Welcome to Grocery Diaries, a new series that illustrates just how varied and personalized “healthy eating” really is. So many factors impact the choices we make at the grocery store, including access and affordability, health conditions, our individual cultural backgrounds, even what simply makes us (and our taste buds) happy. So we asked people across the country to share their grocery lists with us, and then called up a few of them to ask for more details. Why do they buy what they buy? How much do they spend? Who are they shopping for? What health conditions or nutritional concerns are they thinking about when they choose, for instance, almond milk over cow’s milk, or particular flavors or spices or treats? In this Grocery Diaries installment, we hear from a Washington, D.C., home cook who connects to her culture through food—and always leaves space on her grocery list for a delightful surprise purchase.
Name: Emily Jan
Age: 28
Occupation: Photo editor
Location: Washington, D.C.
Race/Gender: Asian woman
Health conditions/dietary restrictions to consider: None
Grocery shopping frequency: Shops for two people one to two times a week
Some people experience cooking as just another chore. For Emily Jan, it’s an adventure. “I like to cook something new once a week, so I’ll buy an ingredient I haven’t used before and experiment with it,” she tells SELF. Emily looks for new recipes more frequently now that she works from home. “I really love cooking, and one of the silver linings of the pandemic is that it gives me more time to cook something that may take a little more time,” she says. During the week, she sticks to eating dishes she’s familiar with cooking (like pasta or tacos); she saves new recipes for the weekend.
Emily is first-generation Taiwanese American and recreating her mom’s recipes brings back a lot of happy childhood memories. Recently, she tested a Chinese turnip cake that she loved as a kid. “I haven’t nailed the consistency, but the trials have been delicious, and I can’t wait to pass on these recipes,” she says.
Every few months, Emily and her husband, Adam, drive 30 minutes to buy specialty items like kimchi (a fermented Korean side dish) at their local H Mart, an Asian supermarket. “We usually come back with, like, 50 bags,” she says. Outside of that, the couple shops at their local supermarket and at their community supported agriculture (CSA) program. Here are 10 items she picks up in a typical grocery trip.
“My dad would take me to a Chinese restaurant and we’d get zhajiangmian,” Emily, who grew up in Michigan, explains of one of her favorite childhood memories. (Zhajiangmian is a Chinese dish made with noodles, soybean paste, and sweet bean sauce.) Emily learned that Chapagetti, made by the Korean food manufacturer Nongshim, is similar to zhajiangmian after watching the movie Parasite. Now she eats it every few weeks when she wants an easy, happy meal. “Comfort food is a bowl of noodles,” she says.
2. Vegetables (Like Cabbage: $3.94)
Like we mentioned, Emily buys most of her produce through the CSA. However, she supplements this by purchasing her favorite vegetables at the grocery store so she always has them around. “For some reason, Adam and I really love cabbage—it’s our vegetable. I think people tend to dislike it or not think about it,” she says. “It’s really underrated.” She uses cabbage in so many ways: salads, grain bowls, stir-fries, slaws, and soups. Aside from cabbage, the couple eats a lot of roasted beets and cauliflower, which are particularly good additions to grain bowls, Emily says. “It’s nice to have a mix of warm and then some colder vegetables on top like cucumbers or tomatoes.”
3. Fresh Ginger: $.25
“I just love ginger. I definitely love the spiciness, and it clears up your sinuses and is really refreshing,” says Emily. She commonly uses ginger in dressings, sauces, stir-fries, and drinks. Sometimes, Emily makes a warm drink of grated ginger, honey, and hot water; other times she adds it to tea—another significant item. One of her relatives runs an oolong tea farm in Taiwan, and while she’s given most of her tea from his farm to friends, Emily says drinking it herself helps her connect to her family. Every Sunday, she brews loose leaf oolong tea using a ceramic teapot she inherited from a family friend. “We relax on the couch and steep, sip, and repeat,” she says.
4. Avocados: $2.00
Emily buys avocados in different stages of ripeness so there’s always one ready to eat. She uses them in tacos, grain bowls, and even smoothies because she enjoys their texture and flavor. “I like the creaminess of it. I tend to like things that have an earthy element to them,” she says. Emily also just feels more satisfied when she eats avocado. “They just feel like a little bit of luxury to add to our diet. They’re very rich and filling,” she says. There’s a good reason that Emily feels satiated after eating avocados. They’re a good source of monounsaturated fat, so our bodies take time to digest them.
5. Chobani Greek Yogurt Whole Milk Plain: $5.99
“I really prefer full-fat yogurt because it’s thicker and richer,” Emily says. Generally, the couple prefers yogurt in lieu of sour cream or other sauces. “It’s a little lighter and tangier [than sour cream]. It’s much more versatile, and I can use it in savory and sweet dishes,” she explains. Emily makes her own dressing with yogurt, lemon juice, and herbs, then adds it to a lot of dishes. “It’s really good on a grain bowl,” she says, and she loves it on salads as well as in the form of a vegetable dip.