| Clarissa Wei | |
| Birth Place: | Los Angeles |
| Nationality: | American and Taiwanese |
| Occupation: | Journalist |
| Known For: | Food and politics writing |
Clarissa Wei is an American journalist and writer. Her focus is on Taiwan and in particular Taiwanese food and food culture. Her book Made in Taiwan: Recipes and Stories of the Island Nation was released in 2023.
Wei was born in Los Angeles to immigrant parents from Tainan. As of 2023 she resided in New Taipei City.
Wei moved to Asia in her 20s and traveled extensively. In 2018 she moved to Hong Kong and began writing for the South China Morning Post (SCMP).Her journalism initially focused on politics but she shifted to food after finding politics "too heavy and dark." However her food writing often inherently touches on politics. Many of her stories in Hong Kong focused on aging restaurateurs or chefs who maintained important culinary traditions.[1] During this time she traveled around China producing food and culture videos for SCMP.[2]
She moved to Taiwan following the crackdown on the 2019–2020 Hong Kong protests.[3] She is one of the main authors writing about Taiwanese cuisine in English.[4]
She is a co-host of the cooking show Kitchen Remix on Taiwan+.[5]
Made in Taiwan: Recipes and Stories of the Island Nation was released in 2023.[6] [7] Made in Taiwan is an exploration of Taiwan's food culture.[8] [9] In it she emphasizes using Taiwanese ingredients and not substitutes more widely available internationally.[7] The book has proved controversial due to Wei's focus on Taiwanese identity and politics as embodied in food.[3]
Wei collaborated with recipe developer Ivy Chen on Made in Taiwan.[7] James Lin, a historian, was hired to make sure that the historical aspects of the book were accurate. Xin Yun worked as Clarissa Wei's research assistant. Yen Wei was the food stylist and Ryan Chen handled photography.[2]
Her show, Climate Cuisine, is part of the Whetstone Radio Collective.[10] It was launched in 2021 and examines how different cuisines and agricultural practices have developed in similar climactic zones across the planet.[11]