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Episode 36: Banh Khot with Soleil Ho

On this episode we are delighted to have all-around-knowledgeable-and-thoughtful-food-person, former SF Chronicle food critic, current columnist, and cookbook author Soleil Ho! They talk about the dish bahn khot, and eating it fresh off the griddle while their grandmother kept slinging it out, short order cook-style for many, many grandchildren, and why it’s so hard to find a good one outside of Vietnam.

We talk about Soleil’s journey from a baby gourmand to full-blown professional gourmand, a possible time-travel moment, and braising lamb on a campus full of vegans. 

Plus cookbooks that are more than instruction manuals, life after being a restaurant critic, and the pleasing excess of the Rancho Gordo Bean club.

Bonus: listen for three Vietnamese restaurant recommendations!

Bonus-bonus: listen until the end for our impromptu Robocop pod!! 🤖

Episode 35: Leen Goh with Amy Wong of Batch 22 Bakery

This episode we’re joined by cookie maker extraordinaire Amy Wong of Batch 22 Bakery. Lunar New Year might be a little behind us for the year but Amy’s dish, leen goh, is so classic and so beloved we’ll talk about it any time of year.

We talk about Amy’s diligent testing to turn her grandmother’s loosey-goosey recipe into a near-exact replica, her mother’s version that could feed an army, and honoring the recipe while still using an Instant Pot for a lil modern day ease.

We also talk about pivoting from the perceived stability of a cushy tech marketing job to being a baker, the near-comical naming conventions—or lack thereof—of Chinese pastry, and if Amy’s dad may or may not be Garfield. 

Be warned that we have a lengthy cookie discussion so maybe have a snack first or keep some cookies close by!

Episode 34: Bay Made Live Showcase - Lunar New Year Past and Present with Margot Seeto, Eric Ehler, and Deanna Ulrich

Our first live episode! This one is doubly special as we did our first live episode AND celebrated Lunar New Year with a panel of illustrious guests. Thank you to KALW for featuring us as part of their Bay Made series and thank you to guests Margot Seeto, Eric Ehler, and Deanna Ulrich for joining us to talk about their Lunar New Year traditions as kids and what LNY means to them as adults.

Special thanks to:

• David Boyer
• David Kwan
• Ben Trefny
• Charles Lighthouse
• KALW Staff
• Outta Sight Pizza
• Nicole Lugtu

Episode 33: Turkey Jook with Tracey Gee

It’s Thanksgiving in February on this episode! We talk with author and coach Tracey Gee about turkey jook, something so beloved by her and her family, and special to our family that we couldn’t dare pass this one up, no matter the time of year.

We talk about the origins of Thanksgiving turkey in Tracey’s household growing up, her very thoughtful method for making it vs our arguably slap-dash way, and come up with a hyper specific Buy Nothing group that we’re sure could be a hit.

Plus we talk about Tracey’s brand new wonderful book The Magic of Knowing What you Want and we get very useful, very actionable tips on how to know what you want and what to do with that—especially if what we want is turkey jook.

Come for the turkey jook, stay for the life-changing magic of Tracey’s wisdom!

Announcement - LIVE EVENT - January 29th in San Francisco

Oh hey!! It’s out first live episode ever!! Come join us for a special Lunar New Year episode as part of 91.7 KALW Bay Made Showcase.

We’ll be in conversation with past guests Margot Seeto and Deanna Ulrich, plus new special guest chef Eric Ehler of Outta Sight Pizza about our Lunar New Year traditions past and present. Plus special LNY-inspired pizzas by Outta Sight. And we’ll have stickers!

Get your free tickets!

Come for the pizza, stay for the chats!