THE CHINA YEARS
My life was changed by one Chinese family and their relationship with food – the simple joy that can come from the process of cooking with and feeding the people in your life.
As a college exchange student, I lived with the close-knit Zhang family near the Beijing zoo. My free time was spent with Zhang Baba, Nalu (a woman I came to view as my Chinese mother) and her daughter, Zhang Na, crammed into a tiny kitchen cooking together, working seamlessly like a well-seasoned team. Nalu taught me to grind pork with a cleaver and how to make potstickers from scratch. She also taught me to make Chinese Borscht, a heart-warming cabbage and tomato soup, (which I fell in love with instantly) and one of my original dish inspirations for starting The Ginger Pig. Nalu took me to a Chinese market and helped me pick out a wok and cleaver to bring back to the States. She lit a fire under my wok (and me) and showed me how much flavor is possible with simple, fresh ingredients.
This family became a part of my life, and over the years, I returned to China several times to both celebrate with them as well as help them through a health crisis. It was during my third trip to China that my palate really began to develop. I was 21 years old, backpacking, and eating street food throughout Asia. As I traveled, I immersed myself fully in the complex flavors of Tokyo, Hong Kong, Beijing, Shanghai, Kunming, Manila, Singapore, Kuala Lumpur, Bangkok, Chiang Mai, and New Delhi. All of these places inform and inspire the food we make.