Commonly known as Buddha’s Delight, this vegetarian dish is usually eaten on the first day of the Chinese New Year. I’ve turned it into an everyday dish using some of my favorite vegetables with miso paste added for a truly delicious sauce! For new year, the...
Sticky rice stuffing is a staple for many Chinese American families at Thanksgiving. It is a riff on “naw mai fun” or “lo mai gai,” two very traditional Chinese recipes. My friend Wing gave me his grandmother’s recipe to include in my very first cookbook—The...
While I love making kimchi, I can’t imagine making it in a traditional kimchi fermentation crock--called onggi—and then burying it in the ground. Although if you’d like to try it, you can buy one stateside from this guy. Just so you know, fermenting in general doesn’t...
Taiwanese cuisine has languished under the culinary radar in the U.S. for far too long. To be honest, even I was unsure how Taiwanese food distinguishes from mainstream Chinese. Fortunately, I came across The Food of Taiwan—Recipes from the Beautiful Island (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2015) by...
You may be married to one. Your best friend may be one. You may even unknowingly be nurturing one at home. My point is: I’m sure everyone knows at least one meat-loving carnivore, someone who frowns at a meal sans meat and/or shuns anything remotely...
Holiday traditions in the U.S. abound. From roasted goose to the Feast of Seven Fishes, many American immigrant communities bring a piece of their homeland to the Christmas table. The Filipino dish rellenong manok (rel-ye-nong ma-nok) must be one of the most intricate and elaborate, both...
When I was researching my first book, The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook, several Chinese Americans I spoke to told me that their parents prepared steamed chicken or duck instead of roast turkey for Thanksgiving. I wasn't surprised because steaming is more traditional than roasting in many Asian...
I have vivid memories of the annual dragon boat festival, also called Duan Wu Jie (端午节) or Double Fifth Festival (because it occurs on the 5th day of the 5th month of the traditional lunar calendar). Most of the time, we watched the dragon boat races (the...
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage Month and the Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center has designed a fun social media challenge to put #APAEverywhere! You can complete the challenges on social media or on your #APAEverywhere account through May 31, 2015. To open your #APAEverywhere account, register...
After all the snow and freezing cold temps we’ve been having, I never thought I’d see the end of winter. But spring is finally here and the cherry blossoms blooming outside my window are proof of it! And that means it’s time for hanami. Hanami—or flower...
