9. An Expat's Guide to East Asian Cuisine (Foodies Take Flight)

In this episode, we'll look at East Asian cuisine with Kimberly Allen, who has taught and lived in China, Japan, Korea and Taiwan. She'll talk about foods she's enjoyed and provide tips on what to expect when visiting these countries.

This is the first episode of Foodies Take Flight, a series where Jess talks with world travelers, expats and citizens of countries outside of the United States about their global food experiences. Whether you have wanderlust and want to get inspiration for your next trip, or a homebody who just wants a mental vacation, Foodies Take Flight will take you up and away.

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Transcript

Jess: 0:14

Hi it's Jess and you're listening to another episode of The Flaky Foodie podcast The only show where the discussion is delicious and there's chatter to chew on. On today's episode, we'll start our first in a series: Foodies take Flight is your passport to global cuisine, we're going to talk with people from all over the world about food from all over the world. This week, we'll talk with Kimberly Allen, who's lived in Taiwan, China, Japan, and Korea. And so today she's going to talk all about East Asian food, you won't want to miss it stay tuned. Is all this talk of good food making you hungry, get fresh meals delivered via Instacart. They can have the meal delivered from the store to your door and as fast as 30 minutes with Priority delivery. And not only is it fast, but I have a special offer that makes it affordable as well. Free delivery on your first order of more than $10. Just click the link in my show notes or show description or go to www.theflakyfoodie.com/offers to take advantage of this very special discount. Hi, and welcome back. Today we have someone I've known ever since we were in grade school. But she has taught in countries around the world. And she's going to talk a little bit more about the food of those countries. So we have my friend Kim here today. Welcome to the show.

Kimberly A.: 2:14

Hello, nice to meet you guys.

Jess: 2:19

So tell me a little bit more about the countries that you've lived in or taught in.

Kimberly A.: 2:24

Alright, so first, after a while I was in university, I went over to China. So like the exchange did it. And I stayed there for I want to say about eight months and three months I was teaching. And then the rest of the months, I was just studying Chinese. And from there, I went over to Japan. And there I basically I was just learning Japanese. And then for a while I taught there as well. And then I came back to America and then left for Taiwan. And I say I've been in Taiwan for almost forever now. And then Korea as well. So I've just been all over East Asia, basically.

Jess: 2:57

So this is not the first time that I've interviewed Kim years ago, I interviewed her for a documentary about being into Asian culture. So let's talk a little bit more about how you kind of got into it to Asian languages being into the culture. How did that start? Oh, well,

Kimberly A.: 3:15

honestly, when I was younger, for some reason, I just really liked the cartoons, I think it was picking two pictures super cute, obviously. So like I just really liked like the animes and stuff. And then afterwards, like when I was in high school and university, I had a lot of Asian friends. So because of that I was like, you know, just like not even trying to but pick up the languages just by going to their houses and their parents usually didn't speak much English type of thing. So I would just end up like conversing with them. Even though I didn't know the language quite yet. And then later, I was just really immersed. It was just there.

Jess: 3:49

So from your first teaching position that was in China,

Kimberly A.: 3:52

my first teaching position was in China. Yeah, yeah.

Jess: 3:55

What was the biggest culture shock food wise, or were you so used to kind of eating? Was he beforehand that it wasn't too much of a shock? Or was there anything that just kind of fascinated you?

Kimberly A.: 4:05

So listen, I thought I was ready. Like I eaten so much Chinese food before I went to China like so much time. That's when I was like, Okay, this is gonna be easy. I know how to use my chopsticks. I'm ready. China is in its own ballpark for food. Like literally, I have never in my life gone anywhere. And like my body some days just like literally couldn't even keep down some of the stuff that they had. Oh, but yeah, it's interesting. But I remember the first week I was there. I went to a night market which is pretty famous in Asia, they're all over. But their night market had snakes and scorpions, like cockroaches and just like things that I couldn't even imagine eating I was it was very, very, very different. The super different.

