Huang's World

...formerly "Fresh Off the Boat," and part of the Vice fold.

This may be my favorite "dude travels the world and eats" show right now, even as Bourdain fumbles to his journalistic stride with his series on CNN. The majority of these shows are pretty impersonal, and the cultures behind and around the food are typically afterthoughts. "Parts Unknown" has swung so far in the opposite direction that the food's almost a distraction - well-composed shots of Bourdain the aspiring (and sometimes out of his depths) journalist grunting over a plate between awkward conversations seems to be the norm, now. So here's Eddie Huang as man on the street, seeking metalheads and streetwear enthusiasts, visibly and honestly at ease or unease with the locals, always going out of his way to describe the food in detail: why it's good, why it's bad... cheffy stuff. He can be obnoxious and sensitive in the same conversation, and I think he has a talent for bringing out the best from the people around him. I learn a lot watching it, really; I dig it.

Anyway, while you're waiting for Chengdu Impression to open again, you might enjoy Huang's:

Thanks for posting this, particularly since I'm headed to China (including Chengdu) in a couple of months. This looks great!

OK I clicked on the video and two minutes into it I'm irritated and clicked off.

Do I need to watch fake homeboys on another continent in a slick video production for another 12 minutes?

What's the payoff of the next ten minutes I didn't watch?

I guess I'm inured to fake homeboys? I'm reluctant to judge anything, positively or negatively, with only a few minutes behind me, but YMMV, naturally. I thought braised chicken feet were pretty gnarly, at first.

What's the payoff of the next ten minutes I didn't watch?

There is none. Huang is an unwatchable dilettante.

Ah, hell... I'll play along one time before retiring, because the last thing anyone needs is me defending my video consumption. Cue to 11m23s:


Right on cue, this is their most famous dish. This is what they're known for, and you can't get this anywhere else; this is mapo tofu with pig brains. You will never have a version as good as this. It's creamy; it's silky; it has the essence of the pig brain, but it's clean, and it's almost like eating uni in your mapo tofu. And I'm sure some idiot is gonna do mapo tofu with sea urchin, and it's gonna be fucked up, because the flavors don't match, but pig brains give you that creaminess and it has that synergy with the mapo tofu, 'cause it's always had ground pork alongside of it... I'll tell you: it's not bizarre; it's not gag food... it's absolutely delicious.

OK so there's some critique about foods worth hearing but all the other babble made it unwatchable.

Did Huang grow up in North Lawndale, or Bedford–Stuyvesant?

I enjoyed the little bit I saw. Yeah his schtick can be grating, but I have friends just like him and I guess I'm used to that style. I loved that scene about the mapo tofu with pig brains (and his comment about urchin was spot on) and the scene in the Taiwan episode about shrimping at a bar. I hope to get to Taiwan someday and that'll be on my list of things to check out. What I hate about most travel shows is that the experiences of the host are frequently impossible to replicate and not really representative of the place they're visiting. Huang is highlighting things anyone could do and drawing attention to what's unique about where he is.

turkob wrote:I enjoyed the little bit I saw. Yeah his schtick can be grating, but I have friends just like him and I guess I'm used to that style. I loved that scene about the mapo tofu with pig brains (and his comment about urchin was spot on) and the scene in the Taiwan episode about shrimping at a bar. I hope to get to Taiwan someday and that'll be on my list of things to check out. What I hate about most travel shows is that the experiences of the host are frequently impossible to replicate and not really representative of the place they're visiting. Huang is highlighting things anyone could do and drawing attention to what's unique about where he is.

Well said -- I agree