What We Remember From Cooking With Family

The humming, lulling sound of the mochi machine perpetually agitating the sticky white ball of glutinous rice, the fragrant aroma of adzuki bean soup bubbling steadily on the stovetop, the sizzling of mochi on the griddle, with its puffy golden brown crust and melty, gooey insides — such were the New Year’s celebrations at my home growing up.

To many like me, food is a lens through which memories are captured and stored. As memory pathways through which an individual can reminisce about family, culture, and traditions, food vividly encapsulates past experiences through taste, texture, and smells. From grandmothers’ old family recipes to the yellowed pages of an old cookbook, food and dishes passed down from one generation to the next provides an alluring taste of the past to each individual. 

But memories fade and old recipes are often misplaced or forgotten, ingredient and measurement lists shoved in a dusty box in the attic. Now, more than ever, it is critical that these nostalgic remnants of the past are restored before they vanish from us altogether. For Asian Americans, this means that while we have the capacity to reinvent culinary traditions, unlocking new food memories and gaining appreciation for others’ cultures, we also are given the responsibility to pay homage to our cultural heritage by preserving family recipes.

Food as Family Heritage

It comes as no surprise that food brings families together. Favorite food memories and family traditions often serve as opportunities for individuals to reminisce on the past, sharing their cultural heritage with those around them.

Sandy Hu, former director of the Ketchum Food Center and creator of family lifestyle blog “Call Me Grandma!,” expands on some of her family’s Japanese New Year’s traditions, some of which have consistently been a part of her family tradition for over a century. 

Describing the freshly made mochi coated in kinako (roasted soybean powder), soba noodle soup, as well as sushi and ozoni (mochi soup) she has made in the past, Sandy explains that over time, her family traditions have expanded past these typical Japanese dishes. Now, her family enjoys a variety of dishes in potluck form. From Korean to Thai and Chinese dishes, each person brings something they enjoy to the dinner table. Sandy says, “Food bridges cultures, doesn’t it? You know, when we can enjoy each other’s food, that’s very meaningful.” 

As a Japanese American mother and a grandmother, Sandy doesn’t just believe in cooking Japanese food for her family. By also introducing them to Italian, French, American, and Chinese cuisine, Sandy encourages her family to develop a global perspective on food. This appreciation for different cultures and their dishes comes from her late mother, Sandy explains, who would find new recipes and replicate them for her family — from Chinese and Korean dishes, to Portuguese cuisine — at a time when all the Japanese ladies around her were cooking strictly traditional Japanese food. 

Similarly to Sandy, Korean American mother and daughter duo Heejin and Sophia Kim have significant memories tied to food and family customs. 

Having immigrated to the United States from Korea with her family when she was young, Heejin shares, “For me, my fondest memory in terms of food was when we celebrated holidays with family … Growing up, my older aunt would always do Thanksgiving because she immigrated to the United States first. So then she was the one that knew how to make a turkey and all the sides — all the things that we never saw in Korea … And then, of course, there’s also Korean food on top of that.” Blending both more traditional Korean dishes with new American traditions, Heejin’s family preserved their cultural heritage while creating and celebrating new holidays. 

For Sophia, one of her fondest memories of food stems from seeing her grandparents in Rhode Island, where they would cook lobster for visiting family members. She explains, “We went to the market together just to get lobster, and then we came back, and [my grandmother] put them live in the pot and cooked them, and then she also made a bunch of side dishes.” Like many, Sophia’s memory of food is connected with family, where cherished family traditions are preserved. 

This is all part of the Asian American experience: preserving and cherishing traditional ways of cooking and eating, while branching out and forming new family memories through an appreciation of other cultures. 

Dispersing Knowledge About Family Recipes

It is clear that food is at the center of many homes, cultivating connections through the promotion of traditional ways of communal eating, as well as forming new traditions. However, it is the preparation of this food — from skills and techniques passed down generations — that carry on cultural legacies through both culinary tradition and family recipes. 

