Jess Eng: The Nuanced Path of a Food Writer Bridging Cultures
Her immersive approach uncovers the nuanced stories behind everyday dishes.
Jess Eng is forging a distinct path in today’s food writing landscape—one shaped by cross-cultural familial roots, a relentless curiosity about culinary identity, and a commitment to reporting stories that resonate deeper than flavor alone. This article explores Eng’s background, formative experiences, the ways she approaches storytelling, and her evolving role as both a chronicler and participant in the contemporary food world.
A Formative Appreciation for Food and Identity
Growing up, Jess Eng’s earliest food memories are inseparable from her family’s multicultural heritage. She spent formative years absorbing her mother’s Fuzhou-inspired cooking, attending bustling Chinese banquets, and learning that kitchen tasks like folding dumplings or shelling shrimp could be acts of both labor and love.
Eng’s upbringing was marked by:
- Fuzhou and Cantonese influences: Her parents’ roots in Fujian and Guangdong provinces cultivated a palate attuned to regional diversity within Chinese cuisine.
- Food as a language of connection: Dishes like ban mian (wheat noodles), glutinous rice, and herbal broths became a way to bond with grandparents, parents, and visiting relatives.
- Navigating duality: As a child of immigrants, Eng felt the push-pull of assimilation and cultural preservation—realities that would later fuel the curiosity and empathy in her work as a writer.
Discovering a Love of Storytelling
While food was ever-present in Eng’s daily life, her journey into food writing was anything but pre-determined. Early experiments in school journalism and creative writing unlocked a passion for narrative craft. What began as personal essays about family meals evolved into larger investigations of identity, migration, and belonging through the lens of food.
Key developments during this period included:
- Academic curiosity: At university, Eng dove into Asian American studies and diaspora literature, which expanded her sense of which stories deserved to be told.
- Writing as documentation: Personal notebooks filled with family recipes and culinary vignettes became the foundation for later published works.
Making a Mark: Early Career and Editorial Process
After graduating, Jess Eng navigated the competitive terrain of media with persistent, sometimes unconventional, approaches. She drew editorial attention with thoughtful pitches on overlooked culinary histories and innovative home fermentation projects—soon building a portfolio that spanned major publications such as The Washington Post, The New York Times, TASTE, NPR, and Eater.
Her editorial process often involves:
- Immersive reporting: Spending weeks shadowing home cooks, shop owners, or fermentation specialists to uncover the story beyond the plate.
- Rigorous recipe testing: Translating family methods and sensory memory into accurate, accessible recipes, while honoring the spirit of the original dish.
- Cultural sensitivity: Eng approaches stories with the intent to celebrate, rather than exoticize, the foodways and communities she profiles.
Exploring the Flavors of Fujian: Reporting Trip to Fuzhou
One of the defining chapters in Eng’s recent work is her reporting trip to Fuzhou, China. There, she explored the depth and nuance of Fujianese cuisine—a tradition often overlooked in Western food media but rich with fermentation, subtle seafood broths, and rare regional pastries.
What others are reading
Key insights from her time in Fuzhou include:
- Diversity of technique: Dishes like Fuzhou fish balls (with pork filling) and red rice wine chicken showcase meticulous methods passed down through generations.
- Culinary diplomacy: Eng observed how culinary traditions help bridge divides between diaspora and homeland, and between older and younger generations within families.
- Sensory storytelling: By vividly describing the taste, sound, and feeling of Fuzhou’s street food markets, Eng communicates the vibrancy of everyday life in her ancestral city.
Table: Highlights from Fuzhou Cuisine Explored
| Dish | Main Ingredients | Key Features |
|---|---|---|
| Fuzhou Fish Balls | Fish paste, pork filling | Bouncy texture, savory broth |
| Red Rice Wine Chicken | Chicken, homemade red rice wine | Sweet-savory flavor, aromatic color |
| Ban Mian | Fresh wheat noodles, custom broths | Chewy noodles, adaptable toppings |
Juggling Passions: From Food Writing to Makgeolli Production
In addition to writing, Jess Eng works as a production assistant at Hana Makgeolli, a New York City-based brewery focused on Korean rice wine. This hands-on role has allowed her to deepen her appreciation for fermentation and the physical labor behind every bottle or batch.
Experiences in fermentation production include:
- Making—a form of research: Practical immersion in the makgeolli process ensures that Eng’s writing about fermentation is grounded in lived experience.
- Synergy between writing and making: Experimenting with koji, rice starters, and yeast fermentation has sparked new article ideas and recipe concepts, blurring the line between creator and chronicler.
- Community collaboration: At Hana Makgeolli, teamwork and knowledge sharing reflect the values Jess brings to her broader culinary writing.
Reporting With Voice: The Editorial Principles Guiding Jess Eng
Whether profiling a home cook in Queens or unraveling the contemporary history of kombucha, Eng’s work is shaped by a set of guiding principles:
- Nuance above novelty: Eng resists surface-level trend reporting in favor of stories that embrace contradiction and complexity.
- Bridging the familiar and unfamiliar: By interrogating what feels ‘exotic’ or ‘authentic,’ she invites readers to reconsider their own culinary assumptions.
- Storytelling as preservation: Through essays and interviews, Eng highlights the importance of oral history, memory, and documentation—particularly in immigrant communities.
Advice for Aspiring Food Writers and Cultural Reporters
- Write from your lived experience: Personal observation and honest curiosity often produce the most compelling reporting.
- Do the homework: Research local histories, regional cookbooks, and community organizations before pitching or reporting a story.
- Embrace specificity: Small details—like the texture of a fish ball or the cadence of a market vendor’s call—can make a narrative vivid and trustworthy.
- Find joy in the kitchen: Even for writers, physical engagement with ingredients—shelling beans, frying tofu, steaming buns—keeps the work grounded and joyful.
The Future of Jess Eng: Where Storytelling Meets Advocacy
As food media continues to grapple with issues of representation, storytelling, and social change, Jess Eng is poised to be a leading voice—both in print and in practice. Her commitment to documenting foods and communities often ignored by mainstream dialogue signals an inclusive future for culinary reporting.
Emerging themes in her ongoing work include:
- Interrogating food systems: Exploring the links between migration, economics, and sustainability in small-scale food production.
- Celebrating hybridity: Highlighting the beauty and ingenuity of dishes that defy rigid definitions of authenticity.
- Mentorship and education: Teaching the next wave of writers that food media can—and should—reflect the complexity of our lived experiences.
Table: Selected Publications and Projects by Jess Eng
| Publication | Main Topic | Notable Aspect |
|---|---|---|
| The Washington Post | Personal essays, home cooking | Blending memory and reporting |
| TASTE | Fermentation, regional cuisines | Innovative coverage of home fermentation trends |
| Eater | Restaurant culture, new chefs | Spotlighting emerging voices and concepts |
| NPR | Culinary heritage | Radio and digital reporting on cross-generational foodways |
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
Q: What makes Jess Eng’s writing stand out in the world of food journalism?
A: Eng’s work stands out for its nuance, respect for cultural complexity, and willingness to center the voices and practices of underrepresented communities.
Q: Which regional cuisine is most influential in Jess Eng’s current work?
A: Fujianese cuisine, particularly the foodways of Fuzhou, is a focal point in recent essays, recipes, and on-the-ground reporting.
Q: Does Jess Eng write recipes as well as features?
A: Yes. Eng often develops and tests recipes that accompany her reported stories, seeking to preserve family techniques and broaden audience understanding of regional Chinese cuisine.
Q: How has Eng’s hands-on experience in food production influenced her approach?
A: Working in makgeolli brewing has enriched her technical knowledge and introduced new story ideas, making her reporting more precise and empathetic.
Q: Where can readers find more of Jess Eng’s work?
A: Eng’s bylines appear in The Washington Post, TASTE, The New York Times, Eater, and more. She also maintains an active voice on social media and independent newsletters.
In Closing: A New Model for Cultural Food Writing
Jess Eng represents the vanguard of a food media movement that centers authenticity, complexity, and unapologetic curiosity. Her reporting urges readers to view food not merely as fuel or novelty, but as a lens for understanding migration, kinship, and the ever-changing definition of home.
References
Similar Articles
Read full bio of Sneha Tete
