LUCY BURDETTE: Today's guest is a woman after my own heart. I can totally get choosing a home according to the restaurants nearby! And she has a very fun new release out called Mimi Lee Reads Between the Lines. Welcome Jennifer!
JENNIFER CHOW: Confession: I’m a foodie at heart. When we moved to our current home, I told friends that one of the deciding factors was its proximity to an amazing Malaysian restaurant. (I was only half-joking.)
Food has always been a big part of my life. By custom, Chinese people serve meals on all major occasions, particularly at the saddest and happiest of times. My own wedding reception featured a ten-course banquet. A funeral will certainly involve a wake meal. Even post-death, when we honor the deceased, relatives will traditionally bring food offerings. (These culinary treats often reflect the favorite dishes of the dearly departed.)
Tradition alone didn’t bind me to food, though. Growing up, my family owned a Chinese restaurant. A buffet, it served an interesting fusion of food: cold pickled vegetables, fried chicken, and Chinese barbecue spareribs. One appetizer/dessert we offered were honey twists: fried wonton wrappers drizzled in a syrupy glaze. (I once brought a tray of these sweets to school to celebrate my birthday.)
Food also connects me to my specific ethnicity. My dad was born and raised in Malaysia, though he has Chinese roots (just like the mom of my main character). As a kid, I loved it when he made his special curry chicken; even today, I still can’t replicate that delicious savory and spicy sauce. A lot of Malaysian dishes actually ratchet up the spice level. To his chagrin, my dad’s heat tolerance didn’t pass on to me. I’ve never, though, turned down an offering of yummy roti canai flatbread or steaming teh tarik, hand-pulled milk tea.
Dim sum, when translated, literally means to “touch the heart.” In the same way, food and culture are emotionally interwoven for me. I feel very lucky to have such a scrumptious way to enjoy my heritage.
How does food play a role in your life or in your identity?
Jennifer J. Chow writes A Sassy Cat Mystery series (Berkley/Penguin Random House) and the Winston Wong Cozy Mysteries under J.J. Chow. She’s active in Sisters in Crime and Crime Writers of Color.
Connect with her online at www.jenniferjchow.com and on social media @jenjchow.
About MIMI LEE READS BETWEEN THE LINES:
Mimi Lee is on top of the world. She has a thriving pet grooming business, the sweetest boyfriend, and a talking cat to boot. When she arrives at the elementary school where her sister Alice works, she's expecting a fun girls' night out—but instead finds a teacher slumped over in her car, dead.
Alice was the last one to see Helen Reed, which instantly marks her as the prime suspect. Unable to sit quietly and let the authorities walk all over her sister, Mimi starts snooping and talks to Helen’s closest contacts, including one jumpy principal, a two-faced fiancé, and three sketchy teachers. With the help of her sassy but savvy cat, Marshmallow, and a cute kitten named Nimbus, the clock’s ticking for Mimi to get to the bottom of yet another case before her sister gets schooled.
Congratulations, Jennifer, on your newestbook. I believe I’ll enjoy meeting Mimi Lee . . . .
ReplyDeleteI’m not quite sure about how food plays a role in my life. Of course, if you were to offer me a dish of macaroni and cheese or a piece of chocolate, I certainly wouldn’t say no . . . .
I hear you, Joan. My friend just gave me their family recipe for mac and cheese--it was so good!
DeleteI love food, which is why I gravitate to culinary cozies. But I don't have that connection with it that you obviously do.
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the new book!
Thanks, Mark! I love reading culinary cozies myself. If only they didn't make me so hungry...
DeleteI do love food. When deciding on where to stay on trips, nearby restaurants play a big part. But, I do love discovering a gem that I hadn't anticipated, too. Like at Bouchercon 2016 in New Orleans, finding Daisy Duke's right next to the Marriott, serving the best coffee I had in New Orleans and a great breakfast. When I go visit my hometown (which, sadly, has been a while), I plan out eating at all my favorite places with friends and family. And, when we have a family gathering, you can be sure there is plenty of food. My roots are in Southern cooking and eating, as comfort food is a big menu item at our house. But, I'm also up for trying new foods, just not too spicy.
ReplyDeleteJennifer, congratulations on Mimi Lee Reads Between the Lines, a great title. Mimi Lee sounds like a great character. And, how lucky you are to have grown up with all that food.
Let's go back to Daisy Duke's!!
DeleteHow fun to look forward to the nearby restaurants when you travel, Kathy! That Daisy Duke's sounds great. Maybe for Bouchercon 2021?
DeleteCongratulations, Jennifer on your new novel.
ReplyDeleteWe enjoy food. Despite that, I was a picky eater when I was a kid. I only liked what they used to call nursery food or the kind of food that kids liked. To my amazement, a two year old relative already loved eating carrots. I did not like carrots until I was a teenager.
Now that I am an adult, I am discovering new things to like. Perhaps the taste buds change as you get older?
