Afleveringen
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Hold on to your butts! Your pork butts that is. This episode, guest Brian Tom brings us his familyâs recipe for Kalua Pig and weâre very excited about it. For Brianâs family, this seemingly easy, low maintenance recipe became a family affair. We talk about roles in the kitchen, letting kids be leaders of their domain, and connections to Hawaii but from far away Massachusetts.
We talk about making art vs being an artist, reassessing identities in new spaces and new environments, and the generational divide between recent childrenâs literature on diversity acceptance and Tikki Tikki Temboâand of course a mention of the incomparable Sabrina Wu.
Plus, Brian gets an award for being a certain kind of milestone guest and we get another new perspective on leftovers.
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Itâs finally happened!! This episode we have our first dessert! On this one weâre joined by Lorraine Esturas-Pierson as she talks about her favorite childhood dessert, halo-halo, a Filipino dish that means mix mix. We talk about why halo-halo might be the most equitable and inclusive of all group desserts and how that was a huge benefit growing up in a LARGE household.
We talk about the inevitability of too much food at parties, the clean plate club, the lasting trauma of snow peas, and the power of cousins in numbers.
Plus, what makes something fancy, and teaching kids to cook for themselves, or better yet, you!
No recipe for this one. Just make your way to a Seafood City, Manila Market, or something similar and pick out a slew of jellys and beans of your choice, to go alongside your shave ice, vanilla ice cream and condensed milk. Lorraine is partial to agar agar and jackfruit.
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Zijn er afleveringen die ontbreken?
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Weâve talked a lot about Chinese restaurants in past episodes. On this one weâre getting a look into the kitchen from our guest and former restaurant kid Julia Louie. We hear what itâs like to grow up in a Chinese restaurant, the privileges and obligations of the ownerâs kid, and code/mode-switching between family work life and outside life.
We talk about Americanized Chinese food and try to figure out what the dividing line is between Americanized and not, how to fake Chinese âenoughnessâ when you donât speak the language, and the foibles of being first a design student and then a real life design professional in a place where design is not a high priority. Plus sleeping at the restaurant in a snowstorm and the betrayal of Tall Guy!
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This episode weâre joined by Vincent Beck, Bay Area creative and street photographer, and it is eggs-cellent! Fluffy eggs-cellent to be exact! He shares his momâs recipe for iritamago, a sweet and fluffy egg dish served over rice.
We talk about growing up a bi-racial military kid, hometown vs home, and making up for lost time with culture and connection. Plus a few potentially hot takes on Japantown and the gimmickinessâor notâ of viral food trends in Japan (looking at you Totoro cream puffs!)
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Valentineâs Day might be behind us but weâre here telling the love story between our guest Nicole Lugtu and her fave dish tinola. Or maybe more accurately, the love between Nicole and chicken. Listen in as Nicole and Sam talk about their shared love of chicken and the myriad ways that manifests in life: as a personality trait, red flags and relationship dealbreakers, familial dividing lines.
We talk a lot about eating out: as a family activity, being equally important to cooking, and even long-held go-to Chinese restaurant orders (naturally, crispy chicken was an all around favorite and on all of our menus!)Be sure to have a snack on hand when Nicole talks about her family recipe project and Lola Bakerâs cooking school and cake recipes. Plus food as a shortcut to identity and connection, and a hyper local review of some fave chicken spots in San Francisco.
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Weâre baaaack!! Wooo! We did not mean to be away for so long but cold and flu season absolutely wrecked all of December. But weâre back with a follow up to our SPAM episode and weâre joined by special guest Jaime Sunwoo, creator of Specially Processed American Me.
In this special second edition spam-isode, we talk about Jaimeâs performance film, the signature dishes of what she calls the Spam Diaspora, and we dig into the Hormel Girls. Plus food as an entry point to unpacking family history, and the adorable way that Jaimeâs mom served (serves??) spam fried rice.
Links of interest as discussed on the show:
The Kitchen Studio: Culinary Creations by ArtistsLisa Friedman - Fake Food Factory -
Weâre forever celebrating the everyday dishes, but we just couldnât help ourselves getting in on a little holiday cheer! This episode weâre joined by Ken Cho, bringing us his favorite holiday dish, Momâs Thanksgiving Stuffing. We talk about growing up âAll-Americanâ in the 80s, canned soups on everything, and raising hapa kids.
