using my Lowel EGO lights.
Vegan Yum Yum just posted a fabulous write up on food photography - make sure you check it out.
In the meantime, here’s my shot-by-shot analysis of the Chinese Chicken Salad photos!
For more food photography posts, I have a whole category called “Food Photography/Blog Tips.”
