Watch Eddie Huang And Stephen Colbert Eat Baos Together
Eddie Huang is a well-spoken, well-fed and distinctly vibrant motherfucker within the food community. Seeing him on this week’s episode of Stephen Colbert’s late night show was a welcome treat. A sea of Eddie virgins likely sat in the audience (hopefully less so than I’d assume) getting treated to his culturally poetic answers regarding “rebellion” within food. “Absolutely” there’s rebellion within food he responds, and “there should be.”
Food certainly has a story, and the steamed bao buns appear to have two-fold meaning in Eddie’s lexicon. The buns are his big foray into entrepreneurship through his New York city-based Baohaus. The buns alternatively bring attention to baos as a product of China instead of getting chalked up as a product of a fancy NY chef, at least according to Eddie.
The rebellion essentially is a give-and-go of accolade back to his country of origin. In a New York city full of food trends, Eddie sees rebellion as finding the proper label and accolade for a country’s own cuisine. Citing where it came from, not who it came from.
If you haven’t read any of Eddie Huang’s books (get one), or caught him speak on one of his shows…watch him explain his Human Panda nickname to Stephen Colbert with a mouthful of Birdhaus, and you’ll get the rebellion he’s jiving with: