015 - Comfort Food, part 1
02/08/21 • 59 min
A plate of Thai-Chinese style pork and rice. Photo credit: Quincy Surasmith
The past several months of pandemic have been really hard on all of us, and have kept a lot of us at home. For those of us that can afford to, that means a lot of finding solace in taking care of ourselves and others with some comforting meals.
This is the first of two episodes about Asian American comfort foods: the traditions we’ve passed down in our families, as well as the adaptations and substitutions different communities have picked up along the way.
You can listen to part two here!
Listen:
Or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, or RadioPublic.
I present to you: the Weiner dinner, a Migaki family staple. Invented by my grandmother when she was was raising 3 kids with no money. Cut up hot dogs, potatoes, soy sauce + sugar served over rice.
Asian-American fusion at its humblest and finest. A comforting meal always. pic.twitter.com/w6YVAcMmzL
Check out Lauren Migaki’s original tweet and picture of the Migaki family “Weiner dinner.” This was the post that set this whole episode in motion!
Learn more about Kelly Fong and Clement Lai’s community cookbook research project on their blog, Chinese American Homestyle Cooking.
The Stockton cookbook Kelly’s family owned:Treasured Recipes from Two Cultures–American and Chinese. Photo credit: Kelly Fong
From VAALA’s website:
“The Illuminated Recipes project’s purpose is to contribute to diversifying the story of the Vietnamese American refugee experience and the larger American immigrant narrative through the mediums of storytelling and oral history, photography, and mixed media art with food as the compelling connection.”VAALA’s Illuminated Recipes project can be found on the VAALA website.
Music from this episode included:
Jason Chu ft. Olivia Thai - Grandma’s Kitchen
David Tran aka applesauce - Song for Mom
Peter Su - Before You Get Too Old
A plate of Thai-Chinese style pork and rice. Photo credit: Quincy Surasmith
The past several months of pandemic have been really hard on all of us, and have kept a lot of us at home. For those of us that can afford to, that means a lot of finding solace in taking care of ourselves and others with some comforting meals.
This is the first of two episodes about Asian American comfort foods: the traditions we’ve passed down in our families, as well as the adaptations and substitutions different communities have picked up along the way.
You can listen to part two here!
Listen:
Or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, or RadioPublic.
I present to you: the Weiner dinner, a Migaki family staple. Invented by my grandmother when she was was raising 3 kids with no money. Cut up hot dogs, potatoes, soy sauce + sugar served over rice.
Asian-American fusion at its humblest and finest. A comforting meal always. pic.twitter.com/w6YVAcMmzL
Check out Lauren Migaki’s original tweet and picture of the Migaki family “Weiner dinner.” This was the post that set this whole episode in motion!
Learn more about Kelly Fong and Clement Lai’s community cookbook research project on their blog, Chinese American Homestyle Cooking.
The Stockton cookbook Kelly’s family owned:Treasured Recipes from Two Cultures–American and Chinese. Photo credit: Kelly Fong
From VAALA’s website:
“The Illuminated Recipes project’s purpose is to contribute to diversifying the story of the Vietnamese American refugee experience and the larger American immigrant narrative through the mediums of storytelling and oral history, photography, and mixed media art with food as the compelling connection.”VAALA’s Illuminated Recipes project can be found on the VAALA website.
Music from this episode included:
Jason Chu ft. Olivia Thai - Grandma’s Kitchen
David Tran aka applesauce - Song for Mom
Peter Su - Before You Get Too Old
Previous Episode
014 - Kala Bagai
Image of Kala Bagai used with permission, courtesy Rani Bagai
What was it like for a South Asian woman immigrating to the US in the early 20th century, and how did she build a community over her lifetime? And why name a street in Berkeley after Kala Bagai — especially since she may not have spent much time living there, if she did at all?
Listen:
Or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, or RadioPublic.
The organizers behind Kala Bagai Way have documented their own journey to rename this street after Kala Bagai. Some information of their retelling was sourced from our episode...which in turn came from some of the organizers themselves, along with Bagai’s family and the South Asian American Digital Archive (SAADA). You can read more at Kala Bagai Way: The Inside Story.
Kala Bagai and her family. Photo used with permission, courtesy Rani Bagai and SAADA.
Kala Bagai and her sons. Photo used with permission, courtesy Rani Bagai and SAADA.
Learn more about Kala Bagai and her story on the South Asian American Digital Archive website. There you can also find the recording of her oral history, Vaishno Das Bagai’s letter to the San Francisco Examiner, and other archival materials, such as the newspaper clipping below.
Clipping of Los Angeles Daily News, featuring American Wives of India organization. Photo used with permission, courtesy Rani Bagai and SAADA.
You can read Rani Bagai’s letter supporting the Kala Bagai Way campaign on Berkeleyside here:
Opinion: Berkeley might name a street after Kala Bagai. This is her story
Community historians Barnali Ghosh and Anirvan Chatterjee have founded Berkelely South Asian Walking tour with a wonderful mission, ie to bring the South Asi...
Learn more about the Berkeley South Asian Radical History walking tour on their website.
Next Episode
016 - Comfort Food, part 2
Shin Ramyun with cheese. Photo credit: Quincy Surasmith
This is the second part of our comfort food episode. In the previous episode, we focused on the ways food traditions get passed down through families, communities, and cookbooks, and the way they adapt over time. Today, we look at how simple foods, convenience foods, and even fast food restaurants can become part of our cherished memories and culture.
Listen:
Or listen on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Google, Stitcher, or RadioPublic.
indo mie, indo you zine by Amy Wibowo. Art from BubbleSort
Learn more Amy Wibowo’s work at BubbleSort! Her zine, indo mie, indo you can be found on her site.
Art by Shing Yin Khor for Catapult
Read Noah Cho’s piece I’ll Fight Anyone Who Says You Shouldn’t Put Cheese on Your Ramyun on his column at Catapult.
And the Roy Choi recipe Noah referenced in the episode can be found on The New York Times.
Art from Foodbeast
You can read Virali Dave’s piece Why Do Indian Americans Love Taco Bell? on Foodbeast.
what's your cultural background, and what is the pinnacle of comfort food for you?
— Soleil Ho (@hooleil) October 7, 2020Check out Soleil Ho’s twitter thread on comfort food to see all the responses she got. You can find Soleil Ho’s current writing on The San Francisco Chronicle.
Music from this episode included:
Alice Tong - Home to Me
The Blazing Rays of the Sun - Closer. You can find the artists’ current music with the band Fevertalk.
Das Racist - Combination Pizza Hut and Taco Bell
Chris Iijima, Nobuko Miyamoto, and Charlie Chin - Imperialism is Just Another Word For Hunger
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