This is a dan tat, a popular egg custard pastry that’s served at Chinese bakeries and at dim sum restaurants. When my grandpa came to the United States, he earned a living working at a Chinese bakery. When he mastered the trade, he opened up his own bakery and ran it with his wife and five children. Baking and selling bao (Chinese buns), milk tea, and dan tat was a family business. My family had its own little niche selling these goods on 8th Avenue, a mini Chinatown located in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. It was this bakery, started by my grandpa, that grounded my family in New York City. Although the bakery closed down when I was young and everyone found different jobs afterward, this bakery played a major role in giving my family its start in the United States.

– Mitch Choi

Relationship:  Grandchild of im/migrant Grandchild of im/migrant