We dig into what itâs like to go from shame and disgust of Korean food to housing spicy soondubu and banchan, âcool Asians,â and the great Asian unifier: SPAM (we seriously canât get enough of it on this show). Plus a new merch idea and gamifying the podcast!
You can find a recipe to Momâs Thanksgiving Stuffing on our site and take a peek at the book Mostly Me, especially for the hapas and parents of hapas out there.
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This episode weâre joined by Neha Gautam, filmmaker, photographer, educator and writer director of Passenger Seat, bringing us paratha, or more specifically her childhood version of paneer stuffed paratha with ketchup because kid palette.
We talk about âIndian pizzaâ as a specific and universal tactic for feeding kids, classic 90s kid lunches (fold over sandwich bags anyone??), and roti as a symbol of oppression.
Plus we talk about what itâs like to grow up in NYC and Alaska, mix tapes and cassette technology, and cut fruit as an Asian love language.
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In this episode weâre joined by Shaun Garcia, husband, father and noodle soup connoisseur about his fave soup and classic Filipino dish, Sinigang, which doesnât happen to have noodles, in case youâre wondering! We talk about growing up in the clean plate club, feeding a toddler what youâre eating (hopefully!), and inventing a dish in high school that was really not a unique invention in any way shape or form.
Plus, we talk about the signs of true love and we crack (part of) the code on not feeling shame or embarrassment when messing up our cultural dishes. Spoiler: itâs failure! Yikes!! Jk, we love it!
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In a slight deviation in programming, weâre sneaking in at the end of Hispanic Heritage Month with our first non-Asian guest! This episode we bring on long time friend of Freesiaâs and #1 WQC super fan Nicole Fox. Despite her non-Asianness Nicole almost always finds something relatable to her own life and experiences in our episodes. Because maybe food is the great equalizer and maybe growing up not white in this pretty white society is weird, no matter what your culture.
Anyway, on this episode we talk about her dadâs weekend breakfasts of chorizo and eggs, how the loss of an elder can be felt for generations, and, surprise surprise, how cooking your own cultureâs food can be super intimidating.
Plus we talk about store bought tortillas as feminist icons, how the Mission-style burrito is superior to all others, including its superior delivery techniqueâa hill weâre both ready to â ïž onâand Mexican v Spanish chorizo (and an honorable mention to soyrizo đŹ). Also we dunk on our high school Spanish teacher. Sorry not sorry Señor Stevens.
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This is a spicy one! No really, the dish is spicy. On this episode we talk to Christian Wu about his momâs Mapo Tofu, something so relatable, and so beloved by Christian, and honestly his momâs version sounds way better than ours.
Join us as we talk about being a third culture kidâgrowing up in both Tijuana and San Diegoâ growing up in a restaurant, and what parents can take away from hyper independent kids to coerce compliance. Plus we talk about cooking with parents, deciphering a recipe through language barriers, and the loving savagery of food-based friendships.
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For this momentous 10th episode, weâre putting recipes aside to talk about the great Asian and Asian American uniter, SPAM! Our guests are writer Margot Seeto and filmmaker Jin Yoo-Kim, creators of SPAMFIGHT!, a short film inspired by a love of Spam. We talk about our childhood memories of Spam and the creative ways weâre eating it today. We also talk about the ways die hard Spam fans celebrate this icon, and make up a few of our own that weâd like to see and eat.
Plus we talk about the sometimes complicated role of Spam in shaping identity, and some of the artists centering SPAM in their work. Hilariously terrible bonus, Jin shares her worst Spam memory and we all hate it but man do we get it.
