My Take | I love food vlogger Mike Chen and so should you
- People should leave politics behind when they watch funny videos about food on YouTube
I spend most of my time reading up on China and politics for this column. That’s why before bed, I watch mostly funny animal video clips on YouTube; foxes especially.
I especially love watching Chen binge on all-you-can-eat buffets. I have developed an obsession with Vietnamese pho from him. His love of Japanese Wagyu beef, unfortunately, is way above my pay grade.
But, you know what, even funny online clips about food are now are being caught up in ugly Chinese politics. Is there no escape?
Chen made a joint video with Malaysian-Chinese comedian Nigel Ng, whose rude persona of Uncle Roger has gone viral in recent months with his nasty takes on people mis-cooking Chinese fried rice, including Jamie Oliver. But Ng’s routines about fried rice and MSG were getting stale.
And then, Chen and Ng came up with this joint hilarious clip commenting on a Western-trained chef making the grossest and most unappetising dumplings ever.