Food

March 21, 2025 0

‘Cracking’ the Code: Boston Researcher Jing-Ke Weng Aims to Use Plant Science, AI to Unlock Mystery of Peanut Allergies

The peanut allergy is one of the most common food allergies in the world, and yet there is still much that we don’t understand about it. This puzzle is precisely what researcher Jing-Ke Weng, a professor of chemistry and bioengineering at Northeastern University, is aiming to solve. In an interview with the Sampan, Weng revealed more about his research on peanut allergies—what pushed him to pursue this particular subject, the work he’s hoping to achieve, and his research’s potential implications […]

March 21, 2025 0

Congress Should Tackle Health, Food Costs, Asians Tell Pollsters

by Adam Smith

The growing costs of healthcare, grocery bills and housing are top concerns for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander adults – and they want Congress to address all three.That was a key takeaway from a new AAPI Data/AP-NORC Poll of Congressional priorities for Asian and Pacific Islander adults. According to the survey published earlier this month, the price of health care was the top issue for nearly 8 out of 10 people who identify as AAPI. Food inflation came […]

January 30, 2025 0

Newest Asian Restaurant, Grocery Hub? Brookline

by Yuchen Hong

Buttoned-down suburb of Boston sees an explosion of Chinese, Japanese and Korean food, shopping spots For Asian international students like Nikki Song, Newbury Street used to be her go-to spot to hang out. “It was our only option,” said Song, a Chinese international student studying at Northeastern. But then she discovered an unlikely alternative: Brookline, a town once mainly viewed as a quiet and stodgy suburb with dining options that mostly included family restaurants, a couple of Irish bars and […]

November 22, 2024 0

Review:‘The Vegetarian’ Is a Brilliant Parable of Existence and Purpose in Troubled Times

by Christopher John Stephens

Sometimes the most memorable fictional characters make silence their weapon of choice. In 2024 Nobel Laureate Han Kang’s The Vegetarian, which first appeared in Korean in 2007 and was translated into English eight years later by Deborah Smith, silence is the weapon of choice. Kang’s novel won the Man Booker Prize in 2016 and the writer herself was awarded the Nobel Prize this fall for what the selection committee called “… her intense poetic prose that confronts historical traumas and […]

September 27, 2024 0

Chef Shi Mei of Lenox Sophia Serves Up Big Flavors Inside a Small Space

by Harmony Witte

South Boston’s Lenox Sophia is not your typical restaurant – and in many ways Chef Shi Mei is not your typical chef. Trained in economics, Mei says the first dish he made as a kid was instant ramen. And his restaurant – where patrons are encouraged to bring their own drinks – is more akin to a tiny Japanese noodle house than a glitzy Hub bar. But the result is an intimate and delightful taste of small-room dining that serves […]

April 26, 2024 0

Don’t Throw Away That Yogurt Yet: Sampan Interviews Expert on Confusing Sell-by, Use-by Dates

by Derek He

Say you’re grabbing a bottle of milk from the fridge, and see its expiration day passed three days ago. It smells fine, but is it safe? The answer isn’t always clear. In many parts of the world, expiration dates are a familiar sight on a variety of foods, particularly those that are perishable such as meat, poultry, eggs, and dairy. The dates play a crucial role in influencing consumer behavior and managing store inventory. But the dates are not always […]

March 16, 2024 0

Laurence Louie is Making Big Waves as a Chef at Rubato

by Harmony Witte

Sampan went to Rubato, a Hong Kong style café, in Quincy to speak with Chef and co-owner Laurence Louie about his busy year as a Chopped champion, being a James Beard semifinalist, winning both Bon Appétit and Eater Boston’s Best New Restaurants awards in 2023, as well as being an expectant father. Of the items that we tried, the real stand out was Rubato’s signature dish—the fried chicken bolo bao. It was the perfect blend of succulent, perfectly cooked, fried […]

February 2, 2024 0

Four Season(ings): Celebrity Chefs Share Flavors of Lunar New Year

by DongDong Yang

Ming Tsai, Romy Dorotan, Tru Lang, and Ming Cao Serve Up Holiday Memories, Favorite Dishes The Lunar New Year kicks off Feb. 10. It’s the Year of the Dragon, which will mark continued power, nobility, honor, luck, and success, according to the traditional Chinese zodiac. The dragon is the fifth of the twelve year cycle of animals — Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. Festivities in Boston and around the world will feature family, […]

December 23, 2023 0

Are Food Additives Bad for You?

by Jeff Millman

Potassium bromate, propylparaben, brominated vegetable oil, and red dye number 3: no, this is not a list of materials for an organic chemistry experiment. Instead it’s a group of food additives that will be banned as part of the California Food Safety Act, which California Governor Gavin Newsom signed in October. The legislation won’t go into effect until January of 2027, but it’s made nationwide news – after all, these are common food additives present in everything from fruit cups […]

December 22, 2023 0

Food Resources In Boston Not Enough to Feed Everyone

by Aditya Venkatram

Food insecurity is currently one of the biggest problems for America’s poor. According to the USDA Economic Research Service, an astonishing 12.8% of U.S households were food insecure in 2022, meaning that they had a difficulty in providing an adequate amount for all family members due to a lack of resources. This equates to over 44 million people in the United States that went hungry, including 13 million children. Food insecurity rates vary significantly across the country, but in all […]

404 Not Found