Eating at Home

Hi, welcome back to Eat Your Cress Podcast. I'm Crystal. I'm G-Zoo and I'm Sunny. I don't know if it comes across very obviously, but actually on this podcast, we are huge food lovers. And so this week's episode, we wanted to talk more about food. We thought it would be really fun to talk about our relationship with food in the household versus we've talked about eating out before and our experiences with that. But I think there's a whole different world of how you interact with food or what kind of food you eat, what you cook, etc. when you look inside the household. So I guess a question to start us off would be, what kind of food did you grow up eating a lot of? Maybe the main cuisine or what was like your favorite dish? Maybe that your parents made for you? So I grew up eating a lot of Korean food at home. I would say that it was the main cuisine that we ate. A Korean traditional dinner play in our household would look like a bowl of rice, usually white rice, a lot of different side dishes. So we always had at least two pickled side dishes on the table. And then there would be a meat dish and maybe some sort of vegetable dish steamed or something like that. But I do distinctively remember we would have themed nights. You know how a lot of American people have taco to say or something? So for us, one of our special meals would be baked potato night. Oh my god, my mom would bake a bunch of russet potatoes and then we would put sour cream and cheese, butter, green onions, and bacon bits on it. And then another themed dinner would be like spaghetti. So my mom would put, you know, like store bought marinara sauce onto spaghetti and then we would put like American cheese slices on it. Oh my god, that's so American of you. Right? And then I guess occasionally we would have steak too. Non-Korean cuisine was like the specialty or like an exciting night. And Korean was like the default. That's funny because I feel like our household was kind of the same. I would say at home on weekdays, we usually had Chinese dishes paired with rice. Everyone would have their own bowl of rice and then we would share like three main dishes of either meats or veggies. But we would also occasionally have like random, more Americanized, I would say meals mixed in. One of my mom's specialties I feel like was baby back ribs. Oh. So randomly we would have that for dinner or like maybe a weekend lunch. And then we would also sometimes have like pasta or salad and things like that. So it was very interesting. But I would say primarily raise eating like Chinese food at home. Yeah, I think I'm very similar to you all as well. Bowl of rice, shared veggies slash like meat or fish dishes or soups. Occasionally we would have like spaghetti. I think that was just the easiest American dish. Like to learn to cook, you know, all of that. It's not fancy like Italian style. It's just American style, you know, it was always exciting to eat American food because sometimes it was like, oh, this is what other people eat. Or it was just like very different and nice break from what we're so used to. And I think also it's just maybe like more palatable for kids. You know how kids love like chicken nuggets and like like easy to eat stuff. So I think that was another part of it. Also we would sometimes eat like craft dinner, the mac and cheese. Oh wow. Yeah. Damn, I'm trying to remember if my parents like to mac and cheese. I think for us the instant food go to is always like Korean ramen. My mom would make a bunch in a pot. I still don't know how she does it, but she makes their ramen really all dente. So then it tastes really good. Like the mouth feel is really good. When I try to recreate it to the stage, I have no idea how she does it. It's funny. That sunny you said that your mom had special teas. And that's kind of how I see my parents cooking too. Like my dad's specialty is brunch. He can do like French toast and like scrambled eggs and omelets and stuff, but I've never seen him make any dish outside of like brunch. Like this. I'm like, dude, you do this so well. Like maybe you should venture out into other food. Crystal, when you brought up eating more American dishes and feeling like you're eating stuff that other kids are eating, that reminded me of school lunch and also the few times we would go out to our regular rotation of restaurants. I think one of the household staples was this restaurant called Sweet Tomatoes that no longer exists sadly, but I think if you're raised on the west coast, specifically in like California, I feel like this was a very common place for people to bring their families because it was super affordable and it was kind of like the face style focused on salads and soups. And I feel like it was such a treat for us to go and the kids would just get the same few things. Like you would get like no salad. Just get a bunch of soup, which was usually like chicken noodle soup or clam chowder. And then I would always love their blueberry muffins and I would like peel the top off and just eat like the crispy bit. And they also always have like three pasta's on rotation. I feel like the other kids loved mac and cheese. And I would usually eat like this spaghetti or something and then just like finish off with ice cream and I feel like that was such a treat for us. And it was like very similar to the chicken nuggets or like pizza, nachos and whatever else they serve in elementary school. And those were like the occasional meals that I would only ever get outside of home. Yeah. Yeah, maybe that's why like it always felt so special because it was like, oh, this is out of the norm. This is not the easiest thing to get. Not that it was like hard to obtain, but it's just that like it's not what our parents are comfortable making maybe. Yeah. Yeah. And I feel like eating out with family felt so special. I mean, it still like is a very nice and fun activity to do, but I feel like as an adult making my own money, if I want to go out and