Why Are Asians Are NOT Picky Eaters

Are Asians the least picky eaters in the entire world? Let's talk about it. Yeah, is it because we are more open or is it because Americans are more closed? What is the reason? Well, I'll tell you this, man. I've seen you guys eat some things out there I wouldn't even touch. Yeah, this is sparked by a viral Reddit thread called, is it my imagination or are picky eaters much less common in the Asian community versus the American general collides community? Yeah, and there was this whole discussion about the different reasons, whether it's the families is it beat out of us? Is it just Asian cuisine and Asian flavors are so good it makes everything taste good? Is it part of our culture? Do we feel some pressures to keep eating the weird things to preserve our culture and to keep our identity? Anyways, guys, we're gonna get into it. So please hit that like button and check out other episodes of the Hot Pop Boys. But real quick, a word from our sponsor, which is going to appeal to picky and non-picky eaters, Smiley Sauce available at smileysauce.com right now, guys. You can put this on any sort of carb. You can put this on proteins. I'm telling you, from Sichuan to Sicily, it is unlike anything available on the market right now. Made with real truffle, check it out. There was also, Andrew, a really interesting study that came out of the UK saying that potentially it is genetic. There is a thing called 6-N-propylacobacter rossosil, aka Prop, Andrew, and more Asians actually have this on our tongue and it allows us to taste and potentially enjoy the bitter flavor. Oh, bitter flavor. And basically, Andrew, in layman's terms, it's called being a super taster. More Asians have potentially more angles to the tongue. Whoa, so we got more sensors. Yes. Wow, we're like a Tesla. We got all the sensors. We can see all the people moving and all the things. Yeah, anyway, guys, long story short, Andrew, I do think that it is a global stereotype that Asians in general, and what are we gonna define as Asians, Andrew? I'm gonna go ahead and say it is people on the 75th longitude and east of that, okay? The 75th longitude, it's pretty much like cuts India and then, you know, I would say that this part of the world is stereotyped in good and bad ways for just eating a lot of things, right? Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, for sure. Obviously, guys, we know the jokes. I'm sure there's gonna be some comments here. Andrew, Andrew, it's not just the jokes in 2023. It's viral IG videos. No, no, it's true. I mean, I think it's kind of true because, listen, you see the videos, all right? From the villages mostly, right? And I know what comments are happening in our comment section right now. Oh, well, that's why you guys read them. Woof, woof, woof, you know, you guys like that stuff. It has happened. Let's accept it. It doesn't happen that much anymore, but yeah, you know, in certain parts of the world, you eat all types of stuff. Yeah, and I think that that's like eating all types of stuff on the delicious end too, though, right? But obviously, people are gonna focus on like the things they think are violations. But I think it feels like, and this is why people are asking this question, it's not that, you know, people in remote areas or, of course, poor people of any part of the world probably don't kind of weird stuff, but I think it's that a lot of Asians take pride in it or we feel like we have to or we enjoy it. Are you saying where like the Appalachian Mountains, like Duck Dynasty, Louisiana, Backwater, that's almost like they eat a lot of weird stuff there, but it's shamed or like novel. Yeah, and I don't even think that stuff, like, how can it taste good? But anyways, I mean, maybe, maybe it does. Don't talk about them alligator bits like that. You don't know. Hey, you know, I roasted a squirrel before. Put a little Cajun on it. That thing tastes like a frog or whatever. I don't know. It could be from the French side, the Cajun and the Korean. Yeah, that's true. I will say this, Andrew. I think a lot of Asians, when we eat things, even if we don't like a certain cuisine, we rank it more towards zero on an XY axis, whereas I feel like in America, when people don't like things, they rank it like negative five. Do you see what I'm saying? Where it's like, even things I don't like, I don't really dislike them that much. Oh, so you're like saying, what's something you don't like? You don't love intestine. Yeah, I don't love intestines and I would put it near more, like on a negative five to a positive five charge. I put it more towards a zero or a negative one. Wait, but I don't, I think Western people would put, you know, irony, kidneys and livers, intestines. I like negative 26 on the chart, off the chart. I feel like what you're trying to say is that Asians are just less repulsed by anything. We don't love everything, but we're like, if it's cooked and we're like, if this is how it's supposed to be eaten, I'll try it. And I think we're open to more cooking formats too. For example, Andrew, Greeks and Italians, I'm not saying like Greek and Italian Americans, they