The carrot cupcake at Yellow Chair Cafe in Saigon
When Alex and I attended a coffee class in Saigon in early March of 2019, there was a short break between the “smelling” part and the actual coffee making …
Food Tales
To understand food and its cultural and social significance, it is often necessary to go beyond recipes and cooking tips. This section includes a comprehensive guide on ramen broth, a history of mac and cheese, a dive into the (mostly Western) misconception that sate / satay is peanut sauce and how chocolate evolved to become the (second?) most popular Valentine's Day gift.
Dim sum is the food; yum cha is the meal
Drinking tea in an old Chinese custom but having tea with food traces its origin to the ancient Silk Road. Learn the etiquette for eating dim sum, serving tea and using …
Sago, boba and bubble tea
Know exactly what you're getting. Sago and boba are not the same. There is a disctinction between bubble tea and milk tea. Boba shakes do not contain real tea.
Is Vietnamese lotus tea real tea?
It depends. Trà sen is real tea. Trà tim sen is an infusion. Both are sold as Vietnamese lotus tea.
In Taipei, we skipped the night markets and headed for Tamsui Old Street
When you haven’t slept in 48 hours, the moment your head touches the pillow, you sleep like the dead. We flew to Taiwan on Friday on a 6.00 a.m. flight. That means …
Non-food uses of coconut at home
Long before coconut gained global attention, coconut consumption was already a lifestyle in the tropics. We ate coconut meat, drank coconut water, and cooked with coconut …
Edible sea urchins and uni sashimi
Contrary to popular belief, the edible part of the sea urchin is not its eggs but gonads — the testicles of the male or the ovaries of the female — that are pried from …