What is a food that is personal to you/your culture and how can it be analyzed through gendered and racialized lenses? Include a photo and a short description/explanation. by Annabel Lee

2025-04-15 17:26:54 UTC

This is Banh xeo. Growing up this was my favorite dish. I think that it represents a lot of the resources at that time and what they were able to use to make this dish.

2025-04-15 17:28:13 UTC

Fried rice; a meal that my parents would make with leftover rice and whatever we had in the fridge. To me, it’s a way to get the most out of our leftovers.

Bun Bo Hue

2025-04-15 17:28:58 UTC

In vietnamese culture, we have a noodle dish called bun bo hue which is spicy pork noodles soup. This dis can definitely be difficult for some people as it includes uncommon and for some, gross ingredients. Often there are pig feet and blocks of pig blood which to me is delicious, but can create a narrative that in my culture, we eat "weird things".

2025-04-15 17:29:38 UTC

A food that I usually think about is Filipino fried chicken, which I think acts as a fusion because Filipino flavors and American influences with the fried chicken. Because of the heavy American influences in the Philippines it introduced the food to the islands and the island in return added it owns spin to it , symbolizing the culture of being Filipino American and combining both culture.

Bún Bò Huế

2025-04-15 17:29:56 UTC

This is Pho’s cousin. A lot of people know about Pho when it comes to Vietnamese food and know almost nothing about Bun Bo Hue. I feel like its bittersweet that BBH doesn’t get the attention it should because it’s a cherished soup in the deep countryside of Vietnam, with rich deep flavor.

lugoam1 — 2025-04-15 17:30:29 UTC

This is arroz con leche, my grandma would make this for family holidays, birthdays, on cold mornings, or days that just needed comfort. She has her own recipe and I cannot remember a time in my childhood where a week went by without having this.

Chinese Pork Belly

2025-04-15 17:30:46 UTC

This is Chinese pork belly 红烧肉， which many women typically make in the kitchen. Looking through a racialized lens, many Americans have demonized traditional Chinese food, which applies to this dish as well

2025-04-15 17:31:51 UTC

I grew up eating this and it is a Korean tradition to eat this on your birthday. Some people may think that it is gross, especially for those who do not like seaweed.

2025-04-15 17:32:04 UTC

I feel like this food was so personal to be because i would remember eating this a lot as a kid and it provided a sense of home. just because growing up we were so limited to food.

2025-04-15 17:32:06 UTC

In Mexico, birria tacos are very popular and delicious, and a food that I enjoy very much. Tacos in general are a common food enjoyed when spending time with family. They represent the tight knit culture in Mexico, and the strong bond between family and one’s roots.

2025-04-15 17:32:23 UTC

Chorreadas are a staple in Sinaloa cuisine. Whenever I am missing Mazatlán my mother always makes this for my entire family. Looking at this in a radicalized lense is that you can never find this dish anywhere in the U.S and it feels like my culture can’t be found anywhere and if we want to make this we have to go to the boarder to get these ingredients.

Sun-dried beef tapa

2025-04-15 17:32:35 UTC

Some of my favorite memories from my childhood summers include getting a batch of sun-dried beef tapa that my grandma's brother would make. As the only brother ofa batch of 5 siblings, I find it interesting that his specialty is a meat dish and one that stands out to me.

Puré de Zanahoria

2025-04-15 17:34:01 UTC

Growing up this was my favorite dish that my mom had made since it was a fusion of puréed carrots and several seasonings like cumin. The smell of the kitchen mixed with chicken and rice is a comfort food I will always cherish.

Parantha

2025-04-15 17:34:49 UTC

Parantha is a layered flatbread that is often stuffed with potatoes, paneer, or other ingredients and cooked with ghee or butter.. In many Punjabi families, preparing is a ritual carried out by women. In connection with the Mabalon reading on Filipina/o Americans, the making and sharing of food like parantha reflects how women’s labor in the kitchen preserves culture across generations.

2025-04-15 17:35:17 UTC

My favorite dish growing up was tacos de vapor! They are a pretty common street food in Mexico but take a lot of effort to make for just one family which shows how families will still spend time and labor to make a dish that connects them to their culture back home.

Taiwanese Daikon Soup

2025-04-15 17:36:13 UTC

This is an Taiwanese easy dish to prepare, since it only consists of spare pork ribs and radish. My parents often made this as a weeknight dinner since the ingredients were cheap and easily accessible in ethnic grocery stores. It's very versatile depending on which spices you add to the soup, and can be a very cozy meal.

Tteokguk (rice cake soup)

2025-04-15 17:36:39 UTC

This is culturally eaten during Lunar New Year and most of the women in the family come together cook for this event of the year.

Chinese Sausage Fried Rice

2025-04-15 17:37:02 UTC

Laap cheong fried rice is a comforting, home-style Cantonese dish made with Chinese sausage, day old rice, scrambled egg, and simple vegetables like green onion or peas. Its the best dish to make after a long day of school and you don't want to waste food.

Beef Sinigang

2025-04-15 17:37:04 UTC

This is a dish that was talked about in the article but I can relate to that in that I ate a LOT of this growing up. My mother would cook it for my family and I and it would last us a while which was important when my family was more poor. When thinking about gender it was always my mother who cooked this and when thinking about racialization, I believe that we made this dish because it was what was available and affordable to us while we were still a poor immigrant family.

2025-04-15 17:37:23 UTC

Dinuguan (chocolate meat) basically made with pork blood, sounds disgusting but it’s really good! Trust. This may often been seen as very foreign and “savage” through the American lense but I am thankful for being close to my Filipino cuisines and always grateful for the efforts my family make t food on the table

Cha Leah

2025-04-15 17:37:41 UTC

Khmer families often go to lakes to catch freshwater clams to sell at community parks. I think this shows that beyond a day job, these families are willing to do extra work to provide for their families and contributing to a community that sells authentic food. Crack sauce is my ultimate favorite sauce as it taste good with any seafood.

2025-04-15 17:37:48 UTC

Growing up my mom would always make hainan chicken. Whenever we would pray/provide offerings to our ancestors there would always be hainan chicken. Some people may find it strange since you need to poach a whole chicken and the method of poaching a chicken is not common in American foods.

Mole

2025-04-15 17:38:16 UTC

Mole has been passed for generations in my family but every time it is made or if I smell the fusion of chocolate and chiles is my favorite!

2025-04-15 17:52:03 UTC