Photo Credit: NBA.com

Full confession: I am as caught up in the irrationality and blind fandom of Linsanity as it is humanly possible to be. As a Taiwanese American who spent a significant portion of my life growing up in Taiwan, I realize this is pretty much expected from my background alone. If the Jeremy Lin bandwagon has a bulletproof, criticism-free section, I’m sitting squarely in it.

Still, I like to think of myself as someone who is not easily susceptible to blind ethnic pride. I’m not big on the Asian American YouTube artists that others seem to love. I like baseball, but didn’t have any particular reaction to Wang Chien-Ming, the Taiwanese Yankees player, even back when he was playing at an all-star level and Taiwan was losing its collective mind. I was a big fan of Yao Ming, because he was a gracious and incredibly skilled player whose injuries never gave him a fair chance, but compared to Linsanity, that was a rational fandom. This—to say the least—is not. I once searched “Jeremy Lin” on Google News and went through every news story link I could find. That’s not something I’ve done for anyone else, probably because it’s insane and a little creepy.

Photo Credit: Wikipedia

I realize the very nature of the Jeremy Lin story is intrinsically more compelling than any other sports story—or Hollywood script, for that matter. By now, the elements of the legend are pretty clear, and have been dissected ad nauseum by the media: Taiwanese American kid, who may have been overlooked by recruiters from top schools due to his race, goes to Harvard—great brand name for a fairy-tale story, by the way, but terrible school for sports. He goes undrafted by NBA teams, gets cut by two teams as the equivalent of a walk-on, gets his shot in New York, proceeds to dominate the NBA, and praises Jesus effusively for it. That’s five check boxes right there that would put any marketing strategist in heat: the Asian angle, the Christian angle, the Ivy League angle, the New York angle, and finally, the one that’s probably the most powerful for a mass demographic: the fact that it’s one of the most preposterous underdog stories you’ll ever hear.

So maybe I’m just pulling harder for this guy because it’s a better story, because he’s more of an underdog than anyone else ever was. But I think it goes deeper than that: I’ve never seen any other story trigger mass hysteria and emotional investment among Asian Americans at the level of Linsanity. Suddenly every Asian American person on my Facebook feed is a Knicks fan. J-Lin victories are causes for mass social media celebrations and, when talking with friends, countless reenactments of his biggest shots. And I think pinning it down on ethnicity is a little simplistic; again, we liked Yao Ming, but we didn’t go crazy quite like this.

Ultimately, what I think it boils down to is that we all see ourselves, and our friends, in Jeremy Lin, and we’re rooting for him in the way you’d root for a childhood friend making it big. We all know a dude like Jeremy. Hell, half of us claim to know Jeremy—or at least we claim to know someone’s cousin was his ex, or classmate, or the countless permutations that gives us Two Degrees From J-Lin (which I have seen at least five different friends claim, in different settings, unprompted). It doesn’t hurt that he’s from northern California, where there are more Asians than white kids in the high schools.

Photo Credit: New York Knicks Facebook

It’s no secret that for a large majority of Asian Americans, their social circles are primarily filled with other Asian Americans, and with that comes a certain subculture. Some of this subculture—obsessing over SAT scores and colleges, playing videogames—is very familiar to the rest of America, and is ripe for stereotyping. Some of it is not as commonly known, unless you’re Asian American and you live in it. A huge number of us love basketball, way more than football, and play pick-up ball regularly. A large number of us go to Christian fellowships and feel very comfortable referencing God and Jesus in our daily lives, but tend not to proselytize about it (a very distinct feature of Jeremy Lin’s public Christianity). A lot of us went through an unfortunate phase in middle school or high school where we shared our every thought on Xanga and now try to desperately delete or private our old posts. Obviously, we don’t all share these interests, but I feel fairly comfortable asserting that if you grew up in a primarily Asian American community, you know a lot of people who do.

That’s why it’s such a visceral thrill to watch Jeremy Lin killing it, at the game’s highest level. This is not some freak born with uncanny skill at an obscure, specialized activity. This is a dude doing what a lot of us Asian dudes love to do (actually, with a basketball style rather typical of Asian guys playing pick-up: perimeter quickness and herky-jerky ballhandling to make up for a thin frame), and doing it writ large. He may have dropped out of nowhere on the rest of the world, but we know where he picked up his skills: out of the same love for this sport a lot of us have, out of the same pick-up games, out of the same training repetitions on backyard courts. He was fortunate enough to grow to be 6’4”; but I think most of us had the suspicion that, given how damn much Asian Americans love and play basketball, it was only a matter of time before one of us broke through. And now Jeremy has, we’re cheering him on like he’s our own brother.

The last time I rooted so hard for anything was when a couple of my closest high school friends competed as a team on MTV’s America’s Best Dance Crew. I didn’t need to justify why I loved them, although I did think they were one of the most talented crews in their season. I don’t presume to know Jeremy (although I am Two Degrees From J-Lin!), but something roughly similar is at play here with this explosive burst of Asian American fandom. We all know this dude, or someone like him, because he is a pretty pure product of our community or subculture. And it’s about time our subculture showed its stuff, its real loves and its real talents beyond the stereotypes, on a national stage.

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Photo Credit: Marc Camilon of Marc Philip Photography

When we first chose singer-songwriter Clara Chung as one of Mochi’s Top 15 Undergrads back in summer 2010, we knew there was something special about the spunky, fresh college graduate who had just launched her music career.

Music was innate for Chung, who started singing as a toddler and picked up the piano, guitar and trumpet—among others—over the years. But it wasn’t until college that she began to fully pursue her passion for music. Bolstered by the support of her close friends, she started recording and posting videos to YouTube and entered contests such as the 2009 J.C. Penney Artist Search and 2010 Kollaboration L.A., both of which she won.