eat out, I can and I will. But as a kid, you're kind of like subject to what your parents want to do that day. In the area that I grew up there used to be this restaurant called Elephant Bar. And that was like, you know, to me, it felt very like luxurious. Like we're rich. We're spending money today. We would go and get like deep fried chili shrimp and you know other like Asian fusion dishes. And I would be like, this is like the best day ever. Dude, we had Elephant Bar too. Yes. I remember sometimes people would have their birthdays there. And we were like, wow, this is like so fancy. Like what a grandiose meal. Right. Dude, did that place disappear? Is it gone now? ours is gone. ours is definitely gone. I do want to ask you guys about, I guess the nutritional aspect of eating with your family, because now that I am trying to observe my health, I feel like I care a lot about like, oh, how much protein does this thing have or like, is this thing high in carbs or, you know, just like checking general macro levels, even if it's not in depth knowing like, okay, these foods are kind of healthy, these foods are not. And looking back at the meals that you would have with your family, how would you rate them on like a nutritional scale? Do you think they were very healthy or are you kind of like, we didn't eat much protein back then? Surprisingly, I would say I grew up with a borderline almond mom like she was very into just like nutritional meals and being like fairly health conscious. So I feel like I was always raised to eat a lot of different types of foods, especially like meats and veggies, like be kind of open minded there. And I think she cooked like a pretty wide variety of vegetables. There were definitely certain limitations in the house. I think they loosened up the older I got, but definitely when I was really young, I remember like in early elementary school, a common breakfast item was cereal, like milk and cereal. And I feel like all of my classmates and like what I would see on the shelves were like, lucky charms, cookie criss, cinnamon toast crunch. And I remember my parents never buying that for our household. We would usually buy like low sugar or no sugar cereal, so like corn flakes or Cheerios. So I feel like I was raised with like that kind of level of awareness that like, oh, you shouldn't really have these. But I think I like the way that they like slowly introduce them as I got older. So I knew like you can have them within reason, but try to have more of a balanced diet and more of a balanced approach to eating. And I think one thing that they cared more about was just like not having a ton of food waste. The concept of leftovers was like very much ingrained. Like if we didn't finish a certain dish, we'd probably see it the next day. So it was very common in our household to like keep the dish in the fridge, reheat it the next day if it wasn't finished. So I think that's a habit that I've definitely carried over into adulthood too. Dude, did you ever get honey bunches of oats for cereal? I feel like that was such a treat. I think my parents only bought that like once or twice. Dang. I feel like that was like a childhood favorite for so many people. Dude, yeah. My parents, I think they were still figuring out like what cereal would be like not overly sugary, but like, you know, not too plain, I guess, to the point where we would complain. So at some point they ended up on honeyvunches of oats and then me and my brother loved it. We're like, "Do this year was so good." It is good, objectively. How about you, Crystal? How would you rate your parents' meals growing up? Honestly, they're pretty balanced. I've noticed as I've gotten older and helped more in the kitchen or just like observed my mom cook more that she's always thinking like, "Oh, we need to have at least one veggie dish and one protein dish just to make sure we're getting whatever we need our energy and stuff." But yeah, I think she doesn't think of it too complicated. It's pretty much that. Like, veggies, protein, and some rice if anyone wants. There was this other meal that I loved to have when I was a kid, which is just like ramen. Honestly, me and my brother, I remember we would like chant when my mom was like, "Oh, today I'm tired. We're just going to eat ramen." And then my brother were like, "Dude, ramen." Yes. That was your chant. It was like in Chinese. It was called like fong vian mian. So it would be like fong vian mian. Something like that. So cute. But my mom hated serving that to us because she felt like it was pretty lazy and not the healthiest meal. And she knew that we loved it. So she was like, "If I serve it to them too much, they'll always want it." And it's just unhealthy to always eat that. Unfortunately, that meant more work for her to keep cooking these relatively healthy meals. It's sort of interesting for me when I look back at the meals that I used to eat with my family because in the way that I think of health and like meals and nutrition as it American, I think it's kind of a different approach than like how like a older generation or, you know, parents who immigrated from Asia would view nutrition and health because I would think, "Okay, protein, veggie, kind of like what you were saying, crystal." Try to like think of the general like holistic view. But then if I think back to the things that my parents would say about food, it would be like, "Oh, let's eat fish." It's healthy because it's really high in like omega-3s and like DHA and you know like very specific and like niche things that make food healthy and not just like the general categories that it lives in. So I do think that I grew up eating a balanced diet and my parents were pretty lax about like, if we crave something one day, let's eat it. But in like the total view, I felt like the foods that they were choosing to make were always healthy. So I just started the way that I would like think of it or define it today. Now that I think about it