Global Baking Traditions: Cultural Heritage, Personal Journeys, and Culinary Innovation

Key Quotes

"So subtle asian baking was a group that i founded in may of 2020 right around the height of covid and i was missing like a lot of the asian bakery goodies that you can get easily when you're not in quarantine or like the food that my mom would make in new york city so i used to live in new york but back then and then i moved to the renton area and she was still in new york so i really wanted to try new recipes on my own but when i googled asian baking or asian baking recipes back in 2020 there really was none there was no collective space for those recipes so when you see something missing and i'm the type of person who likes to build things and i said i'm going to make my own community"

Kat Lieu explains that she founded Subtle Asian Baking in May 2020 because she missed Asian bakery items and found a lack of online resources for these recipes. Lieu, a builder by nature, created the community to fill this void. This demonstrates her proactive approach to addressing unmet needs in the culinary space.

"In east asian culture and some southeast asian cultures as well the treats and the desserts are actually not that sweet so you could easily find pork floss in a chiffon cake salty and sweet together you can find scallion and eggs on a pastry and the taste is not that sweet because we actually use less sugar and we temper a lot of the sweetness with something salty like i had mentioned be it miso or soy sauce or furu which is fermented bean curd sometimes you can even add msg very very popular across asia to find treats like that not predominantly sweet a cookie that it has frosting and fondant not as common um it's more of a of more of a french culture influence so if you go to like japanese bakeries as well it's not so much of the american buttercream that you find but more of the heavy cream buttercream that's made with less sugar and more of the cream parts"

Kat Lieu highlights a key characteristic of East and Southeast Asian desserts: their reduced sweetness. Lieu explains that this is achieved by using less sugar and balancing sweetness with salty elements like miso or soy sauce. This approach contrasts with Western-style desserts that often feature heavy buttercream and fondant, showcasing a distinct flavor philosophy.

"So yeah mentioned the subtitle before not too sweet treats from a third cultural kitchen third culture is my background being someone who was born in montreal raised by vietnamese chinese parents who define success as becoming a doctor who also introduced me to a lot of flavors growing up so i had vietnamese food from my father's side a lot of chinese food from my mom's side but my dad also loved burgers and my mom also loved pasta so i got to experience all these flavors and then in montreal my grandparents were foodies they would take me to curry buffets and japanese buffets so there they taught me how to eat like avocados and poutines and matcha as a six year old you know six year old having matcha back in like the 1990s right so i was like one of the first people who ate matcha that was cool in the west so yeah it because of all these cultures and heritage and influence and flavors that i got to try it really did influence me in the kitchen because i get to be so bold with what i use in my cookies"

Kat Lieu describes her "third culture kitchen" as a reflection of her upbringing, influenced by Vietnamese, Chinese, and Western cuisines. Lieu explains that this diverse exposure from a young age allowed her to develop a bold and experimental approach to baking. This background directly informs her creative use of ingredients in her cookies.

"And then i thought i don't want to end up like this following other people's footsteps living the recipe of life that other people had written for me i need to start dreaming because being a doctor of physical therapy was not my decision honestly maybe life is a little different now for people growing up in a third culture environment but my parents really did push me into healthcare they defined success as healthcare they didn't think that i could be successful as a creative but with his passing i thought you know that was a release and i thought you know maybe now it's time for me to dream and this was his blessing to me too that i can dream for the two of us now and whatever my dreams are that i fulfill are his as well"

Kat Lieu shares that her father's sudden passing prompted a significant life change, leading her to abandon her physical therapy career to pursue her passion for baking. Lieu explains that her parents had pushed her towards healthcare, defining success in that field, but his death served as a catalyst for her to "start dreaming." This moment of realization allowed her to embrace her creative aspirations, honoring both her own desires and her father's legacy.

"She stacked in the filo dough commercial filo dough put in the filling stacked another section of the filo dough on top cut it and poured clarified butter over the top letting that sink in for just a couple of minutes and then bake the whole thing afterwards as is usual pour cold flower water syrup over the top you're going to hear a wonderful sizzle and with this it just takes out some of the time commitment now i have cousins and others in the family who remind me that it can be really meditative and lovely buttering every layer and that is true but for those of us who want to simplify this and maybe haven't made it before this method makes it more approachable and it comes out just as crisp just as light and delicious and when we pour the butter over the filo dough"

Maureen Abood presents a simplified method for making Lebanese baklava, inspired by her great aunt Rita. Abood explains that instead of buttering each individual layer of phyllo dough, her aunt stacked sections of dough with filling in between, then poured clarified butter over the entire assembly before baking. Abood notes that this technique makes the process more approachable for home bakers while still yielding a crisp and delicious result.

"The clarified butter is essential because what you're doing with that is as you melt the butter you're separating the solids from the butter fat and those solids if left in you just pouring melted butter over the top that isn't clarified when you bake the betlawa you'll get little black specks all over the pastry it may taste okay it doesn't look good it's never done really and one note about the clarified butter is that when you use cultured butter or european style butter the aroma and flavor is exponentially richer it's higher in butter fat as well but it's just takes it elevates the betlawa experience and clarifying it is easier in a sense because those solids they just drop to the bottom of your pan many butters when you melt them you get this foaminess on top of those solids and you have to skim them off okay"

Maureen Abood emphasizes the importance of using clarified butter in baklava preparation. Abood explains that clarifying butter separates the milk solids, preventing them from burning and creating unsightly black specks on the pastry. She also notes that using cultured or European-style butter enhances the aroma and flavor, elevating the overall baklava experience.

"So part of why i really wanted a bialy