Jess: 4:55

What was like the strangest thing that you tried? was strange to our American palate.

Kimberly A.: 5:00

Okay, so there's a food in China and Taiwan and it's called stinky tofu. And it's literally like super super super fermented tofu. That's been like aging in this really like terrible water for forever and then they'll cut it up and fry it and put it with a green onions or sometimes they boil it and put it with like like peppers and green onions. And literally the smells like the fried ones much better trust me that boiled what is that boy wonder if you want to cry I promise. Regardless of whichever one you choose, you can smell stinky tofu like two blocks away. That's how pungent it smells. It's strong.

Jess: 5:44

So what part of China was your first teaching gig in?

Kimberly A.: 5:48

I was in Tintin. It's like 40 minutes from Beijing. 30 minutes. If you take like the fast rail thing. It's yeah.

Jess: 5:55

So was there any any restaurants that you particularly love while you were at your first teaching gig?

Kimberly A.: 6:01

Yeah, when I was in tng, and honestly, there's two or three places I would frequent all the time. The first thing is hot pot. Like I feel like it's becoming more popular in the US. But when I was in the US, it wasn't super popular yet. But it's super cool, because you get like your own personal little bowl, and you can order your soup. And they literally just have like two pages of vegetables, tofu, meats, seafood, like everything that you can choose from. And it's super cheap. So there'll be like, Oh, do you want vegetables, that whole plate is like $1 for like a massive, obscene amount of vegetables. And you just literally put all these vegetables and fruits inside your own little pot and cook it. And it's literally the most amazing thing ever. I love it. Also, while I was there for some reason, there was a Korean restaurant that was really close to the university that I was studying and, and I was at like the Foreign Studies University in canteen. And when I was there, like there is just like, apparently there's a lot of Korean people that study that school. So somebody was just really smart, and opened a Korean restaurant nearby there. And it has the best food. And it's weird because you think in China and eating a lot of Chinese food. But outside of hotpot, because they have a problem with some of their oil, like some of their stuff isn't always clean, you can get sick easily. But you have to be very careful. Like they do this too. They're super careful about it. So because of that, like I ended up eating like a mix of foods, it wasn't just Chinese food.

Jess: 7:31

If someone's thinking about traveling to China, do you have like any eating tips?

Kimberly A.: 7:37

First thing I would say is ask the locals what they eat, because there's a lot of places where they're overcharge people because it's kind of like a tourist trap type thing. And then also, there's other places that have been known to maybe not be like the cleanest and they'll like make news and stuff, but you won't know because you obviously don't live there. But like if you ask any local people, they'll definitely take you to like the best spots obviously. Also, anywhere that you see, that looks kind of like the outside looks like kind of old ish, or if it's just like 30 years or 40 years definitely go there. They have really great food for sure.

Jess: 8:11

What's something that they didn't have that you kind of missed? Anything that you get homesick for food wise?

Kimberly A.: 8:17

Oh, I see. Okay, at that time, I was okay. But now since I've been out of the country for such a long time. Oh my gosh, now I just missed all southern foods like American food is so hard to find. And it's weird because if you tell the Taiwanese people this they'll tell you like no, we have McDonald's and KFC. I'm like that's that's not American food. Like I missed like just like simple things grits like peach cobbler. Like, anything with gravy gravy is not a thing here. Like there's so many flavors that I miss back home. And it's not here. You can't find it. It's just not a thing.

Jess: 8:53

You lived in Korea and Japan. How was the eating experience different in both of those countries.

Kimberly A.: 8:58

That's a real quick thing about Asia even they're all super close. They're very different. So in China, I feel like all the food is very, it's it's very oily and salty. And sometimes it can be spicy, depending on fears of South or if you're north. But when you go to Japan, like everything is very mild. There's no super strong flavors. And that's because they are very aware of smells and things like that. So like literally for them, they don't eat garlic, if they're going to work kind of thing and that lunchtime, they will eat things with garlic because they're scared like other people will smell it type thing or you'll get on the bus and somebody might so they won't even eat it. So all their food is very mild. Like it's delicious. But you don't leave there thinking like oh, that was a very like, you know, I taste a lot of soy sauce or I tasted a lot of pepper. You'll never say that. They don't have receiving food there. It's very like

Jess: 9:51

what's the difference with Korea?

