Nite Yun's 'My Cambodia: A Khmer Cookbook' Celebrates Her Culinary Heritage

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4.6 • 656 Ratings

🗓️ 14 November 2025

⏱️ 54 minutes

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Summary

Growing up in Stockton’s Khmer refugee community, Nite Yun knew some about her family’s history and heritage, but it was only after she visited Cambodia for the first time at age 24 that she connected deeply with her roots. Returning to the Bay Area, she opened the acclaimed Nyum Bai restaurant in Fruitvale, after being nurtured by the culinary incubator La Cocina. Now, she is the chef and owner of Lunette in the Ferry Building, and author of a new cookbook with recipes and reflections on her childhood and cooking in the Bay Area. Guests: Nite Yun, chef and owner, Lunette, a Cambodian restaurant in the Ferry Building. Yun is the author of the cookbook, "My Cambodia: A Khmer Cookbook." Leticia Landa, executive director, La Cocina Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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0:00.0	Sponsorship of this podcast comes from Stanford Summer Session, allowing visiting students to study at
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0:14.1	Star One Credit Union. Give your savings account the love it deserves. When you keep your money with
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0:22.0	money. Star One Credit Union in your best interest. From KQED. Welcome to Forum. I'm Alexis Madrigal.
0:32.7	Happy Friday. I want to start this show with the title of Nightyenne's new book.
0:38.6	Of course, she's the proprietor of Lunette in the fairy building, celebrated chef with her own Netflix episode.
0:43.8	But the cuisine of her family and ancestors is not one that many people have experienced cooking or sometimes even eating.
0:50.7	The title of the book is My Cambodia, a Kamai cookbook. If you're wondering what the
0:56.2	second word in the subtitle is, it's spelled K-H-M-E-R, and I grew up pronouncing it, Khmer. That's just
1:03.3	not how you say it, and as I read the note in the cookbook that explains it, I felt a surge
1:07.6	of gratitude to be learning and correcting myself, and I also felt a squirt of shame
1:12.3	that the United States could have been so deeply involved in the affairs of Cambodians,
1:16.7	and yet I've never heard the word pronounced that way. That's perhaps the least delicious
1:22.0	revelation from this book, which is a gem of an artifact detailing Knight's childhood in Stockton, her emergence as a San
1:29.5	Franciscan, and her path back to the food of her family. And I can also say having participated in a
1:35.4	cookbook club in which I think 18 of these recipes were made, and I tried at least 10. This food is so
1:41.5	good and the recipes will actually get you there.
1:45.7	We're so happy to have you on forum.
1:46.4	Welcome night.
1:47.6	Thank you, Alexis.
1:48.6	Thanks for having me.
	...

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