Anthony Bourdain = The Man

Have you guys ever heard of Anthony Bourdain? He's a NYC chef who hosts a show on Travel Channel called "No Reservations". Every episode involves him traveling to a different city or country and exploring the local cuisine and culture. Basically, he eats his ass off and gets paid to do it, going to mad local dives and food stands. Yesterday, they showed multiple episodes of him in Asia, so naturally I had to watch his episode in HK. My mouth watered as he went about eating claypot rice (a winter dish consisting of rice and various meats in a small pot), suckling pig, goose, fresh crab, and dim sum. I was intrigued as well as frightened by the squid ink pasta, maybe because the entire dish was jet black. And I gained respect for him when he began eating pig intestines on a stick that he got off the street. That didn't really gross me out, as I love hog maws, a soul food delicacy and euphemism for "pig stomach lining". Whatever, don't judge.

Anyway, from this show I learned about the old-fashioned HK way of making noodles. They said that there's about three old dudes left in the whole city who bother making them this way. This one dude wakes up early every morning in his grimy apartment; mixes up flour, duck eggs, and water; then flattens this mixture by rocking on a bamboo pole (real talk) to give the noodles their distinct texture (?). Whatever floats his boat, but his noodles are supposedly the best in Hong Kong, so I have to check them out.

Just so you readers know, I've never been one to turn down the chance to try new foods. I'm definitely the most experimental eater in my family, but that's really not saying much. I come from a family where sushi is unthinkable and meat is ALWAYS well-done, without question. And don't even think about funky European cheeses; that's some uppity Hotelie s**t. But that's probably why I like to experiment with new foods, in order to deliberately contradict my family's close-mindedness. In reality, a normal sandwich with a lot of mayonnaise and Kraft's American cheese would gross me out more than most things I've seen on this show, seriously.

I left the link for the show on the right-hand side of this blog. If you're a Hotelie who doesn't know about Anthony Bourdain, get on your foodie game real quick. Don't say I never put ya'll on to anything.