Worst Quality Crab

This episode we’re joined by Top Chef of Our Hearts season 23 finalist Laurence Louie to recap his near-flawless Top Chef run and incredible journey. We dive into all the things Laurence couldn’t spoil when we last chatted at the beginning of the season plus so much more.

Laurence gives us the behind the scenes on everything from how challenges work, to choosing dishware, the crashout we won’t speak of (that much), and how the cast gets fed. Also, was that an actual snake?!

We talk about his innate ability to cook Chinese food, repping the Chinese/Canto population, having a Canto-boy moment with guest judge Brandon Jew, and turning winning dishes into weekly specials at Rubato that we nearly flew across the country for. Listen in and reminisce with us on how seeing the best version of steamed fish can simultaneously make our mouths water and shed a little tear of pride.

Oops, summer really got away from us! But we’re back and this episode we’re talking with actor, producer, model working on both screen and stage (what doesn’t he do!) Gabriel Prevost-Takahashi about foods near and dear to him and everyone in our household: Karaage chicken and Japanese curry. Yes, it’s a perfect meal. We talk with him about his mom making this childhood favorite while also growing up with a chef/actor father.

Our first fine-dining restaurant kid, Gabriel shares what it was like growing up in a small but notable resort town and across multiple family restaurants, and how he almost followed his dad down the hospitality path. Plus, how he was literally discovered on a street in Tokyo, launching his modeling career!

This episode is from the live event we did back in May as part of KALW's celebration of AAPI Heritage Month with all around brilliant delightful human Bonnie Tsui, author of American Chinatown, On Muscle, and Why We Swim.

Bonnie shares her experiences growing up in Long Island, what it was like having an endless supply of imperfect fortune cookies (and their schoolyard trading value!) and her continued trek back to family in Queens.

She shares about her natural (or nurtured?) affinity for Chinatowns, how it led her to write her book, and Freesia and Sam share their own (sometimes overlapping) experiences with two of the Chinatowns in Bonnie’s book.

We also talk about Bonnie’s semi-successful experience making fortune cookies at home, about what the best type of fortune cookie is, and some audience members share their fortunes! We hope they came true!

Special thanks to:

Charles Lighthouse for hosting and recording

Michelle Liu for taking photos

Sara Corbett for additional assistance

We’re back with some Singaporean bangers courtesy of actor, director, and producer Yvonne Chapman of Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Air Bender and Hulu’s The Season. She shares her mom’s lahksa and curry chicken with us and gives us a glimpse into the Calgary Asian experience (spoiler: kids are still kids and will/won’t try things!)

We talk with her about growing up with Singaporean and Hong Kong influences, adding on more classes as a way to deal with the stress of classes, and her path from pre-med to finance to acting!

Of course we talk about Avatar and The Season, the badass Avatar Kyoshi, and the Venn Diagram of viewers who might be watching both at the same time (Freesia!!). Plus a shared childhood seaweed moment and shout out to the OG of reusable containers, Country Crock.

We took a little break but we came back with not one but two fantastic guests: friends and fellow artists, Christy Chan and Cathy Lu, who coincidentally picked the very same dish, tomato egg, despite having grown up a thousand miles apart. But maybe that just speaks to how much of a classic this dish is (and I guess the point of this show!)

We talk about Cathy’s life growing up in vibrant, diverse Miami, and the contrast of Christy’s childhood in rural Virginia where her family owned the one Chinese restaurant–and tikki themed at that! Of course we talk about how they each came to be artists, and why their AAPI identity is a part of their art practice. Plus, fashionable pregnancies and the freedom that can come from being just a touch feral!

Ahead of Mother’s Day we’re talking to Cassandra Lam of Mama Lam’s about her own mama’s Malaysian curry chicken that she ate almost weekly growing up.

Her mom missed Malaysian flavors so much that she perfected her curry paste, plus a few others, and Mama Lam’s was born. We talk with Cassandra about growing up with a Malaysian mom, Cantonese dad, and as a New Yorker, making the leap from marketing to a small food business, and her OG food pop-ups. And of course, we spend time talking about Mama Lam herself. She’s not a regular Tiger Mom, she’s a chill Tiger Mom.

Plus Cassandra talks us through the other Mama Lam’s products and gives us great tips on what to make with them. Not even sponsored at all. We just love this curry paste and can attest to how good this curry chicken is!!

We’re back with more beef stew and we couldn’t be more delighted to have guest Ingrid Hu Dahl share her very special Taiwanese American recipe with us.

Author of Sun Shining On Morning Sun, Ingrid tells us about her mom’s recipe, the ways in which this classic beef noodle soup became a beef stew, and what it was like growing up the hapa child of a Taiwanese immigrant mom and Scandinavian American dad in 1980s central New Jersey.

Plus, what it was like growing up with a mom who was at the forefront of AI (yay? eek?), summers in Taiwan, becoming courageously bold and boldly courageous, and the magical mysteries beheld behind kitchen doors.

