9 ways Asian American parents show their love without saying “I love you”

love via cut fruit, choice cuts of meat, quality time, and more.

Asian parents are notoriously bad at expressing their feelings in words. I can count the times I’ve heard “I love you” or “I’m proud of you” on one hand (hint: I’m pretty sure it was zero) before I left for college.

It took me a long time to realize that they express their love in different ways, ways that I took for granted growing up.

My parents’ love languages can be described as “quality time” and “food” (not that food is an official love language, but I’m sure you know what I’m talking about).

1. Cutting up fresh fruit.

Sliced fuji apples for an after-school snack? Pomegranate seeds painstakingly plucked from the bitter, spongy flesh of the fruit? Ha mi gua from the Korean market, perfectly cubed and chilled? Persimmons, peeled and sliced so you can see the stars? The list is endless.

2. Giving you the best parts of the meal, rather than keeping it for themselves.

The choicest cuts of meat, the last piece of shrimp, the perfect piece of salmon… our parents give us the best of the meal…