Chapter 1
The family table in East Asian cinema
Chapter 2
Class, status, and street food across Asia
Chapter 3
Food as a tool for healing and memory
Chapter 4
Culinary history and cultural preservation
YOUR GOAL
Master of Food in Asian cinema
Ch 2 · Class, status, and street food across Asia
choko See how different cultures blended spices to create Singapore's iconic grilled skewers.
choko Street Food in Asian Cinema
From street-side stalls to palaces of gold, Through humble food, the class divide is told.
choko Cinema highlights Singapore's open-air hawker centers as democratic spaces where multi-ethnic communities, billionaires, and working-class citizens eat side-by-side.
choko These delivery experts carry massive trays of lunchboxes sorted by simple color codes.
Fun Fact
Mumbai Dabbawalas: Featured in The Lunchbox, these couriers deliver 200,000 lunches daily with virtually zero mistakes, using a complex color-coded system instead of technology.
Glossary
jjapaguri (noun)
A popular Korean comfort food made by mixing together two different instant noodle brands: black bean Chapagetti and spicy seafood Neoguri. Also known as 'Ram-don,' this cheap, everyday dish became globally famous in the movie Parasite, where topping it with ultra-expensive beef hilariously highlighted the class divide between the rich and the poor.
A popular Korean comfort food made by mixing together two different instant noodle brands: black bean Chapagetti and spicy seafood Neoguri. Also known as 'Ram-don,' this cheap, everyday dish became globally famous in the movie Parasite, where topping it with ultra-expensive beef hilariously highlighted the class divide between the rich and the poor.
Quiz
What is the name of the instant noodle dish topped with expensive beef in Bong Joon Ho's 2019 film 'Parasite'?
choko Ritesh Batra's 2013 film 'The Lunchbox' showcases Mumbai's incredibly precise dabbawala delivery network to connect two lonely strangers through home-cooked food.
Fun Fact
The Lunchbox delivery: Harvard Business School actually studied Mumbai's dabbawala system, finding only one mistake in every six million deliveries.
Glossary
hawker center (noun)
An open-air complex housing many stalls that sell affordable, freshly prepared local dishes. In the 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians, wealthy characters dine at Singapore's Newton Food Centre.
An open-air complex housing many stalls that sell affordable, freshly prepared local dishes. In the 2018 film Crazy Rich Asians, wealthy characters dine at Singapore's Newton Food Centre.
Quiz
What does the combination of cheap noodles and expensive beef in 'Parasite' represent?
Quiz
In 'Crazy Rich Asians' (2018), which famous Singaporean food destination do the characters visit first?