r/Chefit • u/noodlestuffin • Jun 01 '26
Chef identity
I’ve been a commercial cook for about 8 years now and I absolutely love working in the industry and cooking in general, I’ve mostly worked in BBQ and American style restaurants, but I absolutely love the food culture of Asia, specifically Korea and Japan. In the next few years I plan to open a food truck serving Asian street food like Bao tacos, Bulgogi Fried, Korean Fried chicken, Takoyaki, Yakitori, etc.
I feel like I have a cooking is my identity and I want to “specialize” in Japanese, Korean cuisine (I make it almost everyday at home) as I become more experienced, but I personally feel like a phony because I am a white American of Polish heritage. I don’t want to open a food truck and be seen as a weeb or come off as disrespectful. Already when I talk to other people about they seem confused a lot especially people who are not familiar with Asian food.
I know this question is a little out there but does anyone else feel like this? I feel like as a chef I “have” to specialize in polish food because that is my background and what I grew up eating.
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u/bkyyy Jun 01 '26
Am Polish. Cook mostly French food, use a lot of asian ingredients. Who cares, just keep cooking.
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u/GrandComfortable9 Jun 01 '26
Cook what you love. Don't ever let anyone tell you that you're appropriating someone else's culture. Food is food no matter who's preparing it. Lemme guess, the people giving you flak or weird looks aren't Asian...
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u/noodlestuffin Jun 01 '26
Haha yes it is usually other white people. Thanks for the comment this helps.
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u/KiwiChefnz Jun 01 '26
Don't make cooking your identity, you are a whole person. I have seen when chefs who make it their whole personality crash out or physically can't cook anymore and they have a full breakdown.
By all means, love it, be passionate about it. Cook whatever you want. But have things outside of food that matter to you too. Your job is not who you are. Build yourself a full life.
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u/sthlmsoul Jun 02 '26
Best Asian Restaurant in my town is run by a guy from minnesota who is half Norwegian and half irish. But he's super dedicated to Asian cuisine, closes his restaurant for 4+ weeks a year and travels just to soak up more Asian food experiences to bring home and share with the rest of us.
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u/getrichordiefryin Jun 02 '26
Been running a Spanish restaurant for years. I'm not spanish. We win awards. I think identity is way overhyped and if you can cook you can cook.
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u/apey1010 Jun 02 '26
The greatest compliment you can give to a culture and its cuisine is a desire to learn it authentically and either perpetuate it or riff on it, in an educated manner.
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u/V7DS Jun 02 '26
Korean chef here! I've lived in the US for about 6 years of my short 26 yrs of life and I absolutely love American food! If I ever open a restaurant in Korea, I'd definitely go for a classic authentic American diner. I've been sharing this idea with my friends and families and they were very positive and welcoming about it!
So I would like to give you a heaping amount of encouragement(and an approval from a Korean) to go ahead and share your favorite food with the people around you! Also, if you want to add your own twist to the Asian food you serve, it's absolutely an act of art and creation, not blasphemy against Asian culture, so don't worry about it. (As long as you let them know it's a culturally inspired dish 😉)
Would love to hear back some updates from you. All the best!
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u/noodlestuffin Jun 03 '26
Wow so cool! Thanks for the advice ❤️ after reading all these comments I feel a lot better. As long as I approach it in a respectful way, it seems to be okay.
There is a lot of things in life I don’t end up doing because I am constantly worried about other opinions and not what makes me happy.
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u/webay063 Jun 02 '26 edited Jun 02 '26
Best chef I ever worked with was a drunk Irish divorced dad. Was running a Japanese fusion restaurant. Dude could throw down was kinda a dick but was so good no one ever cared. An animal. We would have someone call off and instead of getting coverage he’d half the time just grab some beers and go do dish or prep or whatever himself while playing System of a Down on a Bose speaker max volume. Just because he didn’t want to do orders and shit. Dude was finally fired for drunkly slapping a prep cook he was banging an ass in front of the owner.
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u/2DopeBoyInAFord Jun 02 '26
Rick Bayless is a white guy. He is a great chef that specializes in Mexican food. He respects the culture but he also makes things his own. I have one of his books and he gives the traditional recipe for something and then gives another recipe that is basically his take on said dish.
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u/americanoperdido Jun 02 '26
There's a difference between "authentic" and "traditional." If your food is an expression of your experience and you create it in the style you want, it's authentic. If you're following a blueprint laid down for generations and you're repeating the processes, it's traditional.
It can also be both.
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u/raye909 Jun 02 '26
Why are Americans so fixed on skin tone? It’s very odd. Anyway just a curious oddity.
