Author Archives: ZIHAO CHEN

Fuchsia Dunlop talks about her experience studying aboard in China. Specifically Sichuan where she fell in love with the food culture. She loved the food there so much she wanted to move there after her study was up and even attend a culinary course to study Sichuan cuisine.

My main takeaway is that people should be more open about food from other cultures. You don’t have to study aboard in a foreign country and do all that to really engulf yourself in that culture. However, do give their food a shot as you might just find something very pleasant.

I would definitely recommend this podcast to a friend or a classmate. The way Dunlop describes her experiences with such joy in her voice makes it a very enjoyable listen.

Mammoth Meatballs?

Wontons are pretty great. Originating from China, these little pocket-sized wrapped meats are a culinary delight that brings me a comfort I imagine people find in soul food. I mean really there’s no one strict appearance for wontons, they can come in any shape, size, and have any meat-based filling. The ones I grew up eating are pork-filled, while you might find shrimp filling in other regions of China. There are also various ways to enjoy wontons. Cold day outside? Wonton soup. Craving something crunchy? Fried wontons. Want something between the two? Pan-fried wontons. Each cooking method has its unique texture that synergizes with the flavor of the wontons. I first had wontons in the form of soup. There will be people up as early as sunrise going around street by street selling their homemade rice buns and wonton soup. They would have a bell to ring instead of yelling to grab people’s attention. My mom would always buy a few buns and a few bags of wontons. We’d then pour them into bowls, add a little rice vinegar, and enjoy the sweet and sour broth. If you’re gonna have wonton soup, you NEED to add rice vinegar to the soup. Rice vinegar and wonton soup go hand in hand like cold water on a hot sunny day. 

Now you might be asking: “Where can I get these culinary wonders?” To that, I say amazing question. You can find wontons in the frozen foods section in any Asian supermarket. They’re fully good to go when you buy the premade ones, but a huge part of wonton culture is to make them as well. Get yourself some rice wrappings, and buy yourself some ground pork, shrimp, or whatever filling you prefer eating. Now it’s time to get to work, pour in those fillings into a bowl, add your favorite seasonings (mine is sesame oil), scoop a little spoon full of filling, and lay it in the center of a rice wrap. Then dip your fingers in some water and apply it on the perimeters of the rice wraps as if you are enclosing an envelope. Finally, you fully close the rice wrap by matching the edges together and squeeeeze, sending that envelope straight to flavor town. All you have to do now is to find some company, and repeat those steps until you have a few dozen, or use up all your filling. Finally, prepare those wontons to your liking, and enjoy the wonder meal of wontons with a friend, family, or just yourself because I know that you’ll want seconds.

It’ll always get really cold around where I was from in China. We didn’t have heaters and sometimes even hot water isn’t readily accessible, so the only real way to keep ourselves warm was with a hot meal. The rice is steamed in a special ceramic pot, then the toppings are added when the rice is almost done cooking. Next to the main dish is an egg soup with pickled vegetables. It’s nothing too crazy but it’s definitely a comfort meal. It was pretty cold out recently as well so my mom decided to make it again. I helped her out with the meal preparations. Although we have heaters and hot water readily available now. Nothing compares to the warmth of taking that first bite.

Hello! My name is Zihao Chen but I go by Zee or Z! I am a freshman and my intended major is CIS: Cybersecurity. I was born in Fuzhou, China then my family moved to America when I was 8. I currently live in Staten Island so I have quite a long commute to college. I’m a first-generation student. My family came from really humble beginnings so my parents sacrificed a lot to make sure me and my sister could get proper education. My sister is 6 years older than I am so she attended college a lot earlier than I did but she had to drop out due to financial difficulties so I am the only one in my entire extended family that’s attending college. I chose Cybersecurity as my intended major because following the current career trends and how society is moving to a more tech-reliant age. Cybersecurity seems like a great option and I’m excited to see what it has to offer. Other than cybersecurity, I take an interest in various engineering fields such as mechanical, electrical, and bioengineering.

My hobbies are biking, drawing, and playing video games. I am a very frequent biker and I would bike every day during the summer. I draw from time to time and I like to make little animations. In terms of video games, I’ve been playing Persona 5 a lot. It’s a turn-based strategy game that has various beings called ‘personas’ that you can collect and use in battle.

Since food is the focus of this class, my recent craze is a nice Popeyes meal. Especially the Popeyes chicken sandwich. I would eat it every day but I know better than to keep my calorie intake in check. My go-to order would be a Spicy chicken sandwich with pickles and a side of Cajun fries. Yes, I am an advocator for pickles in my sandwiches.