Kimberly A.: 9:52

Korea is very strong. They have the strongest of all the flavors like they like they to be fair they have About five things that they put in almost every food and one of them was like go to John and it's a red pepper paste and it tastes amazing. It's a little bit spicy, but not really. But like you'll find that in most of their popular foods, if they don't have that, then it's soy sauce like a briefly sauce type thing, which is cool. They have a cooking soy sauce versus like a regular like Pitbull soy sauce. So you can actually taste the difference when you eat their food. And for me their food was one of the I like I love their food, like when you go over it just has so much flavor so much seasoning, like you can find fried foods, boiled foods, like anything you want. It's very versatile. So I just really like it.

Jess: 10:38

So what about Korea? Were there any particular restaurants there since you really enjoy the food there?

Kimberly A.: 10:45

Honestly, okay, so there is a place called culture cottage and it's like literally like the pepper house of the name of it. And it is amazing. And it basically when you go there, it's like Korean barbecue. But it's the meat key order once to all the vegetables and side dishes and like salads, everything is unlimited refill your drink as well. So you can literally almost eat forever at that restaurant like you leave so full like you need to rowhome typing places and raising. Also there's a place called just the key and it's a desktop copy is a rice cake. And so it's like a very spicy rice cake. But at this place, they have like different types. So you can if you don't like spicy food, you can get like a soy sauce flavored one. Or they'll give you like a chicken wad like just so many different options. This is really nice. And oh, the last place I would say you guys have to try hoshigaki It's Korean fried chicken and it's the best brand. It's like a brand from the south EA south eastern part of Korea, from GM Fernando and it has like really nice flavors. It's amazing.

Jess: 11:53

Okay, so Japan, what are your favorite restaurant recommendations for there?

Kimberly A.: 11:58

Okay, So Japan is special. Like for Japan, it's a they do more of mom and pop type things like there are chains but it's not common. That's just not their thing. So like I was in Fukuoka for a while I was also in Tokyo for a while so they have totally different foods like Osaka as well. But that said, if you enjoy sushi, you definitely have to get sushi there because like it's so fresh. You can like watch the chefs like preparing it. And it's very different from like American sushi. Like it's completely opposite. And the flavors are very different. And it's super unique. Also, you have to try sukiyaki it's like, vegetables with me, it's I feel like a lot of Asia, they usually care their meats very well, but they're vegetables. But this one is like a sweet chili sauce. And so it's super, like it's just really delicious. It's great. But I mean, ask for a name of a store. I can't give you one because I don't think I've ever been to the same store more than once. It's just not paying based.

Jess: 13:00

So what's in your lunchbox? You're a teacher. Do you have do you eat out for lunch? Do you pack your lunch? Do they have cafeterias there? How does that work?

Kimberly A.: 13:08

Okay, so in all of these countries when you teach because you're at school, obviously the students get lunch so teachers get lunch either at reduced rate or free. So like right now in Taiwan where I am. I eat the school lunch from Monday to Thursday, I skip Friday. Friday always a sweet they serve like a sweet seat but a sweet I'm not used to my food being sweet. I just I don't do that day. But the other days I really nice. So I eat with the vegetarian, I went the vegetarian section. And every day there'll be like some kind of starches or like a rice or noodle dish.

Jess: 13:43

So the whole I've started or they have a whole vegetarian section at the school.

