It’s that time of year where I usually come out with some Mochi Mommy Holiday Gift Guides! This year I decided to get really on brand with recommended gifts for Asian food lovers. There are so many great gifts to give home cooks, but finding Asian food themed items can lead to really unique, heartfelt gifts for the foodies in your life. Although… I guess if you read my blog, the Asian foodie might just be yourself! In any case if you or someone you know is obsessed with Asian food, this gift guide is for you!
*Disclaimer: Some of these links are affiliate links, which means I may make a small percentage on any purchases you make from them at no cost to you.
The Best Wok for Home Cooks
I wrote about this wok in last year’s gift guide for home cooks, but it’s back again because it’s that good. This is the wok recommended by Serious Eats. It’s carbon steel and has a small flat bottom, perfect for using on a variety of stovetops.
Best Gifts for Matcha Lovers
Know someone who loves matcha? Matcha can be a luxury item, depending on how fancy you get, so matcha and matcha accessories can make really nice gifts.
Best Matcha Powder – Matcha Love
This is the same matcha brand that sells matcha soft serve ice cream at some Mitsuwa food courts in California (and I think Hawaii too?). You can buy the powder on Amazon and at many Japanese markets as well.
Matcha Tea Set
While there are certainly more fancy (and expensive) tea sets out there, this World Market one is great for beginners. It’s got everything you need, and World Market quality tends to be decent for the price.
Other Unique Asian Tea Gifts – Hojicha Powder
Have you already exhausted all these matcha themed gift ideas? How about switching to a different type of tea? Hojicha is a type of green tea that is roasted for a deeper flavor. It’s actually my favorite type of tea. You usually brew hojicha with tea leaves or bags, but there is a company that sells ground hojicha powder. You can use it just like matcha powder – to make lattes, ice cream, or other desserts. It’s a great, unique gift for those who already have all the matcha things. (The links to the hojicha are not sponsored or affiliate links, by the way. I just really like hojicha.)
Gifts for Boba Lovers – The Boba Book
Speaking of tea, if you’ve been in California recently, you may have heard of The Boba Guys. They became super popular over the past few years for their strawberry matcha drink. And good news for us boba lovers who DON’T live in California – they released a boba cookbook!
To be honest, I hesitated on getting this book for a long time because I didn’t see how I could possibly need an entire cookbook just dedicated to boba. However, I checked The Boba Book out from the library, and I was pleasantly surprised with how versatile it is. From matcha lattes to thai tea to chai masala, it’s actually a great intro book on tea from around the world.
Best Asian Cookbooks
While we’re on the subject of cookbooks, here are a couple of my recommendations for best Asian cookbooks.
1. Best Chinese Cookbook: Every Grain of Rice by Fuschia Dunlop
Don’t be turned off by the non-Chinese sounding name. Although she is NOT ethnically Chinese, Fuschia Dunlop has spent years in China and trained as a chef in Chengdu. Her Every Grain of Rice book is really helpful in that she writes about Chinese food with knowledge of a foreigner’s perspective, which makes it a great book for those who don’t have a long background in Chinese culture. Dunlop specializes in Sichuan food, but even for me, who prefers my family’s Cantonese style cooking, I’ve found these recipes helpful in recreating my favorite restaurant dishes. I do not currently have a favorite cookbook that highlights other styles of Chinese cooking, but I did recently order a Xi’an cookbook for my brother, so we’ll see how that pans out.
2. Best Japanese Cookbook: Japanese Soul Cooking by Tadashi Ono and Harris Salat
Japanese Soul Cooking is another cookbook recommendation that I got from my brother. What I like best about this book is that it goes over the most popular Japanese dishes – things like karaage, tonkatsu, and ramen. While not all the dishes are the type of food that Japanese people would cook at home (e.g. ramen usually is something reserved for eating out), many of them are. I think the recipes are simple enough that you’d be able to attempt them at home, even if you haven’t been cooking Japanese food for very long. And most importantly, they taste good!
I haven’t extensively tried cookbooks from other Asian cuisines, but I know the Cooking Korean Food with Maangchi series of books is really popular for Korean recipes. I’ve tried several Maangchi recipes myself, and they always turn out great. Although, not being of Korean descent, I can only speak from an outsider’s perspective. If YOU have any recommendations for Asian cookbooks, I’d love to hear them!
Cute Asian Food Gifts – Asian Food Themed Clothes
Asian food themed clothing is such a fun, quirky gift for the Asian foodie in your life! And the great part is that you don’t really have to know anything about cooking in order to enjoy them.
Asian Food Clothes for Babies
I’ve done social media collaborations with them before, but Cheerily.co is my favorite place to get Asian food clothes for babies. Look specifically in their Cheerily x the Dad View collection, which is a partnership between Cheerily and Nick, the husband of Extra Petite blogger, Jean.
Asian Food Clothes for Kids and Adults
My other favorite place to buy Asian food clothes for both kids AND adults is Mochi Kids. I got Jemma’s bento and spam musubi t shirts from Mochi Kids, and they were a HIT at daycare. I also got Jeremy a “Dad” sweatshirt from Mochi Kids, and now I’m regretting not getting myself a matching “Mom” sweatshirt. This year for the holidays they also have kids and adult size “dim sum” and “kimchi” sweatshirts. Last I checked a lot of them were sold out, but keep checking back for restocks!
Oh, and if you’re looking for the Hawaiian Shave Ice Play Set in the Instagram photo above, those are from Keiki Kaukau! Another great place to shop for Asian food toys if the foodie in your life happens to be a kid.
So there you have it! 9 unique gifts for people who love Asian food (10 if you count the pretend food toys). Do you already own some of these items? Did I miss anything you would recommend? Let me know in the comments below. Happy Holidays!