Links to artists and organizations mentions in the show:
A-Doc - Asian American Documentary NetworkWatch SPAMFIGHT! by Jin Yoo-Kim on YouTubeRead "Shelter-in-Place Chronicles: Spam in the Time of Corona" by Margot SeetoSpecially Processed American Me by Jaime SunwooKoreangry by Eunsoo JungDawn Wing - Title DesignerLinks to support the ongoing recovery efforts caused by the devastating fires in Maui:
Chef Hui & The Hawaiâi Community Foundation - Funds raised for Chef Hui Maui Hospitality Relief will go directly to support Maui restaurants, hospitality workers and their families who have been displaced due to the fires. Funds will be distributed directly to restaurants and their employees based on needs.Dr. Julia Colangelo - Venmo for friend of the show and Lahaina resident whose family lost their home in the fire. SPAMÂź Brand Loves Maui Shirt - 100% of the proceeds for these t-shirts will go directly to the Aloha United Way's Maui Fire Relief Fund. -
On this episode weâve got Haeny Yoon, host of Pop and Play podcast, bringing us her childhood dish sujebi. Was it a snack? Was it dinner? When youâre in middle school, is there a difference?? We talk about growing up with two working immigrant parents and what that meant for cooking, being simultaneously too Korean and not Korean enough, and the genetic nature of loving a soupy noodle thing. Plus we talk about making more space for Asian stories, and authenticity: what even is it anymore??
Haeny mentions a few great New York Times pieces that you might want to check out:
"Asian-Americans Need More Movies, Even Mediocre Ones" by Viet Thanh Nguyen on narrative plentitude and Crazy Rich Asians."Here's Why I Opened My Middle School Yearbook" an OpDoc by Sean Wang. -
This episode weâre talking with nurse coach Alyssa Saquilayan about her ultimate comfort dish, spam eggs and rice. While itâs not a recipe, we talk about how this quick simple meal was a point of bonding among a generation of cousins, about the first taste of food autonomy, and reconciling important cultural foods by so-called wellness culture. Plus we talk about more things to eat with banana ketchup, a partnerâs influence on cooking habits, and shout out Costco (again!).
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Weâre biased but this is an especially fun one for us! Weâre talking to loooong time friend of the show, designer Crystal Chin, about her momâs Big Fat Rice Noodle Roll (official, technical title). We talk about growing up ethnically Chinese and culturally more Burmese, translating being a maker of things into cooking, and how crucial (and time consuming!) the seemingly insignificant pantry staples are to making certain dishes successful and more accessible.
Plus, finding forgiveness in food as a love language, Freesia having her mind blown about the things she could potentially learn to cook and stop ordering out for, and Sam lays down a Best Cousin cooking gauntlet. We told you itâs fun! Get the recipe!
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Mangia! This episode weâre talking with stylist and SAHM Melanie Pochat of Matre Style about her momâs spaghetti and meatballs. We talk about what itâs like having two parents who were avid cooks, and what itâs like growing up in a place where being Italian is nearly as âexoticâ as being Chinese, let alone being both! We get into overcoming diet culture, the pressures of exposing kids to a variety of foods and flavors, and finding out that spaghetti sauce can come from the grocery store.
To get this classic recipe and try it out for yourself, find it at worstqualitycrab.com
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Itâs a switcheroo this time as Freesia gets a taste of her own medicine when she scoots into the hot seat and Sam grills her on vegetarian moussaka. Itâs a distinctly non-Asian dish and with itâs many components and steps, itâs a diversion from quick weeknight dish. We talk about growing up vegan in the 80s and 90s, a cost-benefit analysis of improvising on special nostalgic recipes, and the unfair maligning of tofu.
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In this very special episode we keep it in the family! Weâre talking to Samâs sister Angela about her childhood dinnertime lifeline, Ham-BUR-gah! (IYKYK) and what itâs like to grow up and cook as an adult in the shadow of a prolific homecook. We talk about cooking for kids and wonder whether dinnertime traditions are continuing a legacy or perpetuating guilt. But in a fun way. Plus a shocking-ish revelation about Sam & Angelaâs mom!
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Weâre talking to our friends Deanna and Rob, about being bi-racial in very white Virginia in the 90s, and what itâs like growing up in the same house, eating the same foods, but having different takes on the same experiences. They tell us about Momâs Chicken, a kind of freestyle dish that was a hit as kids and is still requested on visits home. We talk identity, after school nostalgia, and the ever-changing experience of being mixed and Asian in an evolving society.
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Weâre joined by Nicole Cruz, Life & Leadership Coach to 1st & 2nd generation immigrants, to talk about her childhood sick-day soup, Arroz Caldo. We talk about the importance of food in Filipino culture, honoring our elders through their recipes, and how younger generations are crafting their relationship to culture and food in new ways. Plus, the future of Filipino food: not ube everything!
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