My childhood was not particularly ethnic. I grew up in middle class suburbia and went to affluent public schools. We got Chinese takeout, and I was ignorant enough to probably think all Asian food tasted the same back then. I don’t think I ate sushi until college. Even then, I ate it thinking I was a James Dean rebel eating raw fish with the similar gusto of a health inspector’s son ordering a rare steak (my dad is a health inspector).

In college, I learned that Thai is my preferred Asian cuisine. My family came around to this conclusion, too. Maybe Thai food just didn’t exist in Virginia Beach in the Bush and Clinton years. However, as much as I loved Thai food, I never tried Thai iced tea.