Margaret Cho on Cheap Erewhon, California Rolls & the Hot Dog Debate

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0:35Margaret Cho:that my mom could put deer antlers and deer blood in the jar. Hi, and welcome to Snacks, the show where we dig into the craziest food obsessions of your favorite stars. I'm Jo Saltz, the editorial director of Delish, and today we have a comedy legend and absolute cultural trailblazer. You might remember her show All American Girl, but she's also been in Hacks and she's been in huge blockbuster hits like Face Off with John Provolta. Please welcome Margaret Cho. And we'll be right back.

1:11Margaret Cho:Where are you right now? Where am I catching you? I'm at my home in Los Angeles. Oh, amazing. We were just having a good conversation about LA and food in LA. Is LA a good food city? I think it's a great food city. Yes. Really great. All sorts of cuisine. I'm a big Korean food person and a big Thai food person. So we have Koreatown and a Thai town that's phenomenal. How long have you lived there? I've lived in Los Angeles since 1991. Oh, okay. So, so has it always been a great food city? I got to be honest. I feel like I have always loved LA, but I might be, I don't know. I feel like it only recently got good at food in like the last decade, decade and a half.

1:55Margaret Cho:Do you disagree? For me, it's always been because, I mean, my definition of great food city is those neighborhoods like Taitown, like Koreatown who, you know, Koreatown has been, it's the largest population of Koreans outside of Seoul, Korea. So you have so many wonderful, I mean, I love Korean food. I think it's really the best. So good. Such a varied cuisine. And it's so special. And a lot of the places here rival places in Seoul. You know, it's really phenomenal. So for me, it's always been, I think, more so in the last 10 years where you have this incredible influx of, I think it's like Nancy Silverton really was started.

2:39it and then you know that kind of um level of dining um which she brings you know somebody like her um and the you know the ideas that she's fostering you know that kind of stuff and um yeah so yeah in the last 10 years we are getting that chef's table level of um you know food but for me it's always been a great food city i really appreciate that and honestly you

3:08Margaret Cho:you grew up in San Francisco, right? Correct. Yes. So, I mean, which is, I would say, is maybe one of the best cities in the country to eat. Did you feel like that? Did you, did you, was food a big part of your life when you were a child? Oh yes. Food's a huge part of my life. I mean, you know, my mother's an incredible Korean chef and taught me pretty well, you know, but also we were able to go to all sorts of restaurant especially seafood that was a major thing every year um we'd have like dungeness crab season where we'd actually go down to fisherman's wharf and pick up a dozen or so crabs and they would cook them on the pier so you would see them fill up these um they're garbage cans but they were metal and they would just be filled with boiling water and then the live crabs huge ones that had been taken out of the bay just minutes before it'd be thrown in.

4:07And we would take those home with huge loaves of sourdough bread. And I remember that being such an event. You know, we just have this table laid out and it was just bread and crab. And, you know, my father would show me how to open up the crabs like you're taking out their batteries and breaking them down. And, you know, that was a very big deal in our house. um a lot of fishing you know my dad went on a lot of fishing trips all around uh the bay um so the seafood I think and the culture of the seafood was a big part of my upbringing in the 70s um there and the 80s as well so yeah very I mean and of course the Italian food is unmatched you know there's so good such a rich tradition of that um in North Beach you don't really think of

5:00Margaret Cho:I know that's true, but most people don't realize, you know, they associate more of the East Coast, New York with Italian. But the food, the Italian food in San Francisco is actually really extraordinary. It's an Italian city. I mean, these are the first immigrant, European immigrants to settle there in San Francisco. And so you have, it rivals Brooklyn, you know, it rivals New Jersey. It's as Italian as that. Yeah. Yeah. Tell me, I mean, first of all, it sounds like you had a really lucky childhood and that you got to experience such different things. I mean, I can't even imagine the Dungeness Crab experience as a child.

