#ChineseFoodiesofIG: Tiffany Ran of Ba Ba Lio

 

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?

I was born in Taipei, Taiwan. I grew up in Los Angeles and currently live in Seattle.

What does home taste like?

My mother's silkie chicken soup. It's a beautiful dish that has a shiny black chicken floating in a clear broth, bright orange-red goji berries, dried scallops, a smattering of ginger. This is the welcome home dish. It's also the, where's my grandchildren dish, the I love you dish, the don't sleep too late or you'll have wrinkles dish, the goodbye dish before I leave Taiwan.

Rice or noodles?

Noodles. Daily, and any time. My mother's family hails from Shanghai and they ate noodles for breakfast. I happily do so as well even if I've had noodles a couple hours ago for a midnight snack.

Share a food memory:

I was that kid that could wolf down four sunny side ups and I would sit there carefully cutting the whites from the yolks and relish popping that yolk in my mouth. I was always sneaking into the fridge with a spoon to scrape the aspic off the braised pork belly. Worse yet, I'd leave my grubby, greasy, soy sauce smeared handprints on the refrigerator door. Boy did that make my mother mad. I rarely misbehaved but if I did, it usually had something to do with food. In that sense, food has always been my way of pushing boundaries.

Who's your Chinese food legend?

Fu Pei Mei is often regarded as the Taiwanese Martha Stewart. She started out as a Chinese housewife who knew little about how to cook but she learned techniques and recipes from restaurant chefs. She translated a lot of these recipes and techniques through her cooking show to Taiwanese households. Her work helped to preserve these Chinese dishes during a time when China was undergoing socio-political turmoil. She empowered so many women and families yearning for a taste of home be able to recreate them.

What’s in your fridge?

Always a quart of broth, eggs, an assortment of fermented pickles, and a jar of fermented rice called jiu nian which I use in marinades and sweet soups. Some bottarga which I brought back from Taiwan. I also consume natto (fermented soy beans) at a frightening pace so I started to buy the bulk, wholesale ones packaged for sushi chefs. The company is based in California and the shipment of this product is sporadic so when I see it at the market, I buy the whole box. I probably pissed off some sushi chef out there who was waiting on the same order.

Dream dinner party guests:

I really gravitate to great storytellers, and down to earth, funny people. I think a pot luck dinner with Ali Wong, Dominique Crenn, Samin Nosrat, Anita Lo, and Fuchsia Dunlop would be amazing.

Favourite Chinese kitchen utensil:

Long chopsticks for frying. I have multiple pairs of long chopsticks that are typically used for frying. I've started using them the way I would use tongs. With these guys, I can transfer large items like proteins and veggies but also delicate items like microgreens and garnish. It eliminates the use of tweezers for me. The metal ones I have are pointed, so you can use those as cake testers to check protein for doneness. I'd end up losing all my cake testers after awhile, but not these chopsticks! My trusty Tatung steamer has been with me since college. For Taiwanese families, the Tatung steamer is everything. It's the microwave, the slow cooker, the mom that welcomes you home with warm food waiting when your real mom isn't there. You'll even see it holding tea eggs at the 7-11.

Ultimate comfort food:

Instant ramen is my vice and there's nothing more comforting than a pack of Shin Ramen Black with some wakame (seaweed) and a soft poached egg.

What would you like to tell the world about Chinese food?

The media likes to wax poetic on the idea of peasant food, ethnic minorities under poverty taking leftovers and creatively repurposing it or reinventing off cuts like offal or small game meats. While that exists on some level in any cuisine, I wish the discussion of Chinese cuisine can move beyond the frame of poverty; that we eat certain meats because we have nothing else, or we cook so well because of our lack of resources. That's way too simplistic and often not the case at all. I think Chinese cuisine is incredibly thoughtful. It's not purely just about the balance of flavors but also balancing energy and medicinal properties to ensure that a truly successful dish is not only delicious but nourishing. There are no senseless ingredients or "off cuts". Everything is coveted because of the role that particular meat or produce plays in the balance or the dish. What's worse is the tendency, especially with recent events to paint Chinese people as those who will mindlessly pick anything and everything off the streets, eating like a hungry, rabid animals. It's a misrepresentation of this cuisine that in its long history was long celebrated and developed by philosophers, poets, and academics.

 
#ChineseFoodiesofIGJenny Lauchinese identity, chefs, taiwanese american, restaurants, seattleComment