though, there was probably some sacrifice that our parents made because I think low key my dad likes fast food. And we would sometimes get it and it was like a treat for everyone because like then no one has to cook. Everyone's going to enjoy the meal and it's like pretty quick and easy. But deep down my parents knew it wasn't the healthiest meal. It wasn't a regular thing. Like my dad loves big Macs. So like going to get McDonald's is always very exciting. But of course they kept in mind it was like, oh we have like growing children. We can't always give into every single craving, but you know once in a while is nice kind of like what you said, Jesus. Dude, speaking of growing children, did your parents like forced area upon you when you were young? Absolutely. I'm a glass of milk every day growing up, which is probably why I'm tall. I mean it could also be many other reasons like genetics. But I didn't realize like that wasn't a thing for everyone because I also have a lot of friends who were drinking milk every day. And I feel like it was just such a common thing for our generation. And I think I only stopped doing that maybe in like high school. Kind of crazy. We even got milk for like our lunches, didn't we? Yes. Yeah. I don't know if you guys had this but in elementary school instead of like getting school lunches, everyone had to bring their own lunch. But we could put in a milk order. So it was like every day you get milk. It's so interesting. Yeah. It was like you could choose either chocolate milk or regular milk. Oh my god. Wait, did it come in bags? Because Canada, you guys drink like milk and bags, right? Okay. The fact of milk then is bag milk is instead of carton, big carton of milk, it's a big bag of milk. And then you cut the corner and you put it in the bag holder and then you pour it out, like a carton almost. But like the milk that we got at school was just like a small carton and it was like daily delivery at lunch time. Milk's here and then we get our milk. We got so cute. Dude, I like hated milk so much growing up. So whenever, I mean usually my mom would pack my lunch but some days like I would go in like buy school lunch and then when it came with the carton of milk, I would always throw it away or like give it to someone. I think when I was younger, I was like more sensitive to like smells, certain tastes, the smell of milk or creamy things like cream of mushroom soup. It would literally make me like gag and like start to throw up. So then I like hated drinking milk and the only way my parents would get me to drink milk was to put nest quick in it. Because when you put nest quick and milk, I'm sure you guys know this but not everything dissolves. So then you get these like little crunchy bits in the milk and that texture like I would crave it so much. Oh my god. So then that was like the only way that I got in all of my dairy nutrients. It's so funny. For some reason, I think around junior high, I started to like not love milk. So the only way I would drink it was yeah with nest quick but I didn't like those crunchy bits. What? I was like fighting for my life trying to squish the crunchy bits out so that everything dissolved so that it was fully chocolate milk. But then eventually I gave up so I was like mom, dad, I'm quitting milk and they're like, okay. Then you lived a post milk like where you a chocolate milk or regular milk person sunny. I was just going to say I feel like I was the only kid who did not like chocolate milk. Like you know how when you go into lunch line and then they have the cartons of like regular versus chocolate milk, I always think the regular milk and I feel like every time I tried like my friends or maybe my parents tried to buy it once or twice but I think I just like never liked it. But I also don't really like chocolate in general so that checks out. I wonder if it's because your mom was pretty health conscious in the household. Well, I guess this is a bigger question. Did you guys have snacks in the household? Ooh. Yeah, that's a great question. So we did have snacks but I would say they were fairly healthy but then there would be like randomly unhealthy stuff mixed in. So it's really hard to say like I think growing up, do you remember those like tubes of chips? Those were really popular. They have like those cheetos asteroids. Oh, they also have like lace stacks. So my parents would, I think primarily my mom, she would buy those but I think the rest of our snacks tended to be like rice crackers that you could buy from like an Asian grocery store which I think are a little bit healthier than like just chips. And I think we were raised eating a lot of fruit for snacks too. If we would come home from school or snack would sometimes be like yeah, some fruits and then maybe some pantry snacks but it was never like there were some things that were specifically kind of off limits where I never saw my parents buy like Oreos which I think were like really popular. And then I don't think we would ever get like just bags of candy. So I feel like when classmates or like other friends at school had them, I definitely just like took a few and such a treat. So no one, not a ton of unhealthy snacks but what was interesting was like crystal you earlier you mentioned like your parents would sometimes get fast food and I feel like fast food was actually like occasionally allowed in her household too. I mean this summer after like a swimming lesson we would like just go to the McDonald's drive through and my parents were like very open to getting McDonald's and Burger King and I wonder if it's because like as an immigrant this is their first time experiencing like American fast food too so it's like maybe also a treat for them. So true. I don't know it was really interesting. Oh my god did you have the like hoff lakes snack? Yes. I was gonna say I feel like there are like a few staple snacks that can be bought like at Asian grocery stores that we always had in the pantry and yes, hoff