5 Asian-Owned Brands That Are Rethinking Breakfast

There’s a fine line between a solid morning routine and succumbing to monotony. So, it’s completely valid to wake up one day wanting to switch things up entirely.  But when it comes to breakfast, too often that means going out to that trendy brunch spot with a line snaking around the block. 

According to one survey,  65% of Americans view breakfast as a high priority meal. However, a majority of respondents also said that during the week, they were too pressed for time to cook. The answer to this conundrum isn’t the same old breakfast of frozen waffles and reheated bagels.

Instead, why not just switch things up with new flavors — in familiar formats. From highland Vietnamese coffee to a Chinese black sesame oatmeal, here are 5 excellent brands rethinking breakfast via modern and traditional Asian flavors and ingredients.

Don’t Talk To Me Until I’ve Had My Coffee (Or Tea) 

One survey found that if faced with the choice, 52% of coffee drinkers would sacrifice a morning shower so they could have their morning java. Well, that’s certainly… a choice. But we get it,  we get it, caffeine is absolutely crucial. 

Check out these options that can hopefully help you stay caffeinated while having enough time to keep up with your personal hygiene. 

As purveyors of Vietnamese coffee excellence, Nam Coffee offers a Starter Pack  with everything you need to make an authentic, premium cup of Vietnamese coffee. They have three coffee products however you’d like — District One (50% Robusta/ 50% Arabica), Da Lat (100% Robusta)  Orange County (70% Arabica/ 30% Robusta). However, with the starter pack, you’ll get a stainless steel phin filter so you can brew it the authentic Vietnamese way. We recommend adding some condensed milk to the bottom of your cup and waiting for it to fully brew to mix. 

For a myriad of reasons, coffee may not be your breakfast beverage of choice. Us Two Tea has simplified the tea brewing process by offering tea bags composed of excellent, high quality ingredients. Commonly referred to as the Champagne of Tea, Taiwanese tea has garnered a reputation for quality. Us Two Tea’s variety pack comes with oolong, baozhong, and jasmine tea that are all free of pesticides and harmful additives and are directly sourced from family-owned farms. 

Oatmeal Doesn’t Have To Be So Predictable 

Oatmeal is practically synonymous with reliability. Whether it’s rainy or sunny — you just found out that you’ve been placed on your ambiguously creative crush’s moodboard or got into a passive aggressive Slack tif at work —  oatmeal is there for you: nutritious, consistent, and easily adaptable to ingredients like honey, granola, fruit, and jam. But oatmeal doesn’t have to be so predictable — there’s only so much you can do with granola. Yishi Foods, an oatmeal brand that honors its founder Lin’s Chinese heritage, brilliantly integrates flavors from East Asian cuisines  —  Matcha Latte, Red Bean Berry, Taro Bubble Tea, Toasted Black Sesame,   and Sweet Osmanthus. In addition to being gluten and dairy free,  all of the ingredients are plant-based. It’s also the perfect way to satisfy any cravings. Instead of trekking through traffic to get that Matcha Latte or bubble tea, you can just emulate that nirvana with your morning oatmeal — imagine that!

Are you more of the DIY type but are on the search for exciting new oatmeal recipes?  Five Seasons TCM has you covered. Their recipes combine quality ingredients with Chinese medicinal herbs. For instance,  their Cacao Reishi Oats are rich with antioxidants, utilizing ingredients like  Coix Seeds that’s great for digestion and joint pain. Another great option is their Apple Oatmeal for Tranquility — a bold reimagining of apple oatmeal which uses a Lullaby Calming Culinary TCM Tonic Bag that will help you start the day on a relaxing and soothing note.   

Switch Up Your Cereal

For many, cereal is their first introduction to the wonderful world of breakfast. Bold and colorful, there’s an undeniable escapism to the classics. We associate cereals like Trix, Lucky Charms, and Froot Loops (sorry for the Captain Crunch erasure, but meh) with our fondest morning memories — quickly slurping the last bit of sugar milk before heading off to school, gazing at those cartoon strips which offered a psychedelic contrast to dad’s monochromatic crossword puzzle.  But as we get older, we’re told that we have to gobble down bland and utilitarian cereals that are good for our bones and heart health and work-life balance and cosmopolitan dating and what not… I couldn’t help but wonder, is it really so difficult  to find that cereal that’s BOTH healthy and fun? 

Kim C’ Market, a premium Korean online grocery store, is here to the rescue. They sell BasakhaGo — Korean sweet potato chips mixed with dried cranberries and almonds. Add in some milk and you’ll have a nice crunchy, nutritious cereal. 

If you want a more conventional — but delicious nonetheless — option from Kim C’ Market, they also offer Tol Story Organic Cereal made with brown rice, black bean, Korean Rice Grain Syrup, Molten Salt, and  Black Sesame.  In the mood for something a bit sweeter?  (This is a safe space to admit such things). They also have an organic four-seasons fruit mix — or, you can top off your cereal with a drizzle of premium Korean honey.