Born in Texas, raised in Taiwan, where a jar of something spicy was never far from the table. Chili wasn't a garnish in her house — it was how her family said the things they didn't always say out loud. Moving back to the U.S. as an adult, she kept looking for that same jar. She never found it. So she started making it herself instead.

Half Indonesian, half Korean — but the kitchen she grew up in was all Indonesian. Sambal wasn't a condiment there, it was pounded fresh most days, never quite the same jar twice. After years bouncing between Jakarta, Bali, Singapore, and Dublin, she landed in New York still chasing that exact taste — and still couldn't find it anywhere. So she started making it herself, the way her family always had.