Author Archives: YU CHAN

• – Social media influencing diet and standards
• – Sugar intake
• – Food businesses impacted from social media

Throughout this podcast, Fuchsia Dunlop expresses attraction towards Chinese cooking and dishes. She spent time in multiple regions of China and she develop much more interest in the culinary traditions. She decided to move to Chengdu in her 20s because she was greatly fascinated by the food there. Before her time in China, the only thing she knew about Chinese food was take out food and that was what she told a story through. The main takeaway is that it is essential to expand our knowledge of other cultural dishes. I would recommend this podcast to my peers because it allows us to understand the difference in cultural food.

Grab a drink with me. Let’s relieve ourselves and take a sip of this iconic brown sugar milk tea with boba. Boba is essentially made from tapioca starch and formed into bite sized spheres easy to nibble on. This will itch a part of your brain that you never thought you needed all this time. So delicious you could taste every ingredient that was used in the drink. The brown sugar embedded in the chewy boba pearls that was simmered for hours and hours enhanced the drink overall. As your mouth starts to fill up with boba with every sip, the flavor of the brown sugar just melts in your mouth like candy. The addictive part of the drink is constantly chewing the boba balls like it’s gum. So sugary yet so impactful from the overload of dopamine. As college students who depend on sugary drinks, drinking bubble tea will set us free from this never ending pain: weeks memorizing material, spending hours on assignments, and forcing ourselves to sit in 2 hour lectures. I often scarf down the cold drink waiting to escape and disappear from reality.

Made from Taiwan in the 1980s, Taiwanese immigrants brought this life changing drink into the United States and was then spread through other East Asian populations. With this beverage, I am allowed to sail into the pleasure of tasting the flavors from oceans apart. Bubble tea shops around my neighborhood have mastered every recipe, from refreshing fruit teas to milky drinks. While walking down the streets of Brooklyn, I am able to see a boba shop on every block filled with joyful customers waiting for their cold iced beverage. So calming and graceful it feels like it was a gift from god. I practically live there from getting a drink 3 times a week. Disregarding the absurd amount of sugar and calories in one drink itself, I always indulge in one for my sanity. I tend to build relationships with the workers. They fully memorize my usual order and prepare it in an instant knowing this is what gets me through the dreadful week. Poking the fat straw through the plastic seal was like a burst of pure bliss jumping at you. The need to save as much as you can but tempted to finish the whole thing. A hot and crispy popcorn chicken usually sold at the shop balanced out the sugar. It is the perfect snack to pair with a refreshing bubble tea after a long day of my stomach growling. Try it, you might like it. 

During my trip to Malaysia, I met my dad’s side of the family for the first time. We spent majority of the time eating together and experiencing the taste of real authentic Malaysian food. As we walked down the night markets to that were filled with stands selling street food, my stomach started to rumble. We spent countless hours sharing the experience of trying new food. The the smell of the fresh curry noddles and milk tea was what brought joy to me. Not only did I have the pleasure of visiting my relatives, I was able to connect with them through our cultures food.

My name is Stephanie Chan. My intended major is Business Marketing and I hope to pursue Real Estate on the side. I was born and raised in Brooklyn by immigrant parents. I am the middle child with a 4-year-old brother and a 20-year-old brother. My parents came to America when they were 18 for the “American Dream”. As a daughter of immigrant parents, I often look up to my dad as he takes responsibility and gives his all to ensure his children are taken care of. He sacrificed everything for the happiness of my brothers and myself which is a debt I will never be able to repay. To reiterate, his hard work and ambition motivated me to do the same. I spend my days going to school, working, and taking care of my 4-year-old brother. I am currently working at a cafe in Chinatown as a barista and I enjoy my job. As for extra-curricular activities, I am working towards joining clubs that are related to my major and hopefully obtaining an internship before the summer. In high school, I was on the girl’s basketball team for 4 years but I have not touched a ball since. As of now, whenever I have free time, I go to the gym and workout to keep myself in shape. At first, I hated going to the gym but seeing progress really drives me to continue. I love the city and spending time here because it has so much to offer. My favorite places in the city are Soho and Korea Town but it makes my bank account cry. But flowers, sunsets, shopping, and minions don’t. They keep me sane from everything else that happens in my life. To include foods, I HATE mushrooms. I like to think that I’m not picky but I really am. I would say I’m pretty indecisive when picking what or where to eat. Below is a picture of flowers I took and a picture of how aesthetic the cafe looks.