lakes like they're this teeny tiny little like paper wrap circular round flat snack that is made from like the hotthorne right? Is it like that like a thornberry or something? Yeah and they were really tasty. I actually think it's like mostly sugar which is just like disguised as like fruit. It's a fruit? Yeah. It's like dried fruit or something. Dude yeah we always had that as well. I think it was just like a really cheap and easy like sweet snack to give kids that didn't feel too guilty about like giving it to them. But I remember we had so much of it that at one point I was like dude like come and get something new. I think I would try to trade that snack with other people at like Chinese school. Oh my god. What about like ice cream? Did you guys have those pints of ice cream in your freezer or maybe like ice cream bars? So for our family. Yeah ice cream was very much a thing We would have pints. I feel like my parents really liked hogging dogs. Ooh, and I think for kids We were into ice cream, but we were also really into like popsicles Like I feel like it was so fun to just like eat So we would always have like those fruit bars and I particularly like like the strawberry one But yeah, I think ice cream was allowed. I wouldn't say we had it every day or anything But it was definitely like a treat for us and I feel like it was regularly stalked in our freezer I feel like I'm now realizing I'm like we had healthy habits for like most of our main like recurring meals like dinners and lunches But then I think we had some sprinkled in treats here and there so it wasn't completely health only Things are in moderation, but ice cream is allowed Ice cream is a yes ice cream fast food or yes ice cream must have been one of your parents weaknesses To this day they always still have ice cream in the freezer You could be right. I think actually what's funny about ice cream is when I was younger I think we had it stalked a little less often than we have it stalked now now whenever I go home My mom's like dude Chris. I just bought a hell of ice cream like help yourself like popsicles like pint of ice cream Like it's all there. I'm like, okay But when I was younger, I think it was a little more spark like spaced out Sometimes we didn't have it sometimes it would be like a nice treat and they like buy a box of popsicles or something But yeah, my dad loves ice cream Dude he goes through like three or four popsicles and like one sitting Dude, I know it's insane. My mom's always like Crystal don't tell dad yet, but I got popsicles and we're like I got ice cream So like you should you should eat some now before he finds out And like all disappears. Oh My god, you know actually that's a good point because my parents are also big ice cream lovers I think in general my mom has a weakness for snacking So then whenever we went grocery shopping she would come back with like one or two snacks for herself one or two snacks for me and it would just be like a part of what we do when we like watch TV or hang out or something For ice cream specifically like my parents have very different styles of ice cream that they would like and Loki, I think it's like strategic in a sense because my mom would buy red bean ice cream Which she knows my dad won't touch and then she'll buy my dad his caramel ice cream bars That she doesn't like and then she would buy me like whatever So to flavored like popsicle or something So then we would each have like our own little bags of ice cream pops and the freezer And we were all just like what happy family like there was no competition, you know Wow the concept of like not having to share It's crazy Oh my god, so true because Sunny has two siblings You know in a perfect world, I think that could work with my family to accept Loki my dad just eats anything like sometimes he eats a bunch of stuff and He's just like I don't even know what I ate but like it was lit and what like dude During COVID I was living with my parents and I think I had bought like a six pack of like some random fancy craft beer or something and then my dad was like he just like took one one day and he was like Oh, there's just beer here and he started drinking it and then he like you know over the course of whatever a couple weeks or whatever He ended up drinking a decent amount of it and then I was like wait like was having to this beer that I bought And he was like oh, I've been drinking it because like I like beer. I was like oh did you like it? It's like kind of fancy and he was like wait what it just he's like beer and I was like oh my god And then I was like okay, you know what like Maybe you should go drink like Bud Light or something So I would buy like a a decoy beer that was like just you know whatever I'm dead The label just says beer on it Like some basic thing right and then like the craft beer is I would try to hide to the back of the fridge That kind of reminds me were there certain rolls in the family where like Someone would eat all the leftovers or someone would be responsible for Eating certain parts of a dish that maybe you as a kid wouldn't eat like how did you all approach that growing up Dude, I actually had a really funny role when I was younger And I think it's because with our baby teeth sometimes it's like harder to choose stuff I guess I was just like dude. I love Fat like the fat on meats and stuff like that if you think about it makes sense It's like you know, it's really fatty. It's like really flavorful and it's easy to chew right so my parents were like dude Perfect that is so easy like just give crystal all the like fat parts of me and we can get all the lean parts you know Not as fat and I guess and it was great for a while But then as I got older I guess like my palate changed a bit and I was like okay, look he's I don't really like these fat parts anymore, but I don't know how to break it to my family You're like I don't want it to disappoint the But eventually I voiced out my uh My change in appetite and they're