i am a food ronin: what food is to me
I never really put into much context who I am, what I do, and what this blog is about, so I thought I might take some time to kick off the new year right. I want to take some time to talk about what a food ronin is.
So I am an Asian-American who grew up in New Jersey, lived about a decade out in Chicago, then in the last couple years, I moved over to California. I currently work in entertainment and I am a pretty avid food buff. I actually started having an interest in food about 10 years ago because I was looking to build on a skill set that I did not have at the time ... Also, my sister told me it was a good way to meet girls (I am currently married and I have my first kid coming soon, so I guess it worked out!).
I started cooking a lot during the time and just trying to challenge myself and make new things. Below are a few of the dishes I made at the time.
Xiao Long Bao or Soup Dumplings (小籠包)
It gave me a real appreciation for good food and also a better understanding of how to assess good food, which drove me to go out and try new things. I actually have a real drive for trying new types of food (though I can be difficult to please), so this led me to really exploring Chicago, which is also why a lot of the early entries are very Midwest focused. I also had the liberty of traveling a lot since, at the time, I worked as a full-time traveling consultant. During my journey and through my experiences, I made friends with a variety of chefs, servers, and bartenders who further helped me hone my taste buds and expand my knowledge base.
I have a good friend (Thanks Andy!) who then suggested I document my experiences and go more in depth in describing them, which led me to starting The Food Ronin. My logo was designed by the super talented Beefy at BeefyCo.com (Be sure to check out his website as he has some pretty sweet shirts, and cute plushies!) though The Food Ronin idea and site layout was devised by me.
Although I title myself The Food Ronin, I actually think anyone who has a hunger for exploring and challenging themselves to try new foods are just as much of a food ronin as I am. I will continue to write more articles but try to have them be more short form and image focused. For all the people who want to celebrate food culture, feel free to share your experience and hashtag them #iamafoodronin!
