Worst Quality Crab

This episode we’re joined by Top Chef of Our Hearts season 23 finalist Laurence Louie to recap his near-flawless Top Chef run and incredible journey. We dive into all the things Laurence couldn’t spoil when we last chatted at the beginning of the season plus so much more.  Laurence gives us the behind the scenes on everything from how challenges work, to choosing dishware, the crashout we won’t sp...

Oops, summer really got away from us! But we’re back and this episode we’re talking with actor, producer, model working on both screen and stage (what doesn’t he do!) Gabriel Prevost-Takahashi about foods near and dear to him and everyone in our household: Karaage chicken and Japanese curry. Yes, it’s a perfect meal. We talk with him about his mom making this childhood favorite while also growing...

This episode is from the live event we did back in May as part of KALW 's celebration of AAPI Heritage Month with all around brilliant delightful human Bonnie Tsui , author of American Chinatown, On Muscle, and Why We Swim.  Bonnie shares her experiences growing up in Long Island, what it was like having an endless supply of imperfect fortune cookies (and their schoolyard trading value!) and her c...

We’re back with some Singaporean bangers courtesy of actor, director, and producer Yvonne Chapman of Netflix’s Avatar: The Last Air Bender and Hulu’s The Season. She shares her mom’s lahksa and curry chicken with us and gives us a glimpse into the Calgary Asian experience (spoiler: kids are still kids and will/won’t try things!) We talk with her about growing up with Singaporean and Hong Kong infl...

We took a little break but we came back with not one but two fantastic guests: friends and fellow artists, Christy Chan and Cathy Lu , who coincidentally picked the very same dish, tomato egg, despite having grown up a thousand miles apart. But maybe that just speaks to how much of a classic this dish is (and I guess the point of this show!) We talk about Cathy’s life growing up in vibrant, divers...

In celebration of AANHPI Heritage Month, we’re collaborating with our public radio friends at KALW to put on a live recording this Thursday, 5/21 7pm . Joining us for this special event is Bonnie Tsui , journalist and author of On Muscle, Why We Swim, and American Chinatown. Bonnie will share stories of growing up in Long Island, her grandfather working in a fortune cookie factory, and how it led...

Ahead of Mother’s Day we’re talking to Cassandra Lam of Mama Lam’s about her own mama’s Malaysian curry chicken that she ate almost weekly growing up. Her mom missed Malaysian flavors so much that she perfected her curry paste, plus a few others, and Mama Lam’s was born. We talk with Cassandra about growing up with a Malaysian mom, Cantonese dad, and as a New Yorker, making the leap from marketing...

We’re back with more beef stew and we couldn’t be more delighted to have guest Ingrid Hu Dahl share her very special Taiwanese American recipe with us.  Author of Sun Shining On Morning Sun , Ingrid tells us about her mom’s recipe, the ways in which this classic beef noodle soup became a beef stew, and what it was like growing up the hapa child of a Taiwanese immigrant mom and Scandinavian America...

The madness is back!!! We partnered again with our podcast cousin InfatuAsian and bookshop home On Waverly on our second annual March Madness of Asian Cuisine! This year we went with pan-Asian bangers in a round of 16 that was far, far from inclusive, but so much fun!  This year we kicked it up a notch with bites and prizes from new and old friends: Apisol with refreshing honey seltzers, Mama Lam'...

We’re absolutely freaking delighted to be joined by Laurence Louie, chef/owner of Rubato and current Top Chef contestant.  We talk with Laurence about his beloved Chinese bakery staple bolo bao, how it shaped his culinary career, and its place on his current modern Chinese American menu.  Plus, growing up around his mom’s canto rock band, his journey from AAPI activist to hand-pulled noodle appren...

It might be 80 degrees out here in the Bay Area  but we’re drooling over this episode’s dish, oxtail beef stew with Christina Wong Singh , founder of AAPI Empower Hour . On this episode we talk with Christina about her childhood disdain turned adult love of this arguably American Chinese dish. We go hard on junior high school with New York City public school lunches, Jamaican beef patties, and mat...

This episode we welcome Satsuki Ina , author, psychotherapist, producer and so much more! We talk with Satsuki about one of her favorite childhood and new year’s foods, inarizushi and her mom’s special take on it.  We spend some time talking about her very important book The Poet and the Silk Girl, which chronicles her parents' experience as Japanese Americans imprisoned during WWII, and talk abou...

