Zoey Gong is a chef and founder of Five Seasons TCM, an online platform for nutrition content and products based around Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). Zoey and Five Seasons embody some very old concepts in very new packages: On any given day, Zoey may be shooting a mochi-stuffed jujube recipe for the site, writing an encyclopedic entry on the uses of jujube dates in TCM cooking, collaborating with other creators to produce elegant TCM home goods, or creating monochromatic, textured paintings using the dried jujube itself—also for sale. It might seem frenetic, but she has big plans: Over the most delicate ginseng tea (“you have to use the wispy ends of very young American ginseng”), we sat down to discuss her desires to upend the herbal import market, redefine healthy eating, and change the way outsiders think about China.
So Zoey, how did you get into TCM cooking?
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