8 Asians

Competitive Eater Juliet Lee
(Flickr photo credit: Vidiot)

One of Number Two Son’s favorite shows is Man vs Food.  In this show, host Adam Richman goes to various towns and cities and indulges in the local fare.  Toward the end of each show, he engages in a local food challenge where he needs to finish either some huge amount of food, something extremely spicy, or some combination of both in order to win a prize or recognition.  Richman is a fairly big guy, and while he says that he is not a competitive eater, more often than not he wins the challenge.  Despite his size, bulk is not necessary to win eating contests.  Take for instance, Juliet Lee. This 5 foot tall slightly over 100 pound mother and beauty salon owner is also ranked #11 in the world of competitive eating (believe it or not, there are rankings for competitive eaters).   She has eaten 34 hot dogs within minutes!

She is not the only Asian big eater with a small stature.  We have written about 128 pound Takeru Kobayashi, long time champion of the Nathan’s July 4th Hot Dog challenge (53 hot dogs in 12 minutes), and formerly #1 ranked eater.  He is not a huge guy.  Neither is 100 pound Sonya “Black Widow” Thomas, ranked #6 in the world and eater of 41 hot dogs within 10 minutes.  How can these small Asians eat so much?  According to the International Federation of Competitive Eating (yes, folks, there really is such an organization), smaller Asian “gurgitators” (their name for eating competitors) often do better than huge guys because they don’t have a belt of fat around their waists that restricts  stomach expansion.

I look at these Asian “gurgitators” with a mix of pride, disgust, and envy.   Pride, from the idea that these skinny Asians break stereotypes of big eaters.  Disgust, from just thinking about how much they eat.  Envy, from the fact that these three are still so skinny after eating so much food!  I can gain a pound by just looking at a cheesecake.

Windows 7 launched worldwide this past Thursday, but in what has to be one of the strangest, most bizarre cross promotions I think I have ever come across, Microsoft teamed up with Burger King in Japan to promote Windows 7 by offering the 7 layer Whopper – that’s seven beef patties. The whole burger is about 2,000 calories, all for about 777 Yen, or about US$8.50. But what does a Whopper have to do with Windows 7? I s Burger King is going to be selling copies of Windows 7 at their stores? And it’s not like I’m more interested in upgrading to Windows 7 because Burger King is running this promotion; I guess the only value for Microsoft is that it gets some free press. [EDITORS NOTE: Like, you know, this blog post.]

For most people, there’s little concern if our chicken meat has some pork or say some beef mixed in. But for some groups of Asians that would be an entirely different matter. Most people are already aware that Indians of the Hindu faith do not eat beef. But there’s also an entire class of Chinese Buddhists who do not eat beef as well. This appears to be a common trait especially in Buddhists of Chinese descent who live in south Asia. My own mother (and her sisters) adhered to that practice living in Taiwan. While she insisted her kids eat beef (for the protein), she herself never touched it.

So imagine my surprise when I learned this week that Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC) is selling Kentucky Grilled Chicken (KGC) that’s made with beef. While 8Asians has already complained about racial stereotyping in KGC commercials, this brings KFC down to a whole new level. Many unsuspecting Asians for whom eating beef is against their religion and beliefs, probably won’t realize they’re eating beef when they eat KFC’s new offering of chicken. My mother, when she was alive occasionally ate at KFC, and would be likely a victim of eating beef if she had the chance to try KGC.

For those that are concerned, KFC lists the ingredients of their products on their website. It turns out, KGC isn’t the only product with beef. The chicken pot pie also contains beef. So if you’re not eating beef, you may want to stay away from these chicken offerings at Kentucky Fried Chicken.

The other night, I saw for the first time ever a commercial for Panda Express. You’ve probably seen a Panda Express before at your local mall food court; if I’m hungry and at the mall and in the mood for fast greasy Chinese food, Panda Express is there to serve its purpose. So I was kind of shocked to see a commercial for the restaurant — I mean, I wouldn’t go out of my way to eat there. But what got me were the two UGLY talking pandas, Eddie and Tom-Tom, with a “gong” at the end of the commercial as the tag line “Experience Pandamonium” is shown along with the Panda Express logo.

Since the Panda Express is the name of the restaurant, it’s not a huge surprise that the restaurant uses talking pandas to pitch itself. But there’s also been another commercial that has been bothering me that’s been airing for a while — Wanchai Ferry’s “restaurant quality Chinese in your grocer’s freezer” commercial pitching their orange chicken – with, you guessed it, another UGLY talking panda.

What’s with the ugly talking pandas pitching Chinese food? I wonder how much money it would cost to make a decent looking panda suit or something in CGI? Enough of the ugly talking pandas! Jennifer 8. Lee, do something!

For many Asian Americans self-identity starts with family and food. The food aspect typically involves memories and celebrations around traditional foods, quite often cooked up in the family home by a grandmother, great auntie, or other relative. This month, a new cookbook was just released, The Asian Grandmother’s Cookbook by Pat Tanumihardja.

The cookbook is discussed in a recent blog on BookDragon. It’s revealed that, Ms. Tanumihardja “interviewed, cooked with, and connected with grandmothers, mothers, aunties” who shared recipes with origins in China, Japan, Korea, India, Pakistan, Nepal, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Laos, Cambodia, Vietnam, and Thailand. “Regardless of where in Asia they come from,” writes Tanumihardja in the book’s introduction, herself of Chinese/Indonesian descent by way of Singapore then Seattle, “these recipes represent a universal theme – they tell the story of our immigrant past.”

For immigrants to the U.S., these traditional foods inevitably have become our comfort foods as we grow older. But how many of us actually know how to prepare many of the foods we are happiest to be eating? “Just when did the restaurant become the keeper of our Asian food heritage?” Tanumihardja questions in her cookbook. “Whatever the reason, modern times are making Asian home cooking a lost art … and many of the new generation of Asian Americans are now ignorant of these skills.” I’m certainly in this category and rely heavily on the restaurants in the Chinese community here in the San Francisco Bay Area to fill my cravings for traditional home cooked Chinese food.

So if you’re looking to find new inspiration to learn how to make your favorite Asian dish, or looking for a present for someone you know would appreciate a cookbook full of culture, stories and tradition, here’s a gift you can give just in time for the holidays.

It’s common in most metropolitan areas for one culture’s food to be crossed into another, and when it’s for a good cause, all the better. The Fulton street location of popular burrito chain Papalote will be serving Mexipino — that’s Mexican-Filipino — goodness for TONIGHT ONLY, combining Chicken Adobo with Garlic Fried Rice, topping it off with tomato slices and wrapping it in a tortilla. Restaurant owner Miguel Escobedo — Mr. E amongst his DJ circle of friends — will donate 30 percent of all sales to help support the victims of Tropical Storm Ketsana (aka Ondoy) in the Philippines. It’s handheld comfort food, and it’s also going towards a good cause. I was fortunate enough to partake in the taste testing this past Tuesday evening and was floored by how good this burrito was; it tastes the way my mom makes it.

Last month, Joz showed off a video from a Japanese television show that revealed how one man, with clever maneuvering and skills, could wake up and get ready for work in under 5 minutes. Now there’s a mother and child version which, in my honest but slightly biased because I’m a girl opinion, requires way more talent. Not only does this mom have to wake herself up, but she has to get her child ready for school and put together a quick bento lunch!

Go go bento box go!

[Via Serious Eats]