Chipotle is dipping their toes into Asian cuisine via ShopHouse Southeast Asian Kitchen, a restaurant based on Vietnamese, Thai, and Malay foods, using methodologies from what they’ve learned from their experience at Chipotle [EDITORS NOTE: Otherwise known as the only decent place in New York to get a burrito.] The first restaurant will be showing up in the DC area this summer. Would you go to the Asian version of Chipotle?
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It’s been a full week since Dale Talde, most amazing chef in the world, was eliminated from Top Chef: All-Stars. It’s also been about an hour since I fully recovered from this tragic loss to one of the country’s greatest reality competition show. Am I exaggerating a little? Maybe but it really did take me that long to come to terms with the fact that my favorite contestant–and undeniably one of the strongest chefs on the season–wasn’t going to grace my television screen every Wednesday night.
Shopping With GASP!
I’ve blogged about the Taiwanese dumplings restaurant chain Din Tai Fung in the past, and just saw this article posted on Facebook from a friend – Din Tai Fung is coming to Seattle. The restaurant will open in a suburb called Bellevue, Washington (which coincidentally happens to be the headquarters of HTC America). Here are some more details:
[T]he opening date is slated for early fall, when a 7000-square-foot, 220-seat den of dumplingfied deliciousness will be unveiled on the second-level at Lincoln Square, next to the skybridge connecting to Bellevue Place.”
Now I know quite a few people think that Din Tai Fung is overrated (but read the Yelp reviews!) but I don’t care! As I have mentioned before, I’ve been to a Din Tai Fung in Taipei, Shanghai and Beijing, as well as in Arcadia, California. In fact, I took some colleagues there back this January when we were in Southern California for a trade show and they loved it!
I am annoyed that Seattle is getting a Din Tai Fung instead of San Francisco Bay. I have literally emailed Din Tai Fung’s U.S. site every six to twelve months asking them to open a restaurant up in the Bay Area. That place would clean up big time. I mean, Cupertino is sort of like the Little Taipei of Northern California – Din Tai Fung in Cupertino Village would be a natural fit.
I don’t know what franchisee David Wasielewski (who was born-and-raised in Taiwan until middle school) did to convince Din Tai Fung to give him a franchise since he’s never owned and operated a restaurant before in his life. I need to contact some hotel and restaurant friends of mine, since I think opening one up in the Bay Area is a no-brainer and would be a goldmine!
I love food. I am not terribly fashionable, although some people have said they “like my style.” I’m not sure what that means; maybe I would label my style as casual hippy-urban, because I basically wear flowy tanktops and shorts with black Kangaroo kicks, or graphic tees and jeans with Chacos whenever I can get away with it. Anyways, whatever.
So of course, I’m insanely admiring (i.e. jealous) of both Top Chef Masters host Kelly Choi and Top Chef host Padma Lakshmi, two beautiful APA women who are successful and not only experts on food–they get to eat incredible food for a regular living! And talk about it! And judge people and make shrewd, interesting comments about it!
When I got sucked into Top Chef, the food drama was a big factor, but I was definitely enamored with Padma, the gorgeous Indian-born host of the show. She has an easy, effortless way about her in the way she talks and gracefully carries herself, her fashion sense and obviously discerning palate. She really and truly exhibits the “Easy Exotic.” The new season is based in Washington, DC and airs Wednesday nights on Bravo. Can’t wait to watch my lady-crush all season!
I am all for various food items placed on sticks, but I am having mixed feelings about the Sushi Popper. At first, I thought this was a failed Saturday Night Live skit, but this is an actual item for purchase. Once I got over the frenzied/dizzying video clip, disturbing “push-and-eat” imagery of raw food items and the potential stomach malfunctions this may cause, I am intrigued enough to try it. Who’s with me on this?!
May is Asian Pacific American Heritage month! Welcome to our compilation series featuring all of our 8A bloggers celebrating, sharing and even complaining about our collective APA backgrounds. What better way to kick this off than talking about food?
Comfort food is a staple in any country, ethnicity or culture, but growing up in a Japanese American household meant that my definition of “food I like to eat when my feelings are sad” were quite different than the macaroni & cheese, potatoes and apple pies that I’d see on greasy diner menus or family sitcoms. The food that would evoke happy memories of my childhood were treats from my mother, whether it was toasted mochi slathered in butter and soy sauce or a dome of ketchup fried rice, covered in an egg omelete.
