The taste of identity: 8 Asian food writers who explore culture and history through a culinary lens

Across the region, authors and scholars are using cuisine as a lens through which to examine deeper questions of identity, memory, migration and power. These aren’t your average cookbook writers—think academic tomes, cultural biographies and ethnographic fieldwork, written as engaging essays or even memoirs that read like a good novel.

Whether they’re chronicling hawker heritage, decoding the symbolism of spicy peppers or reasserting national identity through rice bowls and rituals, these writers help us understand that food is never just about flavour. Here are some of the most influential non-fiction voices in Asian food writing today, and their landmark works that have reshaped how we think about what’s on our plate.

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Doreen G Fernandez: ‘Tikim’, ‘Palayok’ (Philippines)

‘Tikim’ by Doreen Fernandez is a landmark collection of essays on Asian food and culture by one of the Philippines’s most influential cultural critics.

Doreen Gamboa Fernandez (1934–2002) was a trailblazing scholar and cultural critic who became one of the Philippines’s most influential food writers. With a background in literature and history and a long teaching career at Ateneo de Manila University, Fernandez brought intellectual rigour and literary elegance to food writing. “When one describes food, one does not use words alone, but the readers’s remembering as well—of past pleasures, savoured sensations,” she wrote about the art. “One writes on and with the readers’s palates, alluding to food tasted as children, drawing on their reservoirs of pleasure. In effect, one draws on all of the culture that shaped oneself and one’s readers."

Through her widely read newspaper columns and books—including Sarap, Tikim, Kinilaw and Palayok—she explored how Filipino food evolved through centuries of colonisation, trade and cultural adaptation. Fernandez highlighted the significance of street vendors, home cooks and regional traditions, offering a comprehensive and inclusive narrative of the Filipino culinary experience.

In 2019, nearly two decades after Fernandez died, The New York Times ran a feature about her continuing influence, praising her style and noting that her books have inspired a new generation of writers and chefs both in the Philippines and abroad. The Doreen G Fernandez Food Writing Award, established in her memory, continues to inspire writers to document and celebrate Philippine food culture.

Clarissa Wei, ‘Made in Taiwan’ (Taiwan)

In ‘Made in Taiwan’, journalist Clarissa Wei explores both the island and its culinary traditions.

Journalist Clarissa Wei has emerged as a leading voice in the global conversation on Taiwanese food identity. Based on years of reporting and extensive travel across Taiwan, her book Made in Taiwan, co-authored with chef Ivy Chen, offers an in-depth look at the island’s culinary roots. Wei argues that Taiwanese food has its own distinct cultural identity, emphasising local traditions, indigenous influences and colonial histories, articulating a distinctly Taiwanese narrative through ingredients and recipes.

Vu Hong Lien, ‘Rice and Baguette: a History of Food’ (Vietnam)

‘Rice and Baguette: a History of Food’ by Vu Hong Lien is a journey through Vietnam’s history, from ancient times to the present.

Historian Vu Hong Lien has written extensively about Vietnamese culinary history and its intersections with colonialism, migration and cultural adaptation. Her bookRice and Baguette: A History of Food (2016) in Vietnam traces the evolution of Vietnamese cuisine from ancient times to the present, highlighting how Chinese and French influences shaped national taste. Lien’s work reveals food as a site of resistance, resilience and reinvention—essential for understanding Vietnam’s historical and contemporary identity. The combination of her accessible style and scholarly rigour makes her writing both educational and deeply engaging.

Khir Johari, ‘The Food of Singapore Malays’ (Singapore)

Author Khir Johari charts the evolution of Malay cuisine in Singapore using detailed accounts of everything from ingredients and traditions to personal narratives.

In The Food of Singapore Malays (2023), Khir Johari brings a historian’s discipline and a storyteller’s sensitivity to his explorations of food, identity and belonging, combining archival research, oral history and personal narrative to chart the evolution of Malay cuisine in Singapore. Through meticulous research, detailed accounts and gorgeous photographs, Johari underscores the inseparability of food and cultural memory.

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Chawadee Nualkhair, ‘Thailand’s Best Street Food’ (Thailand)

Journalist and blogger Chawadee Nualkhair, who wrote ‘Thailand’s Best Street Food’, is among the most vocal advocates for the preservation of Bangkok’s street food culture, tackling issues familiar to Asian food at large.

Journalist and blogger Chawadee Nualkhair is a passionate advocate for Bangkok’s street food culture. Through her blog, Bangkok Glutton, and her book Thailand’s Best Street Food, she documents stalls, vendors and dishes that are often overlooked by mainstream media and threatened by gentrification. A champion of street vendors and the culinary ecosystems they sustain, Nualkhair is an advocate for cultural preservation, and her work offers readers both practical guides and critical reflections on food, urban change and economic inequality—all issues familiar to those with a deep interest in Asian food.

Felice Prudente Santa Maria, ‘The Governor-General’s Kitchen’, ‘The Foods of Jose Rizal’ (Philippines)

Felice Prudente Santa Maria’s ’The Governor-General’s Kitchen’ bridges culinary storytelling and historical inquiry, and has helped establish Asian food writing as a viable and credible genre.

A leading authority on Philippine culinary history, Felice Prudente Santa Maria has spent decades chronicling how food reflects the archipelago’s colonial legacies and cultural resilience, helping establish food history as a serious academic pursuit in the Philippines. Santa Maria’s books, including The Governor-General’s Kitchen (2006) and The Foods of Jose Rizal (2012), delve into archival materials, personal writings and historical accounts to illuminate how food was used to shape national identity under Spanish rule and beyond. With her rich storytelling infused with scholarly depth, Santa Maria’s work has opened the door to broader inquiries into Asian food history.

Sri Owen, ‘The Rice Book’ (Indonesia)

A pioneering figure in Asian food writing, Sri Owen is a novelist, teacher and food scholar whose work has introduced generations of readers and chefs to the complexity of Indonesian cuisine. Born in Sumatra and based in the UK, Owen draws on her bicultural background to present Indonesian food in all its regional diversity. Her books, including The Rice Book (1993) and Indonesian Regional Food and Cookery (1980), blend memoir, travelogue and culinary history. Owen’s writing foregrounds Indonesia’s colonial legacies, trade routes and multicultural makeup.

Tsao Ming-chung and Ang Kaim, ‘The History of Eating in Taiwan’ (Taiwan)

Historians Tsao Ming-chung and Ang Kaim co-authored The History of Eating in Taiwan (2021), a comprehensive survey that traces the island’s culinary development from indigenous cultures to Japanese occupation and modern times. The book frames food as both a survival strategy and a marker of identity, and charts how migration, geography and innovation have shaped Taiwan’s diverse food culture. Through rich historical detail, they show how Taiwanese cuisine continues to evolve while anchoring a unique cultural identity.

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