5:39Margaret Cho:I mean, I grew up in New Jersey. That was not happening there. There was nobody there were no big barrels of Dungeness Crab coming out of the Hudson River. But I would say, too, to have that kind of experience so young is probably really has established you as someone who cherishes food. Did you feel like your home? Did you have sort of like the same sort of traditional American, like 70s, 80s snack experience? I mean, I grew up in the 70s and 80s. And I just remember the snack universe being wild and all of that, you know, experience the supermarket snacks. Did you have those kinds of same experiences?

6:16No, we never got things like Twinkies or like when people had the ones that I really wanted were Ding Dongs or Zingers. Oh my gosh. or snowballs, you know, those things. Or when it was so like the height of luxury, when somebody would bring a Coke in a wrapped in tinfoil in their lunchbox. I was like, that is 100%.

6:39Margaret Cho:Yes, height of luxury, or even like a Capri Sun, you know, that kind of stuff. I was just like, how could they ever? And we had almond, my mom had almond mom tendencies. And she was also very into Chinese traditional medicine. So we would have these big jars of Skippy, like the peanut butter, but they would be emptied out so that my mom could put deer antlers and deer blood in the jar. So they would be in the refrigerator and you would think that you're, I'm going to make a peanut butter sandwich and you open and it was full of coagulated deer blood because she would do shots of coagulated deer blood in the morning because that was just, you know, that's what you do, you know, if you're living in our house.

7:25Margaret Cho:What was the what was the purpose of that? What what did she think that was doing? It's like an iron supplement. I mean, it makes sense. You know, it makes perfect sense. It's just it just feels like not a thing you want to open as a child. No, it was just that kind of elixir. I mean, it's kind of I mean, it's very Joe Rogan of her, You know how all those guys, they love to take all those supplements that are like just liver and stuff like that. It's just basically that are the origins of that. Yeah. Yeah. All put in a skippy jar. So you would it was we didn't have snacks and anything that looked like a snack.

7:59It was suspicious because it was probably a repurposed thing. That was probably the most gory example of what we would have. But we had a lot of, you know, preserved seafood. Like my mother would do a whole bunch of like seafood preserves. So the big thing was squid and she would break that down into almost like a squid, like a jam because it would have a lot of red peppers and a lot of Korean spices. And you would ferment that down into a kind of condiment. So that there was a lot of that in our refrigerator, a lot of preserved fish, a lot of dried fish, a lot of that kind of stuff. so when you came home after school what was your go-to snack um probably ramen probably hot dogs those are the things that were kind of snackish so they also discovered Costco I think pretty early and so we'd have like big packages of buns like hot dog buns and we have big packages of hot dogs and kind of like, yeah, endless supply boxes and boxes of ramen.

9:11So you would have a lot of that.

9:12Margaret Cho:Actually, so then that's a great question that we've asked here on snacks, which are hot dogs a snack? And it sounds like definitively, yes, you think so? Yeah, I mean, I think hot dogs are a snack. I don't think hot dogs are a sandwich. That's the main thing that I have a problem with. I don't think hot dogs are a sandwich. I don't think a brat bratwurst is a sandwich. I don't think any kind of tube to meat long is a sandwich but then you get into the salami which is also a tube kind of meat so then baloney it's all the same stuff so why why the girth of it is where you have the problem how it's sliced i see i see like girthy meats are more sandwich based and non-girthy meats are not a sandwich i understand i well i appreciate the logic here because I think we're going to get a lot of people having to.

10:02Margaret Cho:We're going to get a lot of people. I don't know. I keep making that joke. Like, are people listening to this? Who even knows? I have no idea. We all love snacks. And hot dogs are definitely a snack because a hot dog isn't really enough to sort of constitute a meal unless you're eating two or if you have chili on it. Or I love a hot dog that has a lot of pickles and pickle relish. I also like a Chicago style with the tomatoes. tomatoes and everything i i love i'm a sauerkraut person oh i do i think i'm i love a i love anything i do really do love fermented things so i love like very much yeah very similar to kimchi so i like a kimchi hot dog with like some mayonnaise and some um like seaweed on top uh that sounds great that's very good that's very like vancouver um i have i haven't had one yet but i would like a Colombian hot dog, which has a lot of like pineapple, along with like pickles and stuff like that to me seems very delicious.

