Subtle Asian Baking with Kat Lieu

By Liana Chie

Photography: Gabriella Niccole Photography

ORIGINALLY PUBLISHED MAY/JUN 2023 BY LOTUS MAG

Subtle Asian Baking 

It’s a community project. I feature a lot of my own original recipes and a lot of people from the community. I want to have more representation and amplify AANHPI voices through our channel.

It started in 2020 around COVID. I wanted to eat Asian stuff like Japanese cheesecake and milk bread. I looked online and I didn't see a lot of recipes out there by Asian voices. And I didn't see a community or anything predominantly for Asian recipes and Asian baking. There wasn’t a community like Subtle Asian Baking so I just built it.

We're not affiliated with Subtle Asian Traits, but we're kind of an unofficial sister community. Now we're also collaborating with the Very Asian Foundation so there’s a lot of fun, great things happening.

Inspiration for recipes

Testing recipes from Subtle Asian Baking members and then adapting those recipes and changing them up. I've also cooked all my life, so I do a lot of experimentation in the kitchen. One thing I’m obsessed with is Japanese cheesecake, so I was like I have to make it at home. I wanted to make an ube Japanese cheesecake. First, you have to learn the science behind it, and then you add in flavors. I'll put in some miso for the umami factor and balancing of the salt. Then I'll add an ube extract to make it this vibrant purple. I'm always playing with things. My mind is always flowing with recipes. If I want to eat it, then I make it! 

How does your cooking experience feed into how you bake? 

Baking was something I was afraid of because growing up, we never made cupcakes. But cooking was something I did since I was very young and I definitely have a really good tongue for flavors. Thankfully, COVID didn't destroy that or my sense of smell!

Cooking does help because everyone in my family likes different foods so I have to always experiment and make sure everyone is happy whenever I make something. It helps to be someone who's not afraid of failing and just keeps learning. I think that's what's given me strength in the baking scenery at home.

The shift from healthcare work to SAB

I always thought that I wasn't in the right career because I kept shifting. And then I got my doctorate in physical therapy, I got my certified lymphedema therapist certification. It was just something I did to honor my parents because they wanted me to be a doctor, and it was very ironic because I've always been afraid of blood.

I realized I'm never going to please my parents unless I'm an ortho surgeon. I was done pleasing other people in my career and I decided it was time for me to do something creative, because I'm a very creative person. I love art. I love cooking. I love writing. The only thing I do miss having is a stable paycheck. So eventually I might have to go back to some kind of work because now, as a content creator, they're not paying creators as much. And it's hard as an author because you have to wait to get your royalty checks from your book so you can't depend on that kind of income. So unless something really big comes along, I think I might have to look back into it and see if I could get another office type setting while still working on my books and working on Subtle Asian Baking. So you could choose your passion but if you can't pay the bills, you might have to go back to stability. 

On social media use for good

I have a drive. I use my voice a lot. I'm not afraid of calling out people who are racist or culturally appropriating culture. I'm not afraid of talking back to bullies and trolls online. But it takes a certain type of personality because you can also burn out and it hurts you a little bit if you take it personally. You need to be consistent with your message. I also try to be more real. A recipe I had totally failed and I thought maybe I could just show that it didn't fail and lie and just use the skeleton and say it worked. But I was like, “I'm going to be real. I'm going to say this failed and this is how I salvaged the dessert.” I want to show that there's this real person behind this account.

Can you talk a bit about your first book Modern Asian Baking at Home and the second book that you’re planning for?

This book is a dream come true because I've always wanted to write books and it still hasn't dawned on me. When people found it in Singapore and across the world, I'm like, “ I'm really a published author. That's my dream." I lost that dream for 13 years being a physical therapist and in the health field. Then it just came onto my lap because I grew Subtle Asian Baking to a point where Eater featured us at the end of December 2020. From there, the publisher emailed me and said, “Are you guys working on a book?” It was like a sign because I've always wanted to write books.

A lot of the recipes were inspired by Subtle Asian Baking members and I gave them all kudos, even though all the recipes were redone. I had to retest everything and give it my own spin. It feels like a community effort and I'm very proud of the book because I've donated so much of the proceeds to charity. Moving forward, 8% of all royalties will go back to the AANHPI communities. It's always been a give back project and I feel that what makes Subtle Asian Baking successful is that we recognize it's a group effort. Everything we eat is by someone's ancestors, even today.

I'm very excited that the same publisher okayed the second project so Modern Asian Kitchen will come out in 2024 and it'll be savory Asian cooking! 

Preorders are now open: Modern Asian Kitchen 

Fave cookbooks

• The Flavor Equation 

• Ratio by Michael Ruhlman 

• That's where you learn how to make any cake, any cookie. It's all just ratios. 

Community efforts Kat has supported 

• AAPI fundraisers and charities, anything that's related to AAPI communities and topics 

• Heart of Dinner

• Very Asian Foundation 

• I'm trying to help grow their Very Asian Creators Grant, to helping Asian creators find their voices, get mentorship, get resources, and get mini-grants. 

• Welcome to Chinatown

• ACRS

• Vietnam Health Clinic

• East Side Stories 

Hobbies

• Video games. I've been playing a lot of Fortnite and Overwatch right now. 

• Reading. 

• Writing. I want to get back into romance writing, but it's kind of hard being married. How do you write romance when you don't have it in your life? 

• Hanging out with my son, he's really cute, nine years old, and a trash talker. 

• Hanging out with my dog. 

• Painting. I love to do art. 

• Cooking and baking is part of my work now, but I love it so to me, it's still a hobby. It brings me so much joy to feed people and myself.

Fave dishes? 

My favorite cuisine would have to be Cantonese, because I love those banquet meals. The honey walnut shrimp, things like that, I grew up on all of that. Salty fish, fried rice, dim sum… My last meal on earth would be any dim sum that's good, you know? Shumai and har gow, things like that.

I am not very picky with my food, so I do also love curries. I love Thai food. I love Malaysian food. Japanese cuisine is something that I love and I make a lot of it at home. Wafu pasta, things like that. I find Japanese cuisine to be very simple, yet the taste comes through very nicely, so very zen food. Ramen, give me sushi any day, I love all of that. And I also really love Indian food. So basically I love any Asian food. I love food!

You can find more of Kat’s recipes and creations on her Instagram and TikTok, @subtleasian.baking and @katlieu.

Fun Facts about Kat Lieu:

• I was born in Montreal and then we came to the U.S., but my parents were born in Asia.

• I’m originally from New York City for all of my life, since I was 2 all the way to 2017 before we jumped to the west coast.

• I want to write romcoms, so before I retire, I want to write a series like Asian Bridgerton. I want to write those kinds of books like in the dynasty era but the dresses are ripped open *laughs*.

Liana is a writer and outreach coordinator for Lotus Magazine. She attended UCLA as a cognitive science major and currently works in product management. Through her experience growing up and going to school in LA, she has always been curious and passionate in embracing Asian American culture. In her free time, she loves trying new foods and traveling to experience lifestyles in different areas.