What's On at Yun Hai
This is a mostly up-to-date list of limited time discounts, product launches, and special events at Yun Hai. Find us online at yunhai.shop and in person at the Yun Hai Taiwanese General Store in Williamsburg, Brooklyn.
Our New Cooking Show
Inspired by Fu Pei Mei, I’ve always dreamed of a kitchen studio, a place to film not only cooking shorts, but also a show—a longer-form serial with its own voice, set, pacing, and permanence, where I could share what I’ve learned about Taiwanese cooking through a personal lens. So, it’s with great pleasure and anticipation that I invite you to watch this long-awaited fantasy: Cooking With Steam 好蒸氣.
The first (mini) season of this Taiwanese cooking show is mostly self-funded, with help from Tatung HQ in Taiwan. Three episodes explore steam cooking as a foundational technique in Taiwanese cooking, starring the Tatung Steam Cooker.
The name, Cooking with Steam, is a play on the idiom "cooking with gas," and conveys an attitude as much as a technique. With this name, we honor one of the cornerstones of Chinese diasporic cooking—steaming—and suggest a gentle perspective, one that emphasizes a slow, tender way of being in contrast to the hot and fiery.
There are three episodes out so far. First is a short preface: an intro to the Tatung Steamer. The second is our first full-length episode, featuring a set of dishes that I like to make for breakfast: steamed egg, steamed vegetables, and some quick frozen buns. The third is the latest release, all about hacking the Tatung to make an aromatic red braised beef noodle soup, a Taiwanese classic.
Upcoming Events
From outdoor barbecues to community collaborations, hosting events where we can meet you all face-to-face is one of the most rewarding aspects of running this business.
From time to time, we put items that are overstocked or nearing their best before date on sale. This date isn't an expiration date, but represents the recommended time period to consume the item at peak freshness. The items are safe to consume beyond that date and may stay at their best for a while longer.
To prevent waste, we offer these products as part of our Quick Sale collection at a discount to you. The sale page will indicate why they are on sale and what their best before dates are. It’s a great way to get your favorites for less and reduce food waste at the same time.
Currently on quick sale:
Yun Hai Selection Dried Fruit Gift Box, 20% off
We have some dried fruit gift boxes approaching their best before date of 4/26/2025.
QQ Dragon Merch, Up to 28% off
Help us ring in the year of the snake by adopting some of these dragons.
Taiwan Rainbow Flag, 16% off
Plan ahead for Pride this year with a Taiwan Rainbow Flag.
That’s all for now. Thanks for being a subscriber!
This is Yun Hai Taiwan Stories, a newsletter about Taiwanese food and culture by Lisa Cheng Smith 鄭衍莉, founder of Yun Hai.
Please check out all our other installments here. If you like it, share it with friends and subscribe if you haven’t already. I email once a month, sometimes more, sometimes less. For more Taiwanese food, head to yunhai.shop, follow us on instagram and twitter, or view the newsletter archives.
I am in the long-read camp, but lovely to see an update from you.
I also wanted to share that I saw Yun Hai on the front page of English Wikipedia recently. Yun Hai was featured in the "Did You Know" section, and an archived version is available here https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Main_Page_history/2024_February_11 . Kudos to you :)