Ashley Xie and Hedy Yu are co-founders, childhood friends and daughters of immigrants who grew up in the San Gabriel Valley in SoCal.
As second-generation Chinese Americans, they grew up in two worlds that were sometimes hard to navigate – at home, they spoke Mandarin and celebrated home cooked Chinese food like kou shui ji (Sichuan mouth-watering chicken), while at school, they chatted in English between bites of chicken sandwiches and chocolate chip cookies. There were so many “American” things they loved but in an effort to prove their “American-ness” and be cool, they sometimes hid or rejected their family’s language and traditions.
As they got older and went to college, they realized how little access they had to their food and culture and started to appreciate their Chinese heritage more – their moms’ food, Asian grocery stores, Chinese language. They began to connect with this part of themselves, especially through food, and were inspired to create something both Chinese and American, like themselves, that they could be proud of.
That’s why they created Rooted Fare, where they make fun, modern Chinese American pantry staples that are nostalgic yet novel, using unique ingredients and flavors from both their childhood and their lived experiences in America.
Their first product is their Black Sesame Crunchy Butter. It’s inspired by one of their favorite desserts growing up: sweet tang yuan, a glutinous rice ball that’s typically filled with freshly ground black sesame seeds, lard, and brown sugar.
Ashley grew up watching her mom and aunts make tang yuan at the restaurant based on their own mother’s recipe — they told her stories about how her grandma used to win tang yuan competitions in China while sneaking her a spoonful of the luscious filling (her favorite part)!
Two years ago, Ashley and her aunt were making the dessert for Chinese New Year and she wondered how it’d taste as a spread. She took some of the filling and just happened to see breadcrumbs in the corner of her eye that she’d used to make pasta the same week. She added them to see if it’d add an interesting texture, tasted it, and loved how the crunchiness balanced the rich, creamy butter.
Thus, through Ashley’s innovation, Rooted Fare’s Black Sesame Crunchy Butter was born!
About Rooted Fare
Ashley and Hedy are the founders, of Rooted Fare. They wanted to create something that was both Chinese and American, like themselves, that they could be proud of — so they launched Rooted Fare as a love letter to their childhood and future with their first product: a nostalgic yet novel take on peanut butter, based on Ashley’s grandma’s heirloom recipe for tang yuan (glutinous rice balls).
Thus, through Ashley’s innovation, Rooted Fare’s Black Sesame Crunchy Butter was born!