White Woman Making ‘Improved’ Congee Apologizes

Breakfast Cure, an Oregon-based company run by a white woman, Karen Taylor, has apologized after being accused by Asian Americans of culturally appropriating congee, a traditional Asian rice porridge.

The company, which sells pre-packaged meals it had referred to as congee, issued the apology in a statement on its website this week after it was criticized by many across social media for exoticizing the comfort food and trying to reframe the already-popular dish. It had previously claimed to have altered congee to fit “your modern palate” and “improve” a dish that’s been beloved by Asian cultures for centuries.

“Recently, we fell short of supporting and honoring the Asian American community and for that, we are deeply sorry,” the statement said. “We take full responsibility for any language on our website or in our marketing and have taken immediate steps to remedy that and educate ourselves, revising our mission to not just creating delicious breakfast meals, but becoming a better ally for the AAPI community.”

Asian Americans had taken issue with several aspects of the company, including how the staff did not appear to include employees of Asian descent and how Taylor, an acupuncturist and self-proclaimed “Queen of Congee,” had written a now-edited post titled, “How I discovered the miracle of congee and improved it.”

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In its statement, Breakfast Cure, founded in 2017, referred to its meal packs as “Oregon porridge,” rather than congee as it had previously been calling them. It also said that its products, which include ingredients and flavors that bear little resemblance to the original dish, was “inspired” by traditional rice congee, “an incredible, healing dish with references dating back to 1,000 BC.”

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Nadia Kim, a professor of sociology, Asian and Asian American Studies at Loyola Marymount University, told NBC Asian America that the statement felt insufficient given Breakfast Cure’s “bastardization” and “whitewashing” of congee, and the way it has profited off such behavior

“Why does she not give more credit to the Asian immigrant and Asian community, for her being able to come up with this recipe and make profit off of it? That would have been a more instructive and insightful statement,” Kim said. {snip}

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Kim also pointed out that Breakfast Cure’s success comes as Asian American businesses and restaurants suffered significantly during the pandemic, in part because of anti-Asian racism.

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Breakfast Cure said in its statement that it donates a portion of its sales to Asian American organizations.

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Krishnendu Ray, the chair of the Nutrition and Food Studies department at New York University, said it’s not surprising that non-Asians would be interested in East Asian cuisine. The problem comes when white people are the ones who profit from this culture and sell a “kind of a white women’s version of porridge and then naming it congee because they want a cool, exotic name.”

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The sharp backlash, which erupted on social media last week, toward Breakfast Cure is also, in some ways, “a symptom of strengthening of subordinate groups,” Ray said.

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