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FoodBeast: 16 Foods That Remind Me of My Asian American Childhood

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Cow Ear SnacksAn article in the FoodBeast  by Dominique Zamora lists 16 food items that remind her of her Asian American childhood.

The items include everything from Lychee Jelly candies to dry seaweed. Her list is a good one and inspired me to come up with my own list.

Here’s my list in no particular order.

1. Plum candy– Chinese New Year wouldn’t be complete at my house unless my mom put out the plum candy in the dish. It was about the only time of year when she would put out candy in the home. All the other times, I pretty much had to buy my own candy with my daily 10 cent allowance.

2. Ginger– Not the kind of ginger that you buy at the grocery store to spice up your recipe. But this ginger was stringy and came in a clear plastic wrapper. It was great to suck on and added a little spice to your mouth.

3. Cow Ear Chips. Probably sounds pretty gross to those who have never had one. But this is just a chip to eat as a snack. It has nothing to do with the ear off a cow. I guess I haven’t grown up yet because I just finished a bag last night while finally watching the Life of Pi on blu ray.

4. Fortune cookies– I used to be able to go into Ross Alley in San Francisco Chinatown and buy a bag of broken fortune cookies for 5 cents. It was the way the fortune cookie factory could still make some money off fortune cookies that broke into pieces on the assembly line.

5. Frosty Ice Cream cone– There was an ice cream shop across the street from my grammar school that used to sell Frosties. The creamy treat was popular long before yogurt shops populated every mall and suburban street corner. If I remember right, I used to be able to get a cone for 10 cents. Man, am I that old? DON’T YOU DARE ANSWER THAT! 🙂

Check out Dominique’s list in FoodBeast and then share your own below. Have fun with the memories!

 

20 COMMENTS

  1. From: Gary Kong via Facebook RE: Fav Asian American Childhood Foods: Djung with the egg and pork inside. Also, my aunt's famous tomato beef chow mein.

  2. From Don Huey via Facebook RE: Fav Asian American Childhood Foods: Fu Jook, salted fish, steamed pork hash, tofu, tomato beef
    chow mein, the list is almost endless!

  3. From Juju Lee via Facebook RE: Fav Asian American Childhood foods: "My gramma used to make pork kidney…I miss that. Snacks: beef jerkey, all the mui and lom at Hop Lung, and the red ginger! Cha Sil bow made the old way."

  4. From Yvonne Kantola via Facebook RE: Fav Asian American Childhood Foods. Used to love eating the sweet and sour mui and the spicy laam at the theatre.

  5. From John Tam via Facebook: RE: Fav Asian American Childhood Foods. White Rabbit candy, Haw Flakes, "Boogers" made from orange peel, Chun Pei Mui plums & those Rice Crispy-looking things called "Ma Jie"'s which translates to "little horses".

  6. from Jeannie Woo via Facebook RE: Fav Asian American Childhood foods: "All of the above, especially the jerky & the mui. I also loved going to a CT store in the late morning when the long fun (only .20 cents) with green onions, dried shrimp, bbq pork just came out of the steamer. They would chop it up for me & put it in a brown paper bag & sent me eating away onto my destination."

  7. From Florence Ying via Facebook RE: Fav Asian American Childhood Foods: "Dear Da Jie Jie, I had them before, but I dont eat them anymore, so I dont know whether they still carry them!"

    • From Judy Wing Lee via Facebook RE Fav Asian American Childhood Foods. "Florence Ying… Have you seen the Sugus candy in mint flavor? They don't seem to make it anymore :-("

  8. From Shirley Leung via Facebook RE: Fav Asian American Childhood Foods: "I have never has sugus in mint!! gosh, didn't know they ever existed. gonna google it now. Florence: Really? Are you okay now? :)"

    • From Judy Wing Lee via Facebook RE: Fav Asian American Childhood Foods: "The mint Sugus was wrapped in white with green lettering. I think they were the best with a mild mint flavor … Just can't find them anymore :-("

      • From Florence Ying via Facebook RE: Fav Asian American Childhood Foods: "I am still alive! Living that is! If i remember it clearly, it was with white and blue dots or stars on the wrappers. Dont like mint when I was little. Here I am thinking it was blue instead of green. Most of the kids dont like mints."

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