Fast forward a year and a half, and her career has blossomed. Chung has long since launched her debut album, toured the country several times over, amassed a large and loyal fan base and started working on her sophomore album. She’s currently touring Australia and Asia for the first time.

“I’ve learned how to deal with an overwhelming amount of things,” said Chung, reflecting on her growth as an artist since we last spoke with her. “I’ve suddenly built a lot of character. You get what you give to your craft, and I’ve definitely learned about discipline.”

But Chung is quick to point out that the last few years were not all smooth sailing. She faced her own fair share of obstacles and doubts about her career choice along the way, fighting to keep herself grounded and mindful of how music was her true passion.

“I overcame a mark where music started feeling like a job,” said Chung. “It’s my passion, and I quit my full-time job for it. Then I hit my first roadblock. It was about making sure that my feet were on the ground, that it’s fun and it can’t feel like work, and remembering why I do it.”

Chung’s concert in Boston, the second to last stop on her Shakin’ Off Silence tour, is a great example of how she was able to do just that. In a concert featuring local Boston talent, Chung headlined with the rock band New Heights and The Jubilee Project, a philanthropic video-making group. Boston University’s Chinese Students (CSA) and Korean Students (KSA) Associations, who hosted the event, focused the day on empowering Boston’s Asian American community with the arts. Altruism aside, taking the day to inspire others was also a great way to put her music to positive uses and keep herself grounded.

“I’m always for all types of cultural awareness,” said Chung. “It’s always good for me, and I love doing that. As far as the event, it was great! We sold out and there was crazy energy. We rocked out and had a good time.”

Photo Credit: Marc Camilon of Marc Philip Photography

The Boston concert also showcased how Asian Americans are breaking out in mainstream music and the entertainment industry, and that there’s more to what we can accomplish than the model minority myth. But Chung believes that Asian Americans should refrain from using labels at all and instead pursue whatever we set our minds to.

“I don’t like to limit myself. That whole ‘we’re Asian, we have obstacles and barriers’ attitude —that’s not something that needs to be reiterated over and over,” she said. “By speaking about it and labeling it, by talking about the label, you’re labeling. I’d prefer that people don’t see it that way.”

With this mindset, Chung has had an incredible year, one that she calls “blessed, fast and joyful.” Up next is wrapping up her whirlwind international tour, sorting through dozens of entries for her cover contest, where the winner will win an all-expenses paid trip to meet her in LA, finishing up work on her sophomore album and continuing to push the envelope as an artist.

Always humble and grateful, she took a final moment to thank all of her fans and closed with a few last encouraging words for Mochi readers: “I hope you too will pursue your passion, and remember that nobody holds you down.”

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Photo Credit: Aziatix.com

Korean Americans Nicky Lee, Flowsik, and Eddie Shin each had stellar individual careers overseas before forming Aziatix. Nicky Lee, who was born and raised in Los Angeles, CA, earned fame as part of the popular Taiwanese hip hop group, Machi, in 2003 and later released five solo albums, which helped him earn the award for Best Male Singer at the Golden Melody Awards in 2007. Flowsik, a composer and rapper since age 15, was born and raised in Queens, NY. He garnered fame in New York’s underground hip-hop scene and was later mentored and co-signed by hip hop legend Ice-T. Eddie Shin, a talented singer/songwriter, also had a love of music at a young age, writing songs since he was 16. He debuted as a solo artist in 2005 and received positive reviews before deciding to take time off and study music at New York University.

So how did they converge from all parts of the world to become Aziatix? The credit goes to veteran music producer Jae Chong, who has over 30 million record sales attributed to his creativity and vision. He is a founder of MACHI Entertainment, one of the largest Asian hip hop/rap record labels in Taiwan and was the first Korean American ever nominated for the title of Best Producer of the Year at the Golden Melody Awards.

Jae Chong was the glue that brought all the Aziatix members together, realizing that these three men could create something amazing together. Since March 2010, when their self-titled debut EP “Aziatix” was released, they’ve received several accolades, hitting number four on the U.S. iTunes R&B/Soul charts and winning the prize of Best New Asian Artist Group at the Mnet Asian Music Awards in 2011. The group took some time from their busy holiday schedules to answer a few of Mochi’s questions about life as international music artists.

What were you like in high school?

Nicky: I wanted to be a chef because I enjoy food. It’s a good thing I found music because my
cooking sucks!
Flowsik: I wanted to be a musician in high school, so nothing changed at all.
Eddie: I had really short hair—almost a shaved head because I used to be on the basketball team. I wanted to play basketball for a living, but I didn’t grow tall enough. In hindsight, I’m happy it didn’t work out because I love my job right now.

Were your parents strict on choosing a more “traditional” career route?

Nicky: At first, my folks wanted me to find a more “stable” career. I remember I told my folks once I wanted to be like Michael Jackson and sing, and they laughed for a week. But the first paycheck I got from music, I gave to my parents—and they stopped laughing!
Flowsik: They were, but they were always supportive of whatever I had passion for. They always knew that if I worked really hard in achieving something, I would reach that goal.
Eddie: Yes. At first, my parents were no different. But once I started selling a few songs to professional artists, I think they understood that music was my path.

Since you guys all started as individual artists, how different is it to work and perform on stage in a group? Were there any unexpected challenges?

Nicky: You have to get used to being on stage with two other people and be careful not to bump into one another and watch out for flying hand chops. I think Flowsik got hit by Eddie a couple of times, but I never got hit because I have reflexes like a cat!
Flowsik: It’s so much more fun performing as a group. We all just have fun on stage, supporting each other with vocals and raps. I think our movements toward the beginning of our group were a little complicated, but it’s getting better!
Eddie: I think it took some time to adjust for all of us. When I was a solo artist, I felt much more pressure and responsibility to make sure I was constantly entertaining. Now, I don’t have to be constantly talking or singing because the fans want to hear all of us.

