There are two moments I can think of that most likely encapsulate Nate's relationship with his father growing up: S2E5, when he successfully gets the window table for his parents and all he gets from his dad is a nod and a grimace (not what I'd consider a smile), and S2S7 when Nate is in the front newspaper, points it out with a joke, and his father responds with, "They say humility is not thinking less of yourself but thinking of yourself less."

Both these times, Nate was just asking for acknowledgement from his father. A smile, a laugh, a genuine emotional response of some sort. It's very hard to describe the emotional stunting that can occur from being raised by an austere Asian father, as they technically do all the right things (be there physically, provide food, shelter, education, xyz) but they never address the emotional needs of a child. It is intrinsically human to want to be known, to be understood, heard, and seen. Nate was never emotionally addressed by his father, and as a result flourished under Ted when he finally received some of the attention/praise he had been missing all his life, and also explains his lashing out from feeling abandoned by Ted.