Worst Quality Crab

Announcement - LIVE EVENT - May 21st in San Francisco

In celebration of AANHPI Heritage Month, we’re collaborating with our public radio friends at KALW to put on a live recording this Thursday, 5/21 7pm. Joining us for this special event is Bonnie Tsui, journalist and author of On Muscle, Why We Swim, and American Chinatown. Bonnie will share stories of growing up in Long Island, her grandfather working in a fortune cookie factory, and how it led her to write American Chinatown. Plus how it led her to become a consultant on Netflix’s “Interior Chinatown.’

Come hang out, hear Bonnie’s stories, and snack on fortune cookies and other yums with us! Totally free but register (and make a donation to KAWL if you’re able to keep public media alive) so we know how many snacks to over order!

This live event is the culmination of a week of Bay Made features! You can hear us Monday 5/18 through Thursday 5/21 on KAWL at 11:30am. Hear some really great past episodes with guests Chef Kathy Fang, Jeff Chang, Soleil Ho, and Chef Laurence Louie. Listen live (stream: KALW.org / radio: 91.7 FM in the Bay Area) if for nothing else than the novelty of it!

Episode 58: Malaysian Curry Chicken with Cassandra Lam

Ahead of Mother’s Day we’re talking to Cassandra Lam of Mama Lam’s about her own mama’s Malaysian curry chicken that she ate almost weekly growing up.

Her mom missed Malaysian flavors so much that she perfected her curry paste, plus a few others, and Mama Lam’s was born. We talk with Cassandra about growing up with a Malaysian mom, Cantonese dad, and as a New Yorker, making the leap from marketing to a small food business, and her OG food pop-ups. And of course, we spend time talking about Mama Lam herself. She’s not a regular Tiger Mom, she’s a chill Tiger Mom.

Plus Cassandra talks us through the other Mama Lam’s products and gives us great tips on what to make with them. Not even sponsored at all. We just love this curry paste and can attest to how good this curry chicken is!!

Episode 57: Ma's Asian Beef Stew with Ingrid Hu Dahl

We’re back with more beef stew and we couldn’t be more delighted to have guest Ingrid Hu Dahl share her very special Taiwanese American recipe with us. 

Author of Sun Shining On Morning Sun, Ingrid tells us about her mom’s recipe, the ways in which this classic beef noodle soup became a beef stew, and what it was like growing up the hapa child of a Taiwanese immigrant mom and Scandinavian American dad in 1980s central New Jersey. 

Plus, what it was like growing up with a mom who was at the forefront of AI (yay? eek?), summers in Taiwan, becoming courageously bold and boldly courageous, and the magical mysteries beheld behind kitchen doors. 

Episode 56: March Madness of Asian Dishes - with InfatuAsian Podcast Live at On Waverly in San Francisco

The madness is back!!! We partnered again with our podcast cousin InfatuAsian and bookshop home On Waverly on our second annual March Madness of Asian Cuisine! This year we went with pan-Asian bangers in a round of 16 that was far, far from inclusive, but so much fun! 

This year we kicked it up a notch with bites and prizes from new and old friends:

Apisol with refreshing honey seltzers, Mama Lam's yummy Malaysian sauces, Lunar Bakery with some delicious baked tarts, Lulu's Asian Kitchen with some of their just-released frozen dumplings, and HEYDOH with their small batch soy sauces. 

With special guests:

Hannah Chea (Miss SF Chinatown 2025) and Adonis (Food recommender and culture keeper).

Listen in to see if your favorites made the top 16, how egregious our audience may or may not have been with their votes, and what Asian favorite went all the way! 

Episode 55: Bolo Bao with Laurence Louie

We’re absolutely freaking delighted to be joined by Laurence Louie, chef/owner of Rubato and current Top Chef contestant. 

We talk with Laurence about his beloved Chinese bakery staple bolo bao, how it shaped his culinary career, and its place on his current modern Chinese American menu. 

Plus, growing up around his mom’s canto rock band, his journey from AAPI activist to hand-pulled noodle apprentice, and of course, representing the culture on Top Chef.

The lightest of spoilers for the first couple of episodes of season 23 of Top Chef, so listen with caution, but also go catch up immediately.