Growing up in an international family, Remy Morimoto Park ate food from her parents’ Korean, Japanese, and Taiwanese cultures; other family members’ French and Brazilian origins; and close friends’ Thai homes. When she began struggling with an eating disorder and problems with addiction, she turned to a vegan and gluten-free lifestyle and found herself drifting away from her family meals and childhood comfort foods, locking on to the cucumber sticks, grilled chicken salads, and bean burgers that dominate the popular diet and vegan spaces. But Remy’s rejection of meat dishes, and frustration in finding vegan meals while eating out at Asian restaurants, put a stress on potential ways to connect with family members and her heritage.

Turning her old comfort foods into inspiration for new dishes, she was able to strengthen her relationship with food, a crucial part in her recovery from addiction and disordered eating. It also gave her opportunities to explore traditional vegan diets in her cultures, including Korean temple food, Japanese Buddhist cuisine, and Taiwanese faux meats, and she found that the compassionate lifestyle that is a part of veganism was a pillar in her recovery.