NEW YORK – Recently, Awkwafina, the talented actor, comedian, and rapper, found herself feeling under the weather and decided to make soup. This was a surprise to her because she hasn’t always been the type to whip up a warm bowl of goodness. “If I had told myself like a year or so ago that I would be looking at ingredients to make a soup, that would be like insane,” she laughed. “Like, a soup? ‘Hell, no, it’s just a hot liquid.’”
Awkwafina’s newfound love for cooking is largely inspired by her upcoming project: her own restaurant! Her journey is featured in the eight-episode Apple TV series “Awkwafina: The Unlikely Cook,” which premieres Friday. The series follows her transformation from a novice cook to someone who can create delicious meals, including learning to make stir-fry at the Culinary Institute of America and waitressing in downtown Los Angeles.
“I have these friends that are cooking up all kinds of stuff all the time. And I always felt like I was never going to be really a member of that club,” she shared. But Awkwafina found cooking to be surprisingly accessible. “It really is a world that you can step into anytime. No one’s going to tell you that you can’t do it or you’re not good enough.”
Interestingly, Awkwafina, born Nora Lum, comes from a family with a rich restaurant background. Her family once owned Lum’s, a famous Cantonese restaurant in Queens, New York, which operated for four decades before closing in the 1990s. To honor her family’s legacy, Awkwafina plans to reopen Lum’s as a one-night pop-up, traveling across America to explore and recreate beloved dishes from her childhood.
Her culinary adventure took her to Texas, where she added her twist to barbecue spare ribs, and to Hawaii for a pupu platter. She even learned to make chicken chow mein from Martin Yan, a famous Chinese TV chef, and tried her hand at making Peking duck, joking, “I love giving ducks Brazilians.”
This journey is not just about food for Awkwafina; it’s deeply personal. She is motivated by a desire to honor her father and grandmother, who raised her after her mother passed away at a young age. “I feel connected to my ancestors because I’m repeating dishes in a process that they did,” she said. “Making food is an act of love in every way.”
Executive producer David Brindley noted that while the series initially aimed to explore Asian American food, it evolved into something more meaningful. “It sets it apart, I think, from lots of other food travel shows because it’s got an authenticity at the heart of it,” he explained.
Throughout the series, Awkwafina worked hard to learn the restaurant business. She waitressed at the Golden Dragon banquet hall in Los Angeles, mastered Korean-style dumplings from chef Roy Choi, and collaborated on the pop-up’s menu design. Ultimately, she chose a pizzeria in Manhattan for the pop-up, which served 50 guests.
Awkwafina was impressed by how many Asian American chefs are returning to the culinary industry—an industry their parents had hoped they would avoid. “Their parents came here and worked in kitchens, started restaurants and takeout places so that their kids could become lawyers and doctors,” she observed. “And so to see people go back to their roots, it’s almost like rebellious.”
As she prepared for the pop-up, Awkwafina experienced stress and discovered a new side of herself. “I had never seen myself ever be flustered, be serious, rushing around,” she admitted. “That was really weird to see.” Viewers witness her evolution from struggling to make ramen with Spam to confidently creating complex meals, suggesting enhancements and flavors.
Awkwafina is so inspired by her journey that she is now planning to reopen Lum’s for the long term, rather than just as a temporary pop-up. “Without the show, I don’t think I would have been able to do that confidently,” she said. “I would not have been able to just dive into that.”
Brindley believes viewers will enjoy watching Awkwafina’s transformation from a cooking novice to a restaurant owner. “What the show does is say to the viewers that it’s never too late to try something new, try something different, and you, too, can master that. That might be food, it might well be something else,” he said. “That is, I think, really inspiring.”
