Tag: Michelle Nguyen

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Folding Friendships and Sharing Traditions at AABANY Women’s Committee’s Dumpling-Making Class

On September 3, 2026, the Asian American Bar Association of New York (AABANY)’s Women’s Committee hosted an evening of dumpling-making, community-building, and cultural connection at its dumpling-making class in Chinatown. The event brought together AABANY members and friends for a hands-on culinary experience, with attendees learning how to make dumplings completely from scratch. The event was generously sponsored by Ashurst Perkins Coie and hosted through The Dumpling Circle. 

From the moment participants arrived, the room was filled with excitement as attendees gathered around workstations and introduced themselves over nostalgic snacks and refreshments like sour plum tea and haw flakes. Attendees received random seat assignments to foster new connections. Yi, the founder of the Dumpling Circle, began the evening by emphasizing how making dumplings and eating together were important family traditions with her now 97-year-old grandma. She guided attendees through the fundamentals of dumpling making including how to knead and shape the dough wrapper from scratch.

As the class progressed, attendees rolled, filled, and folded their dumplings. Experienced cooks and first-time dumpling makers alike exchanged stories, compared folding techniques, and helped one another perfect their creations. As Yi emphasized, none of us “owned” our dumplings – they were a communal effort. Attendees also participated in a friendly competition to see who could come up with the most creative dumpling shape. 

After their dumplings were assembled, Yi and her team began boiling the dumplings in the kitchen, while the attendees helped to clean up and push all tables together to create one large communal table. Once the dumplings were cooked, attendees gathered to enjoy the fruits of their labor. The shared experience of preparing and sharing food together created an atmosphere that encouraged meaningful networking and forging new friendships. 

We extend our gratitude to The Dumpling Circle and Welcome to Chinatown for hosting and leading a wonderful class that brought together culture, food, and community.

Finally, thank you to everyone who attended and helped make the evening a success. We look forward to seeing you at future Women’s Committee programs and continuing to build connections across the AABANY community.

This event was covered by Law 360. Check out our In the News blog post about that article here.

Learn more about the Women’s Committee here, and reach out to Bianca Lin (Allegaert Berger & Vogel LLP) and Michelle Nguyen (Ashurst Perkins Coie), Co-Chairs of the Women’s Committee, and Nisha Gera (Groombridge, Wu, Baughman & Stone LLP), Vice Chair of the Women’s Committee, to get more involved.

-Written by Michelle Nguyen, Co-Chair, AABANY’s Women’s Committee

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Molding Charms, Making Matcha, and Mingling Away with AABANY’s Women’s Committee

On June 18, the Asian American Bar Association of New York’s (AABANY) Women’s Committee held a fun evening of charm-molding, matcha-making, and community-mingling at their “Mold, Matcha, and Mingle” event. The event drew a large crowd, as the spots had been completely taken in advance of the event.  The group gathered at Kitsby Studio in SoHo to connect with one another and learn about the history and traditions of matcha. This event was generously sponsored by Ashurst Perkins Coie.

At the start of the session, participants learned about chasen charms—beaded charms that adorn the handle of a matcha whisk—and picked their own beads from a wide variety of colors and patterns. The relaxed and creative environment made it easy to connect with one another, and attendees introduced themselves as they talked about their own careers and about the event.

With the help of the instructors at Kitsby Studio, attendees chose from a wide range of clay colors and began sculpting little pendants, to be strung onto the chasen charms. Attendees exchanged charm ideas, helped each other find reference photos, and oohed and aahed at each other’s creations. The microscopic scale of the charms sent the room into cheerful exasperation as people bonded over trying to add detail to their work. From New York City pigeons to the Dutch cartoon rabbit Miffy, to characters from Studio Ghibli films, to food items, the creativity of AABANY members shined at this event.

While waiting for the charms to bake, attendees learned about the history of matcha from the instructors. Each attendee tried their hand at making a matcha latte, while continuing to connect with one another. Attendees even received their own matcha whisk to take home!

The event closed on a high note as attendees strung their charms and beads onto string to complete their chasen charms. After glazing the charms, each attendee had a beautiful keepsake to take home, and in the process they made many new connections.

Thank you to Bianca Lin (Allegaert Berger & Vogel LLP) and Michelle Nguyen (Ashurst Perkins Coie), Co-Chairs of the Women’s Committee, and Nisha Gera (Groombridge, Wu, Baughman & Stone LLP), Vice Chair of the Women’s Committee, for organizing a wonderful event! They appear in the photo above, with Bianca on the left, Michelle on the right, and Nisha in the middle. Thank you to all of our attendees, and we hope you make good use of your matcha whisk.

Learn more about the Women’s Committee here, and reach out to Bianca, Michelle, and Nisha from that page to get more involved or to subscribe to their listserv, if you are not already on it.

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