- [Danielle] Comfort food is nostalgic, nourishing and all about pleasure.

In our modern lives of busy days and sleepless nights, food that provides comfort has never been more indispensable.

Whether it's Chinese dishes made at home with an assist from a family cooking blog, or Taiwanese and Indonesian classics re-imagined by ambitious young chefs, a new generation of diners is finding pleasure amongst the familiar, even if the familiar is an acquired taste.

In an Instagram age when we're constantly seeking what's new, foods with the connection to our earliest days are often the dishes that we love and love to share the most.

In this episode of Lucky Chow, we discover how comfort food brings together families of all types.

(cheerful music) Near my home in Chinatown sits Wayan, a neighborhood spot that serves up inspired, Indonesian home style fare.

A joint project of Ochi Vongerichten and her husband Cédric, it's sun drenched room combines a mom-and-pop vibe with a chic design.

Wayan, which means firstborn son, is aptly named as Cédric is the wayan of the acclaimed chef, Jean-Georges Vongerichten.

So obviously this restaurant is representative of your culture and your upbringing, but how did you learn how to cook Indonesian food?

- [Cédric] I mean we have been together for more than 11 years and we have kids and so every year we go at least once or twice a year in Jakarta in Indonesia.

And then being there and being exposed to cuisine and traveling in Sumba and Bali and Komodo and different regions, you just get sort of used to it and start picking up some ingredients.

The ingredients we try to use as much Indonesian ingredients as possible.

Turmeric is big, chilies obviously, galangal, lemongrass, kaffir, and the technique is you know like for example we have, we do have a sate bowl where we serve like a bass pepes, which basically is wrapped in banana leaf, for me is exactly, it's a papillote technique-- - Right.

- [Cédric] what you're doing, so it's a French papillote technique, but used you know, the elements of Indonesia, which is banana leaf, there's lemongrass inside, kaffir lime.

- We met in college, so I studied French in school and then Cédric was a tutor.

- [Danielle] Oh!

(laughs) - Cédric was your tutor?

- French tutor.

- I mean, everybody's tutor but-- - That's so cliché Ochi, (all laugh) you married your French tutor!

- I love it.

- [Danielle] That is so cute!

- Did he propose at the Eiffel Tower?

(Ochi and Cédric laugh) - [Cédric] I mean Ochi is very, mostly front of the house even though all the dishes you've seen at the table she has a big impact on it and she tries everything if any adjustment needs to happen, but I think we complement each other and she's you know, always smile, well I'm not smiling in the kitchen and she goes to all the tables and greet them and explain some of the dishes and how to eat and sometimes she comes in the kitchen, let me know "Hey what is this, this looks wrong."

So, she's the boss.

- What role did Asian cuisine play in your household?

- You know I grew up in New York City and France and France was mostly traditional French cuisine and half of my family is from Burgundy so more earthy and coq au vin, things like that and-- - Rustic.

- [Cédric] Rustic, and then the other half was from Auzat which is choucroute another rustic, but very different.

Meanwhile my father was in love with all those Thai ingredients and this is what we you know, bring to the Vong restaurant and Spice Market and that's what we've been eating.

Also, when I turned 18 years old my father was like all right, you like cooking, I'm gonna send you around so I lived in China for six months-- - Thank you.

- I worked a month in his restaurant and then I saw the Mandarin restaurant, I'm like I wanna be in that restaurant.

It was sort of a gamble, we were not sure how like New York was gonna react to this cuisine or this concept and when we see people really sitting down and be like wow these flavors are incredible and give all those feedback to Ochi and it's, which is the best you know, that we can ask for.

And having a restaurant that is full, this is, you know, New York City can be tough and I'm glad it worked out.

I think Indonesia, it's not visited enough.

I know it's very far, it's like 22, 24 hours either way.

Bali is a little, Bali is touristy, a lot of European, a lot of Australian, but there's so many more other islands like Sumba and Komodo that, the diving is incredible and you know, hopefully people will wanna go there a little more often and - [Ochi] Yeah.

- Have an adventure.

All the Indonesians that came in from Indonesia, they be like oh my god thank you so much, you know like they almost like, they're very thankful about you know, it's not even that authentic.