11:01Margaret Cho:Yes. And then there's I believe there's like a Chilean hot dog that's got like mayonnaise and avocado on it. Yeah, that sounds great. Which also sounds fantastic. I mean, honestly, I actually really appreciate this because my dad was a really big hot dog fan and I feel like I grew up and my dad was my family was Lithuanian. And so it was like everything was like kielbasa and, you know, those kinds of fermenty cabbages. And I love that. It's so delicious with a stone ground mustard, like a horseradish mustard. And I also like a nice L.A. street hot dog outside of the club where you get the bacon and green peppers and onions.

11:39I think those are absolutely delicious.

11:41Margaret Cho:What time of day is that? What time is the appropriate time of day to eat an L.A. street hot dog? That's probably like a two in the morning, maybe one. It's a perfect thing when you're walking out of a nightclub, you know, and it smells so good. And you you feel like that's very Los Angeles to me. I think. Yeah. Tell me a little bit about your stand up life as you know, and as far as food is concerned, because I have to say I've had a few a few performers on who've really talked about. how exhausting it is to be on stage and how food you really do need to fuel yourself almost more like a marathon runner like that you really it's doing gels like you're taking gels and I feel so bad for like long distance athletes who have to just suck down a gel awful in the The whole experience.

12:39Margaret Cho:Or like those bikers, those guys on the bikes who are just eating. I don't even know. They've got something strapped to their body and they're sucking something through a straw. It's so hard. I'm just like, oh, Lord, have mercy. That's so tough. But what do you remember? I mean, because I do feel like when you were first out doing a lot of stage work, what do you remember about your food life back then? What was it like to eat? Was it late? Was it gross? Was it fun? No, it's good. Well, I always love comedy club food because usually it's kind of finger like they do. They do love a little like a bagel hot dog or like a little sausage with kind of like a little bagel dough around the outside with a mustard.

13:18Margaret Cho:Like a little like a cocktail cocktail or whatever. Like, yeah. Pick it up. I love that. Or nachos. It's a big comedy club food. I love a chicken tender. I love I actually still really love comedy club food. I always eat whenever I'm working. then uh you know um i always have um some supply of something in my hotel room so i love a sour candy a trolley oh a worm what's your what's your shape what's your what's your trolley shape gosh i i think i like the gummy worms but then i also like the octopus oh yes the octopus is kind of good too that's a deep cut that is golden i like that answer i love a haribo like a coke bottle i love a coke bottle that's sour that's a little rarer that's more of like a dylan's candy bar like kind of that's yeah i was gonna say that's like next level i like a haribo cherry i'm a cherry i like a cherry one that's really good i do love an old school uh gummy bear um i Did have some really good gummy bears that were put out by, I think, a hot sauce company.

14:31Is it like Frank's Hot? There was a weird collab that was like gummy bear and then also a hot sauce and not Tabasco. Tabasco doesn't really do that kind of thing. Maybe it was Frank's.

14:42Margaret Cho:We'll have to do that research. Maybe it's Frank's. But that sounds like not a great matchup, but you're telling me I'm wrong. It was good. It was good. I do like a spicy candy. I love a cinnamon, like a red hot, like a cinnamon. Interesting. Like definitely super spicy is really fun for me. How about super sour? Do you like those? You like a super sour? I like a warhead. Well, it's like kimchi. Yeah, it's like kimchi. Oh, kimchi. Yeah, kimchi. But like a warhead or like a real, like one that comes in, like, again, the garbage can, like a miniature garbage can where it's like toxic waste. Yeah, yeah, yeah.

15:18I love that stuff. Toxic waste. Yeah. Zots. Zots is good.

