Podcast | Michelle Zauner (Japanese Breakfast): Her Mom's BBQ Kalbi & Dongchimi

Michelle Zauner is famous for playing music under the name Japanese Breakfast, but it turns out she's one of those obnoxiously talented people who creatively thrives in multiple genres. Michelle just released a wildly popular memoir called Crying in H Mart, about her complicated relationship with her Korean mother who died of cancer when Michelle was 25.

michelle zauner of Japanese Breakfast

Michelle Zauner is famous for playing music under the name Japanese Breakfast, but it turns out she's one of those obnoxiously talented people who creatively thrives in multiple genres. Michelle just released a wildly popular memoir called Crying in H Mart, about her complicated relationship with her Korean mother who died of cancer when Michelle was 25.

Korean food plays a huge role in the book and in her conversation with host Rachel Belle. Michelle takes us to Korea, where she and her mother insatiably ate their way through Seoul every other year of her childhood. She talks about who taught her to cook Korean food, since her mother never got a chance to teach her, and how the Korean grocery chain H Mart now brings her comfort.

Immigrant parents and grandparents are infamous for not writing down recipes or measuring out ingredients, making it virtually impossible to perfectly recreate their food after they're gone. Melissa Miranda, the Filipina-American chef/owner of Seattle's Musang, opened her restaurant in an effort to preserve Filipino home cooking in the community her dad immigrated to in the 1970s. She joins the show to tell her story.


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About the Hosts

Rachel Belle

Rachel Belle

Rachel Belle is the host of The Nosh and the host and creator of Your Last Meal, a James Beard Award finalist for Best Podcast. She is also an editor-at-large at Cascade PBS.