One of my favorite guests is back! We got to catch up with Julia Chen, of the restaurant recommendation site The Infatuation SF. Julia is a fount of information about San Francisco restaurants, and our hour together flew by! Some of the topics we touched on were: Places You Might Be Able to Still Get Into for Last Minute V-Day Dinner, Best Smash Burger in SF, Best Salad, Best Pho, Best New Restaurants, Best Ice Cream, Hidden Gem Foodie Neighborhoods in SF, and much much more! Check out Julia's r...
Feb 12, 2025•1 hr 1 min•Ep. 211
Take the guesswork out of trendy snacks and foods by letting Rachel try them for you so that you can make the best decisions! Rachel's channel @eatsbyrachel offers her take on what's yummy at Trader Joe's, Costco, or your local Asian supermarket. The enthusiasm you see in her videos is not an act, Rachel is a complete joy to be around! Videos played on this episode: Asian Flavored Waffles: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZhedC7lBvI Muscat Grapes: https://www.youtube.com/shorts/yrp8lmOnWDU Kichi...
Feb 05, 2025•1 hr•Ep. 210
Gung Hay Fat Choy! Happy Lunar New Year to everyone out there. Here's a really fun episode with Rich Ting. Rich has been acting in Hollywood and Korea for over 25 years. And has appeared in or voiced over 60 shows and movies. He is perhaps most famous for portraying Father Jun's loyal henchman, Bolo, in Warrior (Netflix). Rich is currently starring as Tyson "Koy" Koyama in Amazon Prime's On Call, a Dick Wolf production. Kim Szeto and I had a great time chatting with Rich for over an hour. Rich n...
Jan 29, 2025•1 hr 13 min•Ep. 209
Dolly's mission has been to tell the untold stories of Asian America through video and film. Dolly has produced stories for Al Jazeera (Chinese Food: An All American Cuisine), PBS (Origins and A Historian's Take), and Hulu (Out There Ep 8: The Ghosts of Chinatown). Listen to the end of our episode for a preview of Dolly's exciting new project! Audio clips used: The Untold Story Of America's Southern Chinese [Chinese Food: An All-American Cuisine, Pt. 2] | (Via AJ+ on YouTube) Are You “AAPI” or “...
Jan 22, 2025•51 min•Ep. 208
On a rainy day in December, I got the chance to drop by the recording studio of corner club! Mike and Sav are two friends who love making music together. Their songs have a dreamy smooth sound with whimsical lyrics and topics. I have added their music to all my playlists! I had a super fun time hanging out talking music, songwriting, and jingles! Listen to our episode wherever you get podcasts! Follow them @cornerclubofficial on social media and listen to corner club music, especially the newest...
Jan 15, 2025•47 min•Ep. 207
If you're like me, maybe you overdid the holiday eating a little bit, and have made the annual decision to eat healthier in the new year. Well, my guest this week has over 100 healthy recipes in her new book "Healthy My Way" to help you turn things around! I was lucky enough to meet My when she hosted a @YouTube Creator Collective event here in San Francisco. It was great chatting with My about the ups and downs of her life's story, and I'm glad we get to share it with you on this episode. Liste...
Jan 08, 2025•38 min•Ep. 206
Last episode of the year! Katie and Zoe joined me to talk about all things InfatuAsian. We kicked around a new name for you listeners, we talked about the most popular regions where our audience downloads episodes, as well as our Top 5 Episodes of the year. I'm pretty sure our number 1 most listened to episode will surprise you! Thanks to my co-hosts Katie and Zoe! You are both great and I hope we chat again soon! Follow Zoe @juniperseabooks and Katie @katieyowyow As I always mention, you can wr...
Dec 26, 2024•48 min•Ep. 205
I bet by the time you finish this episode you'll be ready to head to the backyard to do some gardening! Connie's enthusiasm and sheer joy when talking about growing Asian fruits and vegetables is positively contagious! Get her book, Your Asian Veggie Patch, wherever you get books. It is a beautiful and informative guide to growing and cooking Asian vegetables. You can also follow Connie on Instagram @connieandluna (listen to the episode to find out who Luna is!) As I always mention, you can writ...
Dec 18, 2024•55 min•Ep. 204
This episode took me a while to get to! We actually recorded this in July of 2024, but it was a beast to edit, so it had been on my to-do list for a long long time. I hope it is worth the wait! Elaine, Mandy, Ben, Alexa, and I drove around SF for 3 hours trying some of San Francisco's most famous Asian to-go foods. And they did not disappoint! 1) We started in Chinatown at Golden Gate Bakery for their famous daan taats which were flakey and creamy. 2) Next we went to the Tenderloin for a Saigon ...
Dec 11, 2024•51 min•Ep. 203
I love that we've been doing this podcast long enough to have repeat guests! It's been two and a half years since Weike's last book came out, and we talked with her about it back then. Weike's newest novel Rental House is out December 3rd, 2024, and we're pumped that we got to speak with her last week! This book is about an interracial couple in their mid-30's who rent a vacation home in Cape Cod, and spend a week with each of their parents/in-laws. Keru's parents are Chinese immigrants, while N...
