Issue #8: Working in the community, a soup recipe, and the album I can't stop listening to.

I'm not the most consistent Substack writer, but hopefully, the content will be better for it.

Hi everyone,

The past few months have been very full. I have a strange sort of writer’s block where there are so many things I want to write about that I just don’t know where to begin. Events have rushed by: the winter ski trip where we finally made it down the mountain as a family of four; the Chinese New Year parade that my daughter and I marched in for the second year; the first 5K we ran together; and another lovely concert featuring Beethoven’s third piano concerto with my orchestra, SF Civic Symphony. There’s the smaller stuff, too: the quiet conversations with my girlfriends about our dreams and worries; my visits with restaurant buddies; the dreary SF public school board meetings I sit through every other week; work stresses and triumphs; and the occasional marital spat. All the while, my kids are growing and growing and growing, and I can’t stop time.

I have to admit that some small part of me enjoys not writing. After years of posting on Instagram twice (or more) a day, I’m learning again how to do things without anybody else knowing about them. A lot of beautiful meals have gone undocumented. Sometimes I get a twinge of FOMO or even loneliness–I love the sweet chats I have with people when I post on IG–but more often, I feel powerful. In this age of “always on” and “always connected”, being independent seems like an indulgence.

So! This probably won’t be the most consistent Substack. I don’t want to fill your inbox with perfunctory posts. I’ll write when I write, and hopefully, the content will be better for it.

Today, I’m reflecting on community building and sharing some ways you can get involved (I use San Francisco as an example, but the principles can apply to anybody, anywhere). I’m also sharing the soup recipe I make almost every single week and a short list of things I’m currently reading, watching, and listening to.

Hope you’re well and happy random-week-in-March!

Xo Cathay

L and me getting ready to march in the Chinese New Year Parade

WORKING IN THE COMMUNITY

The day after Election Day last November, I was pretty distracted. I made breakfast, curled up on my couch incessantly refreshing the local SF election results, and tried to work. But sometime in the afternoon, I bundled myself down the hill to Dolores Deluxe where I met Ramzi to record an episode of his new podcast Forever Neighbor. Sitting outside on the street, with cars and buses driving by, and school children running about, we talked about everything from how I started Dumpling Club to what I’m doing now.

One of the topics we spoke about at length was community building. Most people who have followed my journey will probably know that Dumpling Club was as much about creating a space for people to connect as much as it was about food. But one of the surprising outcomes is that ever since I closed the restaurant, I’ve felt increasingly empowered to work on local issues—the systems that directly impact our quality of life here in San Francisco. I’ve been voraciously educating myself about how we actually get things done, whether that’s within our schools, streets, or neighborhood businesses.

Here’s an 8-minute clip of the podcast. (Fair warning, there is a LOUD car honk right about 8 seconds into the clip - lucky 8s, I guess!).

“I feel like I’ve been bitten by the bug… I like knowing that if you just get a few people together, working together, it’s actually amazing what you can accomplish.”

For many years, I was just this passive observer to the city running all around me with no clue as to how to contribute. But once I started asking questions, I realized it’s surprisingly easy to get plugged in. Oftentimes, you just have to show up. When you show up consistently enough, people simply start handing you things to do.

If you’re looking for a more concrete list of ways to participate, here are a few—these are specific to my neighborhoods, but similar things exist in every district and city:

• If you care about public schools: San Francisco Unified School District has Board meetings every other Tuesday night at 555 Franklin Street starting at 6:30pm. An hour is dedicated each meeting to hear public comments. Currently we’re in a budget crisis, so there’s lots to talk about.

• If you’re worried about safety: Each police station conducts its own monthly community meetings to address district-specific concerns. The Mission meetings are on every last Tuesday of the month from 5-6pm.

• If you want to get to know your district supervisor: Many of them hold regular office hours. Rafael Mandelman is my supervisor and he’s meeting district residents on March 22nd from 10am-12pm at Duboce Park Cafe.

• If you’re a small business: Keep an eye on upcoming grant programs. One of my biggest Dumpling Club regrets was never researching and applying for grants. I had no idea how much money was already out there and just assumed I didn’t qualify. I also wish I’d learned earlier about the Valencia Street Merchants Association. Joining that would have been a much welcomed support system.