Kimberly A.: 13:48

Yeah, yeah, there is a vegetarian versus regular menu. And every school has this in all of it. And it's normal. Because here there's a lot of people who are Buddhist, so they don't eat meat at all. But also, it's weird because they don't eat garlic, and they don't eat any strong flavors they want. So it's not the same vegetarian. It's American vegetarian, but it's still vegetarian, obviously. So that's where I eat because I don't eat pork or a lot of seafood. So I just can't go to the other side. Like sometimes I'll steal something from there, but usually not. I eat at the Vegetarian Side, and every day they give you some kind of starch like rice or noodle dish, and then you'll get some type of tofu. And you'll usually get some type of tofu skin. And you'll have two or three different vegetables like cooked vegetables, like maybe spinach, or a Thai or like different different vegetables they have here and they're usually local, like sweet potato leaves, that kind of thing. And then usually they'll have some kind of like either braised dish or fried dish to go with your meal and I'll see all the meals come with soups in Asia, all of them, but it's very it's very healthy, very tea. I think I pay like 15 a day to eat. It's really cheap. Yeah.

Jess: 15:05

What are some things that you cook at home? Do you do you cook at home a lot or are mostly eat out.

Kimberly A.: 15:12

I am half and half Taiwan, it's actually really weird. It's cheaper to eat out does it is to cook. So if you're going to cook, you have to actually like make a plan to cook it or else you'll just end up going out because it's very cheap. But when I'm picking it home, sometimes I'll make American or Korean food because, you know, obviously, I can't get it very easily around me. But also, when I'm at home, I will make Taiwanese food but it's not like a ton, just a few dishes that I really love, like my favorite intimate tea eggs. And it sounds really weird. But it's um, instead of having like a plain boiled egg, they take the egg and they put it in tea. It's like the water has like pee bags inside. And then also it has like a bunch of seasonings and like sardines. And it tastes like magical. It's just like a very upscale boiled egg. It's just so good.

Jess: 16:06

You have to send me the recipe for that. I'd be interested to try that.

Kimberly A.: 16:09

It's amazing. I'll definitely will bring you some Yes. Easier. I don't think you're gonna find these tea bags anywhere. But I got them because I buy them from the store now to make them so I will bring yourself

Jess: 16:24

so is it a tea that you drink? Or is it a tea that's specifically for making this boy egg?

Kimberly A.: 16:30

What technically it's just like an overly strong black tea that's inside of the bag. But when you buy this mix, the one that I usually use it also has like the sarnies the red pepper and like all the other stuff that goes into the tea bag. So it's usually it's called like way it's like a braised a brave sauce. But it's in a tea bag form. So it was just really convenient.

Jess: 16:56

Um, because I'm trying to imagine how it tastes and it's it's escaping me. So now I have to have it to see what it tastes

Kimberly A.: 17:04

like when you see the egg makes me a little bit suspicious because it's like, yeah, grout oxide is like an awkward color brown. So when you look at it, you're like, What are you and when you eat it, it tastes kind of salty. And it's like it has the flavor tea and like pepper in like Bailey's and like different, whatever seasonings inside. You could taste it but it's like, but it just tastes much better. Honestly,

Jess: 17:34

you know, I've never had pickled eggs, you know, which are popular here because they they're pink and it's throws me off like I'm like I know I'm thinking sweet in my head and that doesn't go with boiled eggs. And and then tried to imagine I was like this is gonna be sweet and I'm gonna I'm not gonna like it so I haven't tried it and I love pickles. Like I love you know, the big jumbo pickles that you can get at games and stuff here in Tallahassee in Quincy. And so I was just like, I've never tried to pickle it for that reason, but for some reason this ta Yeah. I feel

Kimberly A.: 18:10

you I feel you. I've also never had a pickled egg. I looked at it and it was like you said I was just like, What are you? Like, I've never had it and I feel really bad rather than 15 divided out to a good I haven't tried it. Okay, when I go home, I'm eating a pickled egg. That's just it.

