By Ethan Lee,
Staff Writer
The scents of freshly-cooked tomato beef stew and stir-fried noodles rise up and blend together
into a pleasant aroma that wafts through the air as senior Khristian Chan and his family prepare
for a scrumptious Thanksgiving dinner.
Traditional Filipino dishes from lumpia (Filipino style egg rolls) to kare-kare (peanut butter stew)
line the table, creating a sight wondrous enough to satisfy any viewer’s appetite.
As the family gets together and sits down to eat, the steady hum of conversation and laughter
bring life and joy to the table. Every year, Chan’s family gathers to celebrate Thanksgiving.
While their festivities are not too off the mark from the traditional image of a Thanksgiving feast,
there is one key difference: the presence of a mighty host of Filipino foods.
“My family has only one tradition, and that’s bringing and making a lot of Filipino food for
Thanksgiving,” Chan said. “I have extremely fond memories of all the different kinds of foods
that my family brings to the table. My favorite memories are when my grandparents make my
favorite food just for me.”
Chan’s family brings together a wide variety of different dishes, from caldereta (tomato stew with
beef) to pancit (Filipino style noodles). The dishes create an impressive host of savory foods
that are sure to please anyone. However, the food plays a role beyond satisfying the stomach —
it’s also an important symbol of Chan’s familial Filipino heritage.
“The two things that connect me to my Filipino heritage are my grandparents and all of the
different kinds of Filipino food I eat,” Chan said. “My grandparents are the people that expose
me to the language, the things they did back in the Philippines and are also my gateway to
meeting their family members back home. I’d also say food is a huge thing that connects me to
my heritage since I grew up with eating things that are distinctly Filipino like kare-kare, lumpia
and even weirder things like balut (duck embryo). These things have helped me connect with
not only my heritage but become closer with my family.”
Food brings together people in a way nothing else can, and there’s no other feast that unites
people as well as a Thanksgiving dinner.
Thanksgiving goes beyond the vanity and excitement of the holiday season. Focusing on the
core purpose of gratitude and caring for those around you, Chan’s family embraces the holiday’s
spirit to its core.
“My family — especially my grandparents — always make sure that there is food that everyone
will like. Since my favorite food other than lumpia is pampano (grilled fish), which not many of
my relatives eat, my grandparents went through the trouble of making it specifically for me and it
made me really happy.”