like damn what are we gonna do with all these fat bits now? There was definitely a long phase where I was just devouring everyone's like unwanted parts of the meal I feel like every household has and needs some sort of person like that for us Our family was obviously very small because I'm an only child If there were any leftovers at the table my dad would eat it But the funny part is my parents have very different approaches to like how they want a dinner to go So my mom is kind of like maybe normal to quick speed of an eater And my dad is a very slow eater like he wants to eat European like Spanish style You know with like four-hour dinners like sipping wine like chatting Talking to everyone around the dinner table So then my mom would eat in like 20 minutes and then just like sit there and be like I don't want to talk anymore Like can you hurry up and then my dad would sit for like next three hours You know as he's talking Me and my mom were just kind of like sitting there So we would like eat a little bit of the food and then at the end my dad would be like Oh, there's no more food left on the table And then he would just like finish all the like scraps of each dish So I think like over the years and especially since I don't live with them anymore Like we don't do as long of a dinner and I noticed that my dad has started eating quicker But when I go to eat dinners with like James's family for example I noticed that I'm the slow eater and I'm the one who like talks more And I'm like oh my god, this is like passed down to me And I want to tell people like guys trust me in my household. I'm on the faster side That's funny you're right though like James is a really fast eater So I imagine at home they're probably like wolfing down their food and then you're like Do we not just start eating? I'm just like impressed. I'm like how are you guys talking and then also eating like at the same time in the same breath Like for me it's like two separate actions How about you Sunny? Do you have a specific role in your family? I would say not really but it's funny that you talk about like speed of eating because I feel like as a family We would always sit down at the table to eat together like every night That was like very much a thing But I do think that it was not an hour or multi hour event it was just like something to do on the checklist It was like everyone sit down eat your meal We as kids didn't have to like clean up too much It was just like put your stuff in the sink and then other people will do the rest of the cleaning So I would say we also ate fairly quickly And then just like had short conversations and then just Call it a day. There wasn't anything in particular. I was like responsible for but I would say my dad Similarly was the one to eat all of the things that no one else wanted to eat and he embraced that role Okay, but did you and your siblings fight over food? Were you like oh god, I need to like hurry up and scoop half of this dish into my plate or bowl before someone else gets all of it You know that's interesting that you ask because I don't remember ever feeling that way during like dinner But I definitely felt that way about snacks Like that was a very common thing in the household like fighting over snacks Something I remember in particular is again when my mom would buy those just like either bags of chips or like the lace stacks Even just like rice crackers anything like that My brothers would do this thing where they would eat 90% of the container and leave me like two chips and then just like wrap it wrap it back up and like put a rubber band on it But you would never know especially in like those tubes right until you open it So I would like go and get a snack and I would like open the pantry Take out the tube and I would look inside And there would be literally like a chip in a half And I would lose my mind every time I feel like I have had like many tantrums over there. - Oh my God. - So not fighting over food at the dinner table, but definitely fighting over snacks. - How about you? - So fucked up. - I would also lose my mind. (laughing) - Oh my God. - Did you and Max over fight over food at the dinner table? - I don't know if Max was an active participant, but I think I was fighting a little bit as one-sided beef. (laughing) - You're creating problems for yourself. (laughing) - I think like, I really like tofu skin. And so sometimes like that would be in one of the dishes, and I would literally like, just pick those out. And my mom's like, dude, what the fuck are you doing? (laughing) And I don't think my brother was like very worried, but I was out here trying to pick them all out into my bowl. - That's so funny. - I feel like as an only child, I don't have much experience fighting over stuff, but there was this one thing where there's this Korean soup called chunggukjang. It's basically like soybean soup, but extra fermented. So it's a little stinky, and then the way that my family likes to eat it is the soybeans are intact. So like it's in the soup kind of like settling at the bottom. That's like my favorite part of chunggukjang. So every time my mom would make it, I would like scoop all the beans out. Then when I was like in high school, like early high school or something, I found out that my dad also likes that. And when I'm not there, he's the one who eats all the beans. Like my mom let it slip one day. Like, oh, so funny that you and your dad both like to eat the chunggukjang beans. And I was like, what are you talking about? Like I thought this was just my thing. And she was like, no, your dad also likes it. And then after I found that out, I was like, okay, I should like share. So then we like half happened. But it was literally not until I was like 15, where I like realized he also liked it. Oh my God. - That's how considerate he is of you. He's like, my child can have it. I don't need it. - That's so cute. I'm just imagining like young Jesus scooping out a bunch of beans and