Diana
They do, Diana, but how foods are introduced to children, and at what age, also makes a huge difference.
DeleteI was a picky eater, too, and would take so loonng finishing my meals.
DeleteKaren, I only liked sweets. LOL. I did not like spicy foods until I was older.
DeleteJennifer, I was the same way. I would take so looong finishing my meals. I also could not master the chopsticks until I was about 21 years old.
They now have these trainer chopsticks (with loops on the handles) to keep them positioned correctly on the fingers. So much easier than just trying to copy other people!
DeleteJennifer, congratulations on your new book. Loved it. Food definitely plays a part - it's the comfort dishes that takes me back to those innocent years of childhood. I'm a picky eater, but I do like to try new restaurants.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Dru!
DeleteSometimes I like scanning through Yelp and seeing what new restaurants have popped up in the area.
How lucky you are to have that heritage, Jennifer. I come from some pretty amazing bakers, but I had to discover interesting and delicious savory foods on my own as an adult. Growing and making food plays a big part in my life - and in my books!
ReplyDeleteOoh, a line of amazing bakers. That sounds wonderful, Edith!
DeleteI'm really grateful for all my friends who've passed down their delicious baking recipes to me.
Congratulations on your book Jennifer.
ReplyDeleteGiven the size of my waistline, I'd venture to say that it isn't difficult to see that food plays a large part in my life. Certainly more than regular exercise does, obviously. LOL
Ha! Thanks, Jay. That's how I feel about my current comfort baking ways.
DeleteHi Jennifer, welcome to JRW. It was so nice to meet you in the Back Room on Sunday night. How many books are in your Sassy Cat series and how does food play a role?
ReplyDeleteMy husband and I are both adventuresome diners, enjoying the cuisines of many different countries. Because we enjoy these dishes in ethnic restaurants here in the US, I am sure we are getting the Americanized versions. Still, we are lucky to live in an area with dozens of cuisines tto choose from.
Congratulations on your new book.
Thanks for the lovely welcome, Judy! There are currently two books in the Sassy Cat series, and the third one should come out next year. The characters in the series are always bonding over food, whether at a local eatery, or when trying to make up snacks for Family Game Night or when Mimi and her boyfriend try to cook a homemade romantic meal.
DeleteWelcome Jennifer and congratulations on Mimi Lee Reads Between the Lines.
ReplyDeleteI was pleased to meet a new author to me at The Back Room. You seem to have great fun writing your book and
I think I'll have great fun reading it .
I certainly enjoy food. When travelling, I plan where I will be at meal times and what I'll be able to eat around.
Thank you so much, Danielle! This series has been a lot of fun to write.
DeleteI definitely have an itinerary with me when I travel, complete with potential places to eat. I'll even ask my friends in the area to recommend restaurants to me.
SO great to see you in The Back Room, Danielle! Wasn't it fun? Check out the upcoming panels at bksp.org. --amazing!
DeleteYes! The Back Room is so much fun. I've gotta go coordinate my calendar with the upcoming events.
DeleteWhat a culinary heritage you have, Jennifer, with such diverse elements. It's so different from how I was raised, with the same rotating menu items most weeks: meatloaf and mashed potatoes on the same night every week, baked fish sticks or squares on Friday with macaroni and cheese, and either a roast or fried chicken on Sunday.
ReplyDeleteMy kids had a different experience. I started out cooking my mother's recipes, but once I started to travel I tried everything, and shared it with my family. Consequently, my oldest daughter is still a little picky and maybe timid about trying new foods, but the younger two will try new foods and usually enjoy most dishes. Which is lucky, since they are both widely traveled.
Cincinnati is fortunate in having some excellent and well-stocked international groceries, especially Jungle Jim's. There are two stores, one massive and the other more so, covering acres. Their hot sauce department alone is the size of some small stores. Any given day you can shop alongside nearly every conceivable ethnicity.
Congratulations on the new book, Jennifer, and I'll look forward to your answers to Judy's questions.
Karen, I want to shop in that store with you. It sounds dreamy.
DeleteMy hubby also grew up eating the same meals over and over again--I think it was easier for his mom to cook that way.
DeleteSo great that you got to cook your mother's recipes and branch out to new foods. And that Jungle Jim's sounds impressive!
Congratulations on the new book, Jennifer.
ReplyDeleteI had a youthful marriage that lasted only six years, and the poor guy had a sensitive stomach and couldn't tolerate much by way of spice. I used to joke that he would be fine with living on gruel. It wasn't the reason the marriage ended, of course. But a few years later when I met and ultimately married my husband of 33 years and counting, it made me appreciate our shared adventurousness about food. We love sampling new and different cuisines, and then also trying to re-create different ethnic flavors at home. It has been a shared joy over those many years that definitely draws us closer.
Thanks for commenting, Susan! I agree that bonding over the love of food is definitely a joy and can make relationships even sweeter.