The madness is back!!! We partnered again with our podcast cousin InfatuAsian and bookshop home On Waverly on our second annual March Madness of Asian Cuisine! This year we went with pan-Asian bangers in a round of 16 that was far, far from inclusive, but so much fun!

This year we kicked it up a notch with bites and prizes from new and old friends:

Apisol with refreshing honey seltzers, Mama Lam's yummy Malaysian sauces, Lunar Bakery with some delicious baked tarts, Lulu's Asian Kitchen with some of their just-released frozen dumplings, and HEYDOH with their small batch soy sauces.

With special guests:

Hannah Chea (Miss SF Chinatown 2025) and Adonis (Food recommender and culture keeper).

Listen in to see if your favorites made the top 16, how egregious our audience may or may not have been with their votes, and what Asian favorite went all the way!

We’re absolutely freaking delighted to be joined by Laurence Louie, chef/owner of Rubato and current Top Chef contestant.

We talk with Laurence about his beloved Chinese bakery staple bolo bao, how it shaped his culinary career, and its place on his current modern Chinese American menu.

Plus, growing up around his mom’s canto rock band, his journey from AAPI activist to hand-pulled noodle apprentice, and of course, representing the culture on Top Chef.

The lightest of spoilers for the first couple of episodes of season 23 of Top Chef, so listen with caution, but also go catch up immediately.

It might be 80 degrees out here in the Bay Area but we’re drooling over this episode’s dish, oxtail beef stew with Christina Wong Singh, founder of AAPI Empower Hour. On this episode we talk with Christina about her childhood disdain turned adult love of this arguably American Chinese dish.

We go hard on junior high school with New York City public school lunches, Jamaican beef patties, and math talents. Freesia can barely wrap her head around growing up in New York while Sam and Christina are incredibly nonchalant about it.

Plus, raising mixed Asian kids–as in, two Asian ethnicities–men who cook, and keeping culture and language alive through a generation or two of assimilation.

This episode we welcome Satsuki Ina, author, psychotherapist, producer and so much more! We talk with Satsuki about one of her favorite childhood and new year’s foods, inarizushi and her mom’s special take on it.

We spend some time talking about her very important book The Poet and the Silk Girl, which chronicles her parents' experience as Japanese Americans imprisoned during WWII, and talk about how so much of those experiences is still relevant today and the work for Satsuki that that continues to fuel.

We also talk about Satsuki’s experience as a kid running around Japantown and San Francisco in the 1940s and 1950s and her family’s weekend Chinese restaurant routine, which honestly sounds pretty great.

We are so delighted to have graphic novelist Thien Pham on this episode. We discovered his book Family Style thanks to one of our kids and it turned out to be a book that us grownups love too.

Thien shares how he finally came to write his book after so many years of wanting to tell his family’s story, the through line of food and memory, and the impressiveness of his parents in building a whole new life by an age at which Thien himself was still playing video games.

Plus we talk about the heartbreak of assimilation, his stint as a food critic comic artist, and the incredible state of school lunchrooms today.

Definitely pick up a copy of Family Style for your middle grade readers or anyone curious about immigrant stories in a wonderfully accessible graphic novel.

It finally happened! We finally get to talk about everyone’s favorite party/potluck food: lumpia!! This episode we’re joined by Eleanor Mooney, co-founder of New York-based Verdant Lingerie and hapa Filipina.

We talk to Eleanor about growing up watching the titas roll lumpia at parties, each one having a slightly different recipe, and how growing up around this community of women shaped her career in service and lingerie.

Plus we talk about when it’s okay to be slightly illegal in job interviews, looking exactly like a parent but still somehow not enough, and her sister’s long con that somehow worked on us and will have her ruling us all.

In this live episode recorded at the Asian Art Museum on Bruce Lee Day, we talk with author Jeff Chang about his tremendous new book Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America.

Just ahead of what would’ve been Bruce’s 85th birthday (which is today!), we talk about his impact on Asian American representation in media, what he meant to generations of fans, and the intertwined rise of the AAPI identity that Jeff so beautifully weaves throughout the book. True to form, Freesia gushes, but this really is one of the best books she’s read in a very, very long time. We really cannot say enough good things about it.

Plus, we talk about one of Jeff’s childhood comfort dishes, which just so happens to be a Hawaiian version of our childhood comfort dish, his experience growing up in Hawaii, and the culture shock of leaving the island for California.

Big thanks to the Asian Art Museum for helping to make this happen and for a great book talk earlier in the day.

Whether you’re interested in Bruce Lee or the Asian American movement and identity, we can’t recommend this book enough.

We’re back with another live episode. This time we’re talking with Irene Yoo about her new cookbook Soju Party, a gorgeous collection of cocktail and food recipes that is blueprint for many a fun and delicious night.

