#ChineseFoodiesofIG: The Woks Of Life

The Woks Of Life

This is part of an ongoing series of interviews I’m doing with my favourite Chinese foodies that I follow on Instagram. Come and follow the #ChineseFoodiesofIG hashtag on Instagram and leave a comment showing your support for these talented folk!

Where are you from? Where are you really from?

Bill: I grew up in the Catskills of New York, and my parents came from Guangdong.

Judy: The outskirts of Shanghai and Hubei province. I came to the U.S. when I was 16 with my family. Bill and I met through our families, as I ended up living 20 minutes away from him. 

Sarah & Kaitlin: Born and raised in New Jersey and still going strong.

What does home taste like?

Kaitlin: My mom’s hong shao rou pork belly. When I make it myself, even with the recipe, it always tastes better at home. 

Sarah: A big pan of our family’s baked five-spiced chicken stuffed with Chinese sausage and mushroom sticky rice. It’s pretty much the best thing ever, and it’s my go-to comfort food.

Rice or noodles?

Bill & Kaitlin: Rice every time! 

Judy & Sarah: Noodles! We’ll eat noodle soup even in the middle of summer. 

Share a food memory:

Bill: Back in the 1970s, my mother threw regular mahjong parties for the small Chinese community in our town. She always put on an incredible spread, with lots of meats and seafood so everyone could have an extra special time. 

Judy: When I was little, a peddler sold frozen mung bean popsicles on the street out of a wooden box, insulated with a cotton comforter. The ones that were slightly broken were cheaper — that’s what I bought, and I always prayed that mine had lots of beans frozen inside.

What's a Chinese recipe everyone should learn?

Bill: How to velvet and marinate meats like beef, pork, or chicken for stir-fry. You can whip up a great stir-fry with whatever you’ve got on hand! 

Sarah: Dumplings! You can tailor them to your taste and diet, and nothing beats a homemade dumpling. Grab a friend or family member to help you with the folding!

The secret to Chinese cooking is:

Judy: Patience and preparation! Nothing’s hard when you’ve done the prep work for sometimes just a few minutes at the wok! Other times, you might need to patiently wait to look for all the signs that a dish is ready, like when you wait for mantou to ‘set’ before opening the steamer. 

Sarah: Knowing when you can freestyle it and when you should stick to the old ways. Sometimes I’ve learned this the hard way, but you’d be surprised at how much you can tweak your favorite Chinese recipes and still get great results!

Who's your Chinese food legend?

Sarah: My grandpa — a Chinese chef whose cooking really has become legend in our family. Oh, and Chen Kenichi, who repped Chinese cooking on the OG Iron Chef — one of our favorite shows when we were kids. It was right up there with Arthur on PBS. 

Bill: Chef Martin Yan really paved the way for Chinese home cooking in the U.S. — and he’s from Guangdong like my family!

Chinese ingredient you can’t live without:

Judy: Dark soy sauce and rock sugar! That’s two, but they really go hand in hand for our favorite Shanghainese braised dishes. 

Bill: Shaoxing wine, without a doubt! It gives that signature Chinese flavor that’s often the missing element when you cook Chinese food at home, and we use it to cook vegetables, velvet meats for stir-fries, and give dimension to dumpling fillings.

What does Chinese food mean to you?

Chinese food is about the stories — as well as the ingredients and techniques — that get passed down from generation to generation. Those stories and memories shape what we cook and eat today. They help us protect old traditions — and evolve them, too — for new places and for family and friends.