How I Started Cooking
I started truly learning to cook when I moved out to college at UC San Diego. Up until this point I only knew how to make steamed salmon and cauliflower rice, which was what I ate almost every single day for this reason. Unlike most college freshman, I wasn’t able to move into a dorm and ended up signing a lease for an apartment off campus meaning I was forced to cook almost everything I ate.
As a student, during this time I was short on both cash and cooking skills which became a foundation for simple, affordable recipes. While most college kids live off of instant ramen or boxed mac & cheese, I grew up eating amazing Asian cuisine made by the most amazing chef in the entire world: my grandmother, so noodles and pasta weren’t cutting it. Throughout my entire college career I spent my time figuring out ways to make Asian-inspired dishes with the basic ingredients and skills I had.
Now, I hope to share those with you so you don’t have to learn things the hard way!
TikTok
I initially started posting college advice TikTok videos around January 2020! After a couple months, I recognized a gap in cooking tutorials/recipes and college students and young adults. Many newly-turned adults have no idea how to budget, grocery shop, and cook, and I realized the need to share my experiences and advice with people who were in my position before.
I post recipes on TikTok while talking about my crazy life stories, my experiences growing up Asian American, advice for young students, and anything & everything that’s interesting for you! As surreal as it sounds, now I share my videos with over 190,000 of you guys. I am eternally grateful and you guys inspire me every single day.
My Career & Education
As of 2022 I am now a UC San Diego alumni with a B.S. in Pharmacological Chemistry. Currently I am continuing my education at USC for a M.S. in Chemical Engineering.
I promise it isn’t as crazy and intimidating as it sounds, but one day I hope to become a process engineer with a side love for Asian cooking.