15:23Margaret Cho:See, the sour stuff I like, I can only have so much of. I love a sour patch kit, like a traditional sour patch kit. And I am actually like, so is gummy your go-to? Like gummy is your candy? Gummy is my go-to, but I always also have to have chocolate. So I always have a couple of boxes of C's in my going. They're like, and it's got, it's like the double row. Yeah. And I always do really well at Christmas because everybody who I'm in business with knows to give me that for Christmas. So I usually get, you know, a good like 10 pounds or so of like a double row of like assorted with nuts. Yeah. And so I'll have in my household, I'll have a couple of those going most of the time.

16:12Margaret Cho:and I have to ask though you eat everyone and I have never met someone who actually likes every single I don't like everyone but I'll eat everyone because I don't I don't look at the legend and try to discuss like you know I don't I just open it and take whatever's there and then I leave all the wrappers so then that is that's renegade you're not looking at the I'm sorry not looking at the map is like that is like that's that is next to i i couldn't even i if i if the map is gone i'll throw the whole box away i can't i just i cannot be left so i don't want to be surprised i understand because there's some that are not good there's like three or four in there that i'm like i really wish i hadn't eaten that but you know which one give me one that you won't eat i don't know like sometimes the the maybe the cherry one i'm not mad about 100 not i yeah because why does it have to be so the cherry cordials i'm never it's just so weird and kind of too much fashioned and like i don't really like a maraschino cherry anyway and i don't know why you would incorporate that because the also the chocolate and the nuts are so good like why would you make it weird like you just made it so 1950s like that why did you make it so gooey it's kind of over you see you almost know which one it's going to be because it's the really circular one yes it's always the round yeah that's literally the only one I can really throw out but it's that this is so funny to me because the C's I feel like we get so much candy here like at the holiday time too like it's people send us the the boxes and it is though like people the first thing you hear people going like where's the map where's the key where's the key like I can't I couldn't possibly be left to just choosing this at random.

17:56Margaret Cho:No, I know. I don't even look at it. I mean, yeah. I do love that for you, though. And we'll be right back. Just like a perfect homemade recipe, every great wardrobe starts with great staples. Takarnak is your destination for elevated classics, from perfectly fitting jeans to timeless tees and button downs you'll wear on repeat. With new arrivals dropping daily, there's always something fresh to discover. Visit tnuck.com.

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18:58Margaret Cho:I have to ask the one snack that you absolutely cannot be trusted around because you will eat the entire thing. I do think it might be peanut butter pretzels, you know, with the peanut butter inside. Yes. So like combos. I like combos too. I like the ones for Trader Joe's also. but yeah like what if they have a lot of the kosher salt on the outside any kind of pretzel i really go hard for a pretzel i'm not as i like chips but i'm definitely more pretzel focused what's your chip flavor i actually just busted out the black truffle chips they're so expensive they're eight dollars yes and um that's a lot for like a bag of chips it's not even that big it's no that's a lot but it's so good um i haven't tried the same brand i think it's torres or something it's from spain they it's like the truffle and then they have a birrico ham i haven't tried that one but i'm sure i will like it where are you finding these amazing chips.

20:07Margaret Cho:I'm like, they're not at my Wawa. They're not at Wawa. They're not at my Wawa here. Those chips, you could probably get them. I'm sure they're probably at Whole Foods. I got them at the Italian Deli. There's a really good Italian Deli in Glendale. That's where I went today. It's called Mario's in Glendale. It's really, really good. And do you get like food there? Like do you get like lunch or something there? Yeah, I'll usually get um what'd you get the well today i got the spicy all of the spicy cold cuts in one sandwich and then they do like um the oil and vinegar and then like all of the pickled like the pickles the hot pots the you know italian relish all that stuff is really good on a really fluffy bread so it's nice and then the sandwich is like it's like i don't even it's it's longer than 12 inches It's a very, very girthy.

21:04So it's a couple of meals. Got the girth on it. Nice sandwich. Yeah.