Jess: 18:25

Yeah, well, I should I should. I should because I love I love what eggs It's like my favorite. Probably one of my favorite ways to eat eggs is either hard boiled or like over hearts because I just I'm not a I'm not a runny egg person. Yeah, neither. Like it's like a big moment here where you have like sandwiches and it has like the egg and you know it's supposed to crease the sauce for the sandwich but I'm just like I can't I can't get on board I'm trying because I'm like oh um you know score may try it but I just I can't

Kimberly A.: 18:59

I agree for me when I feel like the ready egg but I feel like the egg is like bleeding onto a sandwich and I'm just like no

Jess: 19:09

I have I really have one of the most unpopular opinions when it comes to eggs because everyone says like you cook your eggs to death because I'm just I don't I don't want any jiggle. I don't want any i i just wanted to know that it's cooked all the way through.

Kimberly A.: 19:25

Well then, I guess for you to pee I boil for hours. It's like it doesn't

Jess: 19:33

but I'm like oh, it's got the spices kind of it's been it's been cooked and marinated in some seasonings. That sounds really good. So yes, tea eggs. I have to try it. So you talked a lot about Japan's lunches. What are the school lunches like in Korea in China?

Kimberly A.: 19:51

Ah okay so Korea it's also very similar. Korea their their lunches always have a side of country they have so many Different types of kinky, but in America, we only have like the lettuce form normally, but like over there, they would change it. So they'd have like kimchi, which is like freshly made kimchi, so it hasn't aged at all. It's just like very bitdegree a very season. And then other days, they'll have like, the ones that we have normally back in America, but every day, there's always always a different type of kimchi, like for the week. And along with that, you always have rice you always have seen, and their biggest thing is they're doing fancy gear, which is like miso soup, only earthier, it's like a very deep taste being Lisa. And then there, they unfortunately don't have a vegetarian menu. But what they do have is usually on Fridays, at my school, at least some schools, it'll be completely vegetarian. They're not vegetarian or vegan. It's completely vegan. Oh. Okay. It's hilarious, because like Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, you'll have like piles of meat. And then like on Friday, it's like, no, not even an egg. Nothing. Like very contract. Like, it's amazing. But um, that said, like, if you are vegetarian, they're because of the way that they normally cook. Most of most of their Vegetarian Side dishes have no meat anyway. So they always give you at least three or four sides. And then there will be one dish that will have some type of meat, and whatever it is, it's going to have piles of meat audit, because that's going to be the only district meet. And so that's that's normally how they do their lunches. But it all of these countries, you don't get any kind of drinks, they they give you the soup as a drink. So you never have any water you don't have, like you can bring your own, but it's not fair with it. So that's very different to me.

Jess: 21:48

Okay, what about China,

Kimberly A.: 21:50

China? Well, the first one I was telling you about was Taiwan. And when I was in China, I didn't have school, it still I don't actually know about China, but I'm guessing it would be similar, but I'm not sure. But as for Japan, I would say Japan is very similar to Taiwan and Korea only, like I said they don't have the it reminds me more of the vegetarian dishes in Taiwan, I guess. But they won't cook with garlic. And usually their food is just like, it's very nice, but it's it's very mild flavor. So normally you have like a miso soup. And then you'd have your rice. And then along with that you'd have a couple of vegetables. But usually they're like bean sprouts or like something just very simple. They like simplicity there. And then for your actual lunch, you'd have like, maybe like a cutlet or like just like little everything is just nice and simple. It's a really nice, very clean flavor. It's it's really it's great, honestly.

Jess: 22:49

So if you're back home, and you're about to cook and you want something that kind of reminds you of time in China, time in Korea, or time in Taiwan, what are some ingredients that you will go to the grocery store and try to find,

Kimberly A.: 23:04

okay, first I went even when I was back home, if I really wanted to make a dish like this, I'd go to the Asian grocery stores and there's like a couple of them and Tallahassee. So like if I wanted to make Chinese food, I would go to the one off the capital circle. And that one is it's very China and Japan based. And so if you go in there like they literally have aisles and aisles of all seasonings that you need that said that you can't get everything but there's like a good mix of stuff you can get. So I used to go there and I would get like the different types of rice because the rice over here and the rice back home are not the same at all. So I get a different type of rice and I usually like get glutinous rice flour to add to like my soups or to make like mochi, things like that. Or also I get like the teriyaki sauces or like the different Browning sauces that go to John you can buy all of that there. But if you want to make Korean inspired dishes, at least it used to be I haven't been back for a long time. So this might be like false news. But across the street from like TCC intersection. There is a Korean market and there used to be a Korean barbecue there. And like the people that are there, they're like straight from Korea like I actually went over to Korea the same time the daughter did. And so it was a lot of fun. And there you can buy all the Korean food or if you just want to actually just try the Korean food yourself. They serve it they're like they cook it for you. You can order it and eat it there. It's amazing.

