Name: Juliet Kwan
What you do: Graphic Design Student/Junior User Interface Developer
Food rule you had when you were a kid: No snacking before dinner.
Favourite food: Pho
What are you working on right now: Completing my graphic design degree.
Day in the life: I don’t usually have a routine. If I had to say, it is: no breakfast, a packed lunch (leftovers from dinner) or buying a hearty lunch (guilty pleasure), then a simple dinner (at home or at a restaurant). Depends on my cravings.
The world is so small. I met Juliet through two mutual friends and we discovered we had a lot more after a meeting. Much like myself, she is a freelance designer living in Toronto, has sisters and family in Vancouver and LA. When we first met, I thought she would be my first local Toronto friend. It turns out she had only moved here a few years ago as well. Her home is everywhere. Here’s a tasty, homemade meal from Juliet!
Wonton Soup
Makes at least 50 wontons. Probably more.
Ingredients:
- 2 handfuls of Shanghai bok choy
- 7 large shiitakes (1 container)
- 1 pack of square wonton wrappers
- 1 lb ground pork
- 1 handful of shrimp
- 2 teaspoons chicken broth powder
- Chopped chives (optional)
- 1 tablespoon of rice wine
- 2-3 tablespoons of soy sauce
- 1 tablespoon sesame oil
- 1 teaspoon of Salt
- 1 teaspoon of Sugar
- 1 small bowl of water for sealing wonton wrappers
Steps:
- Wash vegetables and shiitakes.
- Dice shiitakes and bok choy stems (stems only). You can use the leaves in the wonton soup separately. Put veggies in a large bowl.
- Peel shrimp, dice and put into a bowl.
- Add pork in a bowl.
- Add rice wine, soy sauce, sesame oil, salt and sugar into a bowl.
- Mix well so that all ingredients are evenly coated.
- Get ready to wrap the wontons! Get a bowl of water ready to seal the wrappers together.
- Take one large spoonful of filling and place it in the middle of a wonton wrapper.
- Wet your fingers with water and dampen two adjacent sides of the wrapper.
- Take one corner of the wrapper and fold to meet the other corner to join. Make sure the wet side is on one side, so the wet side joins with a dry side.
- Seal the edges by pinching sides together. The dumpling should look like a triangle now.
- Take the two corners of wonton along the long edge and bend them downwards towards each other. Seal the 2 corners together. The wonton is now complete. It should look like a little crown.
- Continue steps 8-12 until all the filling is gone.
- Wontons can be stored in an airtight container and frozen.
- When you are ready to eat, take the wontons and put them in boiling water.
- Add chicken broth powder and cook wontons until they float. You can add the extra bok choy leaves here.
Why did you choose this dish?
It’s one of the few dishes that my mom taught me how to cook, that’s good and lasts a few meals. It’s usually a Sunday meal. We didn’t have it too often, maybe every month.
My mom showed me this when I first moved here (Toronto). She showed me staples and I always asked my mom to make this. My mom is a really good cook, but a bit impatient, so she didn’t like teaching us. She taught my sister and, eventually, I asked her to teach me how to make it. As kids, we would wrap them, but not do anything else.
That’s the fun part! So, did you cook with your sisters then?
We cooked separately and there was a big age difference. We actually, never cooked as a family; our helper would cook or my mom would cook. We weren’t even allowed in the kitchen because we had such a small kitchen in Hong Kong.
When you are cooking at home, what are you looking for, energy, comfort?
I usually look for comfort foods and something that will last me for a few days or at least a few meals. Most of them tend to be saucy, like a curry dish or something with a stew feel or casseroles.
What influences your cooking?
I eat a lot of rice. I do own a rice cooker. That’s a pretty big Asian part of me. I feel, the food I eat is pretty eclectic, but I tend to like more ethnic foods when I am cooking.
Japanese curries are really easy. I can add veggies and meat to it. You just chop everything up.
Come to think about it, when I do eat with you, it’s comfort food.
I love eating and food. It’s not just a means for me to be full, but I love comfort food. I don’t care for pretentious food or fine dining. If it’s homey and good, it makes me feel happy. Dumplings, pho, soup noodles, Japanese food.
I don’t even like steakhouses, I would rather have a steak at home. My taste isn’t very refined, but I know what good food is. Fine dining where the food is small and looks nice, isn’t my choice. I don’t find great joy in it.
Are there any foods you hate?
[Long pause] I need to think about that one.I feel I grew to like a lot of things.
Do you think you go in phases with foods you like?
Toronto has helped me like a variety of foods. I’m willing to go to places people take me to. I moved here in 2010.
That’s when Toronto started growing more and became cool. What was it like back then?
There were no restaurants. Queen West had no taco places. There were no ramen places.
What has changed in your eating in the last few years?
I try to eat healthier and not as much. I try to have more balanced. I batch cook and freeze food, like casseroles. I’ve made chicken broccoli casserole with a Campbell’s creamy soup.
Do you feel your eating habits have changed since becoming a student?
Yes, I don’t have much time and eat shittier foods.
Is there a good cafeteria?
There is, but I never eat there. It’s just pizza. I never want to spend money on that kind of food. If I’m buying lunch, I’ll buy something good and splurge. I’d rather spend more money on good food than some money on bad food. Sometimes I’ll spend $15 on lunch.
Are there foods you miss from Hong Kong?
A lot. You usually can find it here, but not as good. Mainly street food and noodle soups.
You told me that this neighbourhood is a Koreatown?
It’s like the Koreatown north of Bloor, uptown. There are so many Korean stores, it’s almost the second Koreatown.
What are you currently designing right now?
I’m working on my web development more. I want to do both coding and design, more design. I love editorial design, but I know print is dying. That’s why I want to do more digital design because that’s where everything is going. If I didn’t have to make money and was just an artist, I wouldn’t use the computer at all. I like things you make from hands from natural materials.
Maybe that’s why I like homemade foods. It doesn’t have to look good. It’s bunch of stuff mixed together.
There’s a lot of good food, a lot of ethnic food that’s good, but are”hideous”, so no one likes photographing them. Most soups look like blobs.
What’s the most beautiful thing you’ve eaten?
Sushi from the fish market in Japan. It was so good, fresh and you can see the people there craft it for you.
What was the ugliest thing you’ve eaten?
I tried balut* in the Philippines. I took a small bit and I could taste some of the bird and was mushy.
What do you think is Toronto cuisine?
[Long pause] Tacos. That’s the safest thing that people will like and it’s pretty good here. There are better tacos in the world though, like California.There are more regionalized tacos in California. In Toronto, they are more imported in.
*Balut is a boiled egg snack with a developing embryo inside.