Skimming the Scum: Hygienic Modernity in Chinese American Intergenerational Soup-Making

This paper examines Chinese Americans’ intergenerational sharing of important family soup recipes in audio/video-recorded cooking sessions. Three main themes emerged: 1) Construction of hygiene around Chinese meal preparation; 2) questioning the authenticity and Chineseness of particular food practices; and 3) claiming cultural capital as part of a marginalized identity group in the U.S. through intergenerational food knowledge. Taken together, these themes demonstrate how Chinese Americans wrestle with a long history of discrimination while simultaneously pushing back against assimiliationist tendencies through preserving positive cultural affinity and carving out spaces for newer generations.