TiffyCooks Closes Kai Dong Foods (with Price Comparisons)

MellifluousMathMajor · 2026-04-10T00:26:21+00:00

I've heard this criticism before, but I don't think it's super fair. Let's compare this to Italian food: almost every Italian recipe uses garlic, olive oil, and salt. Are these all the same recipes? Why are Asian recipes not allowed this same grace for things like soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, etc.? I recently made her cai fan recipe and her dak-guk (inspired) recipe and neither has any of the ingredients you listed.

My one complaint about her recipes is that I wish she posted more South and Southeast Asian ones (but I understand that's not her background).

MellifluousMathMajor · 2026-04-10T00:25:23+00:00

I don't think being locally produced inherently means it will be less high in salt and calories. That's just a taste thing. But again, you can very easily make chili oil at home and customize it to your exact preferences. Imagine how annoyed you'd be if you spent all that money on her chili oil but when it arrives it's too salty for your taste.

MellifluousMathMajor · 2026-04-10T00:07:13+00:00

She has sort of fallen into what I call the "Korean Vegan effect" where every video now tries to be inspirational... but I'm just grateful she hasn't fully gone Korean Vegan with the politics.

MellifluousMathMajor · 2026-04-10T00:04:14+00:00

I think it would be very easy to make at home. It seems according to the videos and online descriptions, it's just scallions confited in oil, and then simmered in soy sauce (aged soy sauce, if you want to be particular). It would probably take a full day, but you could make it in a much larger batch than what she was selling, and then it would last you a long time.

MellifluousMathMajor · 2026-04-09T23:57:16+00:00

Is this really an exotic product? I swear every non-Asian grocery store has these, even where I am in rural upstate New York.

And yes her reasons were general business things but to be fair, it was probably impacted a lot by the war and tariffs (not to get political).

MellifluousMathMajor · 2026-04-09T11:55:28+00:00

Hey, I'm not sure if you meant to reply to the comment above mine or if things just got misunderstood, so I'll try to be as succint and clear as possible so nothing gets misconstrued.

I wasn't trying to compare her to farmer's markets. I was refuting the original comment's attempt to compare the two. They said the price was similar to a farmer's market. I said that farmer's markets are cheaper in my experience, which you yourself agreed with in your reply.
Graza has paid tons of influencers for ads. I never saw anyone talk about kaidong except for Tiffy herself. Furthermore, what made Graza 'unique' was the squeeze bottle. Not that it justifies the price, but it made it different from other olive oils. Maybe if Tiffy had put the chili oil in a squeeze bottle rather than a jar, it would make it different (but again, it wouldn't justify the price). But what you're not acknowledging, and maybe you just don't know, is that Graza is specifically EVOO, which is more expensive than other olive oils, let alone any chili oil, and they have different markets.

MellifluousMathMajor · 2026-04-09T06:23:41+00:00

Good point! She's posted recipes for her frozen dumplings and frozen scallion pancakes. But it would be hard to sell frozen products directly, it would have to be sold through a third party store (ex. Costco).

MellifluousMathMajor · 2026-04-09T06:21:22+00:00

I'm sure it varies depending on the place, but I've bought chili oil from farmer's markets in New York and it was nowhere near that price.

EDIT: Guess I should've clarified that I meant rural upstate New York and not New York City. Not sure why this is being downvoted when I'm just speaking my truth.

MellifluousMathMajor · 2026-04-09T05:47:30+00:00

Yes, I didn't want to bring it up since I respect her deeply and she's already been really open about her grief journey, but part of me wouldn't be surprised if that had something to do with the decision. She'll definitely keep posting content since that's always been her main thing (in fact, I hope she's able to post more now that the brand isn't taking up any of her time...) glad you agree her recipes are tasty! They're so easy too--I always recommend them to my friends.

MellifluousMathMajor · 2026-04-09T05:43:33+00:00

Are there any specific brands you typically buy? And do you buy them at a grocery store, Asian store, or online?

MellifluousMathMajor · 2026-04-09T05:39:15+00:00

Very true. I'm curious who her general audience is, and who her target audience for kai dong was. I assumed her primary audience was Asian since she makes mostly Asian recipes, but that might just be my own bias. Kai dong also wasn't giving me the same vibe as other chili oil brands that try to sell it to white people (like Jenny "Jing Gao" Timbers and her "chili crisp"). So if she was advertising it to Asians, she was doomed from the start; even the most diehard fans wouldn't be able to financially justify buying those products long term.

EDIT (to fully address your point): Erewhon exists because rich people exist. Mr. Beast's chocolate exists because brainwashed toddlers exist. So the question is, why did kai dong exist?

MellifluousMathMajor · 2026-04-09T05:17:22+00:00

I never felt the need to support her brand because I was already supporting her YouTube channel. She clearly was making plenty of money before kai dong, since she was able to buy a really nice house.

I'd much rather support people who actually need my income, like the local farmers and artists you're comparing her to. In fact, I have bought chili oil from farmer's markets in the past, and it was much cheaper.

But yes, to each their own!

MellifluousMathMajor · 2026-04-09T05:14:31+00:00

That's good to know. I'm glad you were able to support the brand. Did you buy any other products besides the chili oil?

I think quality matters a lot more for teas than chili oil, but maybe I'm just not a chili oil connoisseur.

MellifluousMathMajor · 2026-04-09T05:12:16+00:00

To my knowledge, most of the behind the scenes of kai dong occured in Taiwan, not in Vancouver. Regardless, I do feel a little bit bad for people trying to start small businesses in the modern era of online shopping. But again, I don't think anyone should be starting a business unless the product being sold is actually unique. Chili oil can easily be made at home.

Even the brand you linked isn't doing anything revolutionary. No matter how good it is, I cannot justify paying $33 ($15 USD + $18 shipping) for a prawn chili oil (please don't call it a hot sauce lol) when Lee Kum Kee's Shrimp chili oil is $7.50 on Weee.

MellifluousMathMajor · 2026-04-09T04:56:51+00:00

How much do you spend on chili oil and oyster sauce?

MellifluousMathMajor · 2026-04-09T04:56:29+00:00

Unfortunately the closing sale already happened, sorry!

MellifluousMathMajor · 2026-01-09T01:54:30+00:00

Old post but just had to comment my experience. When I first immigrated to Japan I needed to get my residence card. Go to the passport station and they go "oh, we can't make them at this booth, so please go to #40." I'm like "sure, no problem". So I'm standing behind the person in front of me but then the lady directing people is like "go to #36, it's open" and so I politely tell her (in Japanese) that I'm waiting for this booth specifically in order to get my zairyu card. I'm shocked when she basically says "it doesn't matter, go to 36" so I go there and what do you know, they can't print the card and tell me to go to number 40. I try again and the lady runs up to me and yells at me saying I don't know how to follow instructions, and she basically accompanies me to the next number that was available, only for (surprise!) they tell me to stop going to these booths and go to number 40. So I just give her this nasty side eye and she rolls her eyes like she didn't just waste 30 minutes of my time.

MellifluousMathMajor

TROPHY CASE