#taiwan

A few places, like Momofuku Ssam Bar, may have popularized this idea of meat (usually pork belly) nestled between a steamed lotus leaf shaped bao (bun), but the concept of this is Fujian Chinese in origin and it’s been around for awhile. In Taiwan, a similar version is lovingly called the Taiwanese hamburger. It makes sense because Taiwan, is right across the sea from Fujian and experienced a huge influx of Chinese immigration during WWII & the Second Sino-Japanese War.

Three important items for these ‘burgers: steamed lotus leaf buns 荷葉包, spicy pickled mustard greens (post forthcoming) and pork belly. I have seen vegetarian AND vegan friendly options, but I plan on creating this for a future post! As for the buns, this is so embarrassing to admit, I have not been able to successfully make steamed buns from scratch like my grandma so I do not have a recipe listed below. Fortunately, you can find steamed buns at most Asian grocery stores.

Braised Pork Belly

For 4 servings:

• 2 tbsp. vegetable oil
• 1 bunch green onions, roughly chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 1 lb. pork belly (Duroc or Berkshire), cut into 4 strips
  
• ½ c. Shaoxing wine
• 2 tbsp. dark soy sauce
• 2 tbsp. light soy sauce
  
• 4 star anise pods
• 2 3-inch cinnamon sticks
• 1 tsp. fennel seeds
  
• ½ oz. yellow rock sugar
• 2 c. water (or enough to cover the pork)
  

Accoutrements: steamed buns sliced cucumber, cilantro, steamed buns, ground peanuts, spicy mustard greens

Heat vegetable oil over medium heat in a dutch oven. Add green onions and garlic. Cook until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add pork belly and cook until all edges are seared. Remove pork belly and add the remaining ingredients. Bring the mixture to a boil. Add pork and reduce heat to low. Cook on low heat for 2 hours, occasionally flipping the pork.

To serve, sandwich pork between steamed buns with cilantro, cucumber and ground peanuts.

Water spinach is often used in Southeast Asian cooking and not an actual “spinach” because it belongs to a different family. Unlike conventional spinach, the hollow stems hold up well in a hot pan and it becomes mouthwateringly tender. It tastes like spinach but there’s something particularly refreshing about it. But don’t grown this vegetable in your garden if you don’t live where it’s natively grown: it is extremely invasive that the USDA has classified it as a noxious weed and a threat to native plants in North America.

For 3-4 servings:

• 1 bunch (about 1.2 pounds) “a-choy”/”ong choy”/water spinach, roughly chopped
• 2 tbsp. vegetable or canola oil
  
• 3 cloves garlic, smashed
• ½ c. chicken or vegetable stock
  
• 2 tsp. kosher salt

In a saute pan over medium heat, heat oil. Add smashed garlic until fragrant, about 10 seconds. Add the stock, salt AND stems of the vegetable.

Cook for about a minute before adding the rest of the vegetables. Saute occasionally. Once vegetables are bright green and tender, serve as a side dish.

I hear research is important to representation so! I want to write a story with a Taiwanese character in it. What should I know?

ByCindy Pon

Even before there was Ghost in the Shell, there was LUCY. Admittedly, it was pretty much agreed that LUCY was a crappy movie all round, but I only had to suffer the trailer to know that it was not for me. It opens with ScarJo kidnapped by Taiwanese mafia type, before she gives the bad boys the ass kicking they deserve. Asian mafia/triad/gang is a western media trope hollywood falls upon time and again. But what really got me was when ScarJo escaped, she was shouting “Do you speak English?” and then shooting Taiwanese who didn’t. Sure, maybe it was another triad baddie, but WTF ever. The fact that Hollywood did not see the heavily racist overtones of this opening scene is unsurprising… and infuriating.