Irene takes us through an epic night of drinking with her cousins in Seoul, gives us (mostly Freesia) tips on how to participate and keep up/bow out as an alcohol light-weight, and gives us the lowdown on both drinking etiquette and drinking games.

Plus we talk about Irene’s experience growing up with soju as an essential part of family gatherings and traditions, learning to cook for herself from the Food Network, and the difference between developing food and cocktail recipes in an extremely truncated timeline.

Pick up Soju Party wherever you get your books and plan your own epic night of feasting.

In this episode we have a special collaboration with Curtus Chinn/The InfatuAsian Podcast to eat great food, build community, and have a very special live episode!

We invited chefs and past guests to participate in a friendly challenge called the "Chinatown Recipe Club" at our favorite bookstore On Waverly's clubhouse space. Each participant was randomly assigned a protein and challenge and were tasked with cooking and presenting a publicly-available recipe.

Cooking for us was 2x James Beard award winner and cookbook author, Kristina Cho. Co-owner and part-time cook at Little Aloha restaurant on Taraval, Winchell Chow. Program manager and cooking instructor with 18reasons, Elise Hayashi, using a recipe from Linda Tay Esposito. Cooking instructor, dumpling master, and entrepreneur, Eddie Lo. And last but not least, home cooks and sister duo, Nicole and Sam Lugtu, using a recipe from the Marnee Thai cookbook.

Thanks to all who participated! Thanks to Curtis’ helper/interns: Cathy, Christy, Megan, and Rico! Thanks to On Waverly for hosting us.

Please enjoy this live chat with each chef and the dish they presented. The vibes were impeccable in person, we hope they’re good for you too.

We could not be more delighted to kick off Filipino American History Month with Shelby Rabara and Harry Shum Jr talking about their book Martee Dares to Dance. This brilliantly illustrated kids book (by Bianca Austria) about gaining confidence through dance has nods to both their backgrounds, from dance to food, and an aspirational hip-hop lola.

We talk about Shelby’s fond food memories in the Phillipines, Harry’s (soon-to-be) relationship to fishing, and come up with a new tamale restaurant concept. Plus fancifying dumplings, and artichokes as the new metaphor for life.

Catch Harry and Shelby at the Asian Art Museum on Oct 5th for Free First Sunday AND get a copy of Martee Dares to Dance courtesy of the museum. Or order your copy directly from our friends at Gloo Books.

This episode we’re talking to none other than chef Kathy Fang of House of Nanking and Fang Restaurant about her new cookbook House of Nanking. We were delighted to hear behind the scenes stories of this San Francisco institution, her experiences growing up in the restaurant, and dive into this cookbook that is surprisingly accessible to the home cook.

We talk about Kathy’s early experiences critiquing her dishes, the signature experiences and dishes of HoN born out of necessity, and her dad’s ingenuity throughout his life. Plus we talk about all of the things that make no sense but somehow make House of Nanking the success that it has been for over 30 years.

The House of Nanking Cookbook: Family Recipes from San Francisco’s Favorite Chinese Restaurant is out everywhere Sept 30th and available for pre-order now. Trust us when we say this book is beautiful and has dishes that are shockingly simple.

We’re talking many, many things Taiwanese food with Nancy Jeng and Felicia Liang, the author and illustrator of A Very Asian Guide to Taiwanese Food. We talk about Nancy and Felicia’s childhood embarrassment of Taiwanese food, requesting more “American” foods, and finding their way back to Taiwanese food as young adults.

We talk about how their author/illustrator collaboration came to be, Nancy’s long-con to get her husband to cook Taiwanese classics, the untapped potential of Taiwan’s beaches, and the popularity of Trader Joe’s scallion pancakes.

Find this wonderful beautiful book on Gloo Books or wherever you get your books, and hang out with Nancy and Felicia at their book launch event at On Waverly on Sunday, September 14. Plus themed bites by past guest Jessic Fu and (possible future guest) Henry Hsu.

And if you’re looking for some recipes, find three great ones in the back of this book, including one for Nancy’s Nai Nai’s scallion pancakes. We’ll be trying these out in our house along with tea eggs.

This episode we’re talking with Karen Chan, founder of Gloo Books about not one, but two of her childhood favorites, Taiwanese tea eggs and her mom’s oxtail stew! If you’re hungry now you might want to go get a snack. We talk with Karen about the nostalgia of visiting her grandparents in Taiwan and eating tea eggs from the convenience store, her mom’s less enthusiastic approach to food, and the connective power of food and travel.

We talk a lot about the many wonderful titles under Gloo Books, Karen gives us a peek inside the publishing world, and we get the inside scoop on some brand new baby books that we can all help kickstart! Plus we come up with an oyster-based business idea for her dad.

Find Gloo Book’s kickstarter for their Baby Go series, and check out all the wonderful Gloo Books titles on their website. We are serious fans of many of these and if you find yourself here, you’ll at the very least love the Very Asian Guide to.. Series.