And I feel sometimes bad, I'm like I hope they're not gonna get pissed at me because you know I'm changing it up.

- [Danielle] Well it is authentic because it is a reflection of who you are and this place feels so great because-- - And Ochi!

- It's a marriage.

It's a true collaboration you guys.

- Thank you so much.

- [Ochi] Thank you.

- [Danielle] So what are the biggest challenges you have or the funnest times you have working together?

- When the work is end.

(all laugh) - [Cédric] And you have a glass of wine at the end.

- End of shift.

- [Ochi] Exactly, when we have a sip of tequila and then eat.

- [Danielle] Another one of our favorite Asian staples can be found at nearby Ho Foods, a neighborhood eatery that serves a singular and spectacular Taiwanese beef noodle soup.

The chef and owner, Rich Ho, recently began serving Taiwanese breakfast during the weekend and the lines quickly began to form.

First to arrive were curious neighborhood foodies but then Taiwanese-Americans, including first generation immigrants, came from all over, seeking a taste of home.

- [Rich] And you can have Taiwanese breakfast all day, you can have it, you know, at four in the morning after you've gone out, you know to karaoke, and you show up to like a stall and you have some dumplings and savory soy milk and it helps you sober up, you have it in the morning.

What I remember is when we were in Taiwan, staying over at my aunt's house, I would wake up and she would always have all this ready for us.

- [Danielle] What do you serve for Taiwanese breakfast here?

- [Rich] So we do soy milk, savory and salty soy milk, we make fan tuan which is like, roasted rice and peanuts, we make jian bing, which is like eggs in kind of a really thin pancake, rice rolls, sticky rice, today we're doing purple rice with the crueler, some pork floss, pickled turnips, so very like old school.

- [Danielle] So what was your grand idea behind starting a Taiwanese breakfast shop in New York City?

- I couldn't find it when I was here, I didn't understand, there's Taiwanese people everywhere doing lots of things, there's so many people that have been like, touched by Taiwan in a way where they used to work there or their neighbors grew up there or you know, their wives are from there or they've visited and they had a great time.

And there's so many people that have such a strong sense of nostalgia for Taiwan.

- What does your dad think of your food?

- My dad?

He hasn't said anything bad, which means something good.

- But he has not said anything good.

- You know, I think he's proud, you know, he shows it in different ways.

There's so many different types of food in Taiwan, and that's what we really like is this like, we have these things that we grew up with or we discover there, you know like we wanna share this with everyone.

So that's really it.

- [Danielle] Comfort is inextricably mixed with the flavors we grew up with and that's why I was particularly excited to cook with my aunt Susie.

On a visit to Portland, Oregon, we stopped by for some of her home cooking, which in her case means the classic Shanghainese dishes, slightly modified to fit what's local and in season, as she and my mom grew up on.

First, we head to her local Chinese market where we picked up live fish and shrimp, longevity noodles and Oregon bok choi for the evening's family dinner.

- I'm going to talk to the fish guy what to do to our poor fish.

Do you have different weight?

Number one.

We're gonna get a crab.

Now it's a crab, we're gonna get a crab.

- [Danielle] When it comes to fresh seafood, Susie and her cousins from Shanghai are very particular.

The crabs were thoroughly examined before being deemed good enough to eat.

The shrimps, like their fellow crustaceans, also underwent tough scrutiny.

(screams) That's definitely alive!

After grocery shopping turned into a primer in how to pick the best, freshest ingredients for family meals, we were certain that what came next, the cooking and the eating, would also hold many lessons.

Lessons that only a Chinese auntie could share.

We were looking forward to getting an education in Shanghainese home cooking from aunt Susie and her cousins.

- Oh this is a very popular Shanghainese scallions with oil, mixed in the noodles.

- Gorgeous.

- It's a very very popular local must-eat food.

- The aroma smells so great.

So these are just slivered scallions that are just cooking in very very hot oil until they get brown?

- Right, you start with frying then you have to adjust the temperature to what you want, if you want it very fragrant and crispy, then you make it browner.

You know he's a really extinguished species, you know why?

