Posts by: Shanti Christensen (湘緹)

Lively, bold, and unconventional — Spirited stories from the women of Hua Dan.

Guest speakers Caroline Watson (CEO, Founder) and Dong Fen 董芬 (Operations Manager)
tell the stories behind the organisation using theatre to inspire
the full potential of migrant women and children.

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While I’ve explored and eaten my way through my past five years in China, I’ve developed more than my palate. Tonight at The Bookworm, as I sat over a plate of ribs and a couple glasses of wine, I chanced upon a realization worth sharing. My journey these past few years has [...]

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Beijing, China — As I was featured Playdate for February’s issue of The Beijinger, Tiffany Wang (style and living editor) tagged along with me one crisp morning, to my neighborhood market.

Check out the story here. (Shanti Christensen, Blogger and Photographer — PDF)

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Great start of the day…

Crisp blue Beijing day, a dash of catharsis, a mixup over a Misto, a trip to Sanyuanli market, Miles Davis blaring through the house, sun pouring through the windows, tidying up the workbench for some cooking in solitude… smiling in anticipation [...]

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Beijing, China — I hadn’t seen my friend Cristina in a while. 2011 was a magically prolific one for her as she zipped about Asia, touching down in Beijing for 24 hours at a time. Somehow, Cristina found time during her jetset lifestyle to start her beautiful food blog FlavorfulFilipina. Even while [...]

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I learned this intoxicatingly delicious dish in Chengdu, Sichuan. The recipe is from Shandong, but Jiang Yi, the home chef, is from Sichuan. Jiang Yi’s friend once cooked this dish for him and he’s been cooking it ever since! Braised pork [...]

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One of my favorite things to eat at a Sichuan restaurant is liángfěn. Liángfěn is a starch jelly made from mung bean. It is a cloudy, translucent white jelly sold like tofu then cut into pieces adequate for chopsticks to pick up. The following recipe is based on [...]

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I’ll be cooking a small dinner for eight this Saturday. With it being just before the eve of Chinese New Year (春节, Chūnjié), I’ve decided to tailor my own Chinese New Year dinner menu based on a few rules of the occasion. This menu is poultry-free as one of my dinner guests is allergic to poultry. [...]

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Wanting to return a favor for providing cardboard moving boxes, Greg and Candice asked what they could do in return. Peikwen suggested a home-cooked double date. These days, I find home-cooked meals a truly, dear currency and something we can all consider doing more. I am looking forward to a [...]

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At some point during the last five years, I got it into my head that chili peppers originated from South America and wound up in China by way of the Silk Road. I’ve even kept a long-standing debate with my husband over this matter; he was skeptical of my theory. Last night, [...]

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I just read this article and had to reflect: Is “Foodie” a Put-Down?

 I love food. I may be coerced into trying some challenging bites while keeping an open mind and what I find delicious may be repulsive to most. I’d like to think I have a natural relationship with food in [...]

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Tainan, Taiwan — Tainan has great eats! Peikwen’s friend from university has a father who lives in Tainan and much to our luck… he’s a foodie. Uncle Yang is from Tainan. He knows the good from the mediocre and how many generations a shop has been around with their zǔchuán [...]

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