- Ali Wong says she's been frustrated getting Asian food with non-Asian people in the past.
- She recounted being asked countless questions after taking out friends who begged her to go to dim sum.
Ali Wong said that she's gotten frustrated while getting Asian food with non-Asian people who bombard her with questions and sometimes express disgust during a meal.
During a segment on "The Kelly Clarkson Show," Wong and host Kelly Clarkson discussed one of Wong's "beefs," referencing the title of her new Netflix series "Beef," in which she stars alongside Steven Yeun. The beef in question — getting Asian food with non-Asian people.
"When I was living in New York and a bunch of stand-up comics would be like, 'Take me to dim sum, I wanna go to dim sum,' and then we'd go to dim sum and they'd be like, 'What is that? Ew! What is that? What is that? What is that? What is that?" Wong said.
"And they're basically asking, 'Why is that not a sandwich?'" she continued. "And it's like, 'you asked me to take you here!" And also, with dim sum, it's all pork and shrimp. Just eat it."
Dim sum is a meal composed of small plates and is part of the Cantonese food tradition. These dishes may include har gow, a shrimp dumpling, loh mai gai, glutinous rice wrapped in lotus leaves, shu mai, a steamed dumpling, and chicken feet, amid a number of other classics.
Clarkson told Wong that she thought her frustrations were going to lie in non-Asian people gravitating towards "the most Americanized basic" culinary items, like choosing chicken tikka masala from the breadth of Indian cuisine.
"It's more when people are squeamish," Wong said. "And ask a ton of questions."