My ultimate comfort food was soboro donburi from my grandmother, who would top a bowl of rice exactly in half with sweet egg scramble and seasoned ground beef. I could never decide which side of the bowl was my favorite, so I’d carefully eat equal portions of egg and beef to make sure I could enjoy the dish at best as possible. I could never properly recreate my Obaachan’s flair with the donburi, where the eggs were a perfectly fluffy yellow while the ground beef was a perfect balance between savory and sweet. To this day, the flavor reminds me of my weekends with my grandparents in Downtown Los Angeles, where they spoiled me rotten.
I know I’m not the only one with these Asian versions of comfort food. The rest of the 8Asians writers also generously shared their take on dishes that evoked similar feelings and memories. You can read them, after the jump.
You’ve probably noticed it yourself. We’re all over Yelp and we’re all over the food blogosphere. So why do Asians dominate when it comes to blogging about food?
Kevin of Kevin Eats fame (or as I call him, “the guy I’d never want to eat dinner with because he takes so many pictures of every single dish that I’d go blind from the camera flash before dessert”) poses the question on his popular blog, from his socio-economic-cultural theories on why food and the Internet is so popular among Asian Americans to even breaking down the race of well-known food bloggers.
And it’s true. At least, it’s true in the Kevin Eats world of Southern California. As someone who clearly enjoys eating and trying various cuisines around Los Angeles, I’ve also noticed that A LOT of food bloggers are Asian–or at least, those people you find taking discreet photos of their food almost always happen to be Asian. So why is this?
Kevin argues that the importance of food in Asian culture, our higher educational status, higher income, better access to technology and flair for conspicuous consumption all lead to one hobby: food blogging.
Half of me agrees: it’s probably the same reason so many of us Yelp. Many of our families place a huge importance on food. Some of us don’t consider ourselves as disadvantaged minorities. And if there’s any racial group inclined to blog online (hello, Xanga), then it’s probably going to be a bunch of Asians with high end digital cameras.
The other half of me disagrees: it’s clear that Kevin is basing his idea on a small, select social group in a small, select area of the United States. What about food bloggers in New York, where all big name chefs begin? What about blogs and sites with a bigger web presence than individual food bloggers, like Serious Eats or Eater–or even bloggers that Kevin doesn’t even know? Do these also show the same large presence of Asian Americans? Maybe we Asians just like to hop on the same bandwagon?
I also find it hard to believe that Asian culture is unique in its focus on food. Food plays a significant role in almost every culture. I don’t know any one country or ethnic group that disregards food and eating (but feel free to correct me if I’m wrong). Even in America, with its ongoing struggle with cultural identity, considers mealtime to be an important tool in communication, relationships and socializing (as Roger Ebert so eloquently wrote).
I don’t know the answers to these questions, but Kevin was brave to have posed a racially charged question that many (like me) have always pondered. So what do you think? Why are there so many Asian bloggers? Is this a question worth asking?
With the holidays comes eating, especially if you’re Asian. We eat to celebrate the good times, the bad times, and everything in between. The holiday season is no different — with all this eating, I thought about a producer/reporter friend of mine, Adam Yamaguchi, who made a video about his trip to China and a restaurant that served only penis. If you haven’t already seen it, check it out: Penis Restaurant: Vanguard.
For Asians, this should not be too shocking of a video. When we eat an animal, we eat the entire animal. Pick off every piece of flesh from the head to the tail, including sometimes the skin, bones, eyeballs, etc.
And actually, this isn’t just an Asian thing: people from the rest of the world don’t waste any part of the animals they eat. They literally eat every everything (including penis). If you don’t believe me, go to a good “ethnic” market and you’ll see what I’m talking about.
Americans, on the other hand, seem to waste most of the animal. My immigrant mom used to say that I ate like an American, which needless to say, was meant to be disparaging. And deep down, I know it’s wasteful. (My stepfather from Hiroshima claims that the eyeball is the best part of a fish. I’ll just have to trust him on that one.) Other than highlighting the wastefulness of most Americans, to me, Adam’s video just reminds me of how un-Asian (is that a word?) I really am.
Even though Southern California is a melting pot of different cultures and deliciously diverse dining, the ways of the yummy Asian noodles might be lost on lawmakers. Kim Tar noodle factory has been in business for 25 years, supplying restaurants and markets with fresh rice noodles. But, a state law requiring refrigeration of noodles is threatening the life of these Asian noodles. Thankfully, some wise Asians are gathering their forces to fight the man who is trying to keep our noodles down. What I love even more than the fact that they are going to rally for the noodles is that they are planning a press conference at a restaurant in Monterey Park! (I grew up a stone-skip away from Monterey Park and still enjoy delectable Asian cuisine in MP.)
