Eat my shelf: SUGARCANE
and some chilli crunch controversy
This was supposed to be a post about my trip to Vietnam, but a few things happened:
SUGARCANE arrived;
David Chang attempted to trademark “chili crunch” (US spelling, for reasons) and “chile crunch”;
I anxiety-baked;
David Chang decided not enforce the trademark;
I found a pokemon card on the streets;
I procrastinated, hard.
So this is something you can do with other, non-Momofuku chilli* crunch things. Like Lao Gan Ma (preferably the chilli crisp one, not the one with the pork).
*I will be using UK spelling for the rest of this post, tyvm
But first…what controversy?
If you missed the chilli crunch controversy, read:
Bettina Makalintal’s breakdown of Chang’s explanation on Eater
as always, Giaae Kwon’s insightful post on this
Jenn Harris’ take on LA Times, including some insights on other actors in the “trademark wars”
Things to do with your chilli crisp
May I recommend Arlyn Osborne’s Chilli Crisp Chocolate Chunk Cookies from SUGARCANE?
Pools of dark chocolate joined by rivers of brown butter with the crackly ridges that are a universal sign of a hefty cookie.
…for any fellow distracted bakers out there, take this as an endorsement: I forgot to put in the butter till right before baking and they still turned out alright!
About SUGARCANE
Arlyn Osborne’s SUGARGANE is a beautifully-styled, contemporary cookbook which chronicles the ways food can connect people to community and cement one’s sense of identity - in this case, Osborne’s reclamation of her Filipino American identity.
Osborne blends family memories with national histories to create modern comfort foods like chilli crisp cookies and chocolate sesame oil cake with flavours that evoke the comfort of home - whether that be baked, churned or frozen.
It’s brimming with exciting ideas- like the diner inspired malted lemon egg pie, or the bourbon brown butter cashew tart. It’s Filipino warmth meets Southern American charm.
Yes it takes skill and talent to bring two cultures together - but I’d wager that the creativity that comes with the recipes in SUGARCANE speaks of a deep understanding (or curiosity at least) of the nuances of culture, flavour and baking traditions of two worlds.
What I loved about SUGARCANE
Recipes and inspiration aside, let me tell you the top things I love about SUGARCANE:
The Conversion Chart: A flat-lay of conversions from volume to weight, divided by ingredient? AMAZING. USEFUL. EASY TO NAVIGATE. PRACTICAL. PRINT IT AND STICK IT ON THE FRIDGE (pg 18-19).
Visual Cues: The commandment to embrace visual cues (pg 16) is a must-read. I wish that the book would carry out that commandment by, for example, including more photos of the process - but I take the point that it would differ with each person/kitchen.
Stories: The personal essays, filled with anecdotes and well-researched cover things like the tradition of pasalubong to the colonial history of the Philippines. Not only are they interesting, but weaving them into the cookbook really echoes Osborne’s own journey with using food as a mechanism to, in her own words, “find herself”. It’s a very smart way to use structure to convey meaning.
Titles: the title of each section of the book is put on the right hand border of each page - I love this. It makes it easy to flick through and navigate the cookbook.
Do I need SUGARCANE?
If you’re a baker - yes. There’s enough variety here - sweet, sweet meets savoury, to extra sweet celebration showstoppers.
It was easy to source most of the ingredients (Australia), though the brands and packaging differ slightly. From my testing, this didn’t make a big change to the quantities used/ flavour.
I did find it hard to locate ube paste vs ube halaya, but that may be due to the surge of ube’s popularity in my corner of the world.
If you’re not a baker, probably give it a pass. While many of the recipes are easy-to-follow, I’d recommend a book with more “how-to” sections/ foundational sections.
A final word…
Simply put, SUGARCANE reads like a memoir in recipes - my favourite “genre” of cookbook (if there is such thing).
There’s a playful sense of humour that weaves through the book - from the headings (“A short note on ingredients”, “An even shorter section on equipment”) to the little anecdotes that preface each recipe, to the colourful photos (honestly, I’d love to use that photo of the ube milk crinkles as my phone wallpaper!).
It’s conversational.
Welcoming.
Playful.
Most of all, it’s packed full of joy - I’d like to imagine that this echos the joy that Osborne felt when she found a sense of belonging through food.
Because that’s the sense of joy I experienced when food writing gave me an opportunity to carve out a space where I felt I belonged.
SUGARCANE is out now from Hardie Grant Publishing. Order it online at Booktopia ($38.75) Thank you to Hardie Grant Publishing for sending a copy of this book for review.
Those chilli crunch cookies sound HECTIC but I am intrigued. From a fellow anxiety-baker x