21:08Margaret Cho:And how much? Is it a good price? Crazy. For the sandwich, it's really good. For the size, it's probably about$16. The best deal. The best deal in town. It's so good. Get two meals? Get a couple meals. Maybe three. It's so big. And then I got a couple of cannoli, which was really good. You cannot beat. That's the one place where I think I can have a maraschino cherry because it's so dug in there. It's kind of, I don't mind it as much. Yeah, it goes right down. Cannoli is so hard to do well. And you have to really go to the Italian bakery or the Italian deli. You can't just, I think it's very specific.

21:55Really, really good.

21:57Margaret Cho:No, speaking of Costco, they do have a cannoli-like kit there, and it's never as good. I mean, I live in Jersey, as I told you, and we've got good Italian delis. Actually, we had Buddy Velostra, the cake boss, on here, and I really feel like his bakery, his father's bakery that he runs, Carlos, from Hoboken, is like, I think they do some of the best cannoli around, truly. And once you've had a good Italian cannoli, you can't ever go back. No, you can't. It's so you cannot go back. It is just such a special, such a special dessert. It's kind of, it's kind of like a cookie, but it's, it's not, it's so uniquely its own thing.

22:39It is my favorite kind of sweet treat. You know, the crispness of it. You also have to eat it right away. You can't let it sit around.

22:47Margaret Cho:No, absolutely not. So let's talk about your childhood again, because I know, you know, I know Korean food was obviously so close. What is the like, what's the snack that actually sends you back to your childhood? What is like the Korean snack that you really remember? Korean snack that I remember. Well, it doesn't seem like a snack, but it was for us. It was California roll, which was such a kind of in the you know, it was like in the 80s. So I think it probably had just been invented or something. and so it was just sort of novelty and so my mother would make them in big rows and with the artificial crab which that was also fairly new as well so she would make them in big rolls and just cut them up and we would have them that and kimbap kimbap is the korean called korean sushi it looks like sushi but it's yes yes korean pickled vegetables and sometimes there's a little bit of meat in there um but yeah those they're they're kind of basted with sesame seed oil those are really really really great she would make those at home yeah yeah you would just roll it up really tight just like sushi and sushi was a very big part of my childhood you know there was so much seafood all around and um so my mother was constantly making huge platters of sushi and And it wasn't, I sort of didn't really consider it even like a gourmet thing or even like a fancy thing.

24:15It was just really just stuff that was every day.

24:19Margaret Cho:It's interesting because you haven't really, you've talked a little bit about spice, but like was spice, were you into spicy even at a young age? Because that's not something that's necessarily usual. No, no, not as a young person. And I would actually, my mother would have a little thing of Sprite that she would wash the kimchi in so we could eat it. So we would have like 7-Up or Sprite and she would wash the kimchi. So wash the spices of it and then we can just eat it there. So then, so there was a little bit sweet so that it would go down and so that we would eat it. And then my mother has like an asbestos mouth.

24:56She's still very tolerant to all spices. I am also now I've I almost can't eat it if it's not spicy like I really I was gonna ask like

25:06Margaret Cho:what's your what's your tolerance what's your mom's tolerance level on a scale of one to ten ten she's probably a ten I'm probably about a ten nine maybe nine uh sometimes it's so spicy I have to tap out like there was a um pot up a hand pulled noodles at this place and um it would they were doing a co-promotion with hot ones on that show and they have to you it's actually they when they when you order it they warn you they're like are you sure because you don't get ready to make you sign up do you make you sign a waiver you didn't have to sign a waiver but they did give you a look like are you really sure you want to do this and i'm like yeah so i i had i ordered it and i sat at the counter and the the staff are like watching me eat it and i was okay for the first several bites and then it really got me because that there's something about the numbing spice that is just it becomes suddenly intolerable and you cannot drink enough water to to make it go away and um I almost couldn't breathe but I'm still there was staff was watching me and I'm trying to choke it down and I I really I I just um I couldn't do it and I was so disappointed but I I do like it really hot.