Also, as a group, you guys had to come up with the name “Aziaddicts” for your fans, which is a common practice in Korea, but less so in America. How has social media helped you grow your fan base in the U.S.?

Nicky: It’s the fastest way to get our music to our listeners. After we recorded our first song, “Go,” we got on Facebook, Twitter, and other social media outlets to spread the music and the response has been amazing. Thanks to social media, we get to stay connected with our “Aziaddicts” no matter where they are.
Flowsik: We are able to network with the world. Releasing videos online and updating our news keeps us in touch with all the fans worldwide.
Eddie: It’s unbelievable how much social media has helped us so far. We put out our song on YouTube and Facebook and, next thing you know, a month later we’re doing our showcase in New York, performing all over Asia, and the U.S. To say the least, our fans have been very active on social media since day one, and they’re the ones who took us up to this point.

Have you found a difference between working in the entertainment industry in Asia versus the U.S.?

Nicky: Working in the industry is the same whether you are in the U.S. or Asia—it’s tough. You just have to keep on making good music and hope the listeners like what you’re doing. Thank god people like what they hear so far.
Flowsik: Both are absolutely great, and we feel so blessed to be able to make music for both the East and West.
Eddie: We just try to be ourselves wherever we go, wherever we perform, whenever we do interviews. From the beginning, we wanted to become a truly global group that can succeed in every market.

Just like you guys, some of the successful Asians in the American entertainment industry were born or raised here, such as Far East Movement or John Cho and /Kal Penn. Do you think that makes you guys more relatable to an American fanbase?

Nicky: I don’t really think it matters where you are from or where you were born. What’s important is that your music can connect and relate to people. That’s the beauty of music: music is universal!
Flowsik: We believe that music transcends all languages and color barriers. At the end of the day, it’s about good music and us, artists, being ourselves and genuine to the masses.
Eddie: Being from the U.S. definitely helps because you understand the pop culture. But look at Shakira or Ricky Martin. There are definitely stars in the U.S. market who are foreign born.

Although you guys produce music in English, you still do a fair amount of promotions overseas in Asia as well. What is one aspect you love the most about Asian culture?

Nicky: The food!
Flowsik: The food!
Eddie: I like taking off my shoes indoors. I think it’s better that way.

Stay up to date with the latest news, such as their upcoming 2012 U.S. tour, on Aziatix.com.

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Photo Credit: Mandy Yeh

In two weeks, I’m moving to New York.

There—I said it. I’ve been putting off writing the first part to this two-part series chronicling my postgrad life because the idea of writing that opening sentence was freaking me out. It’s like sending out a press release that I am following through on this crazy plan to uproot from my comfortable life on my parents’ couch to a friend’s couch in an extremely crowded, costly, and cold city where people my age flock every year in hopes of achieving their (potentially unrealistic) dreams that (most certainly) get crushed. Writing these sentences seals my fate.

I graduated in December, a semester later than most of my friends. Many of them now teach abroad or have been getting the hang of applying for jobs since May, but I feel like I’ve been spit out of a still-moving car. Go, go, go, the world says. You graduated before the spring rush. Take advantage of it. Leave South Carolina NOW. I had an internship at a magazine in New York last summer, so the natural next step in my mind was to move back to the city where most publishing jobs are. In the past month, I have been trying to sort out my feelings about this big change.

For Christmas, my mother gave me a copy of Mindy Kaling’s Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (And Other Concerns). In this book, Kaling has a chapter entitled “Failing at Everything in the Greatest City on Earth” under the section “I Love New York and It Likes Me Okay,” wherein she details her postgrad move to New York with her best friends. She writes, “So I left college feeling like a successful, awesome, tall person. Then, in July of 2001, the three of us moved to New York.” Jobless, these girls look at renting places in Brooklyn and end up in a dumpy apartment in Windsor Terrace. Kaling is an au pair for two years with random jobs like working behind-the-scenes at a psychic’s TV show. Reading this chapter feels like reading my life, except that no one will ever hire me as an au pair because I’ve never babysat. I graduated when I felt like I’d hit my stride—I was recognized as a competent editor of my school magazine; I lived in The Best Apartment I Will Ever Have in My Adult Life; the baristas at the coffee shop I frequented finally learned my name and salad dressing preference after four and a half years of stamping my drinks card. It’s a good place to be—but I know that it’s time to move, or I will get stuck.

Here’s advice if you are in the beginning stages of college: Stop buying things. Because when it comes time to move back home from The Best Apartment You Will Ever Have in Your Adult Life, you’ll realize that you’ve collected a landfill-sized amount of stuff while in college. Remember that thrift store phase you went through? “Ahhh, what? This is only a dollar?” Now you have boxes of “graphic” drinking glasses to individually wrap; 53 frumpy, floral skirts you could never wear to a job interview; and a 75-lb. antique Singer sewing table (“Vintage is so cool.”). And all that cheap stuff forced on you at your student union? Now you have bookstore bags crammed with stress balls, plastic sunglasses, name-tag holders, and XL t-shirts advertising events you never attended. It is a nightmare. There are so many things crowding my bedroom floor that I can’t even put a chair at my desk. I typed half of this article standing. Do not waste your money, ladies. Buy a plane ticket or some silky dress shirts instead.

It’s tough to transition from feeling independent to living at home. My parents try not to be too invasive, but they have this habit of marching into my room and starting conversations when I’m clearly sleeping (“And what about the raking, Malia? And why is there so much stuff in this room? Why did you buy all this? Are you listening?”). They’re not quite sure how to handle their 22-year-old daughter suddenly home again and constantly stressing out about whether or not she’ll get hired, especially “in this economy.” They are supportive of me, but I know they’re sad that I’m moving on so soon.

