Blunts & Egg Rolls Brings Together The "Blazing Blasians": Building Solidarity Through Food, Community And Cannabis
If you get invited to an event called Blunts & Egg Rolls, you go!
The concept in itself is beyond genius: you’re rolling blunts, then you roll egg rolls! Getting high before feasting is an art in itself, and the communion of food, cannabis, and community is one that should never be taken for granted.
Where Did Blunts & Egg Rolls Begin?
On a beautiful Sunday afternoon in Los Angeles, the first official Blunts & Egg Rolls event transpired, bringing together Chef Wendy Zeng and Christina Wong’s Blazing Blasians group which conjoins their Asian and Black friends to build solidarity through the three pillars mentioned above.
The intent behind Blunts & Egg Rolls organically yielded a strong emphasis on community, being present in the moment and sharing moments of appreciation for amazing food and amazing cannabis. Weed was provided by The Standard Cannabis, whom we recently reported were best known for their hash holes. But what didn’t go unnoticed were the interactions, and conversations, and relationships being formed in real time.
This all began when Wong, founder of Fruit + Flower Co., and Zeng, a renowned chef and winner of Food Network’s Chopped420, were sitting around wondering, “Yo, why are Asians hella racist?”
Wong explains, “Where does that come from? How can we be better? How can I be better for my niece, who's half-Black and half-Chinese? How do I help all these people here? We're chatting. We started learning that our differences aren't all that different. How do we better set a better example? Because we’re all content creators. We're all very visible on Instagram. We talk about these things, but seeing us together is important for others who also feel the same way or don't have that community. It’s a big community here.”
Historically, Black and Asian communities have been pitted against each other through economic policies from immigration. Wong states, “There's this model minority myth, and it doesn't serve any of us. Especially [when] you look around in the cannabis industry, it's all of us against corporate white grows. I see everyone working so hard. What if we all work together? Be stronger together. How do we amplify each other's voices? What everyone's doing. Support each other, instead of fighting against each other to try to reach these companies that don't ultimately care whether or not we succeed.”
MOGU MAGU: AAPI Culture, Food, And Cannabis Events
Wong and Zeng’s event series is called MOGU MAGU, an AAPI culture, food, and cannabis collective. The idea was sparked when Wong started to realize the importance of celebrating their culture’s holidays, such as Lunar New Year and Diwali.
“It's intersectionality,” Wong states. “It started with AAPI. We realized we were only celebrating our own Chinese holidays, because that's all we knew. But we need to look out and learn about more things. We did Diwali & Dabs. We're talking to our Black friends in cannabis. We always see each other at parties and events, but it's always so superficial. You do some content, you're like ‘hey.’ You get high, but you don't have a conversation to get to know each other.”
What Happened At Blunts & Egg Rolls?
Not only did Chef Wendy Zeng cook up the most delicious dishes for the event, but she also hosted the intimate group inside her home in Los Angeles. Zeng and her husband intentionally built out their backyard patio to be a space for cannabis consumption, making it more accessible for community organizers to do what they need to do.
Zeng states, “It's been really beautiful to see our Black and Asian community come together. When Christina and I started this, it was all centered around our AAPI community, but we always knew that it needed to evolve from there. Because even if you think about Asians being the model minority, that is a stereotype that hurts us too. That is a trap in and of itself for us to continue to uphold white supremacy at first. Thinking about what that means: if there's a model, then there's got to be a foil to that. That's keeping us more divisive. It's more narratives where you raise the commonalities we have and how much solidarity we can build.”
What Foods Were On The Menu At Blunts & Egg Rolls?
Growing up in Memphis, Zeng learned a lot about soul and Southern food. The highlight of the evening was when they announced it was time to roll-your-own egg rolls. Beyond the traditional Chinese pork egg rolls, there were also soul rolls: Memphis-style pulled pork that Zeng slow-smoked and pulled, mac and cheese (made by her husband), and collard greens sauteed with some onions and carrots. Guests were then able to fry it themselves, before consuming it with some barbecue sauce.
One thing that did not go unnoticed were the commonalities between both food cultures. Case and point: Zeng’s bomb green bean casserole, of which she also made an Asian version. Not to mention she directly pulls fruits and vegetables from her garden to cook! Farm to table at its finest.
“I use miso and sake,” Weng states. “It allows me to make a really umami creamy one, that's also vegan. Because we live in California, we gotta make it friendly for the vegans. I made the mushroom with a plant cream sauce. The sake and the miso really helps to build out that umaminess you're missing if you don’t have dairy.”
Rolling, Writing And Tea At Blunts & Egg Rolls
Other comfort food dishes present: spicy garlic noodles, potsticker dumplings, homemade Japanese sweet milk bread with pulled pork. With Blunts & Eggrolls being the Blazing Blasians' first event, it was also imperative to make sure you knew how to roll a blunt. On the itinerary was the Blunt 101 segment, where Roger Sterling the Ganja Guru and Tammy Pettigrew, AKA The Cannabis Cutie, physically taught you how to roll blunts. Rolling trays, weed, and Billionaire Hemp Wraps were all provided.
Guests were first welcomed with an intention tea ceremony, where you could write your intention on a piece of paper based on the theme of the day. Tea for the homies was provided by Taurean Nix and Weichao Kong of Standstill Tea and Toasty, the latter of which is a mushroom tea intended for microdosing.
To round out the beautiful afternoon, Banana Pudding Cake Rolls by Christina Wong were handed out for dessert. All in all, this was a stunning day of harmony - a gorgeous way we can all learn to roll with each other.
For more about MOGU MAGU and upcoming events, visit mogumagu.co.
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Written By:
Shirley Ju is a journalist, media host, and seasoned music industry professional. She is the founder of Shirley's Temple, a podcast series with a focus on mental health, where her guests include Trippie Redd, Chanel West Coast, Ricky Williams, Blac Chyna, and more. Shirley's work has been featured in publications such as Variety, Complex, Nylon, Flaunt, and REVOLT; she can also be seen doing exclusive interviews for leading urban news source VLADTV, featuring a platform with 5 million subscribers. Find out more about Shirley at @shirju on Instagram and Twitter, and on LinkedIn.
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Featured image: Co-hosts and founding members of the Blazing Blasians, left to right: Roger Sterling, Christina Wong, Jordan Watson, Tammy Pettigrew, Wesley Chiang, Wendy Zeng, Weichao Kong, and Taurean Nix. (C) Jordan Watson @aceking