Asian American Bakeries Mix Together Cultures to Create New Foods
2021-08-30
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1Sunday Bakeshop in Oakland, California, makes foods that mix American and Asian cultures.
2The restaurant makes foods that are cooked, or baked, in an oven.
3Many of them are sweet.
4For example, the shop sells something called a dim sum cookie.
5It looks like a sugar cookie but has sesame seeds on top and sweetened red beans inside.
6Dim sum is a word for Cantonese foods from southern China.
7The dim sum cookie is Elaine Lau's way of honoring her grandmother who would make a food that had a similar taste.
8Lau's restaurant also makes hojicha chocolate croissants and Chinese White Rabbit candy cookies.
9Those sweets would not be found in any bakery in Asia but are a mixture of Asian and Western foods.
10Lau said she speaks to Asian Americans and others at her store.
11She said: "We get a lot of comments where they're just like... 'Oh this took me back several years,' when they were growing up."
12She added that it is nice to create good memories and feelings with her pastries.
13Bakeries that combine the feeling of growing up Asian and American have been opening up more often in recent years.
14Traditional Asian ingredients are being mixed with European or American pastries into something new.
15The creations are a way for young Asian Americans to celebrate their identity.
16The experience of being an immigrant child in between two very different cultures is what brought about Third Culture Bakery, also in Oakland.
17Wenter Shyu and Sam Butarbutar started the bakery.
18One of their popular baked goods is a mochi muffin.
19It is influenced by Butarbutar's Indonesian background and is made with mochiko rice flour grown in California.
20The bakery also has two stores in Colorado and a second store in the San Francisco area is planned.
21The bakery sells goods like mochi brownies and butter mochi donuts.
22Mochi is a soft rice mixture used in some Japanese foods.
23Shyu said many non-Asian customers have never tasted some of the ingredients.
24"It's a lot of educating. Even when you educate and share where it comes from, people are judging it...It's also very rewarding because then you get to see their reaction trying this new thing they've never had in their life," he said.
25Rose Nguyen is a 34-year-old former medical worker.
26She opened Rose Ave Bakery in Washington, D.C., in March 2020.
27She makes sweets like strawberry lychee rose donuts, ube cake and matcha chocolate cookies.
28Nguyen was born in Rhode Island to Vietnamese immigrants.
29She said it sometimes hurt her feelings when her American friends thought her food from home was strange.
30So it feels good for her now to use tastes from Vietnamese cooking.
31"The business goes hand in hand with who I am," Nguyen said.
32Older, traditional Asian bakeries started out to make foods immigrants missed from their home country.
33The new bakeries celebrate Asian culture and are part of a natural progression, said Robert Ku.
34He is an Asian American studies professor at Binghamton University in New York state.
35He also wrote the book Dubious Gastronomy: The Cultural Politics of Eating Asian in the USA.
36Ku said the bakers are showing that their foods, which mix cultures, are just as American as apple pie.
37"It's sort of the artistic side of Asian American identity that's often ignored," Ku said.
38"They're instead really trying to fuse things together - create this mixture."
39I'm Dan Novak.
1Sunday Bakeshop in Oakland, California, makes foods that mix American and Asian cultures. 2The restaurant makes foods that are cooked, or baked, in an oven. Many of them are sweet. 3For example, the shop sells something called a dim sum cookie. It looks like a sugar cookie but has sesame seeds on top and sweetened red beans inside. Dim sum is a word for Cantonese foods from southern China. 4The dim sum cookie is Elaine Lau's way of honoring her grandmother who would make a food that had a similar taste. Lau's restaurant also makes hojicha chocolate croissants and Chinese White Rabbit candy cookies. Those sweets would not be found in any bakery in Asia but are a mixture of Asian and Western foods. 5Lau said she speaks to Asian Americans and others at her store. She said: "We get a lot of comments where they're just like... 'Oh this took me back several years,' when they were growing up." 6She added that it is nice to create good memories and feelings with her pastries. 7Bakeries that combine the feeling of growing up Asian and American have been opening up more often in recent years. Traditional Asian ingredients are being mixed with European or American pastries into something new. The creations are a way for young Asian Americans to celebrate their identity. 8The experience of being an immigrant child in between two very different cultures is what brought about Third Culture Bakery, also in Oakland. Wenter Shyu and Sam Butarbutar started the bakery. One of their popular baked goods is a mochi muffin. It is influenced by Butarbutar's Indonesian background and is made with mochiko rice flour grown in California. 9The bakery also has two stores in Colorado and a second store in the San Francisco area is planned. The bakery sells goods like mochi brownies and butter mochi donuts. Mochi is a soft rice mixture used in some Japanese foods. 10Shyu said many non-Asian customers have never tasted some of the ingredients. 11"It's a lot of educating. Even when you educate and share where it comes from, people are judging it...It's also very rewarding because then you get to see their reaction trying this new thing they've never had in their life," he said. 12Rose Nguyen is a 34-year-old former medical worker. She opened Rose Ave Bakery in Washington, D.C., in March 2020. She makes sweets like strawberry lychee rose donuts, ube cake and matcha chocolate cookies. 13Nguyen was born in Rhode Island to Vietnamese immigrants. She said it sometimes hurt her feelings when her American friends thought her food from home was strange. So it feels good for her now to use tastes from Vietnamese cooking. 14"The business goes hand in hand with who I am," Nguyen said. 15Older, traditional Asian bakeries started out to make foods immigrants missed from their home country. The new bakeries celebrate Asian culture and are part of a natural progression, said Robert Ku. He is an Asian American studies professor at Binghamton University in New York state. He also wrote the book Dubious Gastronomy: The Cultural Politics of Eating Asian in the USA. 16Ku said the bakers are showing that their foods, which mix cultures, are just as American as apple pie. 17"It's sort of the artistic side of Asian American identity that's often ignored," Ku said. "They're instead really trying to fuse things together - create this mixture." 18I'm Dan Novak. 19Terry Tang reported this story for The Associated Press. Dan Novak adapted it for VOA Learning English. Mario Ritter, Jr. was the editor. 20_______________________________________________ 21Words in This Story 22cookie - n. a sweet baked food that is usually small flat and round 23pastry - n. a baked good that is made from dough: a mixture of four and fat 24ingredients - n. (pl.) the materials used to make a food or dish 25customer - n. someone who buys goods or services from a business 26rewarding - adj. giving you a good feeling that you have done something valuable, important, etc. 27fuse - v. to join or combine (different things) together