Heejin and Sophia reflected on their family’s food traditions, examining the ways in which the ways they eat and the recipes they learn have been passed down to them through their family. 

Heejin shares, “I eat seasonally, but I think it’s because my mom ate seasonally, because there are certain foods you eat at certain times of the year in Korean culture.” She talks about the Korean dishes she likes to eat during warmer seasons, such as a mild kimchi with broth, or a cold soybean noodle soup. 

Heejin also mentions how her mother liked to cook traditional Korean dishes for New Year’s. “She would make a menu of what she was going to make on that day; there was always fried shrimp, and there was always japchae, the glass noodle dish. And there was beef braised short ribs … That was her thing — she did all the Korean food.

“When I started cooking with my mom, I think I used to just watch my mom cook a lot. And then other than that, just helping my mom cook, especially when she was cooking big things, I was like her little assistant,” she adds. 

Similarly, Sophia now helps her mother with cooking for their household, spending time in the kitchen, and learning basic cooking techniques. “In kindergarten or first grade, we had a few specific days arranged so that I could learn certain recipes. I remember that we made chocolate chip cookies and meatballs from scratch,” Sophia reflects. 

From observing mothers cooking to planning special shared cooking times and helping out with smaller tasks, knowledge of basic cooking principles are passed down little by little, as younger generations pick up and start to intuitively mimic the cooking and cultural eating habits of their elders.

Preserving Food Tradition in the Digital Age

While the intergenerational dispersion of recipes through the passing down of family recipes from grandparent to grandchild is often one of the main ways in which culinary tradition is preserved, it is not the only way. 

In fact, the rise of the digital age has led to a platform for many to preserve these disappearing family recipes and cultural dishes. For many, social media platforms and blogs are keys to unlocking that vague memory of a dish served at a family gathering in the past. For others, these sites supply their audience with helpful tools for those seeking to reconnect or learn about their own cultural identities. 

Speaking from her own experience as a judge for the James Beard Cookbook Award as well as running her own recipe site, Sandy states, “[People] should look at [saving family recipes] as if they are trying to create an heirloom; to write recipes correctly … It’s important to catalog all the ingredients properly, and all the amounts and the math.”

But there are challenges to both the restoration and preservation of culinary tradition through food. Sandy explains, “Just because you can cook doesn’t mean that you can write a recipe, because one is the action of preparing a meal, and the other one is a communications tool — it’s writing in a way that someone can replicate that dish.” 

Accurate measurements are key when putting a family recipe into writing. Additionally, documenting where family recipes came from is essential — especially when those recipes came from published sources, like newspaper clippings or old cookbooks. 

“One day you might want to do something with [a family recipe], and it may not be yours to do something with,” she clarifies. The world of recipe copywriting can be ambiguous and complicated; when publishing recipes on blogs or through social media platforms, extra precaution must be taken in order to avoid inadvertent plagiarism from other sources or other ethical issues. 

It is clear that preserving food tradition in the digital age does come with its challenges. However, as an instrumental aid to the preservation of the rich history and cultural heritage that comes with family recipes and other traditional cuisines, food media — when written correctly — has become a helpful tool. This platform supports those looking to reconnect with their cultural identities or keep track of past food memories.

In her interview, Heejin reflects on digital media and its impact on her own cooking. “It’s funny, because when I look back at my Instagram, I tend to make the same food around the same time.” By preserving memories of dishes she makes throughout the year, Heejin is able to look back on the food she made and find inspiration for the years to come.

From New Year’s mochi celebrations at home to enjoying lobster at grandmother’s, food is more than just a lens through which memories are captured; it is a catalyst for storytelling and a magnified appreciation for culinary recipes and cooking techniques. This is why it is imperative that family recipes and traditions are passed down and carefully preserved. Through cooking sessions between mother and daughter, New Year’s celebrations cultivating a love for global cuisine, or crafting digital media pieces that preserve a grandmother’s culinary craft, family legacy through food is carried on.