Register for Toronto Hakka Conference 2021

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I just registered for Toronto Hakka Conference 2021. You should too if you want to learn about your Hakka roots and unique history.

In 2004, when I first started research for The Hakka Cookbook, I scanned the internet looking for any information on the Hakka. Google results were meager, but yielded more leads than I had seen most of my life. Following leads and contacts, led me to my first Toronto Hakka Conference 2008.


As I sat in the auditorium filled with Hakka Chinese, I felt at home. I had never been surrounded by so many Hakka in one place. I grew up in a small town in Northern California, Paradise, where we were the only and first Chinese family. Even when I left Paradise and met other Chinese I still didn’t quite fit in. I couldn’t understand their dialect. Years ago many Chinese didn’t know who the Hakka were. Finally, at the Toronto Hakka Conference, I felt like I belonged. These were my people. We shared the same roots.

The Toronto Hakka Conference only takes place every 4 years. Due to COVID travel restrictions, the sixth conference scheduled for 2020 has been moved to July 11 to 12, 2021. This virtual conference will take place via Zoom so anyone from around the world can easily participate. Learn about the Hakka diaspora, genealogy, and meet Hakka from all over the world at the Toronto Hakka Conference 2021. Check out the preliminary program here.

I’ll miss the in-person networking but the broad virtual access greatly expands the audience. Don’t miss this opportunity to expand your Hakka network and knowledge with so little effort. No travel expenses, just register in advance. There’s a low registration fee, around $50, with a reduced rate for students. Click here to register.

Foods for Chinese New Year

Photo by Dabin Lo

Thanks to everyone who braved the rain Monday night and showed up for my event at the Menlo Park Library. We had a good turnout. Everyone seemed to enjoy the presentation. It was especially rewarding for me to meet some fellow Hakka in the audience.

I gave a short introduction on the Hakka history and cuisine, followed by slides of traditions and foods for Chinese New Year. I ended by cooking three recipes from The Hakka Cookbook that might fit into a New Year dinner.

Here is one of the recipes I demonstrated. It is in The Hakka Cookbook but I increased the quantities slightly here so there would be more for tasting. This recipe was featured in the New York Times Magazine several years ago.

Photo by Dabin Lo

Stir-fried Pork and Pineapple (The Hakka Cookbook, p. 92)

This stir-fry from Taiwan is reminiscent of a lighter and fresher version of sweet and sour pork. Auspicious ingredients include crunchy black fungus that represents longevity. Pineapple symbolizes wealth, luck, excellent fortune, and luck in gambling. Pork offers strength, wealth, and abundant blessings.

Makes 3 servings as a main dish or 5 to 6 servings as part of a multicourse meal

Pork

12 ounces boneless pork shoulder, leg, or loin, trimmed of fat

1 tablespoon soy sauce

1 1/2 teaspoons vegetable oil

1 1/2 teaspoons cornstarch

Sauce

3 tablespoons rice vinegar

1 1/2 tablespoons sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons soy sauce

3/4 teaspoon salt

Stir-fry

12 pieces dried black fungus, such as cloud ears, each about 1 inch wide

5 green onions, including green tops, ends trimmed

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

3 tablespoons thinly slivered fresh ginger

12 ounces fresh pineapple, cut into 3/4-inch chunks (about 1 1/2 cups)

6 to 10 thin rings fresh chile (preferably red) such as jalapeno or Fresno (remove seeds, if you prefer less spicy heat)

 

1. For the pork: Thinly slice pork into strips about 2 inches long and 1 inch wide. In a small bowl, mix the pork with the soy sauce, oil, and cornstarch.

2. For the sauce: In a small bowl, mix the vinegar, sugar, soy sauce, and salt.

3. For the stir-fry: Rinse the fungus. Soak the fungus in hot water until soft, 5 to 15 minutes, drain. Pinch out and discard any hard knobby centers. Cut the fungus into 1-inch pieces. Cut the green onions into 2-inch lengths. Cut thick ends in half lengthwise.

4. Set a 14-inch wok or 12-inch frying pan over high heat. When the pan is hot, after about 1 minute. Add the oil and rotate the pan to spread. Add the ginger and pork; stir-fry until meat is lightly browned, about 2 minutes. Add the pineapple, black fungus, sauce mixture, green onions, and chile. Stir-fry until the pineapple is hot, 1 to 2 minutes. Transfer to serving dish.

Photo by Dabin Lo

 

Free Chinese New Year event tonight

Chinese New Year: Foods and Traditions: Tonight, Monday, February 4, 2019, I will be giving a talk/slide show/ cooking demo at the Menlo Park Library. I will also include an introduction about Hakka history and cuisine. Please join me tonight. Bring your friends.

Chinese New Year: Foods and Traditions

February 4, Monday, 6 to 7:30 pm

Menlo Park Library, 800 Alma St., Menlo Park, CA 94025

Contact: John Weaver jnweaver@menlopark.org 650-330-2501

Adults and teens only

Free, advance registration not needed

Chinese New Year Foods and Traditions

Happy Chinese New Year

Welcome to the Year of the Pig! Happy Chinese New Year! Khiung Hee Fat Choy! ????!

Join me as we usher in the lunar new year on Monday night, February 4 at the Menlo Park Library. Through photos and food, I will share Chinese New Year foods and traditions.  Also learn about my history and the story of China’s guest families known as the Hakka. Cooking demo and tastings included.

Chinese celebrate this period of renewal for 15 days with family reunions, festive banquets, symbolic decorations, red envelopes filled with money, and good wishes. Come and explore this joyful time. I look forward to seeing you. Bring your copy of The Hakka Cookbook for signing. A few copies will be available for purchase.

