Category Archives: japan & asia

How the Japanese fortune cookie became a Chinese food icon

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Jennifer 8. Lee at the Denver Press Club

We had dinner last night at the venerable Denver Press Club with Jennifer 8.Lee and learned about Chinese food. The dinner was Chinese takeout, of course, from a DU-area eatery called “Hong Kong Cafe.” It was pretty good. The dinner was organized by John Ensslin, president of the Colorado chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists.

The unfortunately small gathering was treated not only to good food and conversation, but a wonderful and entertaining presentation by Lee, a New York Times Metro reporter who has just published her first book, “The Fortune Cookie Chronicles,” which is a peek at the cross-cultural pollination that Americans think of as Chinese food.

First of all, change your idea of Chinese food. What most people in this country consider Chinese food is really Chinese American food. To underscore the point that Chinese food is more American than apple pie (as Lee asks, how often do Americans eat apple pie, and how often do they eat Chinese food?), the presentation begins with a startling fact: There are more Chinese restaurants in this country than McDonalds, Burger King, Wendy’s and Kentucky Fried Chicken combined. Continue reading →

Potions, powders and pills, oh boy

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I’ve been drinking something that tastes like dirt. I’ve also been drinking something else that tastes like weeds. Both are supposed to be good for me.

It’s an Asian thing — there’s a cultural fascination in with potions and powders and pills outside of “Western” medicine and healthcare. I don’t doubt that a lot of Eastern alternatives work, and not just acupuncture.

Some of it is that foreign countries simply have different medicines. I grew up taking Japanese pills called “Ru-Ru” (more or less pronounced that way) because my mom used it for everything from headaches to colds and fevers and just plain old feeling icky. She still buys bottles of it when she goes back to Japan. The pharmacist at her hometown drugstore recognizes her everytime she returns to stock up on Ru-Ru and other Japanese drugs.

Beyond pharmaceuticals, there are a lot of other health products marketed to Asians that might make non-Asians scratch their heads. Or just laugh. For instance, there’s a popular tea called “Diet Tea” that shows up in Asian grocery stores. We’ve tried it, and it helps people “diet” by serving as a powerful laxative. You’ll lose weight, all right. But it won’t be from managing what you eat.

Along these lines, I’ve been drinking up powders that were given to me: Aojiru and Ginseng Tea. Continue reading →

Strange flavor combos

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Glico caramels

In the U.S., snack food manufacturers in recent years have become creative, and come up with a variety of flavor combinations beyond the old barbecue-flavor potato chips or the nacho cheese flavored Doritos. Now you can get black pepper and olive oil Triscuits, or chili-lime flavored corn chips.

But American palates probably aren’t ready for some of the flavors that are available in Japan. Continue reading →

Say Ramen, Somebody!

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The world lost a food pioneer on January 5. Momofuku Ando, 97, the self-professed “Noodle King,” was the man who invented instant ramen — the low budget dining delicacy of college students everywhere.

Long before sushi, there was another and more profound Japanese food invasion in the United States. Since the mid-1970s, instant ramen has been bringing Asian culinary subtlety (OK, so it’s not exactly subtle) to young American palates for mere pennies a bowl.

Ramen may be an ubiquitous presence in US grocery stores today, but it was only introduced in America in 1972. It took several years and some marketing savvy — the inexpensive packages of fried and dried, boil and serve noodles didn’t catch on until they were sold in the soup aisle in the supermarket — before ramen caught on as a dorm room staple. Although ramen is a relatively young food in America, it has a long and distinguished history in Asia. Continue reading →

Go, Red Sox! Go, Daisuke! Go, Daigo!

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A friend of mine just got some nice news to finish out the year. Daigo Fujiwara is a Japanese-born journalist, graphic artist, Web dude and baseball fanatic who now lives in Boston and works for the Boston Globe and Boston.com as a graphic artist.

Yesterday, Boston.com announced that it had cut a content partnership with “an established Japanese baseball site” called Go-RedSox.com. It turns out the man behind that Japanese language Web site for the Sox is none other than Daigo Fujiwara. Continue reading →