In the 2010 essay, “Magical Dinners”, Chang-Rae Lee recounts growing up in New York City in the 1970s. His parents had emigrated from South Korea to the United States, so they encountered several barriers while trying to fit in with American society. One of the cultural differences Lee explained in the essay was food. Specifically, the availability of certain ingredients at their local supermarket. Their A&P did have some options, but it wasn’t quite the same.

“The cabbage is the wrong kind and the meat is oddly butchered and the fish has been set out on the shaved ice pre-filleted, so [my mom] can’t tell how fresh it is”

If they wanted to get specific ingredients, such as fresh tofu or dried anchovies, his family would drive down to Chinatown on Sundays.

“My mother seems calmed by the Asian faces and the hawker carts of fried pot stickers and gooey rice cakes and the cans of stewed mackerel and chilies filling the shelves”

Lee’s description of his mother walking through the aisles reminded me of my own mother’s experience while grocery shopping. Instead of going to the Acme across the street from where we lived, my mother would rather drive to Assi, a Korean grocery store about 25 minutes away. By using vivid imagery and sensory descriptors, such as “gooey rice cakes”, Lee created a clear depiction of the market in my mind. After reading that sentence for the first time, I was able to picture those exact items lining the shelves at my local Assi.

Even though Chinatown isn’t Koreantown and Assi isn’t a Cambodian grocery store, our mothers felt at home at these markets because they contained food items from their childhood. Their surroundings were familiar and most importantly, they were able to purchase some of their favorite Asian food. ♦