her dad looking at them a little sadly. But he's like, yeah, you should eat them. He's like, those were mine ones. Well, I guess beans aside, I do wanna ask you guys, do you feel like your parents ever went through phases, whether it was with like household dinner habits, watching TV with dinner, for example, or whether it was like actual food related stuff, like a salad phase or a no white rice phase. Like do you remember any phases like that? I did have a phase where we watched TV at the dinner table. My dad even set up a TV at the end of the dinner table. So they would watch a bunch of like Chinese shows and I would just get absorbed into it too. But then after a while, they were like, I forget it. They would just like remove the TV. I only went back to normal dinners. - I'm trying to think about specific phases we had. So I can't think of phases with dishes necessarily. But there was a phase where we didn't have a microwave, which is kind of funny. It was like an anti-microwave phase or something. I think what really happened was our microwave was really old and then we just like didn't bother to replace it. So we would reheat everything in either like the convection oven or just over the stove, which was kind of wild. I distinctly remember trying to make hot chocolate, heating my milk on the stove. I'm just like mixing it so the layer wouldn't form on top. So I think it was primarily because number one, our microwave was just too old. But also I feel like maybe my parents or specifically my mom read online that like microwaves aren't like good for your health. So there were like a couple years in our life that we just never had microwave to food. It was kind of wild. - Damn, I feel like that would double the amount of dishes to do, especially pots and pans, which are annoying to clean. (laughs) Totally. I could never. - Dude, yeah, that's crazy. - I think our family also had like a TV phase. We would like watch a bunch of shows during dinner and then I just remember one day, I noticed like our little laptop that we use as like a fake TV at the end of the table wasn't there. And I was like, oh, how come we're not watching, you know, the Saturday show today? And my dad was like, yeah, like I read online that it's supposed to be better if you don't watch TV while you eat. So we're not gonna do that anymore. And I was like, devastated. I was like, no. Then we ate dinner and it just felt so empty without the TV 'cause we had like our daily shows too that we like to watch. Literally the next week on that Saturday, the TV was back. - Oh my god. - Oh, thank God. (laughs) - It's like a short lived phase. - It's so funny. - Oh my god, wait, my family also had this really funny phase. Dude, one summer, my brother and I found this game that our parents used to play. Some like online RPG game kind of like World of Warcraft ask, he got like the entire family to start playing it. And we all became like addicted to it. (laughs) We would just order Taco Bell for our meals. (laughs) Wait, we literally became like degenerates for a month. - Okay, I don't know if it was as long as a month, but it was like definitely a week or two. - Yeah. - And it would be like, oh shit, it's meal time. And my dad would be like, I'm gonna drive to the Taco Bell down the street and get a bunch of feet and cheese. (laughs) Yeah, it was pretty crazy. That's amazing, I love that one. It's like, but the funniest part is that my mom told me recently, she was like, your brother Max told me that those were like, his favorite memories of our family of all time. And I was like, dude. - That is so touching. - You're like, you mean that period where we didn't talk to each other and didn't look at each other during meal? (laughs) - We know, but we would play the game together. Like we would raid together and like boss run together. (laughs) - That's crazy. - Yeah, I remember I was so shocked 'cause I was like, damn, we're gonna eat Taco Bell every day and you guys love Taco Bell too? - I love that. And I feel like you're like in a way carrying that torch. - You know, with you. - I think I can still see you doing that. (laughs) - For sure, never turned down some Taco Bell. (laughs) - This is kind of random, but did you guys grow up eating dinner at your dining table or did you eat it somewhere else in your house? - I only asked because we had like a formal dining room with like, you know, the big wooden dining table. But we also had this little like bar area. It was like a kitchen island kind of thing and then there were bar stools. And I guess 'cause it was closer to the kitchen, we would always eat there. And the only time we sat at the dining table was when people would come over. Later I was like, isn't that kind of weird? Like, why did we buy this entire dining table? (laughs) Only for it to be untouched most of the year. - We actually have kind of a similar setup. So we had like the formal dining room and dining table that we would only ever use if people were coming over. But on a regular basis, we had like this smaller dining table that was closer to the kitchen. And that's where we would, I guess it's technically still an official dining table. But we never use like the large nicer one. We just use like the day to day one that seats like only my family. No more than five people truly. (laughs) - Dude, that's crazy. Same thing. Like I also had the kitchen island bar area that we would always eat on. But I think my parents started to think similarly to you, G-Soo, where they were like, okay wait, we literally have this bigger dining table outside. Like why don't we just use it? (laughs) So one day they cleaned it up, set the table. After that we ate on the formal table. We still do now as well. - So for us, I'm realizing now that we also used to eat on the coffee table a lot. And I don't know if this is a Korean thing or something, but when I would go back to Korea to visit my family and we all like met up at my grandma's house to eat, we would set up this