Dec 04, 2024•29 min•Ep. 202
It's Thanksgiving Week here in 'Merica, so we're taking a week to add a layer of insulation for our winter months by overindulging at the family table! Here's a replay of our All-Star episode with some of my favorite people to have on the pod. We asked Bill and Kaitlin of The Woks of Life, Kat Lieu author of Modern Asian Kitchen, and Lingjie of the Worst Asian Podcast to rank their favorite Asian dishes. Bill was our referee and cooking encyclopedia who shared some of his wisdom and insights. I ...
Nov 27, 2024•56 min•Ep. 201
It’s a great day when you get to talk about fight scenes with an expert martial artist, actor, and stunt performer. We bring back a friend of the program, Jon Xue Zhang! You know Jon from his portrayal of Blood Boots in the Brothers Sun. Jon has been practicing Kung-Fun since he was 5 years old. He’s appeared in over 35 film and TV projects. For a film lover like me, this was such a joy! I hope you enjoy it too! Special thanks to Jon, who took some time out from his busy schedule to jump on a ca...
Nov 22, 2024•59 min•Ep. 200
Susanna leans into one of her more traumatic experiences with food, getting made fun of for having a smelly lunchbox. Now, Cantonese and Toi San dishes are a real source of pride. Susanna's website and Instagram page are full of dishes she grew up with. If you're from the "Village," you must check her site out and cook some of her yummy recipes! Shout out to our mutual friend Norma (@eatyourchoysf) for introducing us. Susanna was game to meet in person, so we had lunch and recorded at a new lunc...
Nov 13, 2024•54 min•Ep. 199
We woke up early to join our first press junket for the Filipino movie Hello, Love, Again! We had a quick chat with the movie's director, Cathy Garcia-Sampana. Direk Cathy is famous in the Philippines for directing some of the biggest rom-coms out of the country. Her 2019 film Hello, Love, Goodbye swept the nation and beyond, and became the highest-grossing Filipino film of all time (at the time). The film features two of the island's biggest stars Kathryn Bernardo and Alden Richards. You can wa...
Nov 11, 2024•9 min•Ep. 198
It's time for our annual K-Drama Draft show! This time we went with a belated Halloween theme. We'll be picking dramas that have good villains, are a little dark, have an unexpected death, or are filled with blood, zombies or ghosts! Joining Jennifer and me this week is Lia from the Afternoon Delight Podcast! Afternoona Delight is a fantastic K-Drama show where 3 romance authors break down your favorite K-Dramas and tropes. Please give them a listen wherever you get podcasts and follow them over...
Nov 06, 2024•1 hr 27 min•Ep. 197
The teacher cohort is back with more Asian ghost stories! And this time... it's even spookier! Well maybe not, but we tried. Listen to the best Asian ghost stories Reddit has to offer, hear about Curtis' mysterious disappearing wallet, and find out if Sammo Hung's former residence is really haunted (spoiler alert: it is)! Also included in this episode are: jets flying over at low altitudes, free legal advice, and tips for avoiding bad things during the Hungry Ghost Festival. Thanks to my guests ...
Oct 29, 2024•1 hr 11 min•Ep. 196
Chef Shirley Chung is going through treatment for tongue cancer. Her options were to amputate her tongue or go through a more risky and less proven route of treating it with aggressive radiation and chemo. Being a media star and chef, losing her tongue was not an acceptable option even if it meant more risk. Shirley and her husband Jimmy ran her restaurant together but they had to close shop while Shirley undergoes treatment. My sister Caryl and their good friend Andy Wang (the three of them mak...
Oct 26, 2024•11 min•Ep. 195
Hallyu means the Korean Wave, which is the nickname given to the phenomenal embrace of South Korean pop culture around the world! The Asian Art Museum of San Francisco is surfing that wave by bringing in a collection of pop culture pieces. Costumes from your favorite K-dramas, a recreated set from the movie Parasite, stage outfits worn by K-Pop stars, and much more grace the galleries in the museum. I was lucky enough to meet up with the museum's Korean Art curator, Yoon Jee Choi, and she gave m...
Oct 24, 2024•52 min•Ep. 194
Happy Filipino American History Month! This week I’m joined by 3 high school friends as we go to perhaps the most famous Filipino brand here in America… Jollibee! We talk about Jollibee’s humble beginnings before it blew up into the giant corporation it is today and I threw out some Jollibee trivia! We recorded inside America’s first Jollibee location in Daly City California, opened in 1998. I think you’ll be able to tell that this crew likes to laugh and have fun. Of course, the food didn’t dis...
Oct 17, 2024•40 min•Ep. 193
Ellie Yang Camp has written a book for Asian Americans that asks the questions, “What does it mean to be Asian American? And how does our racialization in the United States shape our lives and our worldviews? It’s an important book that will hopefully lead to good discussions with our friends and family. Louder Than The Lies will be available everywhere on October 22nd. But, if you’d like to get a signed copy a little early you can come see Ellie and me in conversation for her book launch event ...
