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Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (Knopf)

Ace’s Read It And Eat It

Michelle Zauner of Japanese Breakfast performs at Railbird 2021. Photo by Roger Ho

Those who caught Japanese Breakfast’s set at Railbird in August might or might not be aware of Michelle Zauner’s award winning book, Crying in H Mart, a food memoir intertwined with the death of her mother, published by Knopf this past spring.

In it, she writes of her Oregon roots, “Eugenians are proud of the regional bounty and were passionate about incorporating local, seasonal, and organic ingredients well before it was back in vogue… Local farmers gather every Saturday downtown to sell homegrown organic produce and honey, foraged mushrooms, and wild berries. The general demographic is of hippies who protest Whole Foods in favor of local co-ops, wear Birkenstocks, weave hair wraps to sell at outdoor markets, and make their own nut butter.” 

The book is an expansion of her 2018 New Yorker essay, “Crying in H Mart.” 

Collaboration with Noona’s Ice Cream

She has also just collaborated with Noona’s ice cream on a fall flavor, Persimmon Jubilee, in celebration of Chuseok (which translates to “Autumn Eve,” also known as Korean Thanksgiving, a three-day harvest festival). The ice cream is based on “Sujeonggwa, a chilled Korean sweet punch made with dried persimmons soaked in a tea of fresh ginger root and cinnamon sticks, then sweetened with honey.”