How a Film Used Food to Bridge a Cold-War Divide The 1972 documentary cast a warm light on a vilified country.

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This week, Tso’l Food features CGTN’s Gerald Tan learning how to cook a classic Chinese dish, lion head or shi zi tou, a traditional Chinese dish from trailblazing chef Joyce Chen’s children, Helen and Stephen Chen. https://www. youtube. com/watch? v=fk-qYa5y7sw

In 1966, Boston’s public television station produced two groundbreaking TV shows in the same studio. One was Julia Child’s “The French Chef. ” The other was “Cooking with Joyce Chen. ” A half-century later, almost 20 years after her death, Child still looms larger than life in American culture — she’s even the subject of a new HBO series — while Chen, who died in 1994, has largely faded into the mist of Chinese American history.

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Steaming release “ Joyce Chen China’s” first broadcast in 1972, as PBS Special of the week. One hour documentary on Joyce Chen visit to China in 1971.

• americanarchive.org

It’s a Small Aisle After All Back in the mid-1950s, Stephen Chen attended a primary school called Buckingham in Cambridge Massachusetts, right by the Charles River. Every spring, their school had a fair called The Buckingham Circus, with games and activities for the students. Parents would put on a bake sale, showing off their dishes. One year, Stephen’s mother Joyce Chen decided to bring in a Westernized version of egg rolls. Stephen and his sister were the only two Asian kids at the school and the family thought it would be nice to bring in something that showed off their culture. Those eggrolls became a hit and launched an incredibly successful career for Joyce as a chef and television host.

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5 Female Public Television Cooking Pioneers Who Proved All You Need Is Courage And A Sharp Knife

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September 12, 2015 would have been the 98th birthday of Joyce Chen. On September 27, 2015, for the fourth time, Cambridge MA honored the legacy of Joyce Chen with dumpling festival held in Central Square. Several restaurants in the Central Square Area set up tables on the street to sell multi-cultural versions of dumplings for $1 each. According to the Central Square Business Association, "One venue sold 1800 dumpling in just 3 hours. " The legacy of Joyce Chen was also shared with hungry guests. Joyce Chen dumplings are available in the freezer section of some supermarkets and specialty stores. They are offered as 05:00 Minute potstickers in chicken and vegetable, pork and vegetable, and vegetable. Joyce Chen also offers home-style potstickers and pork and vegetable, and chicken and vegetable.

Joyce Chen sang in the lead in the Chinese opera, White Snake , in Beijing, according to her son, Stephen Chen. She was 18 or 19. Prior to the cultural revolution of 1939, the Beijing opera was a center of productions that featured four elements: martial art, dancing, dialogue and voice. According to the website, Travelchinaguide, “Singing (was) utilized to intensify the appeal of the art by all kinds of tones. Dialogue (was) the complement of singing which is full of musical and rhythm sensation. Dancing (referred) to the body movements requiring high performing skills. Martial art (was) the combination and transformation of traditional Chinese combat exercises with dances. ” (http://www. travelchinaguide. com/intro/arts/beijing_opera/ ) The White Snake is based on a Chinese legend dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618 AD), in which a snake turns into a woman and marries. The interpretation of this magical story has changed over time. In some cases the white snake character is good and in other cases evil.

Do you shop at Wegmans? You'll find our delicious vegetable, chicken and vegetable, and pork and vegetable 05:00 Minute Potstickers in the Asian frozen food section. For an even more delicious treat, serve our potstickers with our Joyce Chen Mild Dipping Sauce, which is located in the Asian section of the store. Wegmans also carries Joyce Chen gluten free soy sauce, gluten free hoisin, sesame oil, and our Sichuan peppercorn. Effective April 13, 2015 according to Wegmans website:Wegmans currently has 85 stores, located in Massachusetts (3), Maryland (7), New Jersey (7), New York (46), Pennsylvania (16), and Virginia (6). Maryland AbingdonColumbiaGambrillisFrederickGermantownHunt ValleyLanham Massachusetts BurlngtonChesnut HillNorthborough New Jersey BridgewaterCherry HillEnglishtownMt. LaurelOceanPrincetonWoodbridge New York AmherstBuffaloAuburnBrockportRochester (three locations)CanandaiguaCiceroCorningFayettevilleDepewWebsterElmiraSyracuseFairportGeneseoLiverpoolWebsterHornelItacaEast Syracuse Pennsylvania AllentownBethlehemCollegevilleDowingtownErie (two locations)MechanicsburgKing of PrussiaMalvernNorth WalesEastonScrantonState CollegeWilkes-BarreWilliamsport Virginia SterlingFairfaxFredericksburgGainesvilleLeesburgWoodbridge

• joycechenfoods.com/products/microwavable-potstickers

Chinadaily USA, has published a feature article on Joyce Chen in its April 2, 2015 article, "Carrying on a Chinese food legacy. " The author, Niu Yue, interviewed Stephen Chen, president of Joyce Chen Foods, and his sister, Helen Chen, who until 2003 ran the Joyce Chen cookware business. In this article, Yue wrote, "Stephen is now running Joyce Chen Foods, a sauce, condiment and frozen food brand. Through co-packagers, the products are available in stores all over the United States. 'We try to be organic, gluten free, lower in sodium, all natural, all quality," he said. "My mother's name is on it, and I don't want to do anything to embarrass her name. '" According to its website, China Daily USA, ". . . is a tailor-made version of China Daily, China’s national English-language newspaper, for North American readers. . . Launched in 2009 and published Monday through Friday, the US Edition was created to provide a unique window into China by giving the Chinese perspective on the major financial, political and social issues that affect China and the United States today. . . Our goal, through the insight on China the US Edition provides, is to keep North American readers current on developments in one of the world’s fastest-growing countries and facilitate constructive dialogue between China, the US, and the world at large. "

• usa.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2015-04/02/content_19985670.htm

Any guess why Joyce Chen's restaurant at 500 Memorial Drive in Cambridge near MIT was painted in bright colors? According to Stephen Chen, his mom knew that this restauraunt wouldn't be open for long since it was housed in a building owned by MIT, which was slated to be torn down to builld a new dorm at that location. Rather than investing in interior design, she had it painted in bright colors. Joyce Chen was right. This large restaurant was open from only 1969 to 1974.