Dubious Gastronomy: The Cultural Politics of Eating Asian in the USA

305 Pages·2014·3.17 MB·English

by  Robert Ji-Song Ku

THE CULTURAL POLITICS OF
EATING ASIAN IN THE USA
ROBERT JI-SONG KU
Dubious
Gastronomy
FOOD IN ASIA AND THE PACIFIC
Series Editors: Christine R. Yano and Robert Ji-Song Ku
Dubious
Gastronomy
THE CULTURAL POLITICS
OF EATING ASIAN IN THE USA
Robert Ji- Song Ku
University of Hawai‘i Press Honolulu
© 2014 University of Hawai‘i Press
All rights reserved
Printed in the United States of America
19 18 17 16 15 14 6 5 4 3 2 1
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ku, Robert Ji-Song, author.
Dubious gastronomy : the cultural politics of eating Asian in the USA /
Robert Ji-Song Ku.
pages cm.—(Food in Asia and the Pacifi c)
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-8248-3921-5 (cloth : alk. paper)
1. Food habits—United States. 2. Food in popular culture—United
States. 3. Gastronomy—United States. 4. Cooking, Asian. I. Title.
GT2853.U5K8 2014
394.1'20973—dc23
2013017500
University of Hawai‘i Press books are printed on acid- free
paper and meet the guidelines for permanence and durability
of the Council on Library Resources.
Designed by Westchester Publishing Services.
Printed by Sheridan Books, Inc.
Contents
Ac know ledg ments vii
Introduction 1
PART I INAUTHENTIC GASTRONOMY
1 California Roll 1 7
2 Chinese Take- Out 49
PART II DISREPUTABLE GASTRONOMY
3 Kimchi 8 1
4 Dogmeat 1 20
PART III A RTIFICIAL GASTRONOMY
5 Monosodium Glutamate 159
6 SPAM 190
Conclusion 224
Notes 231
Glossary 259
Bibliography 267
Index 281
v