Oct 09, 2024•51 min•Ep. 192
Ok... so my "real" life got in the way of my podcast life and I didn't get to edit an episode for you. But instead of leaving you with nothing... I recorded something that's more than nothing (slightly more than nothing). It's a No Episode Episode!!! So if you have nothing better to do for 10 minutes, you can hear me tease our upcoming episodes and give you a little behind-the-scenes info about the pod. We'll be back with new ACTUAL episodes next Wednesday (I hope)! Here's the link to the Silico...
Oct 02, 2024•12 min•Ep. 191
Cooking survival shows are a lot of fun to watch, but are they fun for the competitors? Today Chef Dara Yu gives us a glimpse of what it is like. Dara first appeared on Master Chef Junior season 1, where she was the runner-up. After graduating high school and going to the Culinary Institute of America, Dara got a call from the producers offering her a 2nd chance on Master Chef Season 12: Back to Win. Armed with 8 more years of cooking experience, Dara came back from some early setbacks to win it...
Sep 26, 2024•55 min•Ep. 190
Chatting with Connie Chung was a dream come true. For several generations, Connie was the only Asian face you saw consistently on television. Starting in 1971, Connie has brought us news and interviews with class and integrity. I still can't get over how humble and warm she was. I think she is still genuinely surprised by how much she means to us as Asian Americans. She is really the GOAT and an icon. Her new book, Connie: A Memoir, is available everywhere. I am so glad she wrote it. I learned s...
Sep 19, 2024•1 hr 4 min•Ep. 189
Life got a little busy, so no new episode this week. BUT, here's an episode from our first year that I really enjoyed recording. When Pachinko Season 1 came out, I jumped on a call with our pal Julia from the Asian Soup Podcast to talk about it. Jules was the perfect co-host because her family has roots in Korea and her grandparents lived for several years in Osaka roughly around the same time period that this drama takes place! Season 2 of Pachinko is currently airing on Apple TV+. It is a gorg...
Sep 11, 2024•1 hr 2 min•Ep. 188
Etrike Karaoke is some of the most fun content on the internet. In it, Alanna Malicdem pedals up to people on the streets of West Hollywood and asks them if they'd like to sing karaoke on the back of her electric tricycle... sometimes it goes great, and sometimes it doesn't, but it's always a good time. Lately, she's been toting around some celebrities, including KPOP groups like Riize, BoyNextDoor, and P1 Harmony! I wanted to hear more of Alanna's story and how she came up with this fun channel...
Sep 04, 2024•41 min•Ep. 187
We took our show on the road this summer. This time we ended up in Flushing, Queens in New York City, and there's no better way to experience a town than to have a local show you around! So we called up our podcast pal Lingjie who dropped everything to guide us to cheap and good places to eat! We disappointed Lingjie by only being able to eat at 7 different spots, but we had a good time! I hope you enjoy our silly Flushing banter mixed in with yummy food and lots of street noises! Foods we at: 1...
Aug 28, 2024•1 hr 12 min•Ep. 186
Go see DiDi! It will make you laugh, cry, and squirm in your seat a little as you get transported back to your own summer before going to high school. It captures the angst, insecurity, and awkwardness of being a 13-year-old Taiwanese American kid in Fremont California. Katie, Zoe, and I couldn't wait to get together to talk about this film. DiDi should be available at a theatre near you, but don't wait too long, you never know how long these films will stay in theaters. Go see it with your olde...
Aug 21, 2024•1 hr 3 min•Ep. 185
It's Back-to-School time for Curtis so there's no new episode this week. But in celebration of Love in Taipei's launch on Netflix I thought it'd be a fun time to revisit this episode we recorded with Abigail Wen, the Author of the Loveboat, Taipei book series. My friends Cliff and Emily had fun swapping stories about their time on the "Loveboat" trips to Taipei in the 1990's. We also got to hear some behind the scenes stories about the making of the film adaptation, Love in Taipei. I thought the...
Aug 14, 2024•1 hr•Ep. 184
Emily Kwong is the host of a fantastic new podcast from LAist/NPR. Inheriting is a show about Asian American and Pacific Islander families, which explores how one event in history can ripple through generations. Sarah-Soonling and I had such a fantastic chat with Emily about her roots, how she got into radio, and how she decided to make Inheriting the show it is! Please listen to Inheriting, wherever you get your podcasts, and read more over at https://laist.com/podcasts/inheriting You can also ...
Aug 07, 2024•1 hr 19 min•Ep. 183
For those of us born in the 70's Star Wars was undoubtedly a huge part of our childhood. However, as Asian Americans, it was nearly impossible to see ourselves in the galaxy George Lucas created. This finally started to change in the late 2010s with some great characters in the films Rogue One and The Last Jedi. This summer, Disney+ came out with the Acolyte starring not one but TWO Asian actors as leads! We finally get to see an Asian Jedi as a main character! I couldn't resist doing an episode...
Jul 31, 2024•46 min•Ep. 182