I’ve spent the past few weeks saying goodbye to many things, and I’ve wrapped myself up in the logistics of moving in the middle of winter. In the South, cold weather is treated like an accessory—“Oh, it’s 45 degrees today? Isn’t that so cute and wintery? I can’t wait to dust off my peacoat!” I spend my days on my computer flipping through job postings, images of coats that look like sleeping bags, and reading Craigslist apartment postings out loud in a terrible Northern accent. I’ve gotten caught up in the details of leaving, but now that I’ve picked a week to move, my plans are starting to crystalize. Sarcasm aside, I am equal parts excited and scared shiitakeless of this reality. I feel bittersweet to leave behind a hometown that has treated me well, but I’m eager to be in this new place and to start over. I want an adventure while I’m young and my knees can still handle climbing up to a fifth-floor walk-up every day—these are the stories I’ll chronicle in my Kaling-esque memoir or tell my grandchildren someday. I can put up with many things in order to live in this city because in New York, everyone makes do with less, so you all play this game together.

It all comes down to this big move: two overpacked suitcases, an updated résumé, and an impatience to get started on whatever is to come.

Blog editor Malia will be reporting back as she hunts for a job in New York City. Follow along for part two, coming soon.

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Photo Credit: Edson Hong via Flickr

January may be over, but that doesn’t mean it’s too late to start over with a clean slate. This year, Mochi is thinking that healthy bodies are essential to everything we do, so we’re setting a few new resolutions to follow. Want to join us on our campaign? Here are seven ways you can start.

Get moving and revitalize yourself.
It’s hard to get started when you’re so tired, but the more you move, the more energy you’ll actually have. Help yourself stay on track by creating a schedule or taking a class. Fun dance classes like hip-hop or Zumba will get you moving and other high-energy options like kick-boxing will work up a sweat in no time.

Start a food journal.
A food journal is a place where you can jot down notes about what you’re eating everyday. It can be in a notebook, a diary, a weblog or any other medium that works for you. By tracking what you eat, you can more actively weed out what’s good and what’s bad. Our trick? Buy a really beautiful journal so you don’t get sick of it within two weeks.

Drink more water by carrying a water bottle around.
Sometimes, it’s a drink of water that you really need instead of a calorific snack. If you’re not sure whether you’re hungry or thirsty, first drink a glass of water, then wait 15 minutes before you decide. Make it easier to stay hydrated by keeping a bottle of water on hand to help you stay refreshed.

Get the right amount of sleep.
We don’t need the Center for Disease Control Prevention to tell us that people aren’t getting enough sleep, but did you know a lack of sleep can impair your senses as much as a big night of partying? To figure out how much sleep you need, start from eight to nine hours of sleep a night, varying your sleep times until you wake up feeling refreshed. If you’re finding it difficult to fall asleep, try avoiding caffeine or eating a large meal right before you go to bed.

Join a support group such as HealthMonth.com.
Online games provide incentives for living healthier. On HealthMonth.com, you can choose a few goals that you have, track the improvements and gain points. It’s a great way to change your lifestyle bit by bit rather than stopping cold turkey, and you can play with friends to work on challenges together as a team.

Challenge yourself to learn something new.
Simply changing up your routine can breathe some fresh life into your day and help reduce your stress. Take the initiative to learn something new, either by taking a class, reading a book or logging online to access the multitude of resources like podcasts and videos. We’re fans of yoga, Pilates and Tai Chi, which makes us feel accomplished in very little time.

Smile more often.
Flashing your pearly whites doesn’t just help you stand out from the crowd; it actually allows your body to function better. Smiling can boost your immune system, help you think positively and change your mood for the better—fake it until you make it, right? Best of all, smiling is contagious.

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To grab some good fortune for yourself, get a taste of these popular “lucky” foods frequently prepared for the Lunar New Year from five countries across Asia, and eat up for good luck all year round.

1. Banh Day (Vietnam): In this dish, glutinous rice is molded into round rice cakes to symbolize the sky. Another similar rice cake, banh chung, is squared and filled with ground meat and bean paste to represent the earth. First made as offerings to ancestors, they are still served to relatives at family dinners.

2. White-Cut Chicken (China): A staple in every Chinese New Year feast, this fragrant but light chicken is cooked in rice wine, ginger and garlic and garnished with green scallions. The chicken, representative of a phoenix, is thought to bring prosperity and purity to the happy diners.

3. Rice Cake Soup (Korea): Duk guk immerses thinly sliced white rice cakes in a rich beef broth garnished with seaweed strips, fried egg and scallions. No matter how tough the past year might have been, this soup calls for a fresh, new beginning for the new year.

4. Yu Sheng (Singapore): Yu sheng is a salad of paper-thin raw fish, finely shredded fresh vegetables and candied fruits topped with plum sauce and other refreshing spices. A homophone for abundance, it is also thought to bring prosperity in the coming year.

5. Fa Cai (Hong Kong): It’s not the prettiest dish on the table, but black moss with oysters is another Lunar New Year favorite because its name is another lucky homophone—the Cantonese words for the dark, stringy vegetable to the words for prosperity.

What are your favorite Lunar New Year foods? Let us know!

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Photo Credit: Socialspice.de

In the last few months of winter, your wardrobe shouldn’t be the only thing to undergo a makeover. Whether you live somewhere that goes from sweltering summers to snowy winters or are just planning on taking a short ski trip or, here are some tips for adjusting your beauty routine for the cold.

1. Keep your skin moisturized.

Cold and wind can both dry out your skin if you’re not careful. Switch your lotion out for cream moisturizers, and try to avoid toner with alcohol in it, as that dries out your skin. If your skin is not prone to break outs, try using olive oil, coconut oil or vitamin E oil on your skin. Either use a small amount and rub it into your skin as you would with lotion or slather it on like a mask and remove with regular face cleanser after 10 minutes. Be careful with these oils if your skin is acne-prone as using too much may cause you to break out.

Try:
Walgreens Skin Oil with Vitamin E ($7)

2. Don’t forget your lips.

Your lips will probably dry out faster than your skin, especially if it’s windy. Always have chapstick or ointment on hand—we’re a big fan of the heavy-duty Aquaphor, which you can find at local drugstores, or try Rosebud Salve. At night, spread a drop of olive oil on your lips with a Q-Tip, then put on a layer of Vaseline or petroleum jelly to help seal in the moisture. Don’t forget to exfoliate your lips with just a pinch of brown sugar and a drop of olive oil.

Try:
Aquaphor Lip Repair ($4.50)
Smith’s Rosebud Salve ($6)
Vaseline Petroleum Jelly ($5)

Photo Credit: Meganmillscrm via Flickr

3. Don’t forget the SPF.

Just because it’s not always sunny out doesn’t mean there aren’t any UV rays to worry about. Keep on applying sunscreen or use a moisturizer with at least SPF 15 to kill two birds with one stone.

Try:
Shiseido Urban Environment UV Protection (SPF 35)
CeraVe AM Facial Moisturizing Lotion, SPF 35 ($14)

4. Adjust your colors. The winter months are perfect for dark and vampy shades. Pull out the black, navy blue, purple and burgundy nail polishes. Now is the time for the dark red, berry and plum shades of lipstick (just be sure to keep eye makeup simple if you’re doing a dark lip). As for cheek coloring, ditch the bronzer and instead go for pink and rosy blush to imitate a natural flush from the cold.

Try:
OPI’s Lincoln Park After Dark, dark purple($7.50)
Sephora by OPI’s I’m with Brad, dark brown with red shimmer ($9.50)
Zoya’s Blair, deep red ($8)
Clinique’s Different Lipstick in A Different Grape ($15)
Maybelline Superstay 24 Hour Lipcolor in Keep Up the Flame ($10)
Tarte Cheek Stain in Flush ($30)

Sponsored Text Link:
There are possible beauty coupons for all of those wonderful skincare products.

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Duk Guk – Korean Rice Cake Soup (serves 6)

1 gallon beef bone marrow stock (see recipe below)
1 package rice cakes (ovalettes)
1 pound beef brisket, cleaned
2 large yellow onions, sliced thin
2 tablespoons garlic, freshly minced
1 leek, top only, sliced
3 tablespoons soy sauce
2 eggs, beaten
4 sheets of roasted seaweed, crumbled
3 tablespoons sesame oil
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Heat a large stockpot on medium-high heat for a few minutes. Add sesame oil to coat. Add onions and leeks. Allow vegetables to sweat for a few minutes. Then add garlic. Continue to sweat for another 2 minutes.
2. Brown beef brisket in same pot. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Allow to brown on each side for 3-4 minutes or until a nice golden sear occurs.
3. Add beef broth and bring to a boil. Reduce to a low simmer. Cover and let cook for about an hour and a half. Brisket should be tender but not pulling apart. You may need to occasionally skim the top for any residue. Once brisket is cooked, remove from heat and let cool for 10-15 minutes. Slice thinly against the grain. Set aside.
4. Increase heat of stockpot to medium. Add rice cakes and let cook for 2 minutes. Then drop beaten egg mixture. Let cook for another 2-3 minutes, stirring to scramble the egg.
5. Place in soup bowls. Garnish with beef, scallions and seaweed. Serve immediately.

Prep Time: 15 Minutes                        Cook Time: 2 1/2 hours

Bone Marrow Stock:

5 pounds beef marrow bones
1 large Korean daikon, peeled and sliced in quarters lengthwise
3 large yellow onions (skin on), cut in half
½ cup garlic cloves
2 leeks, cut in half
3 carrots, peeled and cut in half
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
Sesame oil to coat vegetables
2 gallons water
6-8 dried shitake mushrooms

Directions:

1. On a large sheet tray, arrange vegetables so they are evenly distributed. Drizzle with sesame oil and coat well. Sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper to taste. On a separate sheet tray place the beef marrow bones evenly and sprinkle with sea salt and black pepper to taste. Place both trays in a preheated oven at 325 degrees. Roast vegetables for about 40 minutes and beef bones for an hour.
2. Remove from tray and transfer roasted vegetables and beef bones to a large stock pot. Add water and bring to a rolling boil. Reduce heat and cover. Let simmer for about an hour. Add shitake mushrooms and let simmer for another 30 minutes. Remove from heat.
3. Let cool down and season with sea salt and black pepper to taste. Strain into an airtight container.
4. Can be stored in refrigeration for up to a week or in freezer for up to a month. Makes 3 quarts.

Prep Time: 15 Minutes                        Cook Time: 2 1/2 hours

Bone Marrow Stock recipe from Seoultown Kitchen by Debbie Lee (Kyle Books; 2011).

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Nick.com

Mike Fukanaga is your average teen with a twist: He comes from a long line of ninjas. Such is the story revealed in “Supah Ninjas,” a Nickelodeon television show that revolves around Mike, his family and his friends.

Apart from the interesting storyline, one of the great things about “Supah Ninjas” is that it combines humor, action sequences and cliffhangers. Creators and executive producers Leo Chu and Eric Garcia were inspired to create a program that combined comedy and drama. They also hoped that it would be something that the whole family could enjoy together.

“We really wanted to make a cool show. Funny and dramatic, that’s exactly what we’re going for,” said Garcia of the high energy and action-packed storyline. He also explained why they threw a love story into the middle of all the high kicks and punches. “It’s another way that we can create involvement and entertainment. It’s a really fun show that everyone can watch together.”

Thrilling combination of action and laughter aside, “Supah Ninjas” brings a hodgepodge of Asian American influences and pop culture to the small screen. The creators reel in elements of Japanese culture and anime as well as American classics like comic books and science fiction.

“When I encountered anime, particularly things like ‘Akira,’ those things were so amazingly different and told such great stories and created these great worlds that I had never seen before,” said Garcia. “Leo and I have worked on so many things, and so many [of them] have had a Japanese component. It keeps coming back to us. Maybe it’s something we’re attracted to.”

But one thing is certain: the theme of family is central to the show. “Supah Ninjas” is unique in that it is one of the few shows that focus on an Asian American family. In fact, the last program to do so was ABC’s Family All-American Girl featuring comedian Margaret Cho in 1995.

“We think of the ninjas as part of the character’s heritage. We want them to be proud of their heritage and where they come from,” said Chu. “There something’s unique in all of us. We might not all be ninjas, but there’s something unique and wonderful about every human being that they can bring to the world.”

When casting for the roles, both Chu and Garcia believed that a diverse Asian cast would lend authenticity to the show and develop the theme of family history. Ryan Potter, who is half Japanese and plays Mike Fukunaga, sees the bond both on set and onscreen.

“We’re a huge family. It’s not just the cast and the writers—it’s the cast, the crew, the writers, the security guards, the janitors—everyone is a family on that set. We all know each other very well,” remarked Potter.

This deep love for the show extends beyond the cast to the Hollywood community in general—Chu and Garcia were recently nominated for the 2012 Writer’s Guild Award for writing the pilot episode, and won. But Chu admits that this it wasn’t an easy road to pave.

“I don’t know if the arts is necessarily is encouraged as much in Asian American families as a main pursuit and as a career,” he said. “A lot of time, it seems to be a backup thing or an extracurricular you need for college as opposed to something that you dedicate your life to or a passion you would focus on full time.”

But Chu and Garcia are living examples of the fact that it can be done. For those interested in pursuing careers in entertainment, they recommend pursuing available opportunities, putting in the time and practice and finding a supportive community of like-minded people.

“Be confident and believe in yourself,” stressed Chu. “Until you find that community and supportive environment, you have to be that for yourself. It may not be your parent—they may not even agree what you’re doing—but you have to know in your heart that that’s what you want to pursue.”

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Photo Credit: New York Knicks Facebook

Dear Readers,

This month, something happened to me that’s never, ever happened in my 24 years of existence: I watched not just one, but several professional sports games, voluntarily, from start to finish. Yes, I’m a victim of the Jeremy Lin fever (better known as Linsanity) that’s swept America.

Mochi has been following Jeremy since his graduation from Harvard—what’s not to like about the kid? He’s smart, he’s great at sports, and he was being touted as an Asian kid to watch out for in the NBA drafts—when drafted, he became the first-ever American of Chinese or Taiwanese descent in the league, and the fourth-ever Asian American. And I cheered when he got picked up by his hometown team, the Golden State Warriors. But I never tuned in to games—he rarely played and let’s face it, I am just not a sports fan by nature.

But the somewhat accidental discovery of Jeremy as a sports star, shaking up the Knicks and giving New Yorkers something to hope for, has me hooked. Even without the Asian American aspect, this would be an incredible underdog story. But add in the fact that he is Asian, a rare face in the sea of black and white in professional basketball, and this is an incredible thing for Asian Americans everywhere who continue to find themselves represented in areas that were previously unheard of. Yes, I’m kind of over the Lin puns and the Asian jokes (like signs that say, “Who says Asians can’t drive?”—cute, but a little racist, even if an Asian is holding it up), but I can’t help but smile when I think about the fact that the hopes of an entire state, as well as Asian American sports fans around the world, are pinned on this humble hero.

That’s why we’ve decided to dedicate this issue—the Underdog issue—to Jeremy. One sports fan talks about what the Linsanity phenomenon means to him, and why everyone he knows sees a bit of themselves in Jeremy. When Jeremy first moved to New York, he lived on his brother’s couch. It’s not an unlikely story (unless you’re now a huge NBA star): in this issue, Blog Editor Malia chronicles her move to the big city to follow her dreams, which starts with, yes, sleeping on a couch. We’re also featuring entertainers that have gained fame by unlikely means (Clara Chung and The Jubilee Project through YouTube, Asiatix via social media), and become stars in their own rights. And, for a little inspiration in your everyday life, try out some of our winter beauty tips and easy healthy resolutions. I’ve already started following some of them—taking up a body combat class at my gym, for instance. And hey, if I go to a sports bar after the class to eat fries and watch Jeremy play, it still counts, right?

Energetically yours,
Steph

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Photo Credit: JubileeProject.org

When I think of what I want to do on my 22nd birthday, I imagine a fancy dinner with friends and maybe seeing a movie. Jason Lee, however, had a different idea for celebrating his milestone— he wanted to fundraise for Haiti.

Ever since February 2010, Jason has joined fellow Jubilee Project members Eddie Lee and Eric Lu in creating catchy YouTube videos for great causes. Their productions range from the emotional “A World Without Moms,” which helped raise money for improving maternal health in developing countries, to the comedic Piss in My Pants, which parodied Lonely Island’s “Jizz In My Pants” and supported prostate cancer research.

Fundraising for Haiti was Jason’s first project idea, before The Jubilee Project had even
officially formed. The devastation of the Haiti earthquake struck a chord with Jason: “I wanted to find a way to give back and I realized it’d be really cool to try and raise $100 for Haiti.” The way he and his friends decided to do that was to play guitar and sing in a New York City subway for a day.

Photo Credit: JubileeProject.org

“We were really bad [singers] so it was a bold gesture,” he laughingly admits, “but it was a lot of fun. We raised about $70, but we thought, ‘Why don’t we try and get that $100?’ So we made a video about it on YouTube and within a week we had over 1,000 views—and raised over $700 for Haiti. That’s when we really thought for the first time that videos are an incredible medium to do a lot of great things.”

And they’ve done pretty well for themselves since, reaching over 22,000 YouTube subscribers and over 3 million video views to date. It isn’t a new concept to use YouTube videos to build a fanbase—think Wong Fu Productions and various other music stars—but the Jubilee Project’s explicit goal of rallying support for charities is a new and growing way of using social media.