Chinese New Year: Foods and Traditions

February 4, Monday, 6 to 7:30 pm

Menlo Park Library, 800 Alma St., Menlo Park, CA 94025

Contact: John Weaver jnweaver@menlopark.org 650-330-2501

Adults and teens only

Free, advance registration not needed

 

Hakka demo at Menlo Park Library

Hakka Cookbook at Menlo Park LibraryThanks to the Menlo Park Library for inviting me to do a Hakka demo. The staff provided a great support system and venue. To my great surprise, I found that the room’s walls were decorated with Sunset posters–just like my old work home not far away.

The audience was the best ever! I appreciated their questions, attention, Anusasananan at Menlo Park Libraryand interest. Also many thanks to my friends who came out to support me. After putting in so much time and effort in preparing a cooking demo and talk, it is so rewarding when a sizeable audience shows up to hear what you have to say. Hakka Cookbook at Menlo Park Library I cooked four dishes: Steeped Chicken Breasts, Noodles and Chicken with Fresh Ginger-Onion Sauce, Stir-fried Long Beans and Food at Hakka demoPork, and Stir-fried Pork and Tofu Hash. They ate it all.

Check out your local public library. They host an amazing array of free activities and events such as jazz concerts, craft workshops, dance performance, author’s talks, and movies. It’s the best deal for educational and entertaining events.

Come to Hakka cooking demo and talk

Join me for at the Menlo Park Library Monday, August 13 at 6:30 pm for a slide show and cooking demo on Hakka Soul Food. Learn about the Hakka Chinese and how their unique history of migration influenced their food. Afterwards, I will demo 3 or 4 recipes. Tasting will follow. The event is free. Hope to see you there!

Cooking Demo: Hakka Chinese Soul Food

August 13, Monday, 6:30 pm

Menlo Park Library, 800 Alma Street, Menlo Park, CA 94025

Contact: 650. 330. 2501

Email: John Weaver  jnweaver@menlopark.org

 

Register for New York Hakka Conference

Opening night at the first New York Hakka Conference in 2015

Want to meet other Hakka? Learn about famed Hakka author Han Suyin who wrote about her Hakka ancestors. Listen to new Hakka voices such as Tao Leigh and Henry Chang who will share how to tell your Hakka story. Interested in visiting the Hakka roundhouses in Fujian province that have been declared UNESCO world heritage site? Record your own Hakka story narrative?

These are just a few of the workshops offered at the second New York Hakka Conference held from August 4 to 6, 2017 in New York’s Chinatown. More workshops will be added in the coming weeks. Register now for “Reclaiming our Hakka Heritage.” Discount conference hotel prices ends July 6. Advance registration price for 2 day conference is discounted. On-site registration, day passes, and student tickets also available.

 

A Literary Feast

A literary feastThanks to all who came to our Les Dames d’Escoffier’s “A Literary Feast” last Sunday afternoon. In the light-filled mezzanine of the San Francisco Ferry Building, about 35 cookbook authors shared food samples from their books, autographed copies, and met with interested followers.

Guests sampled Pickled Mustard Greens (page 147) from The Hakka Cookbook. They loved the crunchy texture and sweet-sour taste of these easy refrigerator pickles. Best of all it is one of the easiest recipes in the book.

Our visitors were enthusiastic and interested. Loved meeting so many book fans. Thanks for coming and have a Happy Thanksgiving!

 

A Literary Feast

Join me and other cookbook authors at “A Literary Feast” at San Francisco’s Ferry Building on November 13, Sunday afternoon, 3 to 6 pm. Come to meet your favorite cookbook author, taste samples of theirlde_cookbookstack-web recipes, and buy signed copies of their books. It’s a great opportunity to shop for holiday gifts. Meet authors such as Paula Wolfert, Leslie Sbrocco, Diana Kennedy, Georgeanne Brennan, and Dorie Greenspan. This mass-cookbook signing event is hosted by the San Francisco Chapter of Les Dames d’Escoffier, an international culinary organization.

Buy advance tickets ($10) at www.cellarpass.com or at the door for $12. Funds raised benefit the Culinary Scholarship Fund of Les Dames d’Escoffier San Francisco and www.gardenproject.org (empowers at-risk young adults with job training and life skills.)

Visit www.lesdamessf.org for more information about our group. See you there!

 

 

 

Hakka soul food cooking class

IMG_1363I have been busy giving cooking classes and slide presentations at four branches of the San Mateo County Library the past two weeks. This Saturday, February 20, marks my last event in East Palo Alto. Come to learn about the Chinese migrants known as the Hakka and Chinese New Year foods and traditions. I will cook three Hakka soul food dishes and tastings follow. If you have a copy of The Hakka Cookbook, bring it and I will be happy to personally autograph it. There will also be copies for sale.

IMG_3853I love meeting people at these presentations. In Foster City, I met a young couple who told me they had cooked three recipes from The Hakka Cookbook for their Chinese New Year’s dinner. These were some of the more labor-intensive Hakka classics such as Salt-baked Chicken, Stuffed Tofu, and Pork Belly with Preserved Mustard Greens. I am so proud of them!

One member of the Millbrae audience said her father was Hakka from Jamaica. She was thrilled to buy a book with her Hakka history. Another attendee told me she had read the book from cover to cover and appreciated the research and stories. She admitted she was not much of a cook so she focused on the simpler recipes. She was so happy that the results were successful.

Comments like these are my reward.  When a person understands and uses the book, it makes all those years of research and testing worthwhile.

Catch the last event: February 20, Saturday, 2 pm. East Palo Alto Library, 2415 University Ave., East Palo Alto, CA 94303. 650. 321. 7712, ext. 225.