Jess: 24:33

That is awesome. Very into snack foods with whenever I travel. I try to grab like some local snacks like when I was in Costa Rica. I will get like the plantain chips that were made in a factory in Costa Rica. In Canada, they have the ketchup chips which are amazing snack foods like chips and crackers or something like that that you keep on hand or something that you tried was like this is absolutely amazing. I will put a million of these in my suitcase if I'm ever bad. Yeah.

Kimberly A.: 25:10

Yeah. Okay, like if I were to move right now from Taiwan to go back home, my suitcase would have to be full of Sun cake. It would it it's I don't even know what's in a sudden cake, but it's like a pastry and inside the pastry, they have like a jam. It's not very sweet. It's actually very mild. But it's like crack like once you eat it, you can't not eat it. I don't know. It's actually a very good question now that I'm big it's absolutely amazing. So I'd have to get like 80 of those and then like honestly, I this I hate pineapple cake which is sad. That's their main thing here is pineapple cake but I am not a fan. I'm just not a pineapple person. But the one thing that they really have here that I enjoy is the bubble teas. That kind of stuff. So they actually

Jess: 26:07

yeah, I'm full on obsessed I'm sure it's probably completely different over there but I remember we got our first one and I was just like, Man this is I wish this was everywhere and I even got like kits to me I make it at home occasionally. Oh wow. Yeah, I'm really upset so I'm glad you said bubble tea. So what are some other snacks?

Kimberly A.: 26:29

Yeah, I was gonna say the cool thing about bubble tea is they actually have all the stuff dehydrated and they have like the really nice milk tea powders and everything so I get a ton of those those are it's just like spot on like you can recreate that at home it tastes like a store and it's super cheap. Which that's the thing about America bubble tea is how much did you pay for a bubble tea do you remember

Jess: 26:50

is probably about the same price that you pay for like a smoothie so like like three $4

Kimberly A.: 26:57

here if you want like a large diamond like a pretty large thing a bubble tea is like $1 plane ticket but once you factor in that plane it might not be worth it but

Jess: 27:18

I'm seriously considering it like i It's the place near where I work called Jays Asian street food and I eat there so much to people No. I casually I walked in and got my order and the guy in the pack just passed by very casually it was like hey, just go how's it going I get bubble tea and like the spicy rice cakes. They have those skewer and I don't know if they have it like that over there. But most of the time when I see pictures of it it's in a sauce but there's it's kind of like dry, grilled or guess or fried. And it has like spices on it. And it's very pricey. You can

Kimberly A.: 27:59

get that in Korea like I honestly where I am Taiwan, they don't do it justice. But if you go over to Korea, they have like he said the one that you're talking about. It's called Ducati, and it's like on a steak and it's grilled. And then they spread like their go to Jonk sauce on top of it. And then they like sprinkle like different it's really great. But usually when you see the cookie in a sauce, it's usually like inside of all the spicy sauce because you usually buy other things to go with it. And they expect you to dip the other stuff into the sauce. So like, they'll serve you like fried vegetables and you do the vegetables into that fast to eat it with so but everything just has the taste of the go to dog. And it's like nice and sweet and spicy. It's great.

Jess: 28:45

That's delicious. Yeah. I'm gonna start Googling flights. At least for the dollar bow. Bubble Tea.

Kimberly A.: 28:55

Yeah, listen, come over here. You got the bubble tea and you have the eggs it might actually break off even once you consider that plane ticket and the two weeks of quarantine.

