NPR's Book of the Day
Episode: Cookbooks 'House of Nanking' and 'Bustani' Honor Rich Family Legacies Through Food
Host: Linda Holmes (in for Andrew Limbong)
Date: October 17, 2025
Featured Guests:
- Kathy and Peter Fang (House of Nanking)
- Chef Sami Tamimi (Bustani)
Episode Description:
This episode delves into two newly released cookbooks that intertwine food, family, and cultural legacy: House of Nanking: Family Recipes From San Francisco’s Favorite Chinese Restaurant by Kathy and Peter Fang, and Bustani by Sami Tamimi, a celebration of Palestinian vegetable-based cooking rooted in his family’s own garden. Through lively interviews and heartfelt conversations, listeners engage with the deeper stories that make these cookbooks truly special.
Main Theme / Purpose
A tribute to culinary heritage, this episode explores how family, memory, and identity are preserved and celebrated through food. Both cookbooks—one from a beloved San Francisco institution, the other from Palestine’s evocative vegetable plots—invite readers to savor not just recipes, but the lived experiences, traditions, and stories behind them.
Segment 1: House of Nanking — Family, Adaptation, and Home
[01:24 - 09:05]
Host & Interviewer: Elsa Chang
Key Discussion Points & Insights
Founding Story & Restaurant Roots
- Peter Fang opened House of Nanking in San Francisco’s Chinatown in 1988, shortly after immigrating from Shanghai. He was the sole chef and used a single wok for every dish.
- For decades, the restaurant was a family endeavor, with daughter Kathy helping out from a young age.
- Early days were tough until a San Francisco Chronicle review in 1989 changed everything, leading to lines out the door.
"And then it just—A bong, bong. Oh, wow. People, they're waiting for you. Open the door." — Peter Fang [03:51]
Candid, Lively Restaurant Tour
- Elsa, Peter, and Kathy take listeners on an energetic trip to New Asia market, picking up essential ingredients like baby ginger, roasted gluten, dried shrimp, silk squash, Wawa Thai (baby napa cabbage), and Chinese bacon, all featured in the new cookbook.
- The walls of House of Nanking are famously adorned with photos of Keanu Reeves, who filmed scenes from the newer Matrix movies there.
"Peter, there are so many pictures of Keanu Reeves visiting your restaurant here. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6." — Elsa Chang [02:57]
"Because he made the movie here." — Peter Fang [03:19]
Culinary Philosophy & Adaptation
- Peter focuses on balancing tradition with customer preference, adapting recipes with regional ingredients but never losing sight of the core:
"The basic traditional Chinese cooking philosophy, that kind of thing won't change. But for the ingredients, we have to use the local ingredients...You have to study what people want.” — Peter Fang [04:38]
- Hospitality is central:
“Your purpose is to make people happy.” — Elsa Chang [05:29]
"Make people happy." — Peter Fang [05:31] - Kathy likens their hospitality to inviting someone into their own home:
“We treat the dining room as the way that we would treat, like, if you invited guests to your home. Because, let's face it, this is our home, right?” — Kathy Fang [05:32]
Legacy and Family Partnership
- Kathy reflects on growing up in the restaurant, leaving for a corporate job, but ultimately returning for the excitement and fulfillment.
"What I grew up with was something that was far more exciting. So I came back." — Kathy Fang [06:53]
- Peter is immensely proud of his daughter and sees her carrying, and even improving, the legacy.
“First of all, I’m proud of my daughter...She is going to be better than me. Better than me in many ways.” — Peter Fang [07:07–07:17]
- Kathy recognizes the privilege and responsibility:
“They were able to build an institution that has become, like, an icon, and I get to be a part of it, and I happen to be good at it.” — Kathy Fang [07:27]
Memorable Dishes / Table Banter
- The team shares a family-style meal featuring:
- Wawa Thai (baby napa cabbage) with dried shrimp
- Flowering cauliflower with Chinese bacon
- The restaurant’s signature onion cakes with peanut sauce and scallions
- Conversation is spirited, playful, and affectionate, mirroring the lively restaurant ambiance.
Notable Quotes
- On adversity:
“There was no right or wrong. It’s just that people like it, or not, dislike.” — Peter Fang [04:38]
- On legacy:
“So, yeah, I can continue it on for them.” — Kathy Fang [07:46]
Segment 2: Bustani — A Garden of Memory, Resilience, and Palestinian Vegetable Cooking
[09:39 - 20:20]
Host/Interviewer: Robin Young
Guest: Chef Sami Tamimi
Key Discussion Points & Insights
Cookbook Origins & Meaning
- Bustani is inspired by the “bustan”—garden—of Tamimi’s grandparents in the southern West Bank.
- Written before the recent war, it is a loving record of culinary tradition and a poignant nod to what is now at risk.
“It’s also a reminder of what’s being lost.” — Robin Young [09:59]
- The book is described as “piercingly beautiful and just piercing,” carrying the weight of memory amidst current hardship.
