BRADY NG

  • How to Kickstart Your Own Bug Diet

    I spoke to the designer who has created a sleek setup to help you grow, harvest, and cook your first meal of worms from the comfort of your home.

  • Good Snake Wine Should Taste Like a Meal in a Shot Glass

    Drinking homemade snake wine can be lethal, so I sought out some professionals who know what they’re doing. The Cheung family's version—with added geckos—was sweet and salty, with just a touch of amphibious flavor.

  • How China Shops for Groceries

    Earth’s largest economy has suffered food scare after food scare. As a result, a vigorous grey market of smuggled food supplies parts of the country with goods from abroad.

  • This Bean Curd Paste Is the Black Gold of Burma

    Pon yay gyi, or black bean curd paste, is common ingredient in Burmese meals, cooked with pork and served over rice, or as part of a salad on the side. It also happens to be delicious.

  • In China's Tea Mecca, You've Got to Brew Your Own

    In Chinese culture, eating until you burst is considered a normal part of mealtime, and pu'er tea has digestive benefits that aid those moments. I recently explored Yunnan province hoping to spoil myself with some quality brews, but the search was more...

  • Why Italy Didn't Steal Its Noodles From China

    You've heard that tired old trope about how Italy stole pasta from the Chinese. But that the greatest culinary theft in history didn't actually happen: The world's great pasta dishes sprang up independently.

  • A Culinary Tour of Chungking Mansions

    Walking into the main entrance of Hong Kong's Chungking Mansions is like walking into crossfire. But inside these buildings, secret restaurants serve up fried chicken, fufu, naan, and more.

  • The Heavy Metal Beer Brewers of Bangkok

    Brewing beer without a license is illegal in Thailand. In Bangkok, there's a small but revolutionary group of homebrewers who are changing the craft beer scene who are using the qualities of heavy metal as inspiration.

  • Tea Leaf Salad Is a Greasy Equalizer in Myanmar

    Lahpet thoke, a national dish of Myanmar, is nothing more than some pickled tea leaves tossed with tomato slivers, double-fried beans, sesame seeds, and a healthy glug of garlicky oil, but it's still enjoyed by everyone in this rapidly reforming...

  • This Zombie Caterpillar Fungus Is Hong Kong's Hottest Specialty Food

    Hong Kong's favorite specialty food item—priced at thousands of dollars per pound—is a creepy, almost flavorless fungus that zombifies caterpillars and then grows out of their brains.

  • Hong Kong's Snake Soup Heats Your Blood

    At Hong Kong's Se Wong Heep, every drawer is labelled with two crimson Chinese characters: “poisonous snakes.” A bowl of its thick, slow-cooked snake soup is the perfect to counter the yin effects of a cold winter.