![]() ![]() Out would come the giant silver wok, the wooden chopsticks, the flowered rice cooker. Our kitchen table proudly boasted my grandma’s hand-folded wontons, chicken marinated in soy sauce, and sticky rice. But I would always eagerly await the end of the meal, which promised two things: the gifting of cash-filled red envelopes, and dessert. The sponge cake was always a favorite of mine soft, pillowy, and lightly sweetened. Rather than being baked, this cake was steamed, which lent it a nice fluffy texture. I would help my mom beat the egg whites into glossy peaks until my arms got tired, and sometimes she would let me add the tiny red dot of food coloring in the middle for good luck. When I was nine, I carefully wrote a baker’s note in blue gel pen on the worn recipe card she kept in her little wooden box. I loved lifting the lid on the bamboo steamer and seeing the perfectly domed cake nestled in wax paper, releasing a fragrant, almond-scented cloud into the air.įlour. My mom and I have always loved this about this cake, that its components are familiar, but it still somehow has a distinct Chinese flavor.Īll things that most people keep in their kitchens, staples of an ordinary American life. I proudly carried it to every elementary school potluck, and once requested it in lieu of a traditional birthday cake. I have yet to find one person, Chinese or not, that doesn’t love it. It sounds silly but this cake, like the tiny jade pendant I wear around my neck, makes me feel a little bit more connected to my roots. ![]() ![]() In fact, it was the absence of Chinese influence in our home that fed my curiosity about our family history and my appreciation of the small cultural consolations we kept.Īnd while my upbringing was, for the most part, American as apple pie, this cake is the perfect representation of who I am-made with American ingredients, but Chinese at heart.Search Search for: Archives Archives Recent Posts I was never ashamed of my heritage I was always Chinese-American, never one or the other. Play tackles Israeli/Palestinian conflict.Community milestones … awards, honours, weddings, releases.While hamantashen are one of the most known Ashkenazi treats, many other foods are associated with Purim. In the Book of Esther, all we are told is that letters were sent to the Jews in the provinces, telling them to have days of feasting and gladness. Fourth-century scholar Rava interpreted this to mean a seudat Purim, a meal in the late afternoon, to differentiate Purim from other days. ![]()
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