By Wenjing Ding
Published Nov 23, 2022, by Gannett | USA Today Network – The Patriot Ledger
CAMBRIDGE − Beef with peppercorns, star anise, chilis, garlic, ginger and vegetables on Thanksgiving?
“My mom couldn’t imagine it,” Carlie Ni, 28, said.
“But that’s what Taiwan beef noodle soup is for Thanksgiving dinner,” added her husband, Li-Kuan Ni.
For many multicultural families, Thanksgiving is a time of blended tradition and an excuse to gather and eat foods from around the world with family and friends.
For the Nis, who live in Cambridge with their two children, it’s been a give and take. Carlie is originally from Utah and Li-Kuan was born in Hsinchu, Taiwan. They got married in May 2017 and moved to the Boston area in 2021.
Li-Kuan said he relished the few years he got to help his parents provide Thanksgiving dinner in Taiwan for their American friends, mostly young missionaries from the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who spent the holiday overseas for the first time.
“It was a hodgepodge from beef noodle soup to sweet potato casserole, but we never cooked a turkey,” Li-Kuan said. “We never knew where to get it or how to prepare it.”
Carlie, who speaks Mandarin fluently, and Li-Kuan met in college at a Chinese club activity in January 2016. Carlie had just returned from an 18-month church mission in Taiwan, where she met Li-Kuan’s parents. After returning to the U.S., she recognized him from the photo.
“When I first met him in person, I knew I’d be forever with him,” said Carlie.
Their children are 3 and 4 years old, and they speak almost entirely Mandarin at home, to be able to communicate with their grandparents, Agong and Ama, who live in Taiwan.
This is the first year Li-Kuan, who immigrated to the United State ten years ago, and Carlie will host a Thanksgiving meal in Boston. They’re going to invite a few Chinese international students and single friends who would otherwise be alone for the holiday, and they plan to make traditional Chinese food such as beef noodle soup, hot pot, ham or dumplings to celebrate.
Turkey isn’t a must-have on the Thanksgiving menu for most immigrant families, who are more comfortable with the bleats of a goat or or the squawks of a chicken. Carlie says the bird is more of a symbol than a requirement.
“Thanksgiving is about sentiment more than turkey,” Carlie said. “We won’t be cooking turkey this year, but we’re very open to Chinese food on Thanksgiving, and I thought that was the best part of our holiday – a time when we can literally mash the cultures together on our plate.”
Like many Asian American families, their Thanksgiving table will consist of a blend of traditional American food with a Chinese flair. Their kids’ favorite Thanksgiving food is not turkey but beef noodle soup, which tastes like being home for the holidays, Li-Kuan said.
Taiwanese beef noodle soup unites braised beef and chewy wheat noodles in a slow-simmered broth, with Sichuan spice and a tang of pickled mustard greens. It involves braising and carefully skimming the contents of multiple pots containing a different cut of beef – brisket, shin (or shank) and tendons – and a neatly bundled spice packet fragrant with Sichuan peppercorns, star anise, fresh chilis, garlic, ginger and more.
“As an international family, we do have lots of things that are very different,” Carlie said. “But we should find common ground as much as possible, and learn from each other.”
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