My Other Favorite Food Podcast

I started my podcast around six months ago. I was stuck in my room for fourteen days after I arrived from the Philippines. This was not my first rodeo in the podcast game, but it is my first time doing everything from recording to publishing.

After deciding to make my podcast all about food, I needed references. When I googled “Filipino food podcast,” I could only see episodes from other podcasts where they talk about food in passing. There was no Filipino podcast that revolved around food. The obvious podcast choices which did talk about food were mostly from the United States. Big names such as Bon Appetit Foodcast, The Sporkful, and Spilled Milk just to name a few. These shows were great, but I wanted to find a food podcast that resonated with my Asian heart. That’s when I looked again for food podcasts in Southeast Asia, and stumbled upon this incredible gem.

Take a Bao is a podcast by Jun, a Malaysian chemical engineer turned food writer. It’s a food podcast that focuses everything around Asian food and the heritage, culture, and treasures that goes with it. His episodes include interviewing tea shop owners, chefs, other food writers, and more.

It is independently produced and curated. It is beautifully weaved as he would include a commentary about his interviews throughout an episode. As a podcaster myself, it takes a lot of work just editing the podcast interview. Adding other speaking sections within the podcast while doing it by yourself takes great dedication and passion.

My favorite episodes are episode eight (“Tea and Tranquility”) and episode two (“The Disappearing Coffee Houses of Malaysia”). It made me extremely curious about Chinese tea culture, and even influenced me to take the time to appreciate tea as I sip my own cup of tea, even if it’s just Lipton.

Episode 2- The Disappearing Coffee Houses of Malaysia

Also, when he talked about kaya toast on the second podcast, it made me really picture what it’s like to eat one in a kopitiam although I have never been to Malaysia. I immediately searched it on YouTube and went on a deep dive on Malaysian kopitiam culture.

You can check out the podcast, as well as his articles on his website, junandtonic.com. He also has a radio show called Breaking Bread that’s all about Malaysian food business.

I’ve tried reaching out to him to be on my podcast, and I hope that I could get to talk to him in the near future. For now, I’ll just wait for the next season while I watch other YouTube videos about Malaysian food.