Lucky Chow

Danielle gets back to her roots in an episode devoted to the distinctive, rustic cuisine of Taiwan. With Cathy Erway, author of "Foods of Taiwan," she hits a Chinatown market and then makes the island's most famous dish, beef noodle soup. At Taiwan Bear House, started by homesick young expats, she tries a New York take on the box lunches known as biandang. And in California's Orange County, she pays a twilight visit to America's closest counterpart to a classic Taiwanese night market.

Asian cuisine is increasingly the engine driving the growth of the American food industry. Danielle talks to three Asian-American entrepreneurs about the secrets of their success: Tim Wildin, the young Chipotle executive whose Thai aunties' recipes contribute to the menu at Shophouse; Lynda Trang Dai, once known as the Vietnamese Madonna and now the queen of banh mi sandwiches in Orange County's Little Saigon; and Charles Phan, the ground-breaking chef whose Slanted Door was named best restaurant in the country by the James Beard Foundation.

Japan has mesmerized American foodies for generations and a new wave of Japanese culinary culture continues to intoxicate us. Exploring American manifestations of otaku, the Japanese trope that combines cutting-edge pop culture with fetishistic obsession, Danielle visits New York's first cat cafe; a Brooklyn izakaya run by a Frenchman in thrall to Japanese anime and manga; and a California suburban mom who's a star on the international bento-box circuit.

Farmers are the new rock stars of the food world, and in this episode Danielle visits agriculturists large and small, traditional and cutting edge. Ross Koda, a third-generation Japanese-American, runs a renowned Central Valley rice farm and hopes to keep it in the family. Kristyn Leach, a Korean adoptee, hand grows artisanal, heirloom Asian produce for one of San Francisco's most popular restaurants. And on the gorgeous Half Moon Bay coast, a pair of electricians who saw a gap in the market operate America's first wasabi farm.

The relationship between faith and food is evident at three Asian houses of worship: an imposing Buddhist temple where Danielle is served an artful vegetarian feast; a Sikh temple where she helps cook Indian flatbread for a communal meal where all are welcome; and a Queens mosque's annual food fair, where she samples Indonesian dishes and learns about life as a Muslim in America.