like pulpos, right? Which is grilled octopus and they often leave the tentacle intact, but it is grilled. But Asians, sometimes we might just like steam it or cook it in a hot pot where it like, it almost just looks like the octopus is still alive, right? Or eat maybe even a live octopus tentacle, right? Chopped up. I've had live octopus, yeah, fresh octopus. So I'm just saying that like, some people are gonna be like, where's the limit? Like we said, like an Americanized person won't even eat octopus. Then the Mediterranean, Iberian Peninsula, they'll eat it grilled and then Asians eat it live with the wasabi. So I'm just saying it's all levels. I guess there's just different levels, yeah. And not everybody has to live by a global Westernized, like British standard, right? Or Anglo standard from America. I mean, I think everybody has its own adaptations. Like we said, Andrew, people in France are famous for eating a lot of foie gras and frog legs and et cetera, right? Exactly, exactly. But they don't really get blamed for eating weird things, but they definitely eat like all different types of little birds and stuff. And I think the last question is, how much does that Asian culture transfer to you as a second generation Asian American, right? Some of us are really in touch with it, but Andrew, we all know people who almost are like, they more adapt to the American methodology. Like we have friends of friends who have children now. It's an Asian American couple. They have kids, but they're not even eating anything adventurous. They're not eating chicken feet. They're not trying to eat livers or any of those little parts anymore. Because the parents don't even indulge in it, right? Or even tripe. But these are like 35, 40 year old Asian Americans that are married now, and they're not gonna really stretch their taste buds. Therefore, they're not gonna feed their kid any tripe or chicken feet, because they're not gonna push it on their kids. So you're saying that the strong iron stomach will not be passed down for the other generations. Yeah, I think part of being Americanized though, is saying, ew, that's icky. You know what I mean? No, that is part of mainstream generalized American culture. I would agree with that. You're just, you do lose a little bit of Asian points for saying, ew, icky. Like, I'll turn down some intestine dishes, but if it's cooked really well, I'll just eat it. Yeah. You know what I mean? But I'll try a bite. I might not go get 20 bites. But I'm not gonna be like, ew, no way, dude. Right, and you know, I just have respect for it, because it's just somebody's culture, to be honest. You know, I think I'm fascinating. And also, isn't there that kind of exploratory gene in you? See, maybe, David, maybe you're Asian. You don't just have more sensors on your taste buds, but you also got that gene inside you that says, I gotta try it, I gotta know what that's about. I gotta absorb the knowledge, and I need that in my data bank. So you're saying it's like food flavor, tongue colonialism, versus like actual take over another place in it. Well, maybe not colonialism, but exploring. Conquering. Exploration. Yeah, yes, exploration. Age of exploration, more like the Portuguese. Anyway, let's just get into the comments section. Somebody said, Asians will eat it, but if it's prepared bad, they will complain every single bite all the way to the finish. No, no, I'll tell you this. If it's too expensive, we'll complain all the way through. Yeah. You know what, if it's something that's cheap and tasty and a good value, I'm gonna check it out. Yeah, but that's funny because I think that this is a really interesting distinction. It's true. If your Asian parents don't like something, they'll never be repulsed generally enough to throw the plate off the table, but they will just let you know constantly that they don't like it. Guys, let's put it this way. Asians are hardly ever a hard no, right? But other people, and let's just say, I know a lot of American people, white and black, primarily, they're a hard no on things. Yeah, Latinos tend to be a little bit more open, I would say. Yeah, but black and white people I know, they're like, nah, nah, I'm not eating it, nah, nah. No, it's a hard no, it's a hard pass. Somebody said, you know, the thing is, our parents really just tell us what to do, so they're not gonna have chicken nuggets or chicken fingers ready for us if we don't wanna eat what they cook for the family meal. Right. Yeah, I do think a lot of Asians eat family style too, right? It's not like everybody's gonna be able to pick like an airplane ride, you know, chicken or fish. Nah, let's be honest, I mean, I think Asian parents oftentimes will shame you for not eating it, especially if you come from like a middle class, lower middle class family, they're gonna be like, what are you doing? Just eat it. You're not gonna have food if you don't eat it, you know? Right, right, right. Or like, talk about the kids back in the motherland who don't have food, right? Because Asia did go through a lot of poverty as well, right? Oh, you know what I hear a lot? I hear a lot of Asian parents not