• If you’ve got opinions about development: Search around for neighborhood groups. The Potrero Yard Neighborhood Group is advising on the new bus yard (right next to my kids’ music school Little Mission Studio) and looking for two new members. Or you can drop by planning commission hearings where you can voice concerns about any local projects (like this plot that’s across the street from our old Dumpling Club location).

Of course, this is only a sliver of what’s out there. For almost every issue or topic, there are places where you can show up, learn more about what’s happening, and meet other folks interested in solving the same problems. If you have something specific you’re interested in, shoot me a DM or leave a comment and I’ll help you brainstorm ways to get involved!

By the way, you can listen to my whole interview with Ramzi on Spotify or Apple Podcasts. Check out the other 14 episodes of Forever Neighbor while you’re at it!

WEEKLY SOUP

Weeknight dinners are a little more challenging now that my work schedule isn’t as flexible. I still manage to get #weeknightchinese into the rotation at least once a week, but on the busiest of nights, I fall back on a tried-and-true soup recipe. My kids love it, I make it without any measurements, and it’s especially good for using up wilt-y vegetable scraps.

The core ingredients are:

• 1 cup of dried green lentils

• 1 can of beans (typically cannellini or some other mild white bean)

• 1 carrot, diced

• 1 onion, diced

• 1 cup of cubed smoked ham OR 2 mild Italian sausage (casings removed and crumbled)

• Chicken stock

After that, I just scrounge around in my fridge and add whatever else I have:

• Leftover tomatoes, diced

• Celery stalk, diced

• Leafy greens (like spinach or kale), loosely chopped

• Root vegetables (like potatoes, sweet potatoes, radishes, turnips, daikon), diced

• Any frozen vegetables I’m trying to use up (usually corn or peas)

For the seasonings, I often don’t do anything other than salt + pepper, but I’ll throw in a parmesan rind if I have it. My half-European family eats a lot of pasta, so I save the rinds in a deli container in the freezer.

The order of operations:

• Add a good glug of olive oil to the bottom of a large soup pot or Dutch casserole

• Add any diced alliums and root vegetables (onions, carrot, celery, potatoes, etc.) and cook, stirring frequently, until softened

• Add in the cubed ham or Italian sausage. If using sausage, cook and stir until cooked through.

• Add in the dried green lentils and briefly toast them

• Add in 6 cups of low-sodium chicken broth (I often also use water + a couple tablespoons of Better Than Bouillon) - at this stage if you have tomatoes, go ahead and add those in too. Throw in the parmesan rind.

• Bring to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes

• If you prefer a looser soup, drain the beans and add. If you prefer a thicker soup, pour the beans together in their starchy liquid directly into the soup. Mix and bring back to a simmer, continue cooking for another 10 minutes.

• In the final 1-2 minutes, stir in your chopped leafy greens. If you are making the soup ahead, leave the greens out and

We usually serve it with bread. If I have the time, I make my friend Anna’s langos (Hungarian flatbread). The recipe is in Anna’s excellent book, Budmo! I beat the ingredients in my KitchenAid two hours before dinner, let it rise, and then fry it up fresh to serve with the soup. It’s a magical combination.

GOOD THINGS TO WATCH, LISTEN, READ

Every few days, I find myself putting on Víkingur Ólafsson playing Philip Glass. It’s remarkable how dynamic even the simplest notes can be when they’re parsed out in opposing rhythms. I like listen to the album front to back but if you want a single track, I’d recommend etudes no. 2 or 3. Here’s a YouTube video of no. 14 if you’re a visual listener.

My husband and I are watching Running Point, the new series from Mindy Kaling, and I LOVE IT. Don’t spoil the season finale for me, I’m not there yet. When describing the show to friends, I tell them it’s like Succession meets Brooklyn Nine. Have you seen it? Does that description ring true?

My friend recommended the book The Restaurant of Lost Recipes and I read it in two sittings. In the book, a father and daughter duo run a food detective agency where they help recreate people’s long lost food memories. Each chapter is like its own short story, and the best adjective to describe the writing is gentle. The food descriptions are of course, mouthwatering.

That’s all for this post. If you have any feedback for me, don’t hesitate to drop me a line!