Health officials are standing their ground saying this is a matter of public safety and that “ethnic foods are not treated differently than other foods.” Newsflash health officials — Not all foods are created equal! If it’s customary for rice noodles to be stored at room temperature — and they have been for thousands of years — then storing them in the fridge doesn’t suddenly make them safer to eat! In fact, putting rice noodles in the fridge can ruin them! Asians noodles are not like other pastas. Leave our noodles alone!
As far back as I can remember, kimchi (김치) has had a role in my daily diet. Our family ate it with every meal and perhaps it was this constant presence that made me unaware of the aroma that came with the dish. It wasn’t until I was in college, when kimchi didn’t have such a big role in my diet, that I began to notice the unavoidably pungent scent that accompanies the dish.
There really is no good way to escape the smell. Even if you’re not consuming it, the scent will overpower you (unless you’re used to it, of course). As much as I enjoy the staple in Korean cuisine, I have to admit that the smell can be quite overwhelming. Now there is someone who promises the taste without the pungent scent. Kim Soon-ja of South Korea has created a freeze-dried kimchi that is absent of the odor that many may find offensive.
I admit that kimchi has a strong scent, but as a person who has a love-love relationship with food, I have come to appreciate the total experience of whatever I am consuming. And for better or worse, scent is a great big part of the whole food-ing experience. The same goes for my enjoyment of kimchi each time I consume it – the scent is part of the whole package. Maybe for some, the lack of scent will open them up to trying it, taking it to more places and so on. But I’d much rather have the kimchi as is, with the pungent scent and all.
Writing about kimchi has me feigning it now. Better go visit the mother so I can get a new batch of home-made goodness!
(Flickr photo credit: Nagyman, used under Creative Commons license)
A.M.S.P. Suppiah and his wife Kanageswary have a lot to celebrate as they win a major victory in court against McDonald’s in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia today. McDonald’s lost an eight-year trademark battle to prevent local restaurant McCurry from using the ‘Mc’ prefix in a precedent-setting judgment by Malaysia’s highest court. The Malaysian Federal Court ruled that McDonald’s cannot appeal against another court’s verdict that had allowed McCurry to use ‘Mc’ in its name and that other restaurants could also use it as long as they distinguish their food from McDonald’s. McCurry’s signage has white and gray letters against a red background with a picture of a smiling chicken giving a double thumbs-up, in contrast to McDonald’s red and yellow “M” logo. McCurry also serves only Indian food, not competing with McDonald’s menu. Though I have no idea why this couple was so insistent to keep the “Mc” in their restaurant name, it doesn’t seem they were attempting to “fake out” restaurant-goers “Shanzhai” style. I wonder if this opens the door for a chain of “McStinkyTofu” in Taiwan? I, for one, would totally be all over that.
American food companies are blazing new trails in China — with flavors, according to this CBS News Report by Celia Hatton. I enjoyed this story because she showed us examples of foodstuffs that Chinese consumers can find which look familiar, but really are not.
Citing blueberry-flavored potato chips, strawberry and milk-flavored Cheetos and aloe juice from Minute Maid, Hatton says that it seems like every major U.S. food label, “is trying to bite into China’s $186 billion fast food and processed food industries by creating new products made just for Chinese taste buds.” Shaun Rein, managing director of China Market Research Group, said China is going to be the second-largest or largest consumer market in the world in the next five years. He said, “If American companies don’t figure out how to get it right in China, they’ll be missing out on what should be their major generator for growth.”
Other strange American-Chinese products? Tropicana cantaloupe juice, orange-flavored Chips Ahoy cookies, Chinese herbal medicine Wrigley’s gum.
But, she [Hatton] said, it’s Frito-Lay potato chips that really push the boundaries.
Taste tests, Hatton reported, revealed Chinese people didn’t like popular American flavors like sour cream and onion. So, to reach their audience, researchers developed new flavors inspired by traditional Chinese food, such as savory Sichuan spicy, sweet and sour tomato and sugary options like cucumber, lychee and mango.
Of course, we’ve discussed how popular American fast food chains like McDonald’s have different menus for different parts of the globe, so it shouldn’t surprise you that McDonald’s has a purple taro pie in China. But could you imagine getting your Starbucks coffee with jelly cubes in the bottom? How about getting spicy squid on a stick at KFC. Does that make it “Kentucky Fried Cuttlefish” instead of “Chicken?”
Hatton even cites toothpaste companies which cater to the Chinese market with flavors such pointing out lotus flower Crest and salty Colgate.
I will admit that I like my toothpaste minty and I hate the taste of taro, but beyond that, nothing in this report sounds TOO scary for me to try. In fact, I’m really tempted by all those flavors of chips. Are you tempted by these “Chinese” flavors? Do you think that any of them would work here in the States?
All I know is that most of these snack foods don’t remotely resemble the Chinese snacks I knew while I was growing up!
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