Chatting with a first generation Chiwi

Enna is a first generation ‘Chiwi’, a New Zealand born Chinese. She grew up having a ‘Kiwi life’ and a ‘home life’ and the only way she could mix the two worlds was through food. 

Like many Chinese families that moved here in the early 2000’s, Enna’s parents too owned a takeaway. While other Kiwi kids spent their evenings in after school sport, Enna has memories of wrapping spring rolls, folding wontons, flipping burgers and eating yummy takeaway food.

Enna’s love for food has seen her take part in the NZ edition of My Kitchen Rules with her cousin May. They vowed to showcase as many Asian delights as they could while they were on the show and Enna has continued that journey of documenting what she eats and cooks through Instagram and her blog. In addition to this, she also works as a Marketing Manager at Ceres Organics and runs her own matcha business.

“Growing up, there was a time when I didn’t really care about my culture.” Like many immigrant kids, Enna struggled between wanting to fit in and pleasing parents who didn’t want their kids to forget about their heritage.

It’s taken growing up to understand the importance of heritage and why we all need to celebrate our individual cuisines. 

On our episode we talk about:

• Growing up in an Asian immigrant family, what it was like
• Indian Chinese and how its so different to regular Chinese food
• The landscape of Chinese food in New Zealand and how it has changed
• The reality of being on a reality tv show
• Importance of documenting not just recipes but also food memories.

Follow Enna on Instagram: @cookwithenna or read her blog: www.mayandenna.com