Every night, before Akemi drifts off to sleep (and I read for another two hours before eventually turning in), we like to watch a little something.  Sometimes, it’s one of the food-themed shows on Netflix, or the latest episode of Top Chef.  Most of the time, however, it’s a youtube video or two.  We have a handful of go-to channels.  These are our favorites…

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Mark Wiens (Joined: February 2nd, 2009.  Views: 416,773,985.  Subscribers: 2M)

He’s based in Bangkok, Thailand but travels the world, eating and documenting said eating.  He’s adventurous and, while I’m not entirely convinced I’d want to sample all of the dishes he tries, I admire his willingness to go all in.  His euphoric yummy face is now classic.

Here’s one of my favorite Mark Wiens videos documenting a day long taco tour in Mexico:

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Simon and Martina (Joined: February 1st, 2008.  Views: 418,831,699.  Subscribers: 1.3M)

A couple of fellow Canadians (and Torontonians no less!) document their lives in Japan, covering everything from food to fun.  Akemi is especially fond of their dog Spudgie and cat Meemers.  I, on the other hand, particularly love the relentless undercurrent of competition between the host couple.

Here’s one of my favorite Simon and Martina videos which has it all: the thrill of victory, the agony of defeat, and donuts.

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Guga Foods (Joined: July 30, 2015.  Views: 3,866,258.  Subscribers: 56,144)

I’ve really cut down on my consumption of red meat over the years, but this channel is directly responsible for my recent uptick.  Host Guga, with the help of his assistant Angel (whose assisting really just consists of sampling the final product), grills up variety of top cuts, all the name of research!

Here’s one of my favorite Guga Foods videos in which he puts a variety of steak tenderizing techniques to the test.  Deeeeelicious!

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Sous Vide Everything (Joined: January 20, 2017.  Views: 17,378,506. Subscribers: 175,850)

Another channel hosted by the busy Guga, this one with a focus on sous vide…but again, the star is the meat!  Here, his sounding tasting board is the animated Ninja.

One of my favorite Sous Vide Everything videos is this recent upload in which he surprises Ninja with some Australian wagyu strip loin.  Ninja nearly loses his mind:

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Paolo from TOKYO (Joined: October 23, 2016.  Views: 6,948,301.  Subscribers: 78k)

When I first came across this channel while doing research for a Tokyo trip, I was admittedly on the fence about its very animated host.  But in time, he grew on us. There’s no denying his enthusiasm!

Paolo hits Japan’s most famous fish market in this video, Best 10 Tsukiji Street Food:

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Strip Panel Naked (Joined: June 2, 2016.  Views: 508, 153.  Subscribers: 18k)

A rare non food-related channel, this one dedicated to art of comics.  Out knowledgeable host, Has, offers fascinating breakdowns and analyses of comics and comics art.

Check out his very first offering, a loving study of a 2014 issue of Moon Knight:

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Seto Koji (Joined: April 9, 2010.  Views: 708,409,871.  Subscribers: 1.4M)

Finally, Akemi’s favorite is this Japanese youtuber who covers just about everything that catches his interest.  Akemi finds him absolutely endearing.

Pressed for her favorite video, she agonized for a while, and finally settled on this one in which our affable host checks out bespoke online shop Zozotown:

So, what are we missing out on?

16 thoughts on “June 4, 2018: Our Favorite YouTubers!”

  1. I highly recommend ‘Pitch Meeting’. It’s a hilarious take on recent movies, and a few older TV shows like Seinfeld and Friends.

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  2. My most-watched.
    MyVirginKitchen, who cooks small manageable things, (eg, the sort of stuff I’d be able to cook!) but also the occasional giant food item, along with mini items and even some odd clear things, too. When he started the channel, he was very much a kitchen virgin, and it’s been interesting to watch him and his skills grow over the years.

    Andrew Huang, who creates so much music, in so many different styles, it’s a wonder he’s not a megastar by now.

