i remember seeing fresh off the boat at barnes and noble when it first came out, but didn't considered reading it. with that cover it seemed like something i should look into but i didn't give it much thought after that initial sighting.
i then saw a trailer for the new abc series based on it. here, watch it on youtube.
after seeing his mom's hair struggles, i decided to check it out.
if you thought that trailer was hilarious, you have no idea what you are in with this book. fresh off the boat is beyond amazing and definitely in my top 3 books i have read this year. if i hadn't read americanah this year fresh off the boat would probably be number 1. eddie huang is also my new celebrity chef obsession. i could kick myself for not picking this book up when i first saw it. if i had, i would have gone to baohaus on my last nyc trip, boo to me!
i feel like a loser and am not as hip as i think i am because i hadn't heard of eddie huang or baohaus prior to my reading of this book. i have no idea how he was not on my radar. he also has a shown on vice, fresh off the boat, (which the book and now abc series evolved from) which are his random, food-related adventures around cities. eddie is like a younger, chinese, hip hop version of bourdain. my facebook friend, che, told my friend danny about the vice show. i looked it up and of course watched the episode with roy choi. it was hilarious yet deep, i will definitely play catch up on that series.
back to the memoir. to start fresh off the boat made me hungry. the memoir opened with a story about soup dumplings and eddie's ability at a young age to recognize that the ones he and his family had were bad because of the cheap soy sauce the restaurants used. and of course, all i could think about was how i wanted soup dumplings (but some legit ones, i need to have my friend joann take me!!) the memoir covered chinese/tawianese food; what is mother makes and from a trip to taipei he took when he was in high school. he discussed staples like minced pork, tomato and eggs, and beef noodle, all of which made me hungry!!!! to the point where i googled minced pork to see where i could get some (sadly i was in delano and the closest was bakersfield, i had to settle for the chinese food place we have in town, thankfully i didn't have to go with panda express.) but yeah minced pork is on my to-eat list, if anyone has a place to recommend, let me know.
the book has some great food-related stories. i especially enjoyed the story, eddie shared of returning to a dan-dan mian cart with his father. his father was part of a gang in taiwan. he learned from the owner that though his father was a hoodlum, he was very moral (this was exemplified when eddie was punished for stealing). eddie discovered that his father looked out for this cart owner and the owner did the same for him, and one day saved his father's life.
another story, i enjoyed was the story of eddie on the food network's ultimate recipe showdown. i need to look for it online. he sadly didn't win because reality tv is a joke, but he was the best, everyone off set agreed so. i loved how he came up with his recipe while stoned. actually the meat he cooked reminded me of something my grandpa used to make called red meat. and i love the irony of guy fieri encouraging eddie to not give up cooking.
it was great to read about how baohaus got started up. again i could have kicked myself for not being in the know. i mean i should have been more serious about moving to nyc back in 09, i could have found one of his craiglist listing. oh well. but definitely happy he found success and i can't wait to try baohaus on my next trip.
the book wasn't all food. with a title like fresh off the boat, culture and race were discussed. i enjoyed learning about his family history, especially his parents backstory. his mother being the loudmouth and always speaking her mind and his dad's gang background. though it was cruel, i have to admit that i thought his parents' put-downs of eddie and his brothers were hilarious. it's wrong to laugh and their comments were borderline verbal abuse but they were funny and honest. i mean i admired his parents for keeping it real but the physical abuse did go to far. i understand why people spank their kids but his dad did border abuse, and like eddie i am glad that the police went to their home to at least lessen the beatings they got. though eddie was bad and deserved some of them (i know its horrible to say a kid deserved an ass-whooping but sometimes they do.)
what shocked me the most about this memoir was eddie's compete honesty about all the trouble he got into growing up. he put everything out there. i mean i was a nerdy kid and so i was shocked to read about all he did. he reminded me of my friend larry, i always said if we knew each other in high school we wouldn't have been friends, i was too much of a goodie two shoes. but like eddie, my friend larry, got his shit together and became a better adult as should happen in life. your younger years are for fucking around.
i was also shocked by how intelligent eddie is. the guy went to law school! his intelligence is demonstrated best when he discussed the racism he encountered in life. from the kids in elementary school making fun of his lunches, up until his boss at the newspaper making a comment about his face. i especially enjoyed learning about his teachers and professors gave him the tools he needed to be able to question the society and recognize the racism that he was encountering. his theories on race and stereotypes were well-written, articulate and revealed many truths. it was refreshing because it was not something i was expecting.
fresh off the boat, not only schooled me on race but pop culture as well. eddie is very much into hip-hop, and his memoir is filled with lyrics and thankfully footnotes for the unhip like me. he is also into
sports, so i enjoyed those analogies as well. it was also an eye opener for me in terms of sneakerheads and street culture. i had to google to see what shoes he was talking about but they were very cool. i also enjoyed the lesson on polo, i looked up the sweatshirt that he referenced. it was a great lesson that subculture for me. oh and it was definitely cool that he made those obama shirts! i wish i knew about them cos i would have copped one.
as you can see this book covered a variety of topics: food, race, culture, hip hop, sports, etc. i mean it was highly entertaining and informative. eddie huang is an amazing person, he is more than just a chef or fun tv personality. he has a depth that i would not have expected. i admire him immensely and can't wait until i get to eat baohaus! and if you are going to read a book this year, make it this one. you will laugh, you might cry, you'll have an ah-ha moment about racism in america and learn some hip hop lyrics as well. oh and you will definitely get hungry! lol
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