tell their kids what they're eating. I've heard that's happened. Yeah, that's a way to do it too. Yeah, somebody said, kids on my mom's side grew up eating this Chinese intestine soup, absolutely delicious. I'm not gonna lie, for me personally, I'm like a four out of 10 on intestines. I really don't prefer it, but I'll eat it if that's what everybody's having. You're Americanized. Yeah, other people said, I'll eat anything, but bitter melon is my hard pass, no zone. That's hilarious, of all the things bitter. Bitter melon's not that bad, man. It depends on how you prepare it. Bitter melon in a soup or with the black bean stir fry is not bad, but I get it. I don't order it all the time. They're not making use of their super taster panel. Well, only one of the few people who got that super taster panel on the tongue and you're not utilizing it. Bitter melon's one of those things that if dad makes it, I'll eat it, but I will not order that dish at the restaurant. Somebody said, it really has to do with the quality of your parents' cooking growing up. If your parents are good cooks, you'll learn to eat everything because they generally know how to make everything taste good, whereas bad cooked parents, you know, some parents are not good at cooking. Right, right, right. Yeah, that's true. We have to acknowledge that. Somebody said Asians put a lot more pride in veggies in general, whereas like Western people, they have the protein and the veggies very separated, where Asians, they cook everything together. Superior veggies. Yeah, somebody said it really just comes down to American parents respecting individuality, so when they see that their kid doesn't eat something, they see it as part of their personality that they need to respect because they want their kids to be individuals, whereas other people around the world just tell their kid to shut up and eat it. I don't know. I don't know about this one. Maybe. Yo, there was an article though that apparently said that French kids are also forced to eat things that they don't like. French parents are just like, what are you doing? We are French, you have to eat it. You have to eat the liver. A lot of Asian people like French culture and French cuisine. Yeah. Somebody said, I don't really think it's Asians being less picky eaters, but it's really being American and Canadians having gone through that weird industrial revolution in the 1950s due to World War II and commercialization, so Americans and Canadians generally became the most picky eaters. Yeah, well, I think that essentially the way the industry is is you're sticking to only four or five different meats plus a little bit of seafood here and there, but it's not venturing out. It's like, what are the animals that you can farm? Because that whole thing about eating chicken feet is you're not gonna eat it in America unless it's from a different culture. There is no American chicken feet dish because they're just like, well, we'll just take the chicken feet and throw them in chicken nuggets maybe. You know, maybe, possibly. I do think it has to do with the industrialized food revolution of the 1950s. I heard England went through the same thing, Andrew. They said Quebec province in Canada is a perfect example of a place where you can still find blood sausages, snails, and frogs quite easily. Yeah, also I think it's, like you said, standardization, every form of meat is in a way that you recognize, like a steak, a burger, right? That's beef. How else do you eat beef? Literally, rib, steak, burger. Ground beef. Yeah. Yeah, it's very much removed from its natural look, right? You're eating chicken wings, chicken breast, chicken thigh, boom. That's it. Yeah, somebody said nowadays in 2023, it's kind of weird, but it's a marker of class to be gluten-free. Oh, I don't eat that. That's icky. I'm vegan. I'm non-GMO. It is a new bourgeoisie measuring stick, and I have noticed that some Asians are starting to fall into this as well, because if you do not have medical or religious needs, it's very bougie to have, like, preferences. Yeah, I do think that's true, and Andrew, this leads us to another point of this video. Apparently, picky eating is going up. The rates of being a picky eater are going up in the Asian community. Yeah, yeah, well, I think, listen, it's inevitable as Asians become more Americanized, and they do move up economic classes, they probably will not eat certain things as much due to the lack of necessity. When you don't need to eat the liver, when that's not the only food that's on the table, you're gonna choose not to eat it. Yeah, I think it's a trend that I recently actually started to notice amongst people, even that had traditional upbringings when they were young. Yeah, yeah, I do think that some people feel like, hey, you know what, I did well for myself, so I don't have to eat that stuff. And it's not to say, like, that you're not ever gonna eat liver again just because you made it, just because you got a nice, cushy job. Right, I don't need to eat funky things anymore with that, you know, that iron organ flavor. But it just means you're gonna eat it less, so if you are judging how