Jess Eng and Allen Cao

Jess Eng is a Chinese American food and culture writer from San Francisco, where she learned to cook Cantonese recipes from her two grandmothers. Jess’s stories and recipes can be found in the Washington Post, the New York Times, Bon Appetit, Serious Eats, Eater, Epicurious and other outlets.

Allen Cao is the co-founder of Fuzhou America, a non-profit connecting the next generation of Fujianese across the world. He is also building YABA, a Fujianese rice wine company based in New York.

Jess and Allen bonded over a shared love of Chinese cuisine and culture and joined forces to preserve Fujianese and Fuzhounese homestyle recipes as well as the stories and history of Manhattan Chinatown and the Chinese diaspora. Jess’ photography and words can be found on Instagram @goudatalks or at jesseng.com; Allen’s work can be seen at @fuzhouamerica or fuzhouamerica.org.