I hope you’re gearing up for a great holiday season, here’s this week’s list!
Next guest on Before We Get There
On Thursday my next guest will be my good friend, Ruby Tan. Ruby is a Singaporean who chased her dreams of becoming an outdoor adventure guide all the way to Christchurch, New Zealand. Ruby has an amazing story because her passions and what makes her life fulfilling, kayaking, outdoor climbing, hiking, and more, don’t really exist in Singapore. She had to give up her traditional corporate job and move across the world to find where she felt she belongs. During our discussion, she shares how she used to live for times when she could travel and participate in these kinds of outdoor activities until it got to the point when she realized that wasn’t enough. She wanted to live her dream, not just visit it a few times a year. She took some huge risks making her dream come true, and I’m so happy for her. Be sure to watch out for the full episode! You can find all my podcast episodes here.
What I read this week
Chop Suey: A Cultural History of Chinese Food in the United States starts with the first exposure to Chinese food that any Americans had when they started trading with China and follows the story of Chinese immigration to the US to the growth in popularity of the cuisine to the present day. The first part of the book gives hilarious accounts of Chinese official’s reactions to salted meats, bread, and roasts that they were served by Americans. They thought the meat was barbaric, almost caveman-like as it was served medium, this is familiar as my mother-in-law still can’t eat anything that is not fully cooked. The Americans at that time also had a hard time appreciating much of the Chinese food other than the roast meats like Peking Duck, Char Siu, and BBQ pork which are still much beloved today. I’d also heard the story before of how since the first Chinese immigrants were men and weren’t chefs by trade, how they adapted and cooked for themselves with local ingredients. But the details and texture of how American Chinese cuisine developed is told in much more details here, and it is really fascinating. For example, I had no idea that Chinese restaurants were considered hipster spots by Bohemians looking to go against the mainstream. Definitely a great book if you love food and history!
What I watched this weekend
Speaking of food and history, I’ve been a diehard fan of Anthony Bourdain for a long time. I own all of his shows and rewatch them regularly, especially when I’m about to take a trip to somewhere he’s been. His authenticity, how he connects with people from all walks of life, and his appreciation of cheap beer and food are some of the things that made his show so special. Last night I decided to watch a couple of episodes and ended up choosing the one where he visits Shanghai, a city I lived in for 4 years. I’m not sure what it was about my mood or perspective, but I found some of his commentary and questions to be quite ignorant. I know I’ve watched that episode before, but this time it really stuck out to me how much of an agenda he was trying to push, from the questions he asked to who he chose to meet with. Obviously he couldn’t know as much about a place as people who lived there, but I hadn’t noticed before that he seemed to have a narrative he was trying to get clips for. For the Shanghai episode it was that “Chinese is communist, how are you all so rich.” which is a pretty ignorant take, especially considering the episode was from 2014, not 2004. Even his field notes from the episode read like he is about ten years behind the times. I may have just been in a cynical mood, and I still love the show, but I’m going to rewatch some more episodes with a more critical eye.
Best thing I’ve bought recently
Continuing on what seems to be the theme this week, food, on my recent trip to Tokyo I purchased my first nice kitchen knife. As an avid home cook, I have invested in some kitchen gear that I really love over the years, like a nice cast iron skillet, dutch oven, carbon steel wok, and others. But I hadn’t ever bought a knife that was over $50. In Tokyo I visited Toyosu Market, where the tuna auctions are held early in the morning, this is the newish functional market that chefs go to buy kitchen wares, produce, and fresh fish at for their restaurants, not the more tourist-focused Tsukiji Market with its TikTok viral street foods. After watching the tuna auction, I arrived at Masamoto knives at about 6:30 am, they have been making knives since 1846. It’s a no-frills shop that took me 20 minutes to find within the maze of the market, there were no signs in English, just lots of beautiful knives. I chose a 7 1/2″ carbon steel Santoku, the Japanese version of a versatile chef’s knife that can be used for almost everything. I love that it will develop a unique patina as it gets used over the years!
That’s all for this week, have a great rest of your weekend!