Edwyn Charles Huang (born March 1, 1982)[1] is an American author, chef, restaurateur, food personality, producer, and former attorney.
Within a year, due to the financial crisis of 2007–08, Huang was laid off, and began working as a stand-up comic and marijuana dealer.
[24] Sam Sifton, a reviewer for The New York Times, awarded the restaurant zero (out of four) stars, and wrote that "if Mr. Huang spent even a third of the time cooking that he does writing funny blog posts and wry Twitter updates, posting hip-hop videos and responding to Internet friends, rivals, critics and customers, Xiao Ye might be one of the more interesting restaurants to open in New York City in the last few months.
[26] Fresh Off the Boat: A Memoir was released in early 2013, receiving favorable reviews from Publishers Weekly[27] and The New York Times.
Huang hosted Cheap Bites on the Cooking Channel at the end of 2011 and also appeared on several episodes of Unique Eats before leaving the Cooking Channel for Viceland, where he hosted a recurring segment, also called Fresh Off the Boat, which was later developed into an hour-long show and renamed Huang's World.
[8][29] In 2014, ABC ordered a television series based on his book, also titled Fresh Off the Boat, starring Randall Park and Constance Wu, with Hudson Yang playing Eddie.
[35] He has said that he mostly avoids watching it, though he admits there were two exceptions he tuned into: The episode with a DMX cameo in which he appreciated the interactions between DMX and young Eddie, which he talks about in his book, “Double Cup Love”; He also admits tuning for a few minutes to the episode where the family visits Taiwan, but didn’t like it.
[36] In August 2019, it was announced Huang would direct and write Boogie, a coming-of-age movie about a young Chinese-American basketball player's rise to prominence, starring Taylor Takahashi, Pamelyn Chee, Jorge Lendeborg Jr., Mike Moh, Dave East, Pop Smoke, Perry Yung, Alexa Mareka and Taylour Paige, with Focus Features distributing.
[37][38][39][40] Huang wrote the screenplay in five days with no plan or outline incorporating the themes that have defined his life such as basketball, feeling adrift in a country where he has always been in a minority, and domestic abuse.
[41] Huang drew criticism in May 2015 for comments he made about black women during an interview on Real Time With Bill Maher.
"[46] In New Bloom magazine, Brian Hioe wrote that Huang exhibits "misogynistic language and attitudes," non-conventional English speech and dress, and experiences with police that indicate an "adoption of a hip hop influenced persona.