The Umami Reader: Pork Bun vs. Typhoon. Pork Bun ALWAYS WINS
- A 53-year-old Taiwanese woman won the hearts of food lovers around the world this week when she decided, "Typhoon and broken umbrella, be damned – I'm eating this pork bun!" Associated Press photographer Chiang Ying-ying captured the woman, a fruit stand owner, eating her pork bun in the midst of Typhoon Megi, a powerful storm that rocked Taipei on Tuesday, killing four people and injuring more than 250 people. After the photo was published, she quickly became an internet hero in Taiwan and beyond. (Buzzfeed; via Dianne Martinez; photo by Chiang Ying-ying, Associated Press)
- Speaking of delicious Chinese pockets of meat, have you had a gigantic soup dumpling yet? Apparently, they're all the rage in New York right now, selling out within minutes of opening at Drunken Dumpling, the tiny East Village restaurant that makes them. Like normal soup dumplings, each is filled with a gelatinous filling that liquifies when steamed. But these dumps are yuuuuuge! So big, in fact, that there's no way you could pick one up and place it in a spoon, to eat like a normal soup dumpling. Instead, you have to poke it with a straw, Capri-Sun style, and sip out its contents first. (Eater)
- This week, Cup Noodles turns 45 years old! First invented in 1958 by Momofuku Ando, instant ramen in a cup hit shelves in September 1971 to the joy of poor college students everywhere. It's reported that Ando, who lived to age 96, ate chicken ramen every day of his life! Cup Noodles super fans take note: The next time you're in Yokohama, be sure to visit the Cup Noodles Museum, where you'll find a "floor-to-ceiling display of every flavor of instant ramen put out since the mid-20th century; a kitchen to prepare fresh ramen noodles; a sprawling assembly line — reservations required — to create your own Cup Noodles concoction to take home." (NPR; via @samayoukodomo)
- To celebrate his 30th year at the Chronicle, last week, food critic Michael Bauer chose the 30 most important Bay Area restaurants in the last 30 years. Scroll down the years, from Sushi Ran in 1985 to In Situ in 2016. (San Francisco Chronicle)
- Being a restaurant worker and a parent has never been easy. The hospitality industry is notoriously unfriendly to those who want to start a family, so it's welcome news that changes are a-coming. Danny Meyer's Union Square Hospitality Group is introducing a company-wide parental leave plan that provides four weeks of paid leave for all new parents. (Eater; via Kelly Geary)
- There are two kinds of people in the world: Those who put ketchup on their burger and those who dip their burger in ketchup. Andy Warhol is a dipper. (A scene from 66 Scenes from America by Jorgen Leth; via Hidden Below)
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