We are so delighted to have graphic novelist Thien Pham on this episode. We discovered his book Family Style thanks to one of our kids and it turned out to be a book that us grownups love too.  Thien shares how he finally came to write his book after so many years of wanting to tell his family’s story, the through line of food and memory, and the impressiveness of his parents in building a whole n...

It finally happened! We finally get to talk about everyone’s favorite party/potluck food: lumpia!! This episode we’re joined by Eleanor Mooney, co-founder of New York-based Verdant Lingerie and hapa Filipina. We talk to Eleanor about growing up watching the titas roll lumpia at parties, each one having a slightly different recipe, and how growing up around this community of women shaped her career...

In this live episode recorded at the Asian Art Museum on Bruce Lee Day, we talk with author Jeff Chang about his tremendous new book Water Mirror Echo: Bruce Lee and the Making of Asian America . Just ahead of what would’ve been Bruce’s 85th birthday (which is today!), we talk about his impact on Asian American representation in media, what he meant to generations of fans, and the intertwined rise...

We’re back with another live episode. This time we’re talking with Irene Yoo about her new cookbook Soju Party, a gorgeous collection of cocktail and food recipes that is blueprint for many a fun and delicious night. Irene takes us through an epic night of drinking with her cousins in Seoul, gives us (mostly Freesia) tips on how to participate and keep up/bow out as an alcohol light-weight, and gi...

In this episode we have a special collaboration with Curtus Chinn/The InfatuAsian Podcast to eat great food, build community, and have a very special live episode!  We invited chefs and past guests to participate in a friendly challenge called the "Chinatown Recipe Club" at our favorite bookstore On Waverly's clubhouse space. Each participant was randomly assigned a protein and challenge and were...

We could not be more delighted to kick off Filipino American History Month with Shelby Rabara and Harry Shum Jr talking about their book Martee Dares to Dance. This brilliantly illustrated kids book (by Bianca Austria ) about gaining confidence through dance has nods to both their backgrounds, from dance to food, and an aspirational hip-hop lola. We talk about Shelby’s fond food memories in the Ph...

This episode we’re talking to none other than chef Kathy Fang of House of Nanking and Fang Restaurant about her new cookbook House of Nanking. We were delighted to hear behind the scenes stories of this San Francisco institution, her experiences growing up in the restaurant, and dive into this cookbook that is surprisingly accessible to the home cook. We talk about Kathy’s early experiences critiq...

We’re talking many, many things Taiwanese food with Nancy Jeng and Felicia Liang , the author and illustrator of A Very Asian Guide to Taiwanese Food . We talk about Nancy and Felicia’s childhood embarrassment of Taiwanese food, requesting more “American” foods, and finding their way back to Taiwanese food as young adults. We talk about how their author/illustrator collaboration came to be, Nancy’...

This episode we’re talking with Karen Chan, founder of Gloo Books about not one, but two of her childhood favorites, Taiwanese tea eggs and her mom’s oxtail stew! If you’re hungry now you might want to go get a snack. We talk with Karen about the nostalgia of visiting her grandparents in Taiwan and eating tea eggs from the convenience store, her mom’s less enthusiastic approach to food, and the co...

This episode we talk with author Kaila Yu ,  new book Fetishized and her classic Taiwanese comfort food, Lu Rou Fan. We’re a little light on the food this episode but spend lots of time on Kaila’s new book, the fetishization of Asian women, and stories that feel like they’re from 20 years ago but are, unfortunately, still true today.  Plus we talk about Kaila’s experience as an import model, Chine...

Whoops, we accidentally took a summer break. We just have so many kids and so little free time. But we’re back and we’re excited to talk with actor and marketer Sakura Nakahara about her favorite childhood dish that remains a favorite today, okonomiyaki. Not just a childhood treat, today it serves as her mother’s love language, bribe language, apology and so much more. We talk with Sakura about be...

We can’t even pretend to have chill about this. On this extra special episode, we interview the namesake of our mascot and inspiration for the title of the show, Waverly herself, the legend, the icon, Tamlyn Tomita! We of course ask Tamlyn about the Joy Luck Club, what it meant 30 years ago, what it means now, and her thoughts on playing Waverly. She also talks Karate Kid II, her equally iconic ro...

We’re honoring AAPI month with one of our favorite local AAPI community leaders, Cynthia Huie, owner of On Waverly , an AAPI gift shop and bookstore in the heart of Chinatown. Cynthia shares her childhood fondness for shrimp chips made at home by her grandfather, her lasting love for the crunchy, salty, airy snack. Cynthia talks about representation through retail, her relationship with her grandp...