Cultural Cuisine

The Simi Valley Multicultural Festival's Cultural Cuisine event features delectable dishes from China, India, Japan, and Norway. This event allowed audience members to diversify their palates by teaching them how to make these traditional dishes at home, and highlighting local businesses that serve traditional foods. The Cultural Cuisine event premiered on April 24, 2021, and the full, live demonstration can be found by clicking here. Check back soon to see more featured videos!

China

Both of these videos were submitted by Peter Wang, a representative from the Simi Valley Youth Council. In the first video, members of the Wang family teach us how to make Peppery Chicken. Peppery Chicken is made once a week in Peter's family and always made on Chinese New Year's Eve. Peter attributes this to his family's love of spicy food.

Peter also submitted a cooking demonstration of Diqing Tibetan Chicken with Dough. This was taken on Peter's family trip to the Shangri-La region of China, which is known for its matrilineal society. The traditional dish is made by natives of the Shangri-La region.

Japan

The video is a demonstration of how to cook Sata Andagi, a type of donut that originates from the Japanese island of Okinawa. "Sata" means "sugar", while "andagi" means "deep-fried". This is prepared by Paige Barrella, a citizen of Simi Valley who is of mixed heritage.

Next, is an image that features an Eel Bowl from Yoshinoya, a Japanese restaurant chain. Eel is translated to "unagi" in Japanese. The dish is served with pork and wasabi. If you would like to try this delectable dish, find out where your closest Yoshinoya is at https://www.yoshinoyaamerica.com/. Thank you to Peter Wang for submitting this image.

The second image displays an image of Ichiran Ramen. This is a famous dish from Kyoto, Japan, that is made with 100% Pork Bone Broth which produces a strong aroma and taste. This image was also submitted by Peter Wang.

India

Sumaiya Akbar, a student at Santa Susana High School, gives us a tour of India Grocery and Spices, India Grocery and Spices is located at 1750 E. Los Angeles Ave. here in Simi Valley. They are open from 10 AM to 9 PM on most days, so stop by to diversify your palate!

Monica Sarin makes potato and pea curry in this video. This is a vegetarian dish that can be made in under five minutes. She uses a variety of spices to make the curry base and create a diverse blend of flavors. At the end of the video, she garnished the dish with cilantro and it is ready to serve!

This last recipe is shared by Monishka Tanwani, a representative from the Simi Valley Youth Council and student at Santa Susana High School. The recipe she is sharing is for Nankhatai Indian cookies, a vegetarian, eggless, shortbread cookie.

Norway

Candace Gray prepares a traditional Norwegian recipe for Kringla, a pastry served in her family around Christmas time. The process of making the Kringla is divided into parts: making the crust, making the dough, baking, and frosting. Watch the video and try to make this delish pastry at home!