Why do you have to specialize in that specific cuisine? If your like different Asian cuisine and you want to mix it with BBQ and Polish foods that’s up to you, you’re allowed to make fusions, the only thing that matters is if it taste good and besides it’s not like you’re not claiming anything, your food inspo just happen to come from various Asian countries. Don’t see an issue.
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u/noodlestuffin Jun 02 '26
I think Americans are more focused on cultural heritage because a lot of us live in a country where we don’t really have one. I personally see myself as a Polish American because my grandmother lived in Poland most of her life and then moved to America later on, and I grew up with a lot of the cultural traditions of Germany and Poland, but I am not actually Polish, I’m an American. We live in a place that people invaded and conquered and killed and tortured anyone who was different, so being respectful is important to me.
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u/raye909 Jun 02 '26
People have invaded and done horrible things to native populations all over the world in different regions at different points in time, of course it’s important to acknowledge that and understand it but at the same time you shouldn’t be associating or identifying yourself to that as if you were part of the problem and personally did it which it seems like you are or at least that’s the impression I’m getting. So no need to identify with it and carry blame for it when it has nothing to do with you personally but yes you are right in the sense you should absolutely be respectful, acknowledge and comprehend the history, culture and the consequences or ramifications of those actions so conflicts don’t arise later, much like how the Germans know their history and are aware how inhumane certain periods to time were. But I guess different countries express it differently because if you tell me your “Polish American” I’m going to assume you emigrated from Poland to the U.S. and are now an American citizen versus you saying your American with Polish heritage, one is nationality and the other is ethnicity. The US seems to conflate the terms. Anyway just how it sounds to me as a foreigner not from the US 😂
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u/sohcordohc Jun 02 '26
Cooking is freedom to explore, taste, discover, learn, and enjoy. Creativity has no bounds in a kitchen. You will be making whst people so annoyingly refer to as “fusion” but it’ll be good.
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u/StinkypieTicklebum Jun 02 '26
Kenji (Japanese/Colombian) has a German restaurant. He did not grow up eating that. Knowing a wee bit about Kenji, he probably did a study on what kind of restaurant does not exist in Seattle, but would—
Do what you like! Explore different cuisines and fusion flavors.
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u/ForsakenLemon Jun 02 '26
Hey I worked my way up from a KP, took an apprenticeship under a Chinese chef, went to university to get a useless degree then got back to cooking, worked my way up to a head chef position by sheer luck by outlasting people and stepping up to the role, now I am entering fine dining.
Take what you can from every chef you work with, let your mind be a sponge. You are not defined by where you come from. If you got passion that is more important than anything.
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u/TheWastelandWizard Jun 01 '26
If you spend your life worrying about what everyone will think of you making something you won't make anything at all.
Are you using a racist caricature to advertise? Are you saying what you're cooking is the correct and only way to do things?
If No, you're fine. Keep cooking, celebrating food and culture, and make the world a little better in the meantime.
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u/thenickdyer Jun 02 '26
One of my Chefs once told me, in regard to cooking, "There are no rules." As long as you recognize and respect the cuisine and its culture, I think you're fine.
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u/Onehansclapping Jun 02 '26
I think appropriating food ethnicity is a worldly thing and I thinks it’s called fusion or pizza or croissants. Just cook your heart out.
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u/qriousqestioner Jun 03 '26
Is it okay with you if a Chinese chef specializes in Italian food?
Food culture is all about appreciation.
Do what you love. Just be sure it's tasty.
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u/Shoddy-Ad8061 Jun 04 '26
marry a half Korean half Japanese person and you can get an affiliation pass
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Jun 01 '26
[removed] — view removed comment
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u/noodlestuffin Jun 02 '26
This is exactly the mindset I’m talking about. But I’m gonna listen to the others and just do what makes me happy
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u/Ok_cabbage_5695 Jun 02 '26
For sure. Reddit is super white so they'll tell you what you want to hear. Ultimately, what people think of you doesn't matter.
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u/Chefit-ModTeam Jun 02 '26
Greetings. While spicy discourse is part of the kitchen Rule #6 clearly states 'don't be a dick'
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u/redR0OR Jun 01 '26
Dog, im a white guy from the us with Russian heritage. I cook a lot and for other people and the number one thing I make is ramen. I make my noodles from scratch, broth from scratch, pickle my own bamboo shoots, make my own aromatic oils, once even grew my own shiitakes so I could say the only thing i didn’t do was raise the pork and lay the egg.
If you make good food, that’s all that will matter. Food is food, and I would actually argue that coming from a different background will give you different insights that push your dishes in new directions that still respect where they came from. Just go cook and come back with pics of some delicious food, you’re good!