Clarissa Wei is an American journalist and writer. Her focus is on

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia. The main geography of Taiwan, island of Taiwan, also known as ''Formosa'', lies between the East China Sea, East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocea ...

and in particular Taiwanese food and food culture. Her book ''Made in Taiwan: Recipes and Stories of the Island Nation'' was released in 2023 and was nominated for a James Beard Media Award. The book won the IACP Julia Child First Book Award.

Personal life

Wei was born in Los Angeles, California, to immigrant parents with roots in

Tainan Tainan (), officially Tainan City, is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality in southern Taiwan, facing the Taiwan Strait on its western coast. Tainan is the oldest city on the island and commonly called the "Taiwan Prefecture, ...

. She graduated from

New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...

with a bachelor's degree in journalism and

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

. As of 2023, she resided in

New Taipei City New Taipei City is a Special municipality (Taiwan), special municipality located in regions of Taiwan, northern Taiwan. The city is home to an estimated population of 4,004,367 as of January 2023, making it the most populous city in Taiwan, a ...

Career

As a food writer covering Los Angeles she caught the attention of

Jonathan Gold Jonathan Gold (July 28, 1960 – July 21, 2018) was an American food and music critic. He was for many years the chief food critic for the ''Los Angeles Times'' and also wrote for ''LA Weekly'' and ''Gourmet'', in addition to serving as a regular ...

, who recruited her as one of his food scouts. In 2018 she moved to

Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...

and began writing for the

South China Morning Post The ''South China Morning Post'' (''SCMP''), with its Sunday edition, the ''Sunday Morning Post'', is a Hong Kong-based English-language newspaper owned by Alibaba Group. Founded in 1903 by Tse Tsan-tai and Alfred Cunningham, it has remaine ...

(SCMP). Her journalism initially focused on politics but she shifted to food after finding politics "too heavy and dark." However her food writing often inherently touches on politics. Many of her stories in Hong Kong focused on aging restaurateurs or chefs who maintained important culinary traditions. During this time she traveled around

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

producing food and culture videos for SCMP. In 2020 she left Hong Kong for Taiwan together with her husband, on 30 June, when the

Hong Kong National Security Law Hong Kong national security legislation may refer to one of the following laws/bills: Laws in force * Law of the People's Republic of China on Safeguarding National Security in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 2020 national law of C ...

took effect. She is one of the main authors writing about Taiwanese cuisine in English. In February 2022, Wei was criticized for making a Singaporean chicken curry recipe in a ''New York Times'' social media video, which was later removed following backlash over its appearance. She was the co-host of the cooking show ''Kitchen Remix'' on TaiwanPlus.

Books

''Made in Taiwan''

''Made in Taiwan: Recipes and Stories of the Island Nation'' was released in 2023. ''Made in Taiwan'' is an exploration of Taiwan's food culture. In it she emphasizes using Taiwanese ingredients and not substitutes more widely available internationally. The book has proved controversial due to Wei's focus on Taiwanese identity and politics as embodied in food. Wei collaborated with recipe developer Ivy Chen on ''Made in Taiwan''. James Lin, a historian, was hired to make sure that the historical aspects of the book were accurate. Xin Yun worked as Clarissa Wei's research assistant. Yen Wei was the food stylist and Ryan Chen handled photography.

Podcast

Her show, ''Climate Cuisine'', is part of the Whetstone Radio Collective. It was launched in 2021 and examines how different national cuisines and agricultural practices have developed in similar climactic zones across the planet.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Wei, Clarissa Living people American food writers American journalists Journalists from Los Angeles Writers from Los Angeles American television hosts American people of Taiwanese descent Year of birth missing (living people)