Worst Quality Crab

Episode 17: Tinola with Nicole Lugtu

Valentine’s Day might be behind us but we’re here telling the love story between our guest Nicole Lugtu and her fave dish tinola. Or maybe more accurately, the love between Nicole and chicken. Listen in as Nicole and Sam talk about their shared love of chicken and the myriad ways that manifests in life: as a personality trait, red flags and relationship dealbreakers, familial dividing lines.

We talk a lot about eating out: as a family activity, being equally important to cooking, and even long-held go-to Chinese restaurant orders (naturally, crispy chicken was an all around favorite and on all of our menus!)
Be sure to have a snack on hand when Nicole talks about her family recipe project and Lola Baker’s cooking school and cake recipes. Plus food as a shortcut to identity and connection, and a hyper local review of some fave chicken spots in San Francisco. 

Episode 16: SPAM FAM! with Jaime Sunwoo

We’re baaaack!! Wooo! We did not mean to be away for so long but cold and flu season absolutely wrecked all of December. But we’re back with a follow up to our SPAM episode and we’re joined by special guest Jaime Sunwoo, creator of Specially Processed American Me.

In this special second edition spam-isode, we talk about Jaime’s performance film, the signature dishes of what she calls the Spam Diaspora, and we dig into the Hormel Girls.  Plus food as an entry point to unpacking family history, and the adorable way that Jaime’s mom served (serves??) spam fried rice.

Links of interest as discussed on the show:

• The Kitchen Studio: Culinary Creations by Artists
• Lisa Friedman - Fake Food Factory

Episode 15: Mom’s Thanksgiving Stuffing with Ken Cho

We’re forever celebrating the everyday dishes, but we just couldn’t help ourselves getting in on a little holiday cheer! This episode we’re joined by Ken Cho, bringing us his favorite holiday dish, Mom’s Thanksgiving Stuffing. We talk about growing up “All-American” in the 80s, canned soups on everything, and raising hapa kids. 

We dig into what it’s like to go from shame and disgust of Korean food to housing spicy soondubu and banchan, “cool Asians,” and the great Asian unifier: SPAM (we seriously can’t get enough of it on this show). Plus a new merch idea and gamifying the podcast!

You can find a recipe to Mom’s Thanksgiving Stuffing on our site and take a peek at the book Mostly Me, especially for the hapas and parents of hapas out there.  

Episode 14: Paratha with Neha Gautam

This episode we’re joined by Neha Gautam, filmmaker, photographer, educator and writer director of Passenger Seat, bringing us paratha, or more specifically her childhood version of paneer stuffed paratha with ketchup because kid palette. 

We talk about “Indian pizza” as a specific and universal tactic for feeding kids, classic 90s kid lunches (fold over sandwich bags anyone??), and roti as a symbol of oppression.

Plus we talk about what it’s like to grow up in NYC and Alaska, mix tapes and cassette technology, and cut fruit as an Asian love language. 

Episode 13: Sinigang with Shaun Garcia

In this episode we’re joined by Shaun Garcia, husband, father and noodle soup connoisseur about his fave soup and classic Filipino dish, Sinigang, which doesn’t happen to have noodles, in case you’re wondering! We talk about growing up in the clean plate club, feeding a toddler what you’re eating (hopefully!), and inventing a dish in high school that was really not a unique invention in any way shape or form.

Plus, we talk about the signs of true love and we crack (part of) the code on not feeling shame or embarrassment when messing up our cultural dishes. Spoiler: it’s failure! Yikes!! Jk, we love it!