What are the PEAK FOOD EXPERIENCES that you will be forever chasing? Like that thing you ate growing up that if you could taste it today would make you CRY. The kids call them “core memories.” COMMENT BELOW ON THIS THREAD. What’s the food and why is it so special?
For me they’re the foods I ate spending my summers in Taiwan, and the food my mom made at home to give us a taste of Taiwan because we grew up away from the Los Angeles Taiwanese hub of the San Gabriel Valley.
The first time I visited Taiwan as an adult, my Uncle picked me up from the airport and the first thing I was greeted with when we got to his house was my Aunt handing me an entire plate of cut up TROPICAL FRUITS 🥭🍍🍏🥥🫐. I couldn’t let them see me but I CRIED 😭😭😭 I was so happy. Wax apples, star fruit, passion fruit, mango. All on one plate. Tears of joy.
And just last week I tried to bake (for the first time!) this sweet fluffy bread my mom made for us growing up: 奶酥麵包 / Nai3 Su1 Mian4 Bao1 (or roughly translated as Milk Crisp Bread). I cobbled together a couple of milk bread and Chinese language recipes for 奶酥麵包.
side note: if someone knows what this is called in English please let me know!
She made it as a loaf of three braids (kinda how challah bread looks) but each braid was filled with a crunchy buttery crumble of butter, sugar and milk powder.
failed 奶酥麵包: this is how mine turned out. ima put out a video next week showing you how i did it.
It did NOT taste like what mom made. It was okay but the bread was not as springy and moist and the filling melted into the dough. Oh wells.
My mom used a recipe from the newspaper but I can barely understand it, even with Google translate. She sent it to me after my failed attempt. See below for yourself.
Ima need my mom to walk me through this. I will try this again and again until I get it right!
YOUR TURN: Comment below. Share your core food memories you will forever chase and whyyyy.
Last year a lovely green apple showed up in my farm box delivery. As I bit in, I was overwhelmed with nostalgia—I could taste the apples that grew on the trees at my childhood home. I tracked down the Oregon grower and discovered that I could also buy their Calville apples at Bristol Farms. I also get nostalgic when rhubarb hits the farmers market. The produce that grew abundantly in the yard is now sold in bougie markets at prices my dad would shake his head at.
I was just talking to my mom about my Grandma's potato salad. We've tried, we even watched her make it when I was younger before she passed away but it's always "almost" right. It's those imperceptible things we do when making something thats so hard to pinpoint. Maybe it was that my Grandma knew the moment the potatoes were cool enough but warm enough to add everything in making for a super savory delight. I don't know but Ill keep trying to make/recreate that first bite delight until its just right. Novice baker thoughts on the bread, I wonder if the type of flour your mom used is different enough that something is not allowing the bread to be as fluffy as you remember. If it's a yeast bread, maybe more proofing time to get that airy feel into the dough possibly bread flour might help. I want you to have that Floofy bread !
I could probably chase this some day. Opening a ramune at around 4pm while watching a another episode of anime with my sisters, as the day wastes away and the grey sky outside provides insufficient light.
Every time I go back home to Buffalo, I have to visit Ted’s Hot Dogs for a charbroiled footlong with Ted’s sweet hot sauce and a side of fries covered in malt vinegar. I’ve even bought the brand of hot dogs Ted’s uses and had them shipped across the country to cook at home. I’m a little obsessed, but I’ve had so many great memories going to Ted’s with friends and family, some of whom are no longer with us.
Last year a lovely green apple showed up in my farm box delivery. As I bit in, I was overwhelmed with nostalgia—I could taste the apples that grew on the trees at my childhood home. I tracked down the Oregon grower and discovered that I could also buy their Calville apples at Bristol Farms. I also get nostalgic when rhubarb hits the farmers market. The produce that grew abundantly in the yard is now sold in bougie markets at prices my dad would shake his head at.
my mama's Hong2 Shao1 Rou4 (she passed away) <3
I was just talking to my mom about my Grandma's potato salad. We've tried, we even watched her make it when I was younger before she passed away but it's always "almost" right. It's those imperceptible things we do when making something thats so hard to pinpoint. Maybe it was that my Grandma knew the moment the potatoes were cool enough but warm enough to add everything in making for a super savory delight. I don't know but Ill keep trying to make/recreate that first bite delight until its just right. Novice baker thoughts on the bread, I wonder if the type of flour your mom used is different enough that something is not allowing the bread to be as fluffy as you remember. If it's a yeast bread, maybe more proofing time to get that airy feel into the dough possibly bread flour might help. I want you to have that Floofy bread !
I could probably chase this some day. Opening a ramune at around 4pm while watching a another episode of anime with my sisters, as the day wastes away and the grey sky outside provides insufficient light.
Every time I go back home to Buffalo, I have to visit Ted’s Hot Dogs for a charbroiled footlong with Ted’s sweet hot sauce and a side of fries covered in malt vinegar. I’ve even bought the brand of hot dogs Ted’s uses and had them shipped across the country to cook at home. I’m a little obsessed, but I’ve had so many great memories going to Ted’s with friends and family, some of whom are no longer with us.