“What we really saw was the power of social media to make something so available and
accessible to everyone,” says Eric. “We thought, ‘Hey, this could be a really great way to make an issue known to other people,’ so what we try to do is make a video that has a good social message but also something that is entertaining.”

Asian Americans seem to have created their own niche online, and Jason notes, “It’s been an interesting time because I think, for the first time ever, Asian Americans are able to have a way to voice their opinions, a way to voice their issues. Traditionally, there weren’t really avenues for us to speak out.”

That, however, is slowly changing, as the digital media landscape becomes flooded with Asian American faces. YouTube in particular has become increasingly popular among vocal members in the Asian American community as a means for self-expression, whether it’s to showcase music like Clara Chung, sketch comedy like Ryan Higa or charity videos like The Jubilee Project.

But The Jubilee Project’s goals aren’t only confined to the internet. They’ve been expanding their reach in real life, too. This past fall, the group wrapped up its college tour, during which they visited campuses across the country, showing videos and discussing the use of social media in advocating for change. Part of their act included a sneak peek of their short feature film, Dear Daniel, which focuses on a second-generation American struggling to make it against the usual Asian stereotypes.

So far, their passion has helped them raise over $28,000 for over 15 different organizations, and their influence doesn’t stop there. Within months of posting their well-known Love Language video for the American Society for Deaf Children, another group of students decided to make their own version for a school project. The best part? The remake received 3 million more views than the original. It must be true, then, as The Jubilee Project loves to tweet: Doing good is contagious.

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Photo Credit: Quentin Bacon for Seoultown Kitchen by Debbie Lee (Kyle Books; 2011)

Growing up, Debbie Lee could always be found in the kitchen with her grandmother. An Arizona native, she didn’t get to meet her grandmother under her early teens, when her family moved to California. Even though Lee only spoke English and her grandmother only understood Korean, the one thing the two had in common was cooking, and every weekend Lee’s grandmother taught her family recipes through gestures.

Years later, Lee is now a Food Network celebrity chef, a restaurant owner and a newly minted cookbook author. And, of course, Lee credits the success of her Korean-fusion food with her grandmother’s strict training. “If I wasn’t doing it right, she would give me a hand motion and tap my hand,” said Lee. “She’d have me taste everything, and then she’d taste my stuff.”

Taking all the kitchen lessons learned from her grandma, Lee spread her culinary joy to her friends—food was a great way to connect different groups of people.

“The one thing everyone bonds over is food. That’s the one thing that I feel that people are open-minded to,” she said. “I think that when people find food to be a conversation piece, that’s really where you have that power of food to talk about who you are. That’s how people can understand one another.”

With such faith in food, Lee began to blaze through an evolution of flavors. In her earlier years of cooking, she considered herself a California-French chef because she was French-trained and worked at many French restaurants. But her beginnings in her grandmother’s kitchen eventually came back to her, and Asian flavors became a natural avenue. First as an assistant dessert chef in San Francisco, Lee created an Asian version of the napoleon by layering wonton chips with brandy-sautéed Asian pears and persimmons. When she continued her culinary pursuits as a Hollywood caterer, Lee introduced dishes such as Korean lettuce wraps with bulgogi.

Photo Credit: Quentin Bacon

Besides her work as a chef and a caterer, Lee believes that a turning point in her cooking career was her participation in season five of “The Next Food Network Star,” in which she finished as second runner-up.

“Being the first Asian contestant on a show like that and having a voice and platform to expand the notion and demystify the myth that Asian food is hard was pivotal,” said Lee. On the show, she was able to introduce special new ingredients that hadn’t been used before and provide a new precedent for Asian cuisine. “It’s very interesting, because now I see a lot more Asian-inspired dishes coming out.”

Following her stint on the Food Network, Lee felt that it was the perfect time to share her recipes through a cookbook, allowing her to complete a lifelong dream. The recipes in her cookbook “Seoultown Kitchen” are a mix of her personal experiences, whether it’s something her grandmother taught or her own interpretation of a dish she had in Los Angeles’s Koreatown.

“There’s a lot of time and love that went into making the book. It was an experience of a lifetime,” said Lee. “I feel like the fact that people are actually identifying with the book, reacting to it and using it—that makes me feel that I’ve made a difference.”

For aspiring chefs, Lee says that it’s important to create a story with food and to be open to discovering a true sense of self. Need a new recommendation? Lee loves duk gok, a Korean rice cake soup. If you’re feeling adventurous, try the recipes Lee’s sharing with Mochi and get cooking.

What are your favorite cooking memories with your family? Share one in the comments for a chance to win a copy of Lee’s cookbook.

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Photo Credit:Warner Bros. Pictures

I still vividly remember walking out of the theater after watching Harold & Kumar Go To White Castle. I was with a group of friends of various ages, and those of us too scared for the horror movie next door decided to watch two stoners on their quest for hamburgers. I left the theater 88 minutes later with residual pains in my stomach from laughing so hard—and a stark realization that I had just watched the funniest movie I’d see in a long time. I couldn’t remember ever hearing an audience howl like that.

But what I didn’t realize for a long time afterward was just how novel the movie was and what a breakthrough it was in Hollywood. The writers reportedly wrote the two leading roles specifically for Asian American actors—literally unheard of at that time, especially with a movie that wasn’t set in Asia or didn’t include some type of martial arts sequence.

Photo Credit:Warner Bros. Pictures

When first movie came out, John Cho, who plays Harold, was unsure of how the Asian American community would react. “We weren’t traditional cinematic heroes,” he says of the characters. “We were stoners, an odd couple. That’s not what the ideal Asian American characters would have been if you polled people at a film festival. But over the years, it feels like the community has really warmed to what we are doing.”

