The older I get, the more pride I get in my beautiful country and its beautiful cuisine. Born and raised in Vietnam, I must say …
“A Love Letter to Food & Cultural Identity” by Tram Nguyen
Dish It Out is the segment of our show where we explore various Asian cuisines. Our mission is to explore, share, and celebrate AAPI culture and we believe that it’s impossible to not mention Asian food! Join us at the Dish It Out Table!
Dish It Out
Dish it Out Quiz: What Chinese Bakery Treat Should You Get?
Chinese Bakeries are a staple of Chinatowns across the world. What will you order?
Halo-Halo
With Summer coming to an end, it’s only right to write about one of my favorite ice cream treats! In the Philippines, they serve “Halo-Halo,” which translates to “mixed.” This dessert is the Filipino version of shave ice topped with evaporated milk and piled high with yummy toppings like sweet beans, coconut jellies, fruits, and ube (purple yam) ice cream! The best part about making halo halo is customizing it however you like – it’s like going to one of those ice cream places with the topping bars! Some of my favorite summer memories were spending Saturdays with my cousins in the pool. My aunt would walk over with a tray of cups of halo-halo.
Char Siu Bao & Lumpiang – Episode 1
In the first-ever Dish it Out segment, Emilie and Zach discuss their favorite foods from their cultures growing up. For Emilie, she shares a delicious description of Filipino Lumpia. Check out her recipe for Lumpiang Shanghai here. Zach shares his favorite, Char Siu Bao, or Chinese roasted BBQ pork buns. Check out the recipe for Char Siu Bao on our website here.
National Ice Cream Day: Red Bean No-Churn Ice Cream
How does no-churn ice cream work? Don’t you have to aerate it? These questions swarmed my head as I thought about making it. After working at a Dairy Queen for almost four years, I was so accustomed to soft-serve ice cream and the humming noise of an ice cream machine churning the mix (liquid ice cream mixture before being frozen). Churning allows the mix to aerate, which is what most conventional ice cream machines do to your mix with a simple plastic blade. Instead of churning, no-churn ice cream aerates the mix with a baking mixer instead.
Red Bean Paste (Anko)
How can beans be a dessert? How could they be sweet? These are the questions my friend Daniella asked me when I tried to convince her she needed to try something with red bean paste. Daniella is of Puerto Rican descent and moved around between Spain, Miami, and Southern California, where she developed in a love for Asian food. But when I tried to convince her to try red bean desserts, she immediately associated red beans with Puerto Rican beans.
Puerto Rican beans are also red but unlike Adzuki beans, they’re usually prepared stewed with spices and vegetables to go with rice…not quite a dessert (but still delicious!) I promised her that red bean paste from Adzuki beans is nothing like Puerto Rican red beans. I told her to think of it like a third bean flavor to chocolate and vanilla because those are both beans too!
Lumpiang Shanghai
Lumpiang Shanghai, or “lumpia” for short – the crunchy, savory, bite-sized appetizer that’s always the crowd-pleaser. When it comes to this Filipino-style egg roll, this …
Char Siu Bao by Davis Lau
My boys were growing weary of our meals at home and missed buying baos every Sunday in Chinatown. Char Siu Bao is one of those things which I am just nostalgic for. As often as we can when we go back out to NY, we hit up spots like Mei Lei Wah and Hop Shing for dim sum and at least a dozen of their baos to take home. It is a taste of my childhood. The baos are fluffy and sweet and the meat to filling ratio is just right with the crunch of sautéd onions. That being said I like recreating flavors. The char siu is a recipe passed down to me from my mom, I’ve picked up other recipes and techniques from chefs and home cooks alike. Nothing beats mom’s. It’s a tried and true dish in our household.