EAT BITTER - OUT NOW - purchase here

A beautiful, fearless, dynamic exploration of food and feelings from a distinctive new voice – for fans of CRYING IN H MART, BUTTER and MIDNIGHT CHICKEN.

Eat bitter is a Chinese proverb meaning ‘endure hardship to taste sweetness’. For Lydia Pang, it embodies the struggles of her Hakka ancestors – a Chinese ethnic group subjected to forced migrations whose ingenuity produced a distinct food culture based around fermenting and foraging.

Pang develops the philosophy of eating bitter as a tool to reframe the most challenging moments of her life, from burning out and pushing her marriage to the brink to struggles with fertility and caring for a parent. As she plates up eight favourite recipes for us, we taste char siu pork her Gunggung cooked on Sundays, silly eggy noodles her father made when her sister was ill, bone broth she boiled in New York while desperately homesick, and homegrown courgettes in her current home in rural Wales as a means of marital reconnection.

ABOUT LYDIA PANG

Lydia Pang is a Creative Director and entrepreneur shaping the biggest brands with cultural strategy and trend foresight. Her work has attracted a cult following and these pages are filled with her misfit creative energy. Bold, tender and witty in all the right places, Eat Bitter is a life-altering lesson in the power of food as a medium to process emotions.

ABOUT SLANT'D

Slant'd is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit independent publisher reimagining publishing to be more accessible, equitable, and joyful for AAPIs everywhere. Our dream is to become the creative home for AAPIs to experience personal growth, creative expansion, and meaningful connection. Jenn Lam is our Director of Programs, a founding Board Member, and a heart-led artist and brand marketing consultant that finds deep joy in the messy unknown. Here at Slant’d, she works to craft an abundant haven for Asian Americans to freely play, connect, and celebrate their personal stories.

Slant'd x EAT BITTER: No One Will Ever Read This

An evening of writing & community centered around the tenderness of personal excavation and fearlessly finding your voice, led by Lydia Pang and Jenn Lam.