'Made With Lau' began as a modest home cooking venture, and today, it stands as a thriving YouTube success story.

Randy Lau will always remember his 33rd birthday. Just two and a half months after launching 'Made With Lau,' he was thrilled to see his Chinese family cooking channel reach its first major milestone: gaining enough subscribers and watch time to start earning revenue on YouTube.

“I was like, ‘Yes, we made it!’” Randy laughs. “It was such an exciting moment, a clear sign that we were onto something big.”

In under two years, 'Made With Lau' quickly grew into one of the fastest-expanding multilingual Chinese cooking hubs online, amassing over a quarter-million followers on TikTok and 700,000 subscribers on YouTube.

Blending traditional Cantonese home-cooked meals with popular restaurant dishes, the channel has evolved into something much more significant and impactful than the Laus ever imagined.

Made with care and passion

Chung Sun Lau, affectionately called 'Daddy Lau,' brings over 50 years of professional cooking experience in both China and the U.S. After retiring, he found himself with ample free time to share his expertise.

Randy had always dreamed of preserving his father's culinary legacy. During the spring of 2020, while at home in the San Francisco Bay Area and with a child on the way, he realized the moment had arrived to make that dream a reality.

“I wanted to spend time with my dad, reconnect with my roots, and ensure that his recipes and stories were passed on,” Randy shares with Dinogo.

The chef was quick to agree and get involved.

“Many people love cooking, but they don’t know how, especially when it comes to Chinese cuisine. I want to share all my knowledge and skills,” explains Daddy Lau, with his wife, Jenny Lau, translating. “This video is my gift to the next generation.”

Focusing on food made perfect sense for another reason: it served as a bond within the Lau family.

“I’ve always struggled with a language barrier with my dad,” Randy shares, noting that while he can hold basic conversations in Cantonese, he doesn’t consider himself fluent. “But I never questioned his love for me because he would always cook these amazing meals. So, in a way, food became our shared language of love.”

For Randy, making the project inclusive was key. He decided against dubbing over his father’s speech to preserve his authenticity, choosing instead to subtitle all their videos in both English and Chinese, so Daddy Lau could follow along too.

“It’s a lot of work—probably 10 to 20 hours of subtitling. But I think it’s important because I don’t want anyone to miss out,” Randy says.

Leveraging his digital marketing experience, Randy dedicated the next six months to developing and producing the channel. When the time came to film, Daddy Lau proved to be a natural in front of the camera, flawlessly executing recipes in just one take.

“None of this would have worked without him,” Randy confesses. “He’s incredibly confident and really knows what he’s doing.”

A recipe for success

The inaugural 'Made With Lau' video featured a Cantonese-style mapo tofu, a beloved Chinese tofu dish. Along with a step-by-step recipe tutorial, the video delved into the history of the dish and included a Q&A segment with the audience—elements that have become trademarks of 'Made With Lau' productions.

In the following months, the channel gained traction through support from friends, family, Facebook cooking groups, and a shout-out from fellow YouTubers 'Chinese Cooking Demystified.' However, it was around Lunar New Year 2021 that the channel truly exploded, skyrocketing from an average of 100,000 monthly views to millions.

To put it into perspective, Randy compares it to his father’s former restaurant, which could seat 60 to 80 customers at a time. “Now, every day, he reaches hundreds of thousands—millions—of people each month. It’s amazing to see how his generosity in sharing his knowledge can now reach so many people globally every single day,” he reflects.

According to YouTube data, Randy shares that 40 percent of their traffic comes from the United States and Canada, while the rest is spread across the Philippines, the United Kingdom, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia.

Randy attributes 'Made With Lau’s' rapid success to a mix of factors: accessible, beginner-friendly recipes, his father’s culinary expertise, and the emotional connection it fosters. “We launched during the pandemic—right in the thick of it. People were cooking more at home and missing their families.”

That was exactly the case for Nancy Wong, a second-generation Chinese American from the Bay Area, who first discovered 'Made With Lau' through a cousin’s recommendation. She says the videos helped her cope with the isolation of not being able to work for over a year.

“It was such a relief,” Wong recalls. “Some days I’d wake up and think, ‘OK, today I’m going to try some new 'Made With Lau' recipes and cook all day.’ It filled the emptiness in my days and gave me a sense of purpose. I felt good knowing I was not only doing something productive but also feeding and nourishing my family.”

Reconnecting with our roots

Although Randy initially launched the channel as a family project to share with his children, he soon realized that it was benefiting a much larger community of food enthusiasts.

“As we began connecting with more and more people, I saw the bigger purpose behind it—preserving Cantonese cuisine, culture, and language,” he shares. Some of the most meaningful messages they’ve received were from viewers who said the recipes helped them relive happy memories of loved ones who had passed away.

