In a slight deviation in programming, we’re sneaking in at the end of Hispanic Heritage Month with our first non-Asian guest! This episode we bring on long time friend of Freesia’s and #1 WQC super fan Nicole Fox. Despite her non-Asianness Nicole almost always finds something relatable to her own life and experiences in our episodes. Because maybe food is the great equalizer and maybe growing up not white in this pretty white society is weird, no matter what your culture. 

Anyway, on this episode we talk about her dad’s weekend breakfasts of chorizo and eggs, how the loss of an elder can be felt for generations, and, surprise surprise, how cooking your own culture’s food can be super intimidating. 

Plus we talk about store bought tortillas as feminist icons, how the Mission-style burrito is superior to all others, including its superior delivery technique—a hill we’re both ready to ☠️ on—and Mexican v Spanish chorizo (and an honorable mention to soyrizo 😬). Also we dunk on our high school Spanish teacher. Sorry not sorry Señor Stevens. 

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This is a spicy one! No really, the dish is spicy. On this episode we talk to Christian Wu about his mom’s Mapo Tofu, something so relatable, and so beloved by Christian, and honestly his mom’s version sounds way better than ours.

Join us as we talk about being a third culture kid–growing up in both Tijuana and San Diego– growing up in a restaurant, and what parents can take away from hyper independent kids to coerce compliance. Plus we talk about cooking with parents, deciphering a recipe through language barriers, and the loving savagery of food-based friendships.

For this momentous 10th episode, we’re putting recipes aside to talk about the great Asian and Asian American uniter, SPAM! Our guests are writer Margot Seeto and filmmaker Jin Yoo-Kim, creators of SPAMFIGHT!, a short film inspired by a love of Spam. We talk about our childhood memories of Spam and the creative ways we’re eating it today. We also talk about the ways die hard Spam fans celebrate this icon, and make up a few of our own that we’d like to see and eat.

Plus we talk about the sometimes complicated role of Spam in shaping identity, and some of the artists centering SPAM in their work. Hilariously terrible bonus, Jin shares her worst Spam memory and we all hate it but man do we get it. 

Links to artists and organizations mentions in the show:

• A-Doc - Asian American Documentary Network

Links to support the ongoing recovery efforts caused by the devastating fires in Maui:

• Chef Hui & The Hawai‘i Community Foundation - Funds raised for Chef Hui Maui Hospitality Relief will go directly to support Maui restaurants, hospitality workers and their families who have been displaced due to the fires. Funds will be distributed directly to restaurants and their employees based on needs.

On this episode we’ve got Haeny Yoon, host of Pop and Play podcast, bringing us her childhood dish sujebi. Was it a snack? Was it dinner? When you’re in middle school, is there a difference?? We talk about growing up with two working immigrant parents and what that meant for cooking, being simultaneously too Korean and not Korean enough, and the genetic nature of loving a soupy noodle thing. Plus we talk about making more space for Asian stories, and authenticity: what even is it anymore?? 

Haeny mentions a few great New York Times pieces that you might want to check out: 

• "Asian-Americans Need More Movies, Even Mediocre Ones" by Viet Thanh Nguyen on narrative plentitude and Crazy Rich Asians.

This episode we’re talking with nurse coach Alyssa Saquilayan about her ultimate comfort dish, spam eggs and rice. While it’s not a recipe, we talk about how this quick simple meal was a point of bonding among a generation of cousins, about the first taste of food autonomy, and reconciling important cultural foods by so-called wellness culture. Plus we talk about more things to eat with banana ketchup, a partner’s influence on cooking habits, and shout out Costco (again!).

We’re biased but this is an especially fun one for us! We’re talking to loooong time friend of the show, designer Crystal Chin, about her mom’s Big Fat Rice Noodle Roll (official, technical title). We talk about growing up ethnically Chinese and culturally more Burmese, translating being a maker of things into cooking, and how crucial (and time consuming!) the seemingly insignificant pantry staples are to making certain dishes successful and more accessible. 

Mangia! This episode we’re talking with stylist and SAHM Melanie Pochat of Matre Style about her mom’s spaghetti and meatballs. We talk about what it’s like having two parents who were avid cooks, and what it’s like growing up in a place where being Italian is nearly as “exotic” as being Chinese, let alone being both! We get into overcoming diet culture, the pressures of exposing kids to a variety of foods and flavors, and finding out that spaghetti sauce can come from the grocery store.

To get this classic recipe and try it out for yourself, find it at worstqualitycrab.com

It’s a switcheroo this time as Freesia gets a taste of her own medicine when she scoots into the hot seat and Sam grills her on vegetarian moussaka. It’s a distinctly non-Asian dish and with it’s many components and steps, it’s a diversion from quick weeknight dish. We talk about growing up vegan in the 80s and 90s, a cost-benefit analysis of improvising on special nostalgic recipes, and the unfair maligning of tofu.

In this very special episode we keep it in the family! We’re talking to Sam’s sister Angela about her childhood dinnertime lifeline, Ham-BUR-gah! (IYKYK) and what it’s like to grow up and cook as an adult in the shadow of a prolific homecook. We talk about cooking for kids and wonder whether dinnertime traditions are continuing a legacy or perpetuating guilt. But in a fun way. Plus a shocking-ish revelation about Sam & Angela’s mom! 

We’re talking to our friends Deanna and Rob, about being bi-racial in very white Virginia in the 90s, and what it’s like growing up in the same house, eating the same foods, but having different takes on the same experiences. They tell us about Mom’s Chicken, a kind of freestyle dish that was a hit as kids and is still requested on visits home. We talk identity, after school nostalgia, and the ever-changing experience of being mixed and Asian in an evolving society.