He's like generation of generation of Chinese living in Shanghai so his tastebud is trained.

- [William] Right.

- [Susie] So he told me in Shanghai, sometimes in the restaurants they always making something.

- [William] Yes.

- [Susie] So for the Shanghai meats, when they eat it's mmmmm, not so right.

I know, but you know, I think we enjoy the Chinese food and now we experience the old traditional way that everything's in there.

- [William] Well he has a very refined palate.

- [Susie] Yes he does.

And also my cousin's wife, Yen Ching, she is a taste person.

Everything before we finish the dish, she will do the final-- - [William] She's the official taster?

- [Susie] Yes.

- All of it?

- Yeah all of it, good.

Oh yeah.

- [William] Oh my god, you can immediately smell the sort of, sweet but sort of briny-- - By the way my cousin said the shrimp was pre-soaked in the yellow wine, it's the Chinese shaoxing-- - [William] Oh wow, shaoxing rice wine.

- So it's softening the yeah you can smell it.

- [William] So now we're gonna add the shiitake.

- [Danielle] But this is so fun though because I've only had dishes like this in Chinese restaurants.

Now all these years I don't think I ever cooked with you.

- No I don't think so either, I think when you were young-- - You took me to Duran Duran concerts.

- Really?

- Yes, she was like the cool aunt that snuck my cousin Jennifer and I into Duran Duran concerts.

- [William] Great food doesn't have to be complicated right?

- [Danielle] No, especially-- - I mean Chinese food's not complicated.

- Well you always think Chinese restaurant food is so complicated like ooh I could never make that at home but actually.

- [William] Even I think that.

- [Danielle] Our grandmothers are sisters so we grew up with this whole Shanghai food heritage and legacy and so it's beautiful to see it here in Portland.

(all toast in Chinese) After cracking open the crab and blessing the table with a cognac toast, we were finally ready to break bread or in our case, eat rice.

My cousin Brian and his kids joined us for dinner and once again, home cooking revealed its magic as we gathered around the table together, laughing, loving and happily feasting.

Withstanding the test of time, a family's comfort food is the ultimate bonding experience.

The taste of home is what inspired young chef Eric Sze to open 886 in New York's East Village.

Named after the Taipei area code, 886 is an homage to the foods Eric grew up eating and loving.

For Eric, it's an opportunity to reclaim his cultural pride.

- So Eric, what are we making today?

- We are making three cup chicken, which is very classic in terms of Taiwanese food.

- So what does three cup chicken mean?

Where did that name come from?

- So it's essentially, the original recipe is one cup soy sauce, one cup sesame oil and one cup rice wine.

- [William] Okay.

- [Eric] I personally don't like that recipe, I think it's a little bit too salty and a little bit too greasy in terms of just way too much sesame oil.

- [William] Right.

- [Eric] But we make a little bit of a modification and those three are still the main components to the dish.

- [William] You can never have enough Thai basil.

- [Eric] Now we just sprinkle this guy on.

All right, so now let's make the hsinchu mifen.

- Yeah, let's do it.

- We at the restaurant use a fattier ground pork just so you get that lard flavor.

- [William] Naturally.

- [Eric] Yes, naturally.

And the beauty is you don't have to add oil to the wok.

- [William] Is this a dish you grew up eating?

- [Eric] Yes, I didn't know how much I missed it until I got to America really.

'Cause there's really nothing like it, although it has mainland roots, it doesn't, there's nothing from China that quite tastes like this combination that we're gonna see.

The secret ingredient if you will, - [William] Now it won't be too secret.

- Yes, is shacha.

- Oh, what is that?

- It originates from (speaks Chinese) which they call satay, which I'm sure you've heard of.

But the Taiwanese kind of took it after they migrated to Taiwan and twisted it, twisted it, twisted it, now it's a little bit more garlicky.

Last but not least, we have fermented bamboos.

That gives it that extra kick, you want that crunch to be part of all the silkiness.

So it's almost like an organized chaos, all the things come together in such a weird but fashionable way.

So growing up in Taiwan, our education was everything's better in the West.

Food's better in the West, the music's better in the West, the movies are better in the West.