Pam Yip, a Chinese American fan from New York, understands this sentiment. After losing her mother at the age of 17, Yip finds that 'Made With Lau' has provided a way to reconnect with the language and comforting dishes of her childhood.

“One of my biggest regrets is not learning these recipes from my mom before she passed,” Yip reflects. “Finding the channel, as simple as it may sound, showed me that there’s still a way to learn these things.”

Wong is one of the many viewers who are reconnecting with their cultural roots after the loss of several close family members, including her mother-in-law and her own mother, who never allowed her to be in the kitchen while growing up.

“I honestly don’t know where I’d be without those recipes to rely on,” Wong says, describing the channel as “a treasure.” A passionate home cook, she admits that some of 'Made With Lau’s' dishes have even surpassed her family’s recipes in flavor.

“I made the taro cake, wu tao gou. I remember when my husband took his first bite, he looked at me with wide eyes and said, ‘This is incredible!’ I couldn’t help but reply, ‘Wait a minute—after 32 years of marriage, this is the first time you’re telling me something I’ve made is incredible?!’”

Family is at the heart of 'Made With Lau,' and everyone plays an essential role in its success.

The strong family bonds at the core of 'Made With Lau' are crucial to its success, with each family member contributing their talents.

In addition to his culinary skills, Daddy Lau, an accomplished flautist, also provides the channel’s theme music. Randy's mom, Jenny, helps by answering viewer questions and sharing stories from her childhood in China.

Randy’s wife, Kat, helps by reading pre-submitted audience questions and offering insights. Randy's sister, Jennifer, appears in some episodes and is also involved in developing 'Made With Lau’s' new line of woks and cookware.

Kat and Randy's son, Cameron (affectionately called 'Cam Cam'), adds a touch of charm to the dinner table. Viewers will soon meet the newest addition to the Lau family, their newborn daughter, Maya, who was born in March.

Jenny shares that their family was always close, but creating the content has given them more opportunities to spend time together. “Since we started making videos, we’ve become even closer,” she says. “This project is not just for us; it brings joy to so many others as well.”

More than just a cooking show

The family mealtime scenes in the videos resonate deeply with many viewers who see themselves in the Laus.

“Food has always been how my family shows love for one another,” says Belinda Cheng, a second-generation Chinese American from Seattle. “I have a son about the same age as Cameron, so it really touches my heart … it inspires me to bring that same sense of connection into my own family.”

While many viewers come for the recipes, they stay for the emotional connection. Gloria (last name withheld at her request), a Patreon supporter from San Francisco, has picked up plenty of cooking tips, like steaming fresh chow mein noodles before stir-frying them. But she adds, “It’s so much more than just a cooking show.”

Some of their recipe videos also serve as personal family moments, capturing significant events like Cameron's birth, Daddy Lau’s 75th birthday, and Jennifer’s engagement. These videos allow viewers to feel as though they are part of the Lau family. On a recent visit to an Asian grocery store, they were approached three times by fans eager to take photos and meet them.

“It feels like another home,” says Rebel-Osmar Adrian Rice, a supporter from Ontario, Canada. “Since my parents have passed, it’s heartwarming to see another family so close-knit.”

Randy recognizes that, like Rebel-Osmar, “not all of our viewers are Asian or have Asian roots,” and he sees this as a positive thing. “It helps create empathy and gives others a better understanding of who we are,” he says.

'Made With Lau' uses food to challenge common Western stereotypes about Asians being distant or cold, instead emphasizing the warmth and generosity of the Lau family. A recent video on egg foo young also touched on the painful history of anti-Chinese discrimination in the U.S.

“Food has the power to bring people together across cultures,” says Randy. “If you love food, you understand that. But it’s more than just cooking—it’s about connecting with our family and realizing, ‘Hey, we’re not so different after all.’”

A bright future ahead

The unexpected twist in 'Made With Lau’s' success is that Randy – who started the channel to preserve his father’s recipes – has found himself too busy to cook much. He’s tried making about seven or eight dishes, with his father giving him a mix of grades – an ‘A’ for his Christmas cooking, but only a ‘C’ for his Mother’s Day efforts. Randy hopes to cook alongside his father in future videos and involve the family in blind taste tests.

Randy’s goal is for 'Made With Lau' to reach one million subscribers on YouTube by its second anniversary in the fall. But even without that milestone, the family is overjoyed to see viewers recreating their recipes in their own kitchens.

“I’m really, really happy,” says Daddy Lau. “This is just the beginning for our audience, and I’m sure they’ll improve as they keep making these dishes at home.”

“Beyond the views, subscribers, or revenue, what truly excites me is seeing people make our food,” Randy reflects. “If you believe in us enough to spend an hour or two cooking and buy ingredients, that’s incredibly rewarding.”