Growing up in an immigrant household, I have parents who didn’t know how to speak English. As my siblings and I entered school, it was often difficult for my parents to become close with the local community. Once I adapted to my new environment and learned English, I began to translate for my parents at parent-teacher conferences, with neighbors, and with weekly classroom newsletters. Although my translations helped my parents understand what was going on in the community, it was still difficult for us to form close friendships with neighbors because of the language barrier. Troubled by this disconnect, we quickly realized that food offered a palatable solution and a way to connect with others.
Much of the happiness we get from our comfort foods is associated with the memories surrounding them. For me, comfort food is my mother’s dumplings, handmade with love. My mother makes sure to only use the best-quality ingredients for these light, delicate dumplings. Each piece of fluffy dough is weighed on a food scale to make sure the ratios are perfect. Then, as I help her assemble the filling on the kitchen island, she reminds me that you can’t buy dumplings this good at any restaurant.
One of the most important steps is making the paper-thin wrappers. Usually, people buy pre-made wrappers from Asian supermarkets, but my mom believes they are too thick and not fresh enough. Instead, she uses a wooden rolling pin and hand rolls each individual wrapper. Her left hand is constantly rotating the small piece of dough while her right hand rolls the rolling pin to flatten the dough. I have helped her make dumplings many times throughout the years, but I still cannot replicate her wrappers.
For the dumpling filling, every time is a different combination of unique flavors. Whether we use pork, beef, shrimp, fish or tofu, we always mix the protein with all sorts of vegetables. Each unique combination is delicious. Despite all the hard work dedicated to making the dumplings, my mom says it is all worth it just to see the smiles of those who eat them. We have given platefuls of tasty dumplings to our neighbors and friends, while other times we bring them to potlucks and gatherings.
Whenever I’ve had a bad day, I always instantly feel better after biting into a dumpling my mom made, dipping it into a fragrant garlic-soy sauce. Happiness follows, not only because of the delicious mouth-watering flavors, but also because of the memories associated with these dumplings. Like language, food has the ability to bring people closer. Even if there is a cultural or language barrier, we can always bond over tasty treats and by sharing our favorite foods.
Eileen Liu is a junior at Menlo-Atherton High School in Atherton. Student News appears in the weekend edition. You can email Student News at news@smdailyjournal.com.
Your story reminds me of a fellow student in my engineering classes at City College. I saw her make dumplings like that with her left hand in her parents bakery on Powell Street in San Francisco. She told me that everyone in her family had to help out even though she was a full time student. She was very quick and in no time filled a bowl with these delicacies. All the while, her Mom was supervising her production. Asian and Italian foods have that bonding capability, it does make all of us richer. Thank you for your writing.
It is refreshing to have two Student News stories back to back that deal with our multicultural society. Last week Annabell Chia told us about her Chinese culture and having two names and this week you have enlightened us with your story of crossing barriers with food.
I am a passionate baker and cook and I have commented before that even the folks that disagree about just about everything, especially politics, come together in peace when food is the center of attention. I buy a lot of seasonings and spices from a company called Penzeys and their motto is “Cook to love, Love to cook”. They believe that cooking and sharing heals the world. Full discloser, they are not afraid to mix their beliefs with their products and name some of their spice blends things like Revolution, Justice and Outage.
Getting back to your story, thank you again for reminding us that everything goes better with food prepared and shared with love.
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(3) comments
Your story reminds me of a fellow student in my engineering classes at City College. I saw her make dumplings like that with her left hand in her parents bakery on Powell Street in San Francisco. She told me that everyone in her family had to help out even though she was a full time student. She was very quick and in no time filled a bowl with these delicacies. All the while, her Mom was supervising her production. Asian and Italian foods have that bonding capability, it does make all of us richer. Thank you for your writing.
Good morning Eileen,
It is refreshing to have two Student News stories back to back that deal with our multicultural society. Last week Annabell Chia told us about her Chinese culture and having two names and this week you have enlightened us with your story of crossing barriers with food.
I am a passionate baker and cook and I have commented before that even the folks that disagree about just about everything, especially politics, come together in peace when food is the center of attention. I buy a lot of seasonings and spices from a company called Penzeys and their motto is “Cook to love, Love to cook”. They believe that cooking and sharing heals the world. Full discloser, they are not afraid to mix their beliefs with their products and name some of their spice blends things like Revolution, Justice and Outage.
Getting back to your story, thank you again for reminding us that everything goes better with food prepared and shared with love.
Oops! More tired than I thought. Should be disclosure and Outrage.
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