like a lower Korean table called as Han. And then we would all just sit like crisscross apple sauce around the little Han and just eat on the ground. I carry that habit with me to this day. I still like to eat at my coffee table and like sit crisscross apple sauce. And it's just like comforting to me. But I realize that if maybe if you didn't grow up doing it, it's really uncomfortable because James will start to have like knee problems or like knee pain or something. So now when we do that, he takes like our little stool and like sits on the, kind of like hunched over that I'm just like happily sitting crisscross apple sauce on the ground. - Wait, so you guys don't eat at your dining table? I would say it's like 50, 50. - How about you, Sunny? Like do you eat out a dining table nowadays or at like the coffee table or a bar or whatever? - I'm 50, 50, kind of like G-Soo. I feel like if the meal is a little more involved and could be messy, then I think we'll eat at the dining table. But if there's like a show we're trying to watch or like a game or anything, we'll usually eat at the coffee table. And it's really funny. I will sit on the ground because I just like want my table to be at this level. like I don't want to sit on the sofa and then bend over. to eat, right? But Jamel sent on the sofa and bent over to eat. Oh, I'm just sitting on the ground. So, I have a similar setup to like, (laughing) Jisoo and James. He's like hunched over her like that. Yes, literally. We both have back problems, but different kinds, different parts of the back probably. (laughing) Oh my God. Okay, I'm similar. I love eating at the coffee table, especially if it's just me, then I can like watch TV or have something in the background. But I do have like a more formal dinner table. And yeah, if it's like more elevated or there's like more pieces to the dinner, I guess, then I'll set it up on that. But dude, so this was a problem for me too. I was like, "Shoo, if I eat on the coffee table, then I have to, like I usually end up sitting on the ground." And I was thinking like, "Oh, that's such a waste of my couch." (laughing) What I did was I changed out my coffee table for one of those with a lift top. So now I can sit on the couch and eat on the coffee table and lift it up. I wanna say genius. The one that I got not only can lift up, once it lifts up, you can actually extend it. It's like a, it's already folded over so you can unfold it into a bigger like surface area. So if I had a more complex dinner, I could set it up on the maximum extension. Dude, you're making spring rolls on your coffee table. (laughing) But it's truly been a game changer. But I think my ideal is like, if I just had an island with bar seating, I think that's my ideal day to day seating probably. Dude, something about the dining table. You're so formal. Like I feel like I should tuck a napkin into my collar or something. (laughing) Do you think, okay, actually are your dining tables round or like rectangles? - I was just rectangular. - Oh, currently minus rectangular. - Okay, I have a theory that rectangular dining tables feel more formal than circular ones. - Oh, okay, but I have a question. Are you, if it's just two people, are you sitting next to each other or across? - Oh. - On your rectangular table. - We sit next to each other because we watch a show. - Okay, we do that too. - Oh, thank you. - It's like I pat up. - To optimize for screen views. (laughing) - Wait, I sit across. - Whoa, wow, you know, now that I think about it, sitting next to each other could be a move. (laughing) - Absolutely the move. (laughing) - I guess like we just defaulted to sitting across. Yeah, now that I'm picturing it in my head and like looking at the layout of the room, I'm like, oh, we could totally sit next to each other and watch the TV. - It feels almost like the safe space to eat a meal sitting next to each other 'cause that's something that I rarely do when we go out if not never, but at home, it just feels so right. Like side by side and then TV across from us. (laughing) - The TV has to be there otherwise it doesn't feel safe. (laughing) It's the third person in the video. (laughing) - Okay, but when I sit on my couch and use the coffee table, we're sitting next to each other. (laughing) - So funny, I feel like by the end of this episode, the three of us are all gonna have that same lift-hop extendable coffee table. - Guys, I'm telling you it's sick. (laughing) - I feel like I would never leave. - It is a little dangerous. (laughing) - So we talked a bit about like the type of food that we've eaten at home growing up from our parents. So I'm wondering how that's carried on in our lives now. At home, what do you usually cook for yourself or what do you feel comfortable eating in your day to day? - For me, it's kind of funny because I think a lot of people ask me if I cook Korean food all the time at home. And I think when I first started out cooking at home, I would because that was kind of what I grew up eating. That's what the definition of dinner or like what the visual of dinner looks like to me. So then I would try to make those things at home. But I think just with my lifestyle and me not being like a first generation Korean person, like my parents are, I was like, I feel like this is too much for me. I can't be cooking stew every single night and like making five panchans every day. - True. - So now we've been eating a lot of like salad or like the classic of like salmon, chicken breast, steamed broccoli or whatever Korean food or Chinese food would be like a treat from time to time. But I have like so many dried anchovies and kombu in my fridge because every time my mom goes to Korea, she comes back with like the good shit, you know? Like the stuff that they stalk in the supermarkets here, she says aren't as good as what you can get on like the dry markets or whatever in Korea. So she like vastly overestimates how much stew I make and entire bottom section of our fridge