In the introduction to her vibrant new coffee-table cookbook, “Egg Rolls & Sweet Tea: Asian Inspired, Southern Style” (Gibbs Smith, $32), Natalie Keng asks, “Can food be the catalyst for accepting diversity? Can it break down barriers and stereotypes?”
The answer is yes. But Keng’s explorations of the intersections of race, class and gender are filtered through her experiences growing up Asian and Southern in Atlanta.
“I was born and raised in Georgia, attended public schools and worked at the mall,” she noted in a recent interview. “My parents grew up in Taiwan, then lived their adult lives here in Atlanta as first-generation Americans. I’ve had the chance to travel to many U.S. cities, and around the world, and Atlanta is a lush metropolis that offers the best of the South.”
Credit: HAIGWOOD STUDIOS PHOTOGRAPHY
Credit: HAIGWOOD STUDIOS PHOTOGRAPHY
A graduate of Vassar College, with a Master of Public Policy degree from the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, Keng worked in the nonprofit sector, and was a strategic marketing executive, before returning to her Georgia roots.
Currently, she lives in her hometown of Smyrna, Georgia, where she’s the founder and CEO (“Chief Eating Officer”) of Global Hearth: Cooking Up A Better World, a food and culture business featuring interactive presentations, tours and events.
“Global Hearth reflects our city’s amazing, diverse culinary offerings, broadens the vision of opening minds, one mouth at a time, and gives back to the community by supporting local businesses and women entrepreneurs,” Keng said. “When we learn to love the food, we are more open to the people, whether it’s a sandwich called banh mi or snails called escargot. I’ve seen that over and over again through my events with organizations and corporate teams.”
Credit: HANDOUT
Credit: HANDOUT
Much more than just a cookbook, “Egg Rolls & Sweet Tea” is filled with family stories and food memories. But Keng’s recipes aren’t exactly traditional. They’re more about a question: Does it taste good?
“The dishes in this collection are my version of authentic, even if they don’t fit perfectly into any textbook genre,” she said. “I present these cherished recipes in the hope that they will become part of everyone’s family’s supper-table favorites and evolve into the reader’s own version of authentic.”
Keng’s entrepreneurial journey includes creating condiments, first under the Chinese Southern Belle label and now as part of her Sauce Maven brand.
“My refrigerator door was lined with sauces,” she said. “Yet none captured the flavors of my childhood growing up in the Bible Belt — juicy peaches, honeysuckle nectar, Vidalia sweet onions, and my po-po’s (grandmother’s) tomato wedges marinated in sugar-vinegar brine. Using my own taste buds as a litmus test, I set out to fill the gap.”
Right now, Keng has several award-winning sauces for sale at globalhearth.com. The Sauce Maven’s Recipe-In-A-Bottle products include My Sweet Hottie Sweet Chili Peach Dip, Glaze & Dressing; You Saucy Thing Soy Ginger Vidalia Stir Fry Sauce & Marinade; and Wild Wild East Asian BBQ Teriyaki Pineapple Grilling Sauce & Marinade.
Homemade versions of those sauces are included in “Egg Rolls & Sweet Tea,” along with Hot Hot Hunan Fresh Chile Sambal, which is a tribute to her maternal grandfather.
“This cookbook is really drawn from my own kitchen and my own palate, and it’s inspired by my mom, and my grandmother, and the women in the family who did most of the cooking,” Keng said. “But it’s also inspired by my travels in Asia. That’s why you’ll see Japchae-Inspired Glass Noodles with Swiss Chard.”
RECIPES
These Asian American and Southern fusion recipes from Natalie Keng’s cookbook, “Egg Rolls & Sweet Tea,” reflect a breadth of influences — from Curried Coconut-Cauliflower Fried “Rice,” to Japchae-Inspired Glass Noodles with Swiss Chard, and Hot Hot Hunan Fresh Chile Sambal.
Credit: Deborah Whitlaw Llewellyn
Credit: Deborah Whitlaw Llewellyn
Curried Coconut-Cauliflower Fried “Rice”
In addition to being low in carbs, cauliflower is nutritious and easy to cook, Keng says. This curry recipe doesn’t use curry powder — instead, it uses scratch ingredients and fresh turmeric, available at most international markets, to get a fresher, richer seasoning. Using cauliflower instead of rice makes it a good post-workout protein-rich meal.
Recipes adapted from and reprinted with permission from “Egg Rolls & Sweet Tea.” Copyright © 2023 by Natalie Keng. Excerpted by permission of Gibbs Smith.
Credit: Deborah Whitlaw Llewellyn
Credit: Deborah Whitlaw Llewellyn
Japchae-Inspired Glass Noodles with Swiss Chard
Keng uses mung bean thread noodles, also called cellophane or glass noodles, because they were easier to find in small-town international grocery outposts when she grew up. Mung bean noodles are a refreshing, less filling and gluten-free alternative to traditional flour noodles.
Credit: Deborah Whitlaw Llewellyn
Credit: Deborah Whitlaw Llewellyn
Hot Hot Hunan Fresh Chile Sambal
Keng’s sambal sauce is inspired by Southern hot pepper sauce. “This is a spicy, tangy, umami sauce for a zingy lemony vinaigrette that conjures the taste of chow-chow. It’s to-die-for on dumplings, including gyoza, pot stickers and xiao long bao, not to mention, naked ravioli, matzo balls and pierogies. Also, fish ‘n’ chips, grilled seafood, and omelets, plus, of course, fried chicken.”
If not serving the whole batch right away, spoon out the desired amount of the chile base, add some of the cider-citrus liquid, and refrigerate the remaining sambal mixture in a sealed glass jar for up to three weeks.
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