So in one of the first major Hollywood movies where my birth city is featured on the big screen, ScarJo is shown gunning down Taiwanese men and demanding that they speak English. *insert appropriate RAGE gif here*

I joke that I write All Asian All the Time. But it’s not really a joke if it’s true, is it? WANT is my first near-future thriller set in Taipei with a cast composed entirely of Asian and Pacific Islander characters, and a Taiwanese hero featured prominently on the cover. 

WANT is the first YA set in Taiwan I am aware of released by a bigger US publisher, and definitely the first YA SF. The cover art was designed by the amazing Jason Chan, and my audio book is narrated by Chinese American actor Roger Yeh. I had requested an Asian voice actor and my awesome audio book publisher honored that request! You can listen to a sample of Roger’s fantastic narration here. 

It hasn’t been an easy journey. Publishing is a rough business, period, but when you’re insisting on writing novels with basically entire Asian casts, your story is seen as too niche, an outlier. Asian Americans have been othered in western media from the beginning, and it comes as no surprise this was also the case in young adult novels. 

There is no greater compliment for me as a writer than to have a reader tell me they could see my books made into a movie, but also probably nothing as heartbreaking. I know my narratives are too western for Asia and too Asian for the west to garner interest from film or dramatic rights. It would be too much of a risk, too big of a leap. As Americans, we’ll accept immigrant stories from Asian Americans (and not much else), we’ll admire and ogle the “exotic” Asian backdrops, costumes, customs, culture, and women. But Asian faces will still be relegated to the background as side characters to provide some “authenticity” and lend to the Asian ambiance. 

These are not the stories I write, friends. And I will continue to put Asian protagonists at the forefront of all of my stories. I celebrate each publication as a triumph, and my heart is lifted by the young Asian American creators and storytellers I see rising to tell their own tales—to bring to life what we personally never got to see as young readers.

WANT releases June 13th and can be purchased (mostly) where all books are sold. Or you can order through my favorite indie Mysterious Galaxy Books to receive signed and personalized copies (while supporting indie, woohoo!) and I’ll include gorgeous art swag by Jason Chan and myself.

I’m so thrilled to share WANT with you, readers. I hope you fall in love with these characters and Taipei as much as I love them. 

AddWANT to your goodreads.

Cindy Pon is the author of Silver Phoenix (Greenwillow), which was named one of the Top Ten Fantasy and Science Fiction Books for Youth by the American Library Association’s Booklist and one of 2009′s best Fantasy, Science Fiction and Horror by VOYA; SerpentineandSacrifice(Month9Books), which were both Junior Library Guild selections and received starred reviews from School Library Journal andKirkus, respectively; and WANT (Simon Pulse), also a Junior Library Guild selection, is a near-future thriller set in Taipei. She is the cofounder of Diversity in YA with Malinda Lo and on the advisory board of We Need Diverse Books. Cindy is also a Chinese brush-painting student of over a decade. Learn more about her books and art at http://cindypon.com.

ByCindy Pon

I’m not even sure what to say–other than LOOK AT THIS ART by JASON CHAN! He is the talented artist behind my amazing WANT cover, and when I approached him for a commission for the hero and heroine of my novel, I thought chances would be slim. But hell if I didn’t try! Then he gave me this, and I was floored. As always, I’ll be doing a special pre-order campaign through my favorite local indie Mysterious Galaxy. If you order through them, you can get personalized and signed copies of WANT, a postcard of this gorgeous artwork AND a notecard featuring my own Chinese brush painting of peach blossoms. 

WANT is the first young adult novel set in Taiwan published by a Big 5 in the US that I’m aware of. And it is definitely the first speculative fiction. It’s about a band of misfit teens living on the fringes who decide to take on a corrupt government and the richest corporation in the country to try and save their beloved city. I love all of my books, but this one is especially dear to me as it is set in my birth city Taipei. I can’t wait for readers to meet Jason Zhou and Jin Daiyu, the hero and heroine of my novel!

Signal boosting is appreciated!! Thank you, book lovers!!

Pre-order link for WANT: