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Clarissa Wei

Clarissa Wei

Clarissa Wei is a freelance journalist who writes about food systems and minority cultures. She has researched extensively on the topics of Chinese food and sustainable agriculture and is a certified permaculture designer. 

Clarissa Wei
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Chef Jon Yao cooks two skewered, bite-sized pieces of fish over a smokey box. He's standing in a dark kitchen and his face is lit by a warm, orange light coming from beneath him.
Los Angeles' Kato Restaurant, where the dishes are edible mnemonic devices for Asian Americans, is an homage to Chef Jon Yao's Taiwanese heritage.
Three dishes served Dolan's in Alhambra are goshnaan, a meat pie; manta, a steamed dumpling and big plate chicken, a kind of chicken stew served noodles.
A Uyghur restaurant in Los Angeles county uses food to bring attention to the genocide in Xinjiang.
Pork bahn mi | T.Tseng/Flickr
Here are five dishes that arrived because of military influences and the story behind them.
SPAM | omgponies2/Flickr
In a globalized world, we owe our diversity of foods from these colonial and military patterns. Military — for better or for worse — is a culture that affects the countries that it is present in, often long after it leaves.
China Cafe sign at Grand Central Market | Samanta Hernandez Helou
At the heart of the 100-year-old Grand Central Market market is a 60-year establishment that, to this day, draws consistent crowds: China Cafe. 
seeing trails gang
Seeing Trails Hiking Gang started as way to help artists discover the wilderness around them, led by passionate, nature-centric organizers.
seal pups
The California Wildlife Center is a tour de force in the greater L.A. area, as urbanization continues to encroach into the surrounding wilderness areas.
Young Butterhead lettuce growing in one of our TerraFarms™ | Courtesy of Local Roots
A vertical farming company in Los Angeles uses technology to grow the equivalent of five acres of food in a 40-foot shipping container.
Clarissa Wei Flickr
In a city stereotyped for its dedication to healthful food, organic Asian produce grown within the greater metropolitan Los Angeles area is actually quite rare.
Dessert selections at Porto's | Courtesy of Porto's
Porto's Bakery sells about 1.2 million cheese rolls and 550,000 potato balls per month. But this bakery that could was once a black market business born in Communist Cuba.
Paiute man protests at the LADWP Board of Commissioners meeting | Photo: Big Pine Paiute Tribe
Tribe's vegetable gardens died during long repair dispute.
Park's Finest, Johneric Concordia
From a vantage point, the offerings at Park’s Finest are like every other barbecue restaurant in Los Angeles. But delve in deeper and you’ll find the important subtleties.
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