Ming-Na Wen, the actress who voiced Mulan and played Fennec Shand in The Mandalorian, is coming to the Museum of Chinese in America on Friday, October 30, to talk about something other than acting: her family's restaurant, and the cookbook she wrote about it. The MOCA Talks conversation runs from 6:30 to 8 p.m. at the museum, 215 Centre Street, and tickets are reserved through MOCA's event page.

The book is Have You Eaten Yet? Family Recipes from a Restaurant Daughter, Wen's first. It is out this fall.

A New York start and a Pittsburgh kitchen

According to MOCA, Wen's first home in the United States was New York City, where her family settled after leaving Hong Kong. She grew up around her family's restaurant in Pittsburgh, the Chinatown Inn, which is still open. The book pairs recipes with stories from that kitchen and from her own.

The museum's description of the book lays out its sections. A Restaurant Classics chapter covers dishes like egg rolls, wonton soup and shrimp fried rice. A chapter called Feasts from Chef Baba collects her father's recipes, among them prime rib and winter melon soup. Ming-Na's Kitchen holds her own dishes, including shrimp with garlic noodles and dragon fruit cheesecake cups. There is also a guide to cooking rice, a section on condiments, and restaurant-style tips on prepping sauces, broths and dry spices, along with family photographs that have not been published before.

Who is on stage

The conversation is moderated by Annie Shi, the restaurateur behind King, which turns ten this fall, Jupiter at Rockefeller Center, Dean's, and Lei, her wine bar in Chinatown, which has won a James Beard Award. MOCA says the two will talk about Wen's upbringing as a restaurant daughter, her career, and the way recipes carry knowledge from one generation to the next.

Wen's screen credits span three decades: The Joy Luck Club, the voice of Mulan in the Disney animated film, several years on ER, Agent Melinda May on Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D., Dr. Fong in Karate Kid: Legends, and Fennec Shand in The Mandalorian and The Book of Boba Fett. She has been named a Disney Legend and has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. MOCA notes that she is also joining the third season of Percy Jackson and the Olympians on Disney+ as Hera, premiering in November.

Also at MOCA before then

For anyone who wants to see the museum before the talk, MOCA has two programs on Saturday, October 24. At 11:30 a.m., its public walking tour, Chinatown: A Walk through History, looks at how everyday buildings and historic sites in one of the city's oldest neighborhoods reflect and shape the community around them. At 2 p.m., teaching artist Yu Rong leads a family shadow puppet workshop based on Ed Young's illustrations of the Monkey King, built around his run-in with the shape-shifting White Bone Demon.

On Thursday, October 22, at 7 p.m., MOCA Performs presents Echoes of Arrival: Becoming, in which seven immigrant artists from Taiwan, the Philippines, Malaysia, Indonesia, Myanmar, Mexico, and Trinidad and Tobago reflect on coming to the United States. General admission is $20, and $15 for MOCA members.

Visiting the museum

MOCA is at 215 Centre Street, between Howard and Grand Streets, on the western edge of Chinatown. Gallery hours are Wednesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.; the museum has no public hours Monday and Tuesday. The closest subway is Canal Street, served by the 6, J, Z, N, Q, R and W trains, about two blocks south.

MOCA Talks with Ming-Na Wen is Friday, October 30, from 6:30 to 8 p.m. Reserve through the event page on mocanyc.org; museum members can also book through MOCA's membership page.

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