Fast forward seven years. The Harold and Kumar franchise has become a smash hit, two stoners are household names and they’ve paved the way for minority actors and comedians to play leading roles in projects that are not ethnicity-focused, no longer always relegated to the bit parts of sidekicks, immigrants or exotic objects.

Kal Penn, the man behind Kumar, agrees that the movie was a step forward for the industry. “I remain honored to have the chance to play this character,” he says. “But it’s not about me. It’s about the risk that Warner Brothers took [in casting two Asian American leads], and I hope there are more movies that continue to be made like that.”

Photo Credit:Warner Bros. Pictures

There’s certainly a reason why audiences can’t get enough of the franchise. In college, my Indian roommate and I discovered our mutual love for the movie when she hung the poster above her bed our freshman year. We immediately decided that we were a female version of the duo, one brown and yellow face, taking on the four-year adventure of college. Perhaps, somewhat subconsciously, it was the thrill of seeing faces like ours on the big screen, as rebels of a sort, proving that we could be ambitious like Harold but also fun-loving like Kumar at the same time. We dressed as Harold and Kumar one Halloween, watched the second movie together, looked up the lyrics to the Pi song and reveled in the way we saw ourselves represented in them, despite the fact that neither of us ever seriously dreamed of becoming surgeons or bankers, smoked weed or ate at White Castle.

This week, the third movie of the series comes out. Cho and Penn, the unlikely A-list pioneers of Asian Americans in Hollywood, are back in their most famous roles despite the four-year hiatus they spent filming other projects and advising the President of the United States (Penn was previously an associate director working in outreach for the Asian American Pacific Islander and arts communities for the White House). This time around, they are almost thirty. Harold and Maria have married, and the bond between Harold and Kumar has faded, as friendships are wont to do. A series of unfortunate events (isn’t it always?) brings them back together, in an effort to please Harold’s father-in-law, on a Christmas adventure that includes a Ukranian mob boss, a robot that makes waffles and, of course, Neil Patrick Harris.

Above all, the movie is a celebration of friendship—director Todd Strauss-Schulson calls it a “bromantic comedy.” According to Cho, the biggest challenge of the movies is making sure that Harold and Kumar are believable as friends. “I think most people have a straighter side and a wilder side,” he says. “That’s why the Harold and Kumar movies work to a certain extent. That’s why the Odd Couple format, which is what we’re copying, works so well. Everyone has both in them.”

Perhaps the biggest advance the movies have made is in making a pair of stoner rebels (regardless of their ethnicity) unlikely role models for a true friendship. I can’t count the number of times I’ve met best friends of South and East Asian descent—like my roommate and I—who believe, from the bottom of their hearts, that they are Harold and Kumar.

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“Aiyah,” she said. “You are getting fat.”

I am Whasian: half-Chinese, half-Caucasian. My father, a (now retired) diplomat, met my mother in Hong Kong, and the two of them globe-trotted their way to a family. I grew up predominantly overseas, in both Western and Asian countries. Learning to reconcile my two cultural sides has always been a part of the package. And of all the differences and similarities between Chinese and American culture, the one that has shaped my life the most is the pervasive desire to be thin.

My DNA may have “Chinese” written on half of it, but my body type was undoubtedly inherited from my father’s side of the family. I am 5’9″ with long legs, broad hips and an ample chest. In retrospect, I know that I was most decidedly not a fat child. I was perfectly average well into adolescence. Sure, I went through my baby-fat phase, and at some points I was slightly more rotund than at others, but for the most part, there was really nothing wrong with my weight. I, of course, did not see it that way. From the minute I hit puberty, I was simply too fat. And that mentality is harmful enough in a US middle school, where despite the media’s emphasis on celebrity-thinness, you’re still likely to have classmates of all shapes and sizes. So you can probably imagine what happened when I moved to Taipei for high school. Suddenly, 90 percent of my classmates were more Asian than me and most of them smaller and thinner than me. See you later, self-esteem!

So began my toxic relationship with food. I loved food, but it was also responsible for making me “fat.” I couldn’t understand why so many of my friends at school could eat whatever they wanted and still be pencil-thin—though I understand now that for many, it was simply a genetic disposition. I began turning to food to both comfort and punish myself, feeling guilty when I ate and hating myself for my lack of self-control and naturally, the pounds starting piling on. My disordered eating and dangerous diet habits continued through high school and college where, depressed and obese, I topped out at my highest known weight of 246 lbs.

Luckily, my story has a happy ending. Last August, I made the decision to stop my self-destructive behavior and started my blog, Honey, I Shrunk the Gretchen! to chronicle my efforts and keep me accountable as I went on my final diet. Since then, I have lost over 60 lbs and am still going strong. Starting my blog and immersing myself in the healthy living blog community has helped me discover so much about myself. My body type is never going to be a size 2, and I’m okay with that. Health and beauty are not strictly defined terms, and being Whasian does not mean I have to look like Maggie Q (not that I’d mind if I did, of course! Just not at the expense of my physical or mental health).

Unbeknownst to many, there is a significant Asian presence in the healthy living blog community, that is slowly (and perhaps subconsciously), dispelling myths about the ways Asians “should” look. I invite you to check out some of the following blogs in addition to my own:

Live, Laugh, Eat

Burp & Slurp

My Little Part

Jeanette’s Healthy Living

My weight-loss journey is not over, but for once I feel good about finally making it there because I am doing it for the right reasons, and I am done hating myself for not fitting a certain stereotype. Now, that’s a good feeling.

Gretchen blogs over at Honey, I Shrunk the Gretchen! She invites you to read more about her 60 lb weight loss, history with disordered eating, kitchen misadventures and adorable miniature schnauzers there! Please feel free to follow her on Twitter or Facebook, or email her at gretchen@honeyishrunkthegretchen.com.

All photos courtesy of Gretchen Powell

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