    TechMoan, who reviews new and old technology, and shows off all kinds of crazy forgotten audio formats.

    And then a whole load of videogame and game development stuff, but you wouldn’t be interested in those 😉

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  4. I don’t subscribe to many food related YouTube channels. I’ve just started watching My Virgin Kitchen which is amusing. So many Dad Jokes! I’m looking forward to him building a wood fired pizza oven. I also watch First We Feast.

    I watch a lot of maths and science related channels. Computerphile, Numberphile, Sixty Symbols, Objectivity, Periodic Videos, Deep Sky Videos, Smarter Every Day, standupmaths

    I also watch some computer game, TV and movie channels: Channel Awesome, Loading Ready Run, HyperDrive, Next of Ken, Screen Junkies, Bad Lip Reading

    And some random stuff like: Roger Web (wood turning, CNC milling, etc), Beyond The Press (destroying things with hydraulic presses and thermite), Tom Scott (all sorts of interesting things), 12tone (music theory), Simone Giertz (shitty robots), Action Movie Kid (dad uses VFX to put his son into awesome situations), some bloke called Joseph Mallozzi (mostly posts dog videos), Peasnatch Akemi (eating strange foods)

    You should check out DUST for some cool sci-fi short films.

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  6. Thanks for the YouTube tips. It’ll give me something to do at work!

    I don’t watch many cooking/food shows, but have been meaning to catch Ugly Delicious on Netflix. For some reason, my wife, who loves food shows of all kinds (and is currently hooked on Andrew Zimmern), is uninterested in checking it out. I guess that explains why I’ve yet to bother (that, and the million scripted shows I watch).

    My hands-down favorite all-time YouTube channel is SciShow. A rotation of hosts, headed by Hank Green, answer all manner of questions you didn’t even know you wanted to ask in approximately 5-to-15-minute videos.

    Who hasn’t wondered why butt hair exists or just how hard it is to make a decent self-driving car? Did you know avocados shouldn’t exist or how science protects you from poop in simple, everyday ways?

    I swear, I could watch all day, and nearly have.

    And finally, my favorite indie shorts come from shortoftheweek.com.

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  8. There’s only a few that I subscribe to. Birdtricks.com is a parrot training site, the Crash Course series, which is awesome, and a few nature/wildlife ones. I also subscribe to a certain Akemi Aota, but she doesn’t upload as many videos anymore. 🙁

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  9. I can’t watch cooking shows before bed. It would make me too hungry. 🙂

    I like “Good Eats”, “Pioneer Woman” and “Dinner with Tiffany”. They are all low pressure, and have tons of personality added.

    How was the move? Did the cable guy show? How do the girls like the new place?

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  10. I really liked when the Travel Channel had Man vs Food with Adam Richman. He went to some cool places in the U.S. and ate a lot of huge amounts and extremely spicy stuff. The guy they have now on MvF is very annoying.

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  12. Hey Joe!
    Long time no read. Two weeks ago I returned from a 16 day trip through Japan. My first trip there! It’s been a childhood dream of mine to go there and it was as good es expected. I would have loved to stay for 6 months or a year. I would even love to work there for a while, even though their work ethics is more extreme than the German’s.
    That video about the wagyu beef… of man. Best meat on earth. I never had anything like it. The food quality in general is a dream for me. Food quality here has dropped badly over the years. People just don’t care much, which I don’t understand in the least.
    I will definitely go back to Japan in a few years. I’m also picking up my Japanese studies again. This time I’ll be more serious about it with a goal in mind.
    Goodness, watching all those videos made me hungry…
    All the best to you and Akemi!
    ~Birdy

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  13. Well, since you asked…I’m going to shamelessly plug my son and his friends’ YouTube Channel: Adventure Archives. Four 20/30-somethings hiking and camping and thinking about the meaning of life (they do all their own filming, editing and music composition too!). Give the Mt. Whitney one a try!

    Reply

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