In the first episode of Caroline Shin’s “Cooking with Granny†series, her adorable grandma, Sanok Kim, shares her simple yet delicious recipe for Korean-style pork belly. During her interview, she is joined by her friend, and together, they recount their dangerous journeys from Soviet North Korea to U.S.-occupied South Korea.
Caroline Shin is a multimedia journalist based in NYC. Recently, she launched “Cooking With Granny” – a Web series in which grandmas teach how to cook traditional dishes from their cultures while simultaneously sharing their funny, sad and surprising experiences with immigration and multiculturalism in a world that’s very different from today’s. Shin was previously a video editor at New York Magazine and holds an M.A. from Columbia Journalism School.
I’ve told you all how my mother always made sure we surrounded ourselves with good influences. Most of all, she always reminded us to be proud of the person we are and not to change for anyone. We’ve all heard the expression, “Birds of a feather flock together.†It’s kind of terrible but kind of true all at the same time. The Spanish version of this, which I always heard, is…
We enjoy having drag show brunch dates with our favorite gals. Afterward, we’ll go hang out at the Clevelander on South Beach. These are the type of people we are. We are these people because of the women who raised us. Women who are retired and enjoy life as if they’re in their 30s. They’re still in their prime.
My mom was in Honduras for Christmas, and I went to Sandra’s (Valerie’s mom) house. I’m always welcomed with open arms. Valerie has embarrassingly inappropriate conversations with my mom. She’s told my little mom she’d like to stick her in her purse and just carry her around. There’s a confianza (familiarity) that I hadn’t experience prior to this friendship.
These women gave up everything for their children. They raised us to be loyal, caring, supportive and accepting. We followed their example, and in turn, these children found each other and established a formidable friendship. A friendship where there is loyalty – we care, we’re supportive and accepting.
As Valerie and I always say, “If you’re a bird, I’m a bird.â€
Co-founder of P.F. Chang’s Philip Chiang (Courtesy Philip Chiang)
Philip Chiang always wanted to be an artist, but life had other plans for him. At 67, he is the co-founder and consultant for the 200-plus Chinese restaurant chain, with a nearly $1 billion revenue, P.F. Chang’s.
Chiang’s parents left China in 1949 to flee Mao Zedong’s communist dictatorship, and so Chiang spent most of his childhood in Japan. At 14, he migrated, with his mother and sister, to San Francisco’s Chinatown.
At a time when the U.S. was only familiar with Cantonese cuisine, she introduced Mandarin cuisine of Northern China by opening the Mandarin restaurant in the 1960’s.
“She wasn’t a restaurateur – she just somehow got into it,†says Chiang proudly about his mother. “She became very successful and well-known – so things worked out. I think the intention was just to pay the bills.â€
He goes on to explain that his mother was the seventh daughter of an aristocratic family. She grew up in a large courtyard home characteristic of upper class families, but the family lost everything during the Chinese Communist Revolution.
“She’s a survivor,†says Chiang, who learned most things, including recipes, from his mother.
While he was an art student in Los Angeles, Chiang used to help his mom out at the Mandarin, when it moved to Beverly Hills.
“I was the busboy and did miscellaneous stuff around the restaurant,†says Chiang, not knowing at the time how that would come in handy later on.
The experience actually inspired him to open his own restaurant, reflecting his own personality – Â simple and laid back. He called it Mandarette.
“It was a more casual, younger cafe,†says Chiang. “I liked the fancier food that my mom had, but I craved more everyday food – casual dining, instead of fancy that my mom was doing.
He opened Mandarette in Los Angeles where, he says, everyone is on a health kick.
“The food was lighter fresher, more health-oriented…and that’s what attracted people,” says Chiang.
As luck would have it, one of his customers there was Paul Fleming – owner of the famed Ruth Chris Steakhouse. Fleming became a big fan of Chiang’s food and asked him to help him open up a Chinese food restaurant in Scottsdale, Ariz. That was the first P.F. Chang’s which opened in 1993.
“It was never meant to be a chain,†recalls Chiang. “After we did the first and second one, there was still no thought to do a chain. It just kept expanding, and we went along with it, and it grew.â€
The Los Angeles resident says what he believes led to the chain’s success is that they serve the Chinese food which he himself likes to eat.
“Clean and simple,†says Chiang, who is now helping P.F. Chang’s with its international expansion when he’s not pursuing his art career (he just joined Instagram with the name “ChiangPhilip” to display his latest paintings inspired by nature). “I’m still doing the same thing 20 years later.â€
He says being a restaurateur is a very difficult career, but his recipe to success is simple:
“In the end, I think people don’t need something different, just something really good,†says Chiang. “Very few people can do something well – even if it’s just a burger, or a salad – just do it really well.â€
Tuesday night I took the final bite out of my MacBook Pro, Conchita 2.0 (Yes, there was an original). We have been together since 2011. I bought her while I still lived in NYC. I documented my NYC adventures, my Miami adventures, my travels and the first six months of my Atlanta adventure with her. This is where the problem comes – I may or may not be able to salvage my pictures.
This is where I’m reminded of my mother’s words:
“El adelanto siempre trae atraso.”
      (Advancement always comes with setbacks.)
Back in the day, we would all print our pictures. We would focus on the moment rather than posting to social media. We rely on the digital world and some thing we call a “cloud†to store all of our stuff. Don’t get me wrong, we’re all still capable of printing, but we’ve (at least I have) made this digital progression that in a sense has caused us to almost regress.
This applies to most things that have evolved over time. Today, we’re out with the old, and in with the new. Many times the old way is the best way, yet it is discarded and forgotten. However, this is a solid lesson learned, and a reminder to not only consistently back things up, but that it’s not always necessary to stick with what’s new. Had I printed my pictures out, I wouldn’t be lamenting the loss of my beloved Conchita 2.0 as much.
Mom – 10226.8 days of my life being right. (28 years)
I wasn’t sure what I was going to write about this week. I have some quotes and phrases saved in an email, but for some reason none seemed to really inspire me. My mom and I were making plans for summer via Facebook (very modern) and both got really excited. It’s been an interesting week, to say the least, so I needed the extra rush. Seeing my enthusiasm made my mom happy, because she knew I had been in a funk.
Then, she said to me:
“Hay que ver la luz que da el fósforo y no la oscuridad que hay alrededor.”Â
(You need to focus on the light a match provides and not the darkness that surrounds it.)
As usual, she’s right. My mom has been through dark moments in her life. She always credits that hardcore Catholic faith she has. She always manages to flip things around, and she always manages to push through. So when I find myself complaining, it’s moments and advice like this that bring me back to reality.
It was exactly what I needed to hear. This is why she’s the best.
Caroline Shin is a multimedia journalist based in NYC. Recently, she launched “Cooking With Granny” – a Web series in which grandmas teach how to cook traditional dishes from their cultures while simultaneously sharing their funny, sad and surprising experiences with immigration and multiculturalism in a world that’s very different from today’s. Shin was previously a video editor at New York Magazine and holds an M.A. from Columbia Journalism School.
