(Photo credit: Sarah Culver) The Vietnamese sandwich or banh mi has taken the culinary world by storm. Usually filled with meat pate or pork, this eggplant “meatball” sandwich is a refreshing change from the same ole, same ole. The extras-- sriracha mayo, pickles, veggies, and herbs—are...
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...
Last week, as I was digging through my CSA box anticipating what goodies lay within, I pulled out one ear of corn after another. 1-2-3-4...
Oof, I’ve just finished the last of my turnips! Yay! For the last two to three months, it’s been raining turnips at my house. Every Saturday, I’d pray that the CSA Gods would be kind to me and replace the turnips with something more versatile, say...
Before I discovered coconut milk in a can, there was the coconut auntie at the wet market. One whiff of coconut and I'll be transported to the neighborhood wet market where I grew up in Singapore. Once a week, usually a Saturday, I'd accompany my mom...
In Asian cuisine, the bowl is ubiquitous as a receptacle for food. In Japanese tradition, donburi refers to both the dish and the oversized bowl that contains the rice topped with various ingredients. Korean bibimbap comprises a bowl of rice topped with an assortment of kimchi, seasoned...
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...
Ask anyone of Chinese descent and they’ll most likely tell you stir-fried eggs and tomatoes was a staple dish on their when-I-was-growing-up table. Just like lola’s pancit or obachan’s niku jaga, each family has their own rendition of this homestyle, comforting dish. Yes to Shaoxing Chinese...
Ann Mah’s debut novel, Kitchen Chinese: A Novel About Food, Family and Finding Yourself, has all the ingredients for a successful chick lit novel. It’s an easy, breezy read. It has a lovable heroine--Isabelle Lee--who has her flaws yet emerges victorious. And it offers so...
Since the launch of the paperback version of “The Asian Grandmothers Cookbook,” I’ve been doing book events and signings around town. Rather than just talking about the book and the process of putting it together, I’d like to encourage everyone to emulate it and start recording...