Jess: 29:06

Think about that. You know Florida people treat COVID like it's not things

Kimberly A.: 29:13

Oh, wow. No, like Taiwan is very strict. We had we, I don't think anyone has been getting in like, unless if you are at or if you have like already have a work visa. You can't get in here. And it's been that way for two years. And like everyone still have to wear a mask every day. Like we have all the vaccine mandates in place. Like every day, it'll be like there's four cases of COVID inside of Taiwan or five cases they're very strict about it. But

Jess: 29:42

here is like you walk into a place and people look at you weird if you have a mask

Kimberly A.: 29:49

you know I'm looking forward to July now I'm gonna have all the stairs.

Jess: 29:54

Well, no, I'm wearing my mask. Okay, okay. Oh, potlucks up So you've gone over other's houses or eaten in other people's homes. Are there any, like customs that are different, especially in Japan and China and Korea? Okay,

Kimberly A.: 30:10

so that is actually a great question you would think so but no, okay, listen. And Korea, it's very rare for you to get invited, like you would have to be that person's best friend for them to invite you in their house. Because here, the culture is these lots of like, seven elevens convenient stores that sell all the foods, or there's lots of restaurants or tons of coffee shops. So normally, you just meet all your friends outside, it's very rare for people to actually come to your house or eat food at your house, like you literally have to make a point and tell them multiple times, like I'm making this, you'll be there. So like, when I was in Korea, I had about maybe six friends and we would actually go to each other's houses. But outside of that these are Korean people. But outside of that only, I can only go to foreigners houses like that, like nobody else in Korea that's just wasn't a thing, and they'd be uncomfortable with it even. So, as far as potlucks go, I would say I mainly only had potlucks in Japan. And in Japan, it's it's really cool. But when you go over to their houses for potluck, they expect you to find something that goes with the main dish, but you don't know what the main dish is. That sounds like a giant surprise party. Oh. So you get there and they will have made whatever food and they were very good. They're like asking you what you eat what you don't eat. Like they they make sure that they have everything separate out. They very, very considerate like that, but they never tell you what they're making. So like usually, the safe bet is to buy like some drinks or to buy like, you know, a cake or something that's just like nice. It's some kind of some kind of dessert. But like if you try to buy food, you're probably going to clash because usually they make almost everything to go with the meal. And they're only expecting you to bring that drink or dessert. I remember when I hosted my first potluck, I was not aware of this. So I invited my Japanese friends over and I was the only one with food. Obviously there wasn't. So I ended up having to order out I was so embarrassed. There was six of them. So I think I had like three things and drinks like two cakes I had like what like they bought a lot of really nice thing, but none of it was so just a different culture that within that all together. It's interesting

Jess: 32:39

sauces. You kind of mentioned that go to Chang sauce. So are they any other in the sweet kind of sweet different soy sauces? Are they any other kind of sauces that you use for your food like condiments is what I'm asking.

Kimberly A.: 32:52

Okay, so here it's like soy sauce is always the usually the main ingredient throughout Asia, like everything has some kind of soy sauce. And when you like it's not like America, like I remember when I go into America they have like, was it one and they'll have like maybe like three different types. But over here they're there soy sauce section is kind of like our drinks section. It like takes up the entire aisle and they're

Jess: 33:18

like cereal like this, you know, cereals the whole

Kimberly A.: 33:20

There you go. Yeah, it's like the cereal section, it's cereal section of soy. And when you first get over, you'll be very confused because it'll be like, ah, soy sauce, cooking soy sauce, vinegar, soy sauce. Like all the soy sauces are different. There's just like, tons of it. Tons. And so that's the main thing for all of them outside of that, like there's a seasoning called Shi T which is like a Japanese it's like a seven mix of spices. So I know there's pepper in there I know there's garlic and it's just like it's basically just like a seasoning like an oil like if you think of all spice this is their version of all spice and most places will have that also you have your missile and you have your wind song which in America I feel like the we hear Misa we think of soup but they actually use it to cook with a lot so

Jess: 34:15

I use it missile to make like vegan cheese sauces because it kind of adds that kind of tag that you need.

