Professor Michelle King is an Associate Professor of History at UNC-Chapel Hill, specializing in Chinese gender and food history. She was born and raised in Michigan and her parents are from China by way of Taiwan. She has been a North Carolina resident for 17 years.
I had the chance to meet Professor King at an event in Chapel Hill back in February and am excited to now share some of her story and exciting work — including her upcoming book!
– Matthew Ng, NCAAT Senior Communications Coordinator
How has being an Asian American in North Carolina shaped your work and your identity? What is unique to you about being a part of the NC Asian American community?
My relationship to this identity has really evolved. I had never been to the South before coming here for my job, and I moved here from the Bay Area, where there were tons of Asians everywhere and things felt very comfortable. But even in the last ten or fifteen years, it’s changed a lot– the main street in Chapel Hill, Franklin Street, is now filled with Asian eateries. That’s only a very recent and welcome development.
More importantly, a few years ago I began to teach a class at UNC about Chinese food history, and the main assignment was for students to interview a Chinese restaurateur in North Carolina. It was so eye-opening, seeing the range of folks of Chinese descent who have emigrated to this corner of the world and seeing all of their different stories. It was really moving to see their stories as a collective story. I also recognize that being an Asian American faculty member here at UNC can be really important to Asian and Asian American students in a way that isn’t as big of a deal in a place like California, where there are so many Asians.
How does Asian food connect you, personally, with community? How can food be a bonding experience, especially for those living far away from Asia or not in densely packed Asian areas.
A smart second-gen Taiwanese American undergraduate in my food class at UNC once said to me, “Food is the one thing that really connects you” with Asian culture. “You don’t know the language or the history or the culture any more, but you can still sit down with someone from Asia and eat together.” I think that’s why food is important for so many Asian Americans, because it is this very tangible connection and way of marking community that is so recognizable (and delicious!). Food is an essential part of that link, because language and other cultural knowledge disappears much more quickly across generations.
Tell me about your upcoming book — what it’s about, what inspired you, why you’re excited about it, and how you can order it.
My forthcoming book, Chop Fry Watch Learn: Fu Pei-mei and the Making of Modern Chinese Food, is coming out on May 7!
It’s about the legendary Fu Pei-mei, who appeared on Taiwan television for forty years teaching audiences how to cook, and wrote dozens of cookbooks, many of which were bilingual Chinese-English. In the 1960s, 70s, and 80s, she was really the one who brought Chinese cooking to the rest of the world through her many travels. Lots of overseas students, like my parents who emigrated to the US from Taiwan in the 1960s, brought her cookbooks with them in their suitcases, so they could have a taste of home.
I was inspired to write my book because I grew up with Fu’s cookbook– it was on my mom’s cookbook shelf, and I’d occasionally flip through it. I didn’t realize much later what a huge impact she’d had on postwar society, and how many different topics I could address through her life. The book uses Fu Pei-mei’s career in order to talk about all kinds of huge changes in Taiwan’s postwar society, including media, technology, women’s roles, foreign relations, overseas migration, and of course foodways.
I’m excited about the book because it tells a generational story, one that connects first-generation parents (like mine) with second-generation children (like me). A lot of times we don’t understand where our parents are coming from, really, and my book tells one particular version of that story. It’s an homage to the work of so many moms in my parents’ generation, who made an effort every day to put a home-cooked meal on the table for their families.
I would be remiss if I didn’t ask you for your favorite Chinese restaurants or food recommendations in North Carolina — what are your favorites?
That’s actually a tough question! I tend to cook more Chinese food at home instead of eating out. We’ve got a great Asian grocery store in Durham, Li Ming’s. When we do go out, we tend to eat other types of Asian food in Chapel Hill, such as Vimala’s Curryblossom Cafe or Min Ga, a Korean place. My kids also love bubble tea, which was invented in Taiwan, so we go to Tea Hill Cafe a lot.
Professor King’s upcoming book, Chop Fry Watch Learn: Fu Pei-mei and the Making of Modern Chinese Food, comes out on May 7. You can order it anywhere you get your books.
To learn more about Professor King and her book, visit michelletking.com