By Uyen Hoang Uyen, her siblings, and her mother at Trung Tâm Công Giáo in Santa Ana. She is the closest to her mother, perhaps in more ways than is pictured. Recently, I have been missing my mother. I don’t find her love in embraces and kisses; it exists within stainless steel pots and pans. […]
Author Archives
Asian Women United
Real Life: Love, Loss, and Kimchi
By: Michelle Zauner This story originally appeared in the online Food and Recipes section of Glamour Magazine on July 13, 2016. The author, at then years old, and her mother in Eugene, Oregon. I’m so tired of white guys on TV telling me what to eat. I’m tired of Anthony Bourdain testing the waters of Korean cuisine […]
I Heart Lola
By: Nicole Maxali In this monologue excerpt from, “I Heart Lola,” Nicole Maxali makes us laugh and cry as she paints for us a poignant picture of her journey with her grandmother from when she was in diapers to college to her grandmother’s battle with Alzheimer’s disease. The piece was performed at the LA Women’s […]
Learning to Swim
By: Karen Chow The author with her six-year-old son Kai. As an Asian American parent who is proud of being culturally Chinese American and racially Asian, I consciously aim to be socially progressive and pass those values on to my son. Naturally, it offends and pains me to hear my 6-year-old boy say or do […]
5 Things I Learned Watching My Mom’s YouTube Cooking Show
By Sahra Vang Nguyen This story first appeared as a guest blog post on Angry Asian Man. Mrs. Nguyen with her daughters, Sahra Nguyen (middle) and Jennifer Nguyen (right), in Boston, MA circa 1987. About a year ago, my mom called me and said (in Vietnamese), “I want to make a cooking show for YouTube. […]
Lay Down My Heart
By: Indra Thadani Yoko Thadani in 1956 with her daughter Indra Mother, there are moments I cannot remember but still hold in my heart. I’m sure my three-year-old hand held yours many times on the ship from Yokohama, Japan to San Francisco. My father wanted a “better” life for us and sent you and me […]
Tradition! This story looks at traditional confinement foods through the experiences of Annie Cok, a young mother living in Queens. After Annie gave birth, she struggled to make the rules of a traditional confinement month, especially the rules about hygiene, fit in with her modern life in New York City. This story is about how […]
The Thing About Size
By: Vivien Kim Thorp The author and her mother. As a teenager, I would stand with my mother in front of her mirrored closet doors and compare our physiques. I would joke that she could, if needed, completely hide behind me … On the other hand, if I stood behind her, there’d be no hiding. […]
Saigon Radio
By Yvonne Tran Yvonne and her mom Christine circa 1990 There is one part my mother’s routine that she has kept over the years. Before she enters the kitchen to begin her culinary creations, she always turns on the portable stereo to station 106.3 FM, Saigon Radio. It wouldn’t matter that I was in the […]
Bringing Mom Across the Ocean
By Denise Chan This post originally appeared on Tread Boldly, which hand curates stories of badass ladies treading boldly. Michelle and her mom enjoy spending time getting to know the city together. Earlier last year, Michelle moved her mom from Korea to San Francisco. The entire plan had been in the works for 15 years […]
