Welcome to my ugly pantry!

In case we haven't met yet... and what to expect

Nice to meet you, I’m Mei! Let this first post be our icebreaker, so we can speed through the formalities and dive straight into the good stuff.

I’m a recipe developer and sharing my favorite ingredients, recipes, and cooking science on the internet (@daywithmei). If we’ve crossed paths on Tiktok of Instagram you may have seen me review tinned fish, make Sichuan bacon in my garage, or spin some funky ice cream flavors (bay leaf anyone?).

I share my recipes on my blog of the same name, Day With Mei.

While I have a “niche” on the internet, the goal of the Ugly Pantry is to encapsulate the other facets that don’t quite fit in a 1-minute video or a recipe page. I also have a recipe blog, but let’s face it—years of scrolling past SEO-packed fluff has made many of us wary of blogs. I don’t blame anyone, though I feel deeply grateful for those who take the time to engage with the cultural context I work hard to weave in.

Social media also has its flaws. Instead of letting social media algorithms dictate the sides of my interests that people see, this is a place to dig deeper without the perfectionist lens algorithms incentivize. Here, I can embrace nuance, share ideas in their raw or evolving forms, and explore topics without the hours of accompanying video editing.

So what can you expect?

• Ingredient deep-dives

• Creative process (I LOVE talking process)

• Cookbooks I’m reading

• Market finds

• Things I’m generally passionate about (there’s more to me than canned fish, I promise)

The goal is for folks to learn a little bit with every send, and for you to look forward to that little email notification.

Let me know what you’d like to see in the future and drop any Q&A in the comments!

Until the next newsletter, please enjoy a photo of my dry goods drawer. I feel like you can deduce a lot about someone’s life from their pantry, sort of like r/fridgedetective.

Clockwise from top left: dried jujubes, astragalus root (huangqi), coarse sea salt, panko breadcrumbs, gochugaru, nonfat dry milk powder, a chipotle paper bag full of TCM herbs, boba pearls, dried cordyceps, brown sugar, black sugar, rice flour, glutinous rice flour, dried kelp, Pixian doubanjiang.