My first cookbook, FIRST GENERATION, will be published by Ten Speed Press and debut next year in Fall 2022. Sign up for exclusive updates and recipes from the cookbook and more.
About the book
I wanted to write this book to celebrate the first-generation Asian American experience. To reflect on an identity that exists in the in-between, that feeling I've always had of being culturally American yet not white enough, and too American to never feel quite comfortable enough in my Taiwanese skin and roots. Food has been at the heart of me discovering both deep shame and overflowing pride as I've grown up navigating my identity.
From the midwest rite of passage that is bringing pork dumplings to the hormonal pressure cooker grade school cafeteria to the drives south where the aromas of freshly steamed bao and smoky Memphis barbecue wafted effortlessly next to each other at my grandma's kitchen table in Tennessee. This cookbook is a celebration of what it means to grow up as a first-generation immigrant in America, told through the lens of my family’s Taiwanese American kitchen and their perseverance to not only adapt but thrive through food. Immigrants and their stories are the heart of America and are what make our country thrive. This is just one those stories and I can't wait to share it with you.
