I was forty-seven before I realized I had never eaten a proper steak. Growing up in San Francisco, I had eaten plenty of steak—but it was always the Cantonese adaptation of this Western classic. Soft in texture and thoroughly cooked, it was a heavily modified for the Chinese palate. The catalyst for this belated realization? A weekend visit from Ryan Waddell, the fine-dining chef I was working with. A flattering picture of me Want to read more? Subscribe to my free Substack p

“As a Chinese person, I have never heard of Chinese people eating a plant-based diet.” “All of the food traditions include a lot of meat and less of plants.” The comment was from an Honors student the other day. We had just discussed Colin Campbell’s famous China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss, and Long-term Health, widely regarded as a “Bible” among vegans. For those of you who don’t know

This year, Chinese New Year falls on a Tuesday. Monday night, if we’re being precise. Traditionally, it begins the night before. When I was growing up in San Francisco, the signs were unmistakable. My mother would stop cleaning. She’d tell us not to wash our hair. And in the refrigerator there would be a giant round disc taking up a shelf on its own. Brown. Homogeneous. Let me say this clearly: it’s nonsense that all Chinese families make dumplings for New Year. My mother was

This week I was inspired to write about beef after watching Eric Sze’s videos on Instagram about cooking dairy cattle. As it turns out, we have been discussing food taboos in my Eating Right class, which got me thinking about whether there are any Chinese food taboos. The following is the first installment of my Substack newsletter : This post grows out of a question I can’t neatly answer: was beef taboo in China before the late nineteenth century? Step into any Chinese rest