Category Archives: food & dining

34 short videos of our 2011 trip to Japan

By | | , , , ,
2 Comments

I recently returned from a fantastic trip to Japan, with my wife Erin Yoshimura and my mom. We flew first to Sapporo in the northern island of Hokkaido, where one of my uncles lives, and then traveled to Nemuro, my mom’s hometown on the easternmost tip of Hokkaido, where another uncle lives. Then we flew down to Tokyo for a few days, then Hiroshima, then Kyoto before flying home from Osaka’s Kansai Airport. It was grueling at times — two weeks is a long trip, especially with your mom! — but I really had a great time and it’s given me a lot to think about… and write about.

I’m still sorting out notes from the trip and organizing the zillions of photos. But I did finally finish editing and titling the many videos I shot with my Lumix LX5 camera. Here are 34 short videos with brief descriptions. Feel free to graze through them, or watch them all (they’re on my YouTube channel).

NOTE: I’ve signed up to include ads on some of my videos, including these ones of Japan. If you feel inclined to click on the ads that show up, I get a little bit of coin in return. If you want to get rid of them, just click the “x” in the upper right of each banner ad.

As I write blog posts, I’ll also embed these videos within them. So think of these vids as previews of some of the topics I’ll be covering.
Continue reading →

Minn. CBS affiliate WCCO airs erroneous report about Chinese shop selling dog meat; Asians ask for apology and retraction

By | | , , ,
Leave a comment

Last week an over-eager reporter for WCCO, the CBS affiliate in Minneapolis, aired a “gotcha” investigative piece about a local puppy mill that had apparently shipped dogs to a meat shop in New York City’s Chinatown, where the intrepid reporter, James Schugel, got a clerk to say on the record that they do indeed sell dog as food.

The only problem was, the clerk thought Schugel was saying “duck” (and anyone who’s been in any Chinatown knows there are lots and lots of ducks hanging in the windows of every butcher shop and restaurant), and duh, of course they sell duck. To be eaten.

No matter to Schugel, who heard what he wanted, and aired the report, which triggered a visit by health department officials who checked out the shop and decided there was not a hint of dog being sold.
Continue reading →

Watch the 2011 Colorado Dragon Boat Festival TV spot

By | | , , , , ,
Leave a comment

Many thanks to FOX 31 weekend anchor Deborah Takahara and reporter Chris Jose, as well as the FOX 31 crew and Dragonboat Race Association of Colorado (DRACO) members who manned the dragon boat for this shoot on a hot summer day!

My wife Erin is the executive director for the Colorado Dragon Boat Festival. We volunteered for the first seven years of the event starting in 2001, and she was hired last year. I’ll be the lead emcee at the Main Performing Arts Stage, and I’ll be Tweeting and Facebooking like crazy throughout the weekend. If you’re in Denver, come see how cool and diverse the Asian and Asian American communities are in this region! Sat.-Sun. July 30-31, Sloan’s Lake Park,

PBS series “Kimchi Chronicles” is a journey of food and identity to Korea

By | | ,
4 Comments

We’re addicted to the Food Network because we’re amateur foodies who believe deeply that food is the gateway for most people to learn about other cultures. I’m always amazed when I find people who are closed-minded about trying different types of cuisines, and I’ve always lived by the rule that if somewhere in the world, someone eats a dish, I’m willing to try it… at least once. Living by this rule, I’ve had some funky food, including insects, plants that you wouldn’t think are edible, slimy sea creatures that I’m not sure other sea creatures would eat, and animal parts that would probably make a PETA supporter faint.

We love all kinds of cuisines from around the world, and obscure indigenous specialties from around the U.S. One of our favorites is Korean cuisine. You can trace a lot of Japanese culture to China or Korea, including food. Yakiniku, grilled marinated thin-sliced beef, is Korean bulgogi (my favorite). Gyoza dumplings are either Chinese potstickers or Korean mandu. Kimchi is, well, it’s a purely Korean original: Pickled napa cabbage that’s deeply infused with hot chili pepper and briny salt. It’s a staple of Korean cuisine, an ubiquitous side dish, delicious and really healthy to boot. My mouth starts watering just thinking about it.

Erin and I even cooked up our own Soon Doobu Jjigae spicy tofu soup one night, and look forward to trying more Korean recipes.

Growing up in Japan, we had kimchi pretty regularly. My mom used to make it (she hardly cooks anything anymore) when I was a kid. Its pungent odor would fill the house and embarrass me once we moved to the states if my white high school buddies visited, but I even got my giant football player friend Bubba to try kimchi. Like some other Asian dishes, it doesn’t taste as stinky as it smells.

A new PBS series, “Kimchi Chronicles,” explores the richness of Korean food in a fascinating way that’s part-travelogue, part food program and part a journey about identity. The series has been rolling out in some markets, but here in Denver it premieres July 2 on Rocky Mountain PBS (Channel 12 in Denver)

What makes the show so intriguing to me is the star, Marja Vongerichten, who is wife of superstar New York chef Jean-Georges Vongerichten.
Continue reading →

Asian Americans eat unhealthy food and get supersized to fit in, shed their immigrant identity

By | | , ,
9 Comments

Quarter Pounder with Cheese: A Taste of American-style Heaven?Immigrants to the United States strive to gain the American dream…. and manage to gain American weight at the same time. It makes sense if you think about it: You want to fit in as a newcomer to the U.S., and you know the cliché, “when in Rome do as the Romans do” — you eat like people in Peoria or Poughkeepsie.

McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Fattburger, Inn-N-Out, White Castle…. and that’s just the burgers and fries. There’s pizza, shakes, funnel cakes, onion rings, fried chicken, tacos, burritos, hot dogs, brats, chips of all kinds and candy out the wazoo (though, to be honest, Asians eat a wider array of strange and wonderful candy than the typical American chocolate bar).

It’s not just the high-calorie, high carb, high-sugar diet of Americans, it’s that immigrants embrace this diet with gusto to prove their American-ness. According to an article on Futurity.org, “Immigrants get supersized in U.S.,” a study published in Psychological Science that compared Asian Americans with white college students found some facsinating data about their childhood food memories:
Continue reading →