With a new cookbook, TikTok creator Owen Han aims to perfect the art of the sandwich

NPR's Book of the Day

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Books, Arts

4.2 • 672 Ratings

🗓️ 22 October 2024

⏱️ 9 minutes

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Summary

Owen Han used to work in hospitals, but his life changed in 2020 when his father died. Motivated by his late father's encouragement to pursue his passions, Han started posting food content on TikTok. He shared recipes for dishes inspired by his Italian and Chinese heritage, like his grandmother's shrimp toast. Since then, Han has become known for his creative twists on classic sandwiches–and fittingly, sandwiches are the focus of his new cookbook, 'Stacked.' In today's episode, Han joins NPR's Scott Simon to talk about his expansive definition of a sandwich and how ASMR has inspired his approach to texture.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, it's NPR's a book of the day. I'm Andrew Limbaung. I'd guess a good 63% of my TikTok feed is
0:09.0	cooking content. Cooking videos do numbers on social media. And it's interesting to see how the platform
0:15.1	influences the medium, which influences the cooking itself. For instance, Owen Hahn is on the pod today.
0:22.1	He makes cooking videos and he's out with a new cookbook that's all about sandwiches.
0:26.6	It's called Stacked.
0:27.8	And in this interview with NPR Scott Simon, he talked about paying super close attention
0:32.7	to the texture of his recipes, which is a normal thing for a cook to do.
0:37.4	But he says he was, at least partly, inspired by how well the sound of different textures
0:43.2	and food does on TikTok.
0:45.5	That's after the break.
0:47.6	In the U.S., national security news can feel far away from daily life.
0:52.3	Distant wars, murky conflicts, diplomacy behind closed doors on our new show, Sources and Methods.
0:58.9	NPR reporters on the ground bring you stories of real people helping you understand why distant events matter here at home.
1:06.5	Listen to sources and methods on the NPR app or wherever you get your podcasts.
1:12.4	Oh, and Hahn has a new book that poses one more urgent question in these critical times.
1:17.7	What is a sandwich? Just any old combo of ingredients between a couple of slices of bread?
1:24.0	And must it always be bread or other building blocks permitted?
1:29.3	Owen Hahn's cookbook is stacked, the art of the perfect sandwich,
1:33.7	and Owen Hahn are used to work in hospitals and became a sandwich sensation on TikTok,
1:39.1	joins us from NPR West.
1:41.1	Thank you so much for being with us.
1:42.8	Thanks for having me.
	...

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