And it wasn't until I got here that I realized wow, you know maybe my culture is something to be celebrated too, that I really underappreciated my roots.

- [Danielle] Whereas Eric grew up with Taiwanese food, Trigg Brown didn't encounter the comforting flavors of Taiwan until later in life, as a professional chef.

Trigg was introduced to the cuisine by a Taiwanese-American mentor and gained a deeper appreciation of it through his business partner and friend, Josh Ku.

The two created their own spin on Taiwanese cooking in 2016 at Win Son, named after Ku's grandfather's textile company.

- [Trigg] I definitely feel a weight on my shoulders to represent Taiwanese food in a really straightforward and honest way.

You know, I think what my business partner and I, you know when we were opening, we were kind of struggling, not struggling but we didn't know what to call ourselves.

You know a lot of people were trying to call us Taiwanese street food, a lot of people were trying to call us-- - [Danielle] Wow that's a quick stir fry.

- [Trigg] Yeah very quick, the chives above you just want to cook the raw garlic and onion flavor off the chives.

The reason we are cooking Taiwanese food or the way by which we came to cook Taiwanese food and operate a restaurant that's Taiwanese-American is just essentially over our friendship that was built over like, trying to understand better.

I think the way that we approach trying to express our version of Taiwanese food is just trying to always be learning and be really upfront about what we've learned and how we learned, how we came to a certain conclusion or you know, which dish kind of has a story, whether it's our personal story or an experience we had in Taiwan or a Taiwanese chef educating us on something new.

Everything usually in this restaurant has some sort of storyline.

This is one of my favorite dishes, I think clams are a huge thing in Taiwan, I read that there used to be so many different types of clams in the rivers in Taiwan-- - [Danielle] Yes, I mean there's just so much access to great seafood there, all over and like, great produce.

- [Trigg] Right.

- [Danielle] We broke bao, otherwise known as Taiwanese steamed bread, together with Trigg, Josh and their good friend and colleague Eric Sze, to better understand why Taiwanese cuisine is growing in popularity.

I feel like this is Taiwanese new mafia, you know that's also triggered around food and like the Taiwanese, they're known for being really friendly and so the fact that you guys here at the table kind of represent that and hold that important role as kind of ambassadors for Taiwan through its food, how does that feel?

- It definitely feels really cool to have like a tight-knit community and friend group centered around, you know opening a restaurant's very stressful, and the fact that you and Rich and I hang out quite a bit is like you know, it's awesome.

- I certainly get inspired a lot by what they're doing and hopefully, you know, the feeling is mutual.

- Eddie Huang paved the way in many ways and a lot of chefs that Trigg, you know, has mentioned to me kind of paving the way for, you know, normalizing certain ingredients in dining and mainstream, kind of set the stage for us to really do our own thing.

- Having this food, all of this, I identify, I can see the Taiwanese elements of it but it's presented in such a different way that I've never seen before and it kind of lit a fire inside me, just trying to re-discover that Taiwanese food is cool and has been cool.

- To Taiwan.

- Cheers guys, cheers.

- [Danielle] In a bucolic New Jersey town, we met a family of home cooks and bloggers we had first come to know and love through their blog, The Woks of Life.

It's a labor of love that chronicles the family's favorite recipes.

- How did Woks of Life come about?

- It actually came about in my last year of college and it was my sister's first year at college, my parents had just moved to China.

My dad had a temporary assignment there, and that year my sister and I found ourselves really not eating a lot of the dishes that we grew up eating even though both of us love to cook, we've been cooking for years.

We had no idea how to make some of those traditional Chinese dishes that we grew up having on our dinner table.

I was a big food blog reader, I kind of came up with the idea of like, starting a blog so that we could publish those recipes and share them with other people.

Generations speak to each other through food, you know recipes are passed down from family member to family member and I think that the blog, we really just want to keep that alive.

I think that these days, I don't know how much people are cooking at home, but a lot of our readers tell us you know, these are dishes that we grew up eating and I had no idea how to make them, my mom never wrote it down, she was never patient enough in the kitchen to like, tell me what goes into it.