picky you are on how often you eat that thing, then yeah, sure. Yeah. Well, also, to be fair, if you're Asian American, you're very open to cuisine, you're eating all these other cuisines, and all these other delicious dishes from other cuisines, therefore pushing the weird dishes down the priority list. Yeah, I think that that is a good point, because if you try the best 10 non-weird dishes, or non-organy, or non-intestine, more primo-cut meats from other cultures, that's still, in a way, being open-minded. Yeah. Because it is true, let me be clear here, I'm not a huge fan of organ meats, and they absolutely are lower on the hierarchy. Like, if you pick organ meats over regular, delicious, you know, like a ribeye, that is rare. I mean, think about it, if we go to a Chinese skewer restaurant, David, how many chicken or lamb skewers are we ordering compared to chicken heart skewers? We might get one chicken heart skewer, and that's it. Yeah. I like chicken cartilage, though. Don't sleep on that one, that one's really good. Somebody said, it's not just high-class people who get really picky about foods. In a way, lower-income people are really picky, but in a different way, because they're so used to eating like bags of chips, or like ultra-refined things. I mean, you know, this is like a really broke person, but you know, like, I've met homeless, picky people. I've met them, and it's not like, whatever, two eats your own, but I try to give them food, and they're like, it's just Chinese food, I don't need it. No, it's true. No, literally. It happened like, at least 10 times. I had a homeless guy ask me, like, what's in it? Like, let me see. And I was just like, dude, do you, like, listen, man, I'm not, like, here to pitch you on this. I'm not presenting the food like a, like, here's the deal. I'm like, it's food? I just ate some of it. Do you want the leftovers? I mean, I'm not gonna lie, like, I remember when I was in middle school and high school, like, a lot of people, they got free lunch, but they wouldn't even eat it, because they thought that school lunch was gross, and they would wait to go get McDonald's after school, too. So that was like, it was crazy, because school lunch, for me, that was my time to indulge in American cuisine, because the food at home was so Chinese. Somebody said, I noticed that a lot of Asian people are almost professional foodies, and being a foodie is part of their identity, so that makes them extra adventurous and open-minded, because it's, like, kind of like their thing. Yeah, I mean, Andrew, Yelp Elite, a lot of food bloggers, I do think it's a disproportionate amount of Asians are super foodies, and like we said, that might be a combination of everything we just talked about. The parents putting it on the kids, family meals, coming, eating a bunch of different weird cultures growing up, your own culture, your homie's culture, you know what I mean? Whatever, whatever, whatever. A lot of Asians aren't really open. Honestly, a lot of famous food bloggers are Asian, like maybe a disproportionate. I feel like a lot of Asians, man, to be down what they think is down, they're like, yo, I'm down, I'll eat that, yeah. And you're like, oh, all right, cool, you must be down to earth, you know? We always make that joke, like if a girl likes to eat chicken feet, you know, she's probably down to earth. Yeah, yeah, yeah, no, I mean, there's probably some legitimate thinking about that. Andrew, ultimately, Andrew, let's just get into our takeaways. How your parents raise you, the cultures that you do or do not identify with growing up, they ultimately have a huge impact on your life, your language preferences, your food preferences. These are things, generally, when you come from a culture, that take thousands of millennia to develop. You know what I mean? And thousands of millennia, holy crap. Millennia, I meant, because that is a thousand. Millennia. But I'm just saying, it really depends, because, but the interesting thing enough is, there is even picky eaters overseas. Like, you could be raised in Japan and be a picky eater. Somebody was saying, my friend is from Japan and he doesn't like the smell of dashi, even though 60% of the foods in Japan are cooked with dashi. So I guess what I'm saying is, you know, there's the old way, there's how your parents raise you, but then also what you see when you look in the mirror. Listen, everybody's picky to an extent, but it's about how you feel about it. Are you ashamed or are you proud of being picky? Like, no, I don't eat that. Are you kidding me? Versus, I'm good. Versus, I'll just avoid it and I don't wanna say anything. Right, you're saying, don't be super proud of being like, y'all are weird for eating that. Y'all are lower than me in society for eating those things. Yeah, whatever. Yeah, I just think, let us know what you guys think in the comments section below. Do you guys think that Asian-Americans are generally the least picky eaters on earth or Asians in general? Yes, no, and what are the reasons behind it? It was an interesting article and an interesting discussion. Until next time, we The Hop Hop Boys, we out. Peace.