While Netflix rom-com Always Be My Maybe , starring Randall Park and Ali Wong, has been drawing significant buzz for its representation of Asian American couples on-screen, the films casting isnt the only reason the movie is quietly revolutionary.

The film conveys love and emotion through a specifically Asian American lens, giving the traditional motifs in the stereotypical Hollywood rom-coms a slight remix.

Many of the ups and downs, affection and comedy in the film are expressed through food, with dishes steaming up the screen carrying symbolic messages of their own. The concept is particularly striking to Asian American viewers, many of whom grew up with parents who seldom expressed their love verbally and explicitly, opting instead to mercilessly shove food onto their plates at the dinner table.

Food is so many things to us, director Nahnatchka Khan said. Food is love, food is memories. It can feel nostalgic and you can feel transported immediately. In terms of storytelling for the movie, it was a big way to show the connection between Randall and Alis characters from the beginning.

Several critical parts of the movie are accompanied by cuisine that mirrors the moment. The familial love Wongs character Sasha craves as a young latchkey kid is fulfilled by the parents of Parks character Marcus particularly Marcus mother, Judy. That warmth is established by Korean comfort food kimchi jjigae, which Judy teaches Sasha to make.

When creating the story, they didnt want them to meet as adults and sort of meet-cute, Khan said. They wanted to embody and seep them in this history that they know each other in a way that other people dont. Food is a big part of that.

The movies ending brings the couple full circle as celebrity chef Sasha opens a restaurant called Judys. The special dish, cementing Sashas feelings for Marcus is, of course, kimchi jjigae.

Judy has such a big effect on Sasha, you can track the storytelling through food. When she goes back to the thing weve set up in the beginning for her, you feel that journey, Khan added.