Worst Quality Crab

Episode 7: Big Fat Rice Noodle Roll with Crystal Chin

We’re biased but this is an especially fun one for us! We’re talking to loooong time friend of the show, designer Crystal Chin, about her mom’s Big Fat Rice Noodle Roll (official, technical title). We talk about growing up ethnically Chinese and culturally more Burmese, translating being a maker of things into cooking, and how crucial (and time consuming!) the seemingly insignificant pantry staples are to making certain dishes successful and more accessible. 

Plus, finding forgiveness in food as a love language, Freesia having her mind blown about the things she could potentially learn to cook and stop ordering out for, and Sam lays down a Best Cousin cooking gauntlet. We told you it’s fun! Get the recipe!

Episode 6: Spaghetti and Meatballs with Melanie Pochat

Mangia! This episode we’re talking with stylist and SAHM Melanie Pochat of Matre Style about her mom’s spaghetti and meatballs. We talk about what it’s like having two parents who were avid cooks, and what it’s like growing up in a place where being Italian is nearly as “exotic” as being Chinese, let alone being both! We get into overcoming diet culture, the pressures of exposing kids to a variety of foods and flavors, and finding out that spaghetti sauce can come from the grocery store.

 

To get this classic recipe and try it out for yourself, find it at worstqualitycrab.com

Episode 5: Vegetarian Moussaka with Freesia Lee

It’s a switcheroo this time as Freesia gets a taste of her own medicine when she scoots into the hot seat and Sam grills her on vegetarian moussaka. It’s a distinctly non-Asian dish and with it’s many components and steps, it’s a diversion from quick weeknight dish. We talk about growing up vegan in the 80s and 90s, a cost-benefit analysis of improvising on special nostalgic recipes, and the unfair maligning of tofu.

Episode 4: Ham-BUR-Gah! with Angela and Samson Lee

In this very special episode we keep it in the family! We’re talking to Sam’s sister Angela about her childhood dinnertime lifeline, Ham-BUR-gah! (IYKYK) and what it’s like to grow up and cook as an adult in the shadow of a prolific homecook. We talk about cooking for kids and wonder whether dinnertime traditions are continuing a legacy or perpetuating guilt. But in a fun way. Plus a shocking-ish revelation about Sam & Angela’s mom! 

Episode 3: Mom’s Chicken with Deanna and Rob Ulrich

We’re talking to our friends Deanna and Rob, about being bi-racial in very white Virginia in the 90s, and what it’s like growing up in the same house, eating the same foods, but having different takes on the same experiences. They tell us about Mom’s Chicken, a kind of freestyle dish that was a hit as kids and is still requested on visits home. We talk identity, after school nostalgia, and the ever-changing experience of being mixed and Asian in an evolving society.