Why You'll Find A Donut Shop On Almost Every Corner In Southern California - Tasting Table

"In Southern California, mom and pop donut shops are omnipresent, and donuts are as engrained in California food culture as fish tacos and date shakes. Growing up in San Diego, a pink box filled with glazed treats always made an appearance at elementary school birthdays, softball games, and park picnics. While Krispy Kreme and Winchell's chains have long been options, Southern Californians tend to prefer their local neighborhood spots - most of which are family owned and operated staples in the community."

"In the late 1970s, many Cambodians fled their country to escape a genocide that killed an estimated 2 million people over a four-year period, committed by the Khmer Rouge regime that came to power in 1975. From the mid '70s to the mid '90s, approximately 150,000 Cambodian refugees escaped to the United States, where they were met with American donuts not too dissimilar to a Cambodian pastry called nom kong."

"While there are many Cambodian-American run donuts shops in SoCal today, most can be tied back to the influence of one Cambodian-American in particular: Ted Ngoy. The subject of the PBS documentary, "The Donut King," Ngoy worked his way up to a manager position at a Winchell's in Newport Beach, then later purchased an existing donut shop in La Habra, Orange County named Christy's in 1979, where his wife a"

Mom-and-pop donut shops are omnipresent in Southern California and are as rooted in local food culture as fish tacos and date shakes. Local neighborhood donut shops are mostly family owned and preferred over national chains. Approximately 80% of Southern Californian donut shops are Cambodian-owned. Many Cambodians fled genocide under the Khmer Rouge from the late 1970s through the mid-1990s, with roughly 150,000 refugees arriving in the United States. Cambodian-American populations concentrate in California, including about 40,000 in the Los Angeles area. Cambodian refugees encountered American donuts similar to the Cambodian pastry nom kong, and Cambodian entrepreneurs such as Ted Ngoy helped build the region's donut industry.

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