A Multicultural Feast
It’s that time of year, and there’s a lot to be thankful for… our family, friends, and our health especially during these unpredictable times. And although our dining room tables may look a little different this year, we can look back, reminisce the fond memories we’ve made over the years, and look forward to celebrating this holiday for years to come.
Our family’s Thanksgiving table always looked a little different than the traditional Thanksgiving dinner you typically see in commercials or watch on TV. To me, it featured foods from the best of both worlds and is the epitome of my Chinese American heritage. For many of my friends who have been raised in multicultural families, I think you can relate!
For years, we gave the large centerpiece Butterball turkey it’s glory, brining it for days in a salt water bath mixed with whole spices, baked, and basted for hours until golden brown. And no matter what we did, it would always turn out somewhat bland and dry. Only until recently, we started making a change in getting a turkey prepared like Peking-style duck that made for a moist yet flavorful alternative, and a much smaller one at that(image to the left below). And this year, we scrapped the idea of turkey altogether and opted for straight-up Peking duck on our dining room table instead. For those not familiar, Peking duck is a whole roasted duck originating from Beijing, characterized by its crispy thin skin and tender meat (image to the right below). Typically, the duck skin is the star of this dish and is thinly sliced so that it can be wrapped in soft steamed buns and accompanied with julienned scallions, cucumbers, and most importantly topped with a sweet and salty Hoisin sauce to bring it altogether. It’s quite an interactive and ‘messy’ dish as you juggle passing around multiple plates around the table, make sure that all your toppings don’t slide out of the buns and onto your lap, all while participating in the ‘fight’ to get the last piece of crisp skin. This experience beats the Thanksgiving turkey in my book, any day.
In our family, the diet is heavily driven by a variety of vegetables, from green and leafy to root veggies to the very colorful squashes. So, it goes without saying that these side dishes become a staple at the Thanksgiving table. And no matter what year it is, the table is always packed full of delicious foods. On one end, we would have a crowd favorite, my grandma-in-law’s Chinese sticky rice mixed with a generous amount of mix-ins (without a doubt, the best part!) including shiitake mushrooms (dong gu), cured Chinese sausage (lap cheong), and scallions. My mom would always make sure we got our greens in by prepping a (very) large platter of green, leafy Chinese vegetables. It was always whatever looked fresh at the Chinese grocery store and topped with some very meaty shiitake mushrooms braised in a thick, umami flavored oyster sauce.
These dishes replaced some of the well-known American classics – stuffing, green bean casserole, or sweet potatoes topped with marshmallows – on the table, so we never really had those through the years. But we always made sure to include other American staples such as homemade cranberry sauce made with fresh cranberries and apple chunks, roasted sweet potatoes, buttered corn, and a glazy roasted spiral ham infused with whole cloves and pineapple rings.
And even with all this food on the table, we were not done yet! Like many, we were most definitely in the state of a ‘food coma’ from the Thanksgiving feast, but we always saved room for dessert. At home, we would even have an extra table just for the desserts, that’s how dedicated we were! My cousins, aunts, and uncles all had their hand in baking something new or traditional to share, and that was always the fun of it. But one of my fondest memories throughout my childhood was seeing my grandma’s ‘famous’ apple pie on the table every year. As an avid home-baker, my grandma’s creativity, love, and care in the kitchen became a big inspiration to me and part of the reason why I’ve nurtured a love for baking at home as well. And in memory of my late grandma, I’d like to share her story through ‘Ma’s Touch’, told from the perspective of my Uncle Carlton. Stay tuned for a new post coming soon and keep updated through the @foodstorycollective page on Instagram!
Celebrate Native American Heritage Month!
Resources on Native American Food & Culture:
Gather Film by Sanjal Rawal: Gather is a documentary that examines the loss of Native food traditions in Indigenous cuisine through the storytelling of personal experiences and archival footage. It sheds light on the continued violence against Native Americans and their pursuit in reclaiming their sovereignty and Native foodways.
Reposting some resources that I’ve learned through MOFAD, Brooklyn-based Museum of Food & Drink:
Toasted Sister Podcast: Toasted Sister Podcast is hosted by Andi Murphy where she talks to Native chefs and foodies about Indigenous cuisine across the nation. Here, she shares the origins of Native foods, its connection to communities/traditions, and what’s next for Native cuisine.
Intertribal Agriculture Council: The IAC is currently promoting the Native Food Connection, which is a program that was created to educate people on the value of Native foods, expand awareness of Native communities, their products and producers, and provide an avenue for American Indians to sell goods that they’ve gathered from their land or have produced.