850: Clarissa Wei Sells Excellent Soy Sauce and Demystifies Ancient Postpartum Cooking Practices

Clarissa Wei (0:08)

In Taiwan, we have post-partum hotels, and 60% of new parents will check in to a post-partum hotel. And the best comparison I can make is, you know, here in America, people will spend, like, $10,000 on a diamond ring and even more on a wedding. In Taiwan, that type of money and resources, that's allocated for the post-partum period.

Aliza Abarbanel (0:30)

This is TASTE. I'm your host, Aliza Abarbanel. Clarissa Wei is a writer and the co-founder of Heydoh, a single-origin Taiwanese soy sauce brand. Her debut cookbook, Made in Taiwan, is a cultural exploration of the island she calls home. Now she's following it up with Sitting the Month, a study of post-partum cooking and care informed by traditional Chinese medicine and her own experiences with suowei zi. Clarissa stopped by the studio to go deep on this fascinating ancient practice and its contemporary evolutions, as well as share updates from her life as a single-origin soy sauce founder.

Clarissa Wei, this is TASTE. Thank you for coming on the podcast.

Clarissa Wei (1:11)

Thank you for having me.

Aliza Abarbanel (1:12)

I'm so happy to have you. I feel like I recommend your books to everyone I know that goes to Taiwan. So it's really fun to get to chat in person.

Clarissa Wei (1:20)

Yeah, it's lovely to be in New York. I haven't been here for 15 years.

Aliza Abarbanel (1:24)

I know. How does it feel to be back?

Clarissa Wei (1:26)

A little bit surreal, but mostly the same.

Aliza Abarbanel (1:29)

Yeah. Have you been having any good meals while you're here?

Clarissa Wei (1:31)

Oh, yeah. Everything is so flavorful, so well seasoned.

Aliza Abarbanel (1:36)

What were the highlights?

Clarissa Wei (1:38)

We went to Uncle Lou's in Chinatown yesterday, and everyone's like, why are you eating Asian food in New York? But things in Taiwan, as you know, are just very lightly seasoned. People have a light hand with the spices. So just like having Chinese food with a lot of salt and MSG is wonderful. I really missed it.

Aliza Abarbanel (1:56)

Did you have any Mexican food while you've been here? I feel like that's what I would miss the most.

Clarissa Wei (1:59)

Yes, I had ceviche when I was in SoCal and Riverside.

So good. When you're gone for a long time and you come back, you really appreciate the diversity that is here. I know it sounds cliche, but it is very stark when you leave the States for a very, very long time.

Aliza Abarbanel (2:16)

I think that's one of the best things about America and New York by extension, right, the fact that you can have so many different cuisines for every meal of the day. So I'm glad that you've been on that vibe a bit.

Clarissa Wei (2:25)

Yeah, that's all I've been doing.

Aliza Abarbanel (2:27)

You're here partially for the anniversary of your soy sauce brand, Heydoh, which is delicious single origin Taiwanese soy sauce. How can you tell me about the first year of business so far?

Clarissa Wei (2:39)

Yeah, actually, you were visiting me in Taiwan when I was brainstorming the name. Two years ago, and I had a bunch of terrible name ideas, but no, I was initially going to call it Black Jade, so I'm glad we called it Heydoh. Heydoh means black soybean in Mandarin Chinese, and it's a nod to the bean that our soy sauce is made out of, which is a varietal that has more umami compounds. So we've been around a year, we are in over 300 stores, and today it was announced that we got into Whole Foods accelerator program. Ten out of 2,000 brands were chosen, and the acceptance rate is 0.5 percent, which is harder than, and I believe Christina, my co-founder, is thrilled. She's like a tiger mom.

Aliza Abarbanel (3:22)

It's so incredible. What does it mean to be a part of that program?

Clarissa Wei (3:26)

It means that you get the support of the Whole Foods system. So like with grocery, as I have learned over this year, it's relatively easy to get on shelves. You know, if you make a big enough splash, people are interested in putting you on the shelves, but to stay there is a completely different story. There are a lot of mandatory shelving fees, a lot of promos you have to run as a brand.

But being part of this program, the fees are waived for the first year. Most importantly, we get a mentor and a 12-week curriculum we have to go through to learn what it takes to stay on the shelves. So I have to go to class at Whole Foods, essentially. It's all remote, but we basically have a front row seat to the whole process, and they will help us stay on shelves.