Dear friends and readers,
My parents immigrated to California in the 90s. My father was an English major in university while in China, and it was always my impression that he picked up work here as a result of his collegiate education. Like many others, my parents landed in Monterey Park, and they became engrained in its vibrant Chinese immigrant culture. That was where I was born.
In cities with strong Asian immigrant culture, you are bound to find Asian grocery stores like 99 Ranch, 168, Hmart, and more. My family often frequented these grocery stores; in fact, going to these stores was one of the core ways we bonded as a family. In these stores, we can find many grocery items that are important cultural relics to our family: various Chinese greens that my mother like to pick out and stir-fry, tube-packed tofu that were softer than what you can find in neighboring Ralph’s or Vons, pre-packed meat slices perfect for hotpots, etc…
Recently while shopping with my mom, we came across pyropia seaweed lavers (紫菜), which is a type of seaweed often used in Shanghainese-style soups. I found that the translation on imported products in Asian grocery stores to be mostly inconsistent, but the key for finding these pyropia seaweed lavers is that they are often dry packed in circular disks.
While they are classic in Shanghainese wonton soups, they are great in any kind of soy-sauce based broths. Just break a few pieces of the disk into a warm broth, and you are good to go. Their wispy, delicate threads embraces and envelopes anything you put into the broth, and elevates the umami and textures of the eating experience in a way that no other single condiment can.
cooking notes
For today’s dinner, I made a broth by water-diluting two types of soy sauce: a run-of-the-mill Kikkoman soy sauce, and a Hon tsuyu. While the regular soy sauce provides a nice base tone of flavor, the Hon tsuyu specifically adds a warm bonito umami classic in Japanese style home cooking.
I then added half a disk of dried pyropia seaweed laver. You can really be generous with them! I then added some ingredients that capitalizes on its enveloping qualities: enoki mushrooms and udon. Because they are long and tubular in shape, the laver naturally wraps around them and create a beautiful texture as you eat them together. Finally, I also boiled some ham slices in the broth.
As a second-generation Chinese immigrant, it is often easier to identify with American culture, because that gives you the common language to make friends and connections with your peers. Especially as a gay man, I found it hard to connect with my Chinese heritage because I thought I would be discriminated by my heritage for it. I am lucky that my parents understand, even if it was a shock to them initially (and they still don’t quite know how to really approach me on this).
At times when I crave for food that I can only find in Asian grocery stores is when I feel the most Chinese. Especially with these pyropia seaweed lavers.
It will take more time for me to reckon with other aspects of Chinese culture, but for now, I’m satisfied enough to have a Chinese palate.
signed and posted,
Cheers,
Jeff