Food, Memory, and Culture in Crisis
- Discusses the deep pain of celebrating food while many in Palestine now face hunger:
“It really heavy and it's horrible what's happening. And it's super sad for me as a chef who made a career from this whole kind of celebration of food...Palestinians are known for being very hospitable...And for somebody to be able to take that off you...but at the same time, I still have family [in Jerusalem]...Food is something that we always enjoyed.” — Sami Tamimi [11:34]
- Tamimi hopes his cookbook will help preserve memories for generations of Palestinians who may never know the Palestine of his childhood:
“It's almost like a memoir. I have memories from Palestine. I think about a lot of the new generation that haven't been to Palestine and they are Palestinian. They don't share these memories that I do.” — Sami Tamimi [12:44]
Celebrating Vegetables and Palestinian Flavors
- Tamimi’s passion for vegetables is evident throughout:
- Stories about his grandfather planning a garden year-round, welcoming grandchildren into the garden but admonishing,
"You can eat whatever you like, just don't destroy anything." [13:29]
- Descriptions of the recipes:
- Smoky chickpeas with cilantro tahini — a “deconstructed hummus”
- Chilled tomato and avocado soup with burnt chili — inspired by gazpacho, prized for its vibrant texture and summer utility
- Eggplant is central to Palestinian cuisine, beloved as a versatile, plant-based main
- Fattoush and other bread-based dishes turn leftovers into treasured meals
“In Palestinian kitchen, they don’t want to waste anything. Stale bread take another transformation.” — Sami Tamimi [16:37]
- Stories about his grandfather planning a garden year-round, welcoming grandchildren into the garden but admonishing,
Impact and Influence
- Robin Young notes that Tamimi (and his collaborator Ottolenghi) “changed the way people eat” eggplant and vegetables in the West:
“It’s a big deal. But I'm humble enough not to get into my head, but am aware of it.” — Sami Tamimi [16:21]
Palestinian Spices and Accessibility
- Discusses key Palestinian staples, their flavors and how to substitute:
- Za’atar: “It’s like dried oregano...If you don’t, then you can just use a bit of dried oregano.” [18:40]
- Sumac: another signature Palestinian spice
- Pomegranate molasses: “It becomes this kind of thick, sweet, wonderful and sour, almost like a syrup...if you don't have pomegranate molasses...mix a bit of balsamic vinegar and a bit of honey.” [19:00]
Food, Place, and Connection
- Tamimi emphasizes that food connects people to place, history, and tradition:
“These recipes have history and have tradition and have their names and they come from somewhere and it's really important to highlight that. But also I'm hoping that people through the food connect also with the place and with the people. There's a beautiful side, and this is what I'm trying to do in this book.” — Sami Tamimi [19:40]
Memorable Quotes & Moments
-
On legacy and generational pride:
"I say that, but she is going to. Better than me." — Peter Fang, on daughter Kathy [07:07]
-
On hospitality and adaptation:
"Your purpose is to make people happy." — Elsa Chang [05:29]
"Make people happy." — Peter Fang [05:31] -
On preserving memory through cooking:
"It's almost like a memoir. ... It's really important for me for them to get access to that and see a different time, but also a different Palestine than...what we are experiencing right now." — Sami Tamimi [12:44]
-
On resilience in food:
"Palestinian food, tradition, culture have a lot to offer the world and are a great testimony to resilience." — Robin Young [12:25]
Important Timestamps
| Timestamp | Segment/Topic | |-----------|-----------------------------------------------| | 01:24 | House of Nanking: restaurant origins | | 02:57 | House of Nanking: Keanu Reeves photos | | 03:51 | Turning point after SF Chronicle review | | 04:38 | Food philosophy: adaptation and happiness | | 05:32 | Treating guests like family/home | | 07:07 | Peter expresses pride in Kathy | | 09:39 | Bustani: introduction to Sami Tamimi | | 11:34 | Food and tradition amidst crisis | | 13:29 | Memories of grandfather's garden | | 14:17 | Signature dishes: chickpeas, soup, eggplant | | 16:37 | Value and creativity in bread, fattoush | | 18:40 | Palestinian flavors: za’atar, sumac | | 19:40 | Food as connection to place & culture | | 20:05 | Final thoughts: Ingredient—think about place |
Episode Flow & Tone
- The episode is warm, energetic, and deeply personal, capturing the vivacity of restaurant life in San Francisco and the nostalgia and longing embedded in memory-laden Palestinian recipes.
- The hosts and guests speak candidly about challenges and joys, blending humor, affection, and occasional poignancy.
Summary
This episode of NPR's Book of the Day highlights the way food serves as both comfort and connection across generations and continents. With stories from House of Nanking and Chef Sami Tamimi’s Bustani, listeners are invited to explore how culinary legacy endures through adaptation, resilience, and love—for both family and the communities they serve.
Both cookbooks offer not just recipes, but shared family histories, cultural pride, and a tangible link to home—wherever that might be.