DeleteCongrats on the new book! What a wonderful food heritage.
ReplyDeleteI don't have any particular connection - unless you count the way I can destroy the contents of a bag of potato chips when I'm upset or stressed.
Thanks, Liz!
DeleteOh, I used to devour chips in college, especially when exam time came around.
I love this post, Jennifer and I'm dying for a honey twist and your dad's curried chicken. I am indeed a foodie at heart, too, channeling a Jewish tradition... which includes a love affair with Chinese food of all kinds.... ESPECIALLY dim sum.
ReplyDeleteHallie, you just made me belly laugh. I was raised by parents who took us out for Chinese food at least once a month. Egg rolls are my special favorite appetizer of all time!
DeleteThank you, Hallie! Dim sum is the best. There's a mention of egg tarts in Mimi Lee Gets A Clue, and they've got to be my all-time fave dim sum dessert.
Delete(Egg rolls are great, too, Judy. My MIL lives near this wonderful restaurant, and I always try to grab a few whenever I visit her.)
Is it possible for a mere mortal to actually make an egg tart???
DeleteI do have a few recipes for egg tarts. My aunt even started making some from scratch recently. Kudos to her!
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ReplyDeleteCongratulations on Mimi Lee Reads Between the Lines,Jennifer, what a great title.
My husband and I tend to gauge vacations by how well we ate. We still talk about particular restaurants and meals we experienced years later.
Thank you so much, Kaye! My editor and I went back and forth on the title for a while.
DeleteThat's a great way to gauge vacations. I do know that many of my pics from trips are of food!
Congratulations on your book, Jennifer! Your series sounds delightful and I'm going to get acquainted with Mimi Lee. Your cover is adorable, too. I'm envious of your wonderful food heritage. Texas food is such a mish-mash. The state is so big and the influences so different depending on the part of the state. You get Southern, Louisiana, Southwest, Tex-Mex, even German in parts of central Texas. My mom, fortunately, was an adventurous cook, and my parents were adventurous travelers. Every trip was planned around food, an agenda I certainly inherited!! I'm a foodie to the core!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Deborah, and I'm so glad to meet a fellow foodie! I remember visiting Texas, and my friends there all told me I had to try the queso!
DeleteI love your book title, Jennifer! My mom was a pretty plain cook, but as she got older and experienced more varieties of food she got more adventurous. Moving to New Orleans from Houston also put a new spin on our menus. Houston was pretty limited back in the day, but now we're the hub of international cuisine. I mean you can find everything here!
ReplyDeleteThanks, Pat! New Orleans--I still need to visit. Maybe for Bouchercon?
DeleteHouston is definitely a hub now. I have a few friends who live there, and they can get any type of cuisine.
What a delicious way to grow up! Your father's curry recipe sounds wonderful - hotter the better. I'm looking forward to reading the Mimi Lee books. They sound like the perfect read for cold winter nights in front of the fire.
ReplyDeleteI had an eclectic childhood food experience. My mother did not work outside the home and she devoted herself to cooking. There was nothing she was afraid to tackle, and we had a family rule. You had to taste it. Then you could decide if you wanted to eat it or not. The recipes of my heart though are those that came from the grandparents and great-grandparents. Spätzle, schnitzel, and Frankfurter Kranz from my German side, coq au vin and cassoulet from my French side, and poutine and tourtiere from my French Canadian side, manast and chickarina soup from my Italian side. Yum!
Thanks, Kait!
DeleteWhat a wonderful rule about just tasting the food. We try to use that logic in our household, too.
I just love those recipes of your heart. The ones passed down through the generations are the best!
Jennifer! YAY! Hope you had fun in The Back Room--you were terrific! Food as I grew up? Matzo ball soup at Grandma Minnie's. And at home? Hmmm. You know, really? Going out for Chinese food. SO funny. Pea pods and beef. Oh, wait. My mother made terrific buttermilk fried chicken. She did it some secret way that she never told anyone. SIgh. xoxoxo
ReplyDeleteThe Back Room was so much fun, Hank! So glad I could participate.
DeleteThe soup and fried chicken sound delicious. Going out for Chinese food? That *is* funny. I love pea pods. One of the things I really like about Chinese food is the variety of greens offered.
When I was a child I was somewhat picky but my dad was a "try it, you'll like it" guy so he urged us to try everything. Mom loved to cook and bake so was free to experiment. When I used to travel, I tried most things and remember trips for the food. Stay safe and well.
ReplyDeleteThanks for sharing about your food experiences, Sally. Yes, stay safe and well!
DeleteAgain, thank you so much, Jungle Red Writers, for having me as a guest!
ReplyDeleteThis series sounds perfect for me! I can't wait to read Mimi Lee Reads Between the Lines. Thanks so much for stopping by the Reds today, Jennifer. Such a delightful post!
ReplyDeleteThank you so much, Jenn!
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