And so, we're really just trying to keep that continuity going.

- [William] When your parents were in China, did you know all the recipes by heart, by just watching, or was there a lot of collaboration with mom and dad?

- (talking over each other) We didn't know anything.

- Yeah no, I would sometimes call them and be like, I'm making this thing, I'm trying to make this dish, what do I do?

And they would kind of like, well they'd be like well okay you need some soy sauce, you need this and I'm like but what amount-- - [William] Measurements!

- [Sarah] Yeah like what are the amounts, and they're like, I don't know you just you know, put what looks like enough.

And I think that that is the experience of a lot of Asian-American kids is like, it's really hard to nail down the method when you haven't learned like, how to cook by feel yet.

- I would say that we all contribute pretty equally, so everyone develops their own recipes and everyone cooks their own recipes and you know, it definitely everyone kind of has the stories that they wanna share.

When it comes down to the nitty gritty of getting stuff done on the website, we definitely have our own roles, so Sarah's our sort of chief content editor from a photo-taking perspective.

- Your photos are beautiful by the way.

- But we do have our fair share of creative disagreements.

- And dad, what do you do?

- I am the resident computer expert.

- Yeah CFO and-- (talking over each other) - That's right, I make sure the books are balanced.

- [William] How many page views do you get a month?

- [Sarah] We're currently at about three million per month and growing, I mean it's definitely an accomplishment that we're all really proud of and I think it just speaks to the fact that there is a huge demand for these recipes out there.

- [William] So there's a sense that also I think, your recipes, they all feel like amazing comfort foods and I think that when people, I think there is a trend because of blogs like you for people to cook more at home because they feel more comfortable.

- Right.

- [William] The recipes are homey, it feels easy, don't you think?

- Woks of Life feels like a family collaboration and it's exactly what this is you know, that's why I, that's how I found your site because I missed the home cooked food that my mom used to provide.

- [Sarah] We wanna post what we want to eat and what recipes we enjoy.

I think like, I personally cook and I know my sister does and my parents do as well, we all cook from the blog regularly.

- [Kaitlin] Of course it's a resource that everyone can use like around the world, who wanna be more in touch with Chinese cooking but also part of it is like our family is sort of this like, a little bit of a melting pot of like Asian identities, so we wanted to be true to that.

So there was a point where I wanted to make like a funfetti ice cream sandwich, that's a little random but I was like, I really like this recipe.

- Sounds delicious!

- And I wanted to post it.

So we try to be fluid in what we share and you know, kind of building that trust with our audience like yeah it's not a bowl of noodles but like, we'll show that to you next week and like, today we want to do this.

- Well I think you guys have established that level of popularity where you can do that and people are gonna make your carrot cake just because it's a recipe from The Woks of Life.

After having cooked from their blog for so long, it was special to witness firsthand how the Woks of Life family cooks together.

- (all talking over each other) Dig in.

- [Sarah] All right, can I serve anybody some noodles?

- [William] I want some noodles.

- My dad definitely brings the sort of, American-Chinese like classics, like the shrimp toast and the-- - Egg foo young.

- Egg foo young.

- Which is hard to make actually.

- Shrimp with lobster sauce.

- One of the key parts of the blog also is not just the recipes but it's the ingredients behind it, it's the methods behind it, and we actually focus quite a bit on that.

We aspire to make it a sort of go-to place to learn about soy sauce, to learn about sesame oil or shaoxing wine, or what kind of Chinese vegetables that you have so when you go to the market you know what you're looking at.

- Well mom and dad, how do you feel about your daughter working full time on Woks of Life?

- It's an opportunity for the girls to have entrepreneur business, to be self-sufficient in this world, it's a great way to provide a service to the general public.

It really is, and I feel very proud.

And it gives the family a chance to bond and to learn actually from each other and learn about each other.

- [Danielle] Whether we cook for comfort, eat for comfort, or both, our bellies always know best.

Food has the uncanny ability to turn strangers into family and to bind every kind of family together.

It can create comforting rituals that evoke powerful memories.

Whether we grow up with them or develop a taste for them later in life, comfort foods nourish every part of our being.

(cheerful music) (electronic music)