Ack nowl edg ments
This book is the result of an unsettled literary scholar’s mid- career realiza-
tion that it is more pleasu ra ble to deconstruct a meal than it is to ruminate
on the meaning of a novel. Switching over from the path of literary studies
to food studies has been nothing short of revivifying. It has allowed me to
conceive of and express my intellectual and pedagogical endeavors in a
whole new— and hopefully meaningful— way. Th e publication of this book
signals the fi rst sojourn stemming from the switch, and, I must say, I am
enjoying the view— not to mention the viands— here very much. In fact, I
relish it so much that I cannot wait to see what lies just beyond that bend
ahead.
I am told that there is an old Korean proverb that says something to
the eff ect of “Not even a monk can cut his own hair.” As with the shaving
of heads, so too the writing of books—e vidently, neither is a solitary en-
deavor. In the long, slow, and oft en interrupted proc ess of writing this
book, countless individuals have provided aid and comfort. I would like
to thank my family, friends, and colleagues whose advice, inspiration,
encouragement, and patience sustained me through the many years it took
to complete this project.
I began to conceive of this book soon aft er I joined the faculty of Bing-
hamton University. My thanks go fi rst and foremost to Lisa Yun, my Asian
American studies sister- in- arms, not only for her indefatigable belief in
this book, but for her invaluable friendship throughout the many years
that I have known her. I have had the good fortune to share the depart-
ment hallway with a group of distinguished scholars of Asian studies as
well as Asian American studies, whose knowledge and insights I continue
to shamelessly poach. I would like to acknowledge John Chaff ee, John
vii
viii Ac know ledg ments
Cheng, Sungdai Cho, Fa-t i Fan, Nick Kaldis, Immanuel Kim, Sonja Kim,
Yoonkyung Lee, Dina Maramba, Cynthia Marasigan, Rumiko Sode, Ro-
berta Strippoli, and Shu- Min Tung- Kaldis. I am deeply appreciative of the
collegiality and friendship of many others at Binghamton. In part icu l ar, I
would like to recognize Elisa Camiscioli, Frances Goldman, Praseeda
Gopinath, Robert Guay, Kendra Hansen, Kevin Hatch, Douglas Holmes,
Matthew Johnson, Joe Keith, Sebastien Lacombe, Tom Mcdonough, Mon-
ika Mehta, Pamela Smart, Kathleen Sterling, Jennifer Stoever- Ackerman,
Julia Walker, Deanne Westerman, and Melissa Zinkin. Th e Harpur Col-
lege dean’s offi ce provided me with the time and material support that
proved indispensable to the completion of this project. My gratitude goes
to the deans past and present, namely, Jean-P ierre Mileur, Ricardo Lare-
mont, Donald Nieman, and Wayne Jones. And I thank the knowledgeable
staff at the Binghamton University libraries for reminding me why there is
no “research” without “search.”
During the proc ess of conceiving, researching, and writing, I have ben-
efi ted from the collective wisdom, brilliance, and friendship of Asian Amer-
ican studies scholars from across the country and beyond. In part icu l ar, I
am grateful to Ibrahim Aoudé, Vivek Bald, Victor Bascara, Jason Oliver
Chang, Kandice Chuh, Mary Yu Danico, Diane Fujino, Jennifer Hayashida,
Jennifer Ho, Grace Hong, Joseph Jeon, Mary Kao, Maryam Kashani, Santhi
Kavuri-B auer, Elaine Kim, SanSan Kwan, Soo Ah Kwon, Heather Lee, James
Kyung- Jin Lee, Kyoo Lee, Marjorie Lee, Russell Leong, Kathleen Lopez,
Margo Machida, Martin Manalansan, Yong Soon Min, Lisa Nakamura,
Don Nakanishi, Franklin Odo, Gary Okihiro, Jane Chi Hyun Park, Junaid
Rana, Zohra Saed, Cathy Schlund-V ials, Shalini Shankar, Sandhya Shukla,
Rajini Srikanth, Karen Su, Eric Tang, and Linta Varghese.
Anita Mannur, Min Hyoung Song, and Jenefer Shute each read por-
tions of the manuscript at various stages, and their generous feedback not
only helped to make this book better than it would have been otherwise,
but also gave me the confi dence I needed to actually fi nish it. I thank them
and also the two anonymous readers who, besides off ering numerous spot-
on suggestions for improving this book, recommended the publication of
this book in the most eff usive manner.
Also providing me with the confi dence that I sorely needed was the
amazing reception I received from the organizers and audiences at confer-
ences, symposiums, and lectures to which I was invited to present portions
of this book. My heartfelt thanks go to the organizers of Eating Chinese:
Ac know ledg ments ix
Cuisine, Commerce, and Culture, a symposium sponsored largely by the
Center for Race and Ethnicity at Brown University in 2009, and in part ic-
ul ar I am indebted to John Eng-W ong, Evelyn Hu-D eHart, Marie Myung-
Ok Lee, Robert G. Lee, Naoko Shibusawa, and Mark Swislocki. I also
thank the following institutions for their invitations and gracious hospi-
tality: the Asian American Studies Institute and the Asian American Cul-
tural Center at the University of Connecticut, Storrs; the Asian American/
Asian Research Institute of the City University of New York; the Asian
American Studies Program at the University of Illinois, Urbana-
Champaign; the Ethnic Studies Department at the University of Oregon;
the Department of Ethnic Studies at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo; and the
Midwest Asian American Student Conference. In addition, I am deeply
appreciative of the feedback I received from audiences at conferences hosted
by the following organizations: the Association for Asian American Stud-
ies, the Association for Asian Studies, the New York Conference on Asian
Studies, and the Association for the Study of Food and Society.
Although I no longer reside there, the friendships I have forged during
my life in New York City carry on and have left an ineff able mark on this
book. How would I have managed without Jane Bai, Moustafa Bayoumi,
Jonathan Blazon, Jane Bowers, Christy Carrillo, Melissa Cerezo, Lillian
Cho, Mark Chung, Una Chung, Elena Georgiou, Tomio Geron, Beth Har-
ris, Marina Henriquez, Parag Khandhar, Karlyn Koh, Cynthia Lee, Sara
Lee, Lorraine Leong, Margot Liddell, Harriett Luria, Leyla Mei, Kelly
Nishimura, Rene Ontal, Janice Pono, Ai- jen Poo, Eun Rhee, Shara Richter,
Bill Spath, Seung Hye Suh, and Joe Ugoretz? Of course, my other lifelong
friends whose localities lie elsewhere deserve equal consideration: Charise
Cheney, Gisele Fong, Joyce Garrigus, Curtis Hardin, Alice Hom, Emma
Hunt, Bob Kim, Wonil Kim, Richard Ko, Ed Lin, Jean-P aul Manceau, Kurt
Mueller, Maxine Park, Connie Rho- Kim, Yolanda Tiscareño, Lynne Wai-
hee, and Christine Wang.
If I must name a single individual most responsible for taking what
was merely a fl edgling manuscript and actually transforming it into a full-
fl edged book, it is undoubtedly my intrepid editor, Masako Ikeda. Th e fact
that I grew up in Hawai‘i has made the ac cep tance of this book by the
University of Hawai‘i Press singularly meaningful, and I cannot be more
delighted and proud. To Masako, who championed this book from the mo-
ment that I brought it to her attention, mahalo nui loa.