Kimberly A.: 34:21

Yeah, yeah, exactly. They you can boost that they'll be like like umami but see what else do they normally use over here? Honestly their food isn't like super super super diversified because what they end up doing is when they make a dish they'll use a certain seasoning for that dish. But as far as like common seasonings you see in houses I think that's almost about it. And then you always have like your fresh ginger, your fresh vegetables, because they're not like the US like you don't go grocery shopping once a week here they go grocery shopping like every day. They just like always have like all these fresh like gingers fresh onions, fresh garlic Fresh thyme, parsley, cilantro, like things like that. So along with that along with those sauces that's normally what things are made of. Usually, ah, in sesame dressing I almost forgot they use Sesame Street dressing or manners and a lot of their dressing. So if you have any kind of salad it'll have a like sesame dressing or there'll be a manny space like mayonnaise and ketchup, salad dressing or mustard and mayonnaise and salad dressing which sounds really weird and it's because it is but that's what they put on the top of all three very different

Jess: 35:35

you know, being from the south you know, you have something with a whole lot of mayonnaise and it's like accepted in potato salad.

Kimberly A.: 35:44

But no, I'm talking about this is literally on like leafy vegetable

Jess: 35:48

salad. Oh, that's a little different.

Kimberly A.: 35:51

Like if they made like an egg salad. Sure. I wouldn't even look at it, but it's literally like iceberg lettuce with ketchup and mayonnaise mixed together on top like you're dressing.

Jess: 36:02

Oh, wow. So okay, so that's like, you know, the Midwest that's fry sauce they have I think is the Midwest and like Upper East Coast I think is where they have fry sauce. I might be wrong. When ketchup and mayonnaise mix together. So just that on top of a salad and no french fries in sight. That's very different.

Kimberly A.: 36:22

Yeah, no french fries in sight and half the time them change your lettuce for cabbage. So it'll just be on top of rock cabbage. So

Jess: 36:30

I'm a big fan of cabbage salads. I prefer that over lettuce.

Kimberly A.: 36:34

I still prefer spinach. But if I had to choose between lettuce and cabbage, I choose the cabbage because it has like a crispy like it keeps us crispy nuts. Yeah, so yeah.

Jess: 36:45

Okay, if people like wants to kind of follow you and once you eat, are you comfortable giving your socials or no

Kimberly A.: 36:52

I am you can find me on Instagram. But that is a wonderful question because I don't know it. I think it's Can you provide one fix. And you can find me on Instagram and I'm always posting like, not in my actual pictures. But on my life like the story he I always post food like there's nothing but food every day. If you're interested in food, that's definitely the place to go because I either eat out a lot, or I'll be cooking and do strictures all the time.

Jess: 37:19

Okay, I don't go in the stories because I'm very, I'm a lurker. So I'm like, I don't want to be taken out your story. That some of the food that she's describing today, I'm just like, I need to see, I need to try to figure out how to cook some of it. So amazing.

Kimberly A.: 37:39

Yeah, we're gonna say it was so nice chatting with you. And this was like so much fun. I really enjoy this. Thank you so much.

Jess: 37:46

Thank you for being a part of it. I really appreciate it. For those of you listening. Thank you as well. Thank you for coming aboard the foodies take flight aircraft today. We hope that you enjoyed our tour guy cam and all of the wonderful knowledge that she shared about food from East Asia. If you enjoy this first installment of the series, treat it like gossip or the gospel and tell somebody about it. Make sure your ears are here and your face is in the place next week as we take flight again. This time we're going to talk with galavanting wellness. She is a social media travel guru. She's been to a double digit amount of countries and she's also vegan so she has some great tips on how to eat vegan and what countries have been very vegan friendly to her. Check it out next week. But until then, eat something delicious and have an amazing week.