Malaysia’s top YouTube food star is a Canadian – Trevor James, aka The Food Ranger, on his love of Asian street cuisine
- Trevor James’ extreme enthusiasm for seeking out delicious street food in obscure places across Asia chimes with his 4.6 million subscribers
- But he laments how more developed countries throughout the region, including China, are losing their street-food heritage
To say that Trevor James is enthusiastic about food is somewhat of an understatement. Malaysia’s top YouTube food personality – better known as The Food Ranger to his 4.6 million subscribers – litters his video titles with dramatic hyperbole, capitalised words and copious exclamation points.
There’s the “level 9999” kola bhorta he tries in Bangladesh, and the “god level” cemita sandwich in Mexico made by a dexterous Puebloan woman whom James earnestly dubs “the sandwich ninja of Mexico”.
His sincere enthusiasm doesn’t just bring in the clicks on social media, but also wins the hearts of the street food vendors and hawkers that James interacts with during the course of his gastronomical adventures. It’s also what gets James invited back to the food carts and kitchens of hawkers around the world, where he dives in headfirst to observe the creation of a huge range of local dishes.
“It’s amazing that we get to do what we do, and I’ve always found excitement in travelling all over the world,” James says. “It can be challenging to come up with new ideas, to create a long-form video every week – but I wouldn’t trade it for the world.”
The 32-year-old blogger has been filming his food tours and uploading them to YouTube since 2013 when he was an undergraduate, almost exclusively covering street food. He used to run his Food Ranger channel as a one-man show, but his wife Ting has since joined him on the production side. “I do the eating and the editing, and Ting does the filming and trip logistics,” he laughs.