Pumpkin Sesame Pancakes; photo: Kian Lam Kho
Pumpkin Sesame Pancakes; photo: Kian Lam Kho

Thanksgiving is a time when families across the U.S. get together to eat good food. For immigrants and those with immigrant parents, the holiday foods they prepare are often influenced by flavors from their home countries.

In a piece I produced for Colorlines, chefs with diverse backgrounds share recipes they’ve developed using ingredients, techniques, and references to history that reflect their personal heritage and politics around food. Below are recipes for Chinese, Caribbean, and Puerto Rican side dishes you might want to consider for your own Thanksgiving table. You can find additional recipes Colorlines.

Sesame Coated Pumpkin Pancakes by Chef Kian Lam Kho

Kho, who hails from Singapore, sends this recipe from China where he is researching an upcoming cookbook.

I offer this pumpkin recipe that I think would be interesting as a side dish for an Asian Thanksgiving dinner.”

 

Ingredients:

  • 8 ounces of pumpkin, peeled, seeded and cut into 2-inch cubes.
  • 2 cups of glutinous rice flour (mochi flour)
  • 1/2 cup of sugar
  • 1/2 cup of sesame seeds (white, black or combination of both)
  • Vegetable oil for frying

Directions: 


Apple-Cranberry Sauce by Chef Bryant Terry

Although this is an old recipe, I have been exploring the interconnection, change, and growth of Afro-diasporic food in most of my work,” says Terry, a food justice advocate and author. “My new book Afro Vegan focuses squarely on that subject. This recipe is a nod to the from-scratch cooking traditions of the African diaspora, and uses fresh cranberries, apples–local preferred–and tangerine juice. It’s so naturally sweet and yummy you could even eat it as dessert.”

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 cup of fresh cranberries, rinsed
  • 1 cup of peeled and diced sweet-tart apples such as Braeburn, Early Crisp or Gala
  • 1/2 cup of freshly squeezed tangerine juice (or fresh orange juice)
  • 2 tablespoons of raw cane sugar
  • Pinch of fine sea salt
  • Pinch of ground ginger
  • Pinch of ground cinnamon

Directions:


Huevos al Nido (Eggs in a Nest) by Chef Ana Sofia Palaez

Palaez is a Cuban chef and food writer who explores and blends Latin-American ingredients and flavors from across the region. Palaez adapted this recipe by Puerto Rican chef Carmen Aboy Valldejuli, tweaking a Thanksgiving staple–mashed potatoes.

With everyone flying home for the Thanksgiving holiday, I thought Valldejuli’s huevos al nido, a combination of baked eggs layered with mashed potatoes, was a fitting recipe,” she says.

 

Ingredients:

  • 1 pound of potatoes
  • 2 tablespoons of butter
  • 1/2 cup of lukewarm milk
  • 2 tablespoons of kosher salt
  • 6 eggs
  • 2 tablespoons of freshly grated Parmesan or Gruyere cheese
  • Salt and freshly ground pepper

Directions: 

Fi2W is supported by the David and Katherine Moore Family Foundation and the Ralph E. Odgen Foundation.

Von Diaz is a writer and radio producer based in New York City. She is a self-taught cook who explores Puerto Rican food, culture, and identity through memoir and multimedia. Her work has been featured on NPR, American Public Media, StoryCorps, WNYC, PRI’s The World, BuzzFeed, Colorlines, and Feet in 2 Worlds.

Von has an M.A. in journalism and Latin American and Caribbean studies from New York University. A graduate of Agnes Scott College, she earned a B.A. in Women’s Studies and focused her research on women in Latin America. She is a currently a producer at StoryCorps, and previously worked in community advocacy and communications for nonprofits focused on women, children, art, and Latino culture.