is just like anchovies. - Oh my god. - Dude, you should start selling them. - Do I show you guys wanna shot my stash? - Vocue yes. - I'm down to. - I would say we also like optimize for just efficiency. So we're usually cooking like a protein, either like chicken, fish, sometimes red meat and then like a veggie of sorts and eating it with rice. We will also sometimes eat like a pasta or like noodles and whatnot. But I think it's too involved and I'm not as good of a cook as my mom is. So there's no way I'm making like three Chinese dishes for a dinner casually. I think that is one thing that I would like to continue to learn more of is just Chinese cooking or like things that my mom's made so that I'm able to make that instead of just making chicken and broccoli or having an asparagus. - Yeah, I think similar. I've been in a salad phase because it's just so easy. I literally go to Costco bulk by like lettuce, tomatoes and then just you know, eat that for the whole week. You don't have to think too hard about it and it's like nutritional, add a protein in there. So that's been like the easy go to and then sometimes what I'll do is in the morning or maybe like around noon, just like throw some protein into the instant pot or like I just got a slow cooker which will make it this even easier now. Just like toss it in in the morning, set it and then like let it cook while I'm at work. Then when I come back, a soup is ready. - Oh, I love that. - I think I have a bit of a food identity crisis though because most of the stuff I make is like leaning towards Asian-ish. But at the same time, I'm like, I just do this 'cause I'm Asian I guess and I'm used to eating this food but it's not really like I had recipes passed down to me. I'm like googling the same things that everyone else is. You know what I mean? - Yeah. - Like my mom can cook and she's pretty good at it but she doesn't like cooking. So it's like some people are really into it. So they're excited to like share recipes and like teach you more about it. But because it's not like my parents favorite thing to do, I feel like the learnings that I got from them is maybe not as in depth as like some other people could be getting from their parents. So in the end, it's just me like researching what to make. And then I'm like, oh well, I guess I've chosen to research a lot of Asian recipes. When I could have also just researched a lot of other like whatever anything recipes and it also makes me wonder like, you know, if I were to have kids, what would I feed them? Like what are they gonna be eating? What is my, like what am I passing down to them? (laughs) - Actually, I think that's a really, really good point and I feel a little bit of that imposter syndrome sometimes too, where I'll be like halfway through making a meal and I'm like, wait, am I making Asian fusion? Like am I elephant far right now? (laughs) 'Cause the other day I was like, I wanna eat a salad and like be healthy, but I wanted to be like vaguely reminiscent of like Japanese cuisine. So that I made like miso salmon on salad with like sesame dressing or something. And then I was eating it and I was like, well, this isn't like really Japanese food. (laughs) It's like some weird mix that I just like threw together. - Yeah, I feel like I am similar in that. I feel like I want to make certain dishes by don't know how. So I think like also with the rise of social media, I've been using that a lot to learn new recipes or like Asian inspired dishes or maybe just, I think like there's a lot of Asian-American creators now who specialize in like at home cooking or maybe have had like previous restaurant experience and I feel like I follow a lot of them just to get like new recipe inspiration and try to like expand my repertoire from like five to 10 dishes without having the exact like skills that immigrant parents have. - Honestly, sometimes I ask my mom, I'm like, yo, can you look up this dish for me in like Chinese and then send over the Chinese recipe or like I'll like look at it with her, the Chinese recipe and I'm like, okay, what does that say? Like what does this say? And I'm like writing it down. I'm like, okay, I'll try this later. I like, I don't know what it is, but like sometimes that feels almost more legit. In a way, it's like, oh, I'm looking at people's like from wherever and all the histories of their families versus just like whatever I'm piecing together from like random other recipes, if that makes sense. - Yeah, that reminds me of this time where I was also very in like, I wanna make something, how my mom used to make it. I like texted my mom and I was like, oh mom, can you send me your recipe on how you make this one Korean dish? And then she was like, oh, just go to like 10,000recipes.com and like type it in and that's what I use. And I was like, wait, that's the website. I've been using it. Like you're telling me we're sourcing from the same website. (laughing) - Oh my God, maybe it's all a lie. I should be, my parents are also using the same recipes too. Like all of our parents have the same shared couple. - Yeah, exactly. - Like family recipe. It's from user like XAG1234. - Well, I guess as all of us start to assemble our little food repertoire of dishes that will pass down, it has been so fun to hear both of your guys' family's relationships with food and also see how that has impacted your own food habits to the stay. So thank you, Sunny and Crystal for sharing your stories about food in the household. And for any of our listeners out there, if you have any food related stories about your family or food habits that you have to this day that you think were passed out from your parents, then feel free to share. We have Instagram @earcresspod and we also have email [email protected]. And don't forget to follow us on Apple Podcasts, Spotify where every listener podcasts, we upload new episodes every other Wednesday morning. Thanks for listening. And don't forget to eat your crust. (upbeat music)