Awkwafina Can’t Cook — So Naturally She’s Getting an Apple TV Series About It
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Apple TV has just announced a new unscripted food-centric series, The Unlikely Cook with Awkwafina, starring award-winning comedian, writer, and actor Nora Lum, better known as Awkwafina (Crazy Rich Asians, Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens), who also executive produces.
In the series, Awkwafina embarks on a personal journey, traveling cross-country to explore contemporary Asian American cuisine. The eight-episode series follows her as she uses cooking and travel to connect with her childhood memories and take a closer look at the culture that shaped her.
Lum begins exploring her culinary roots in a familiar place: an iconic Cantonese restaurant in Flushing, New York, which bears her family name. Despite her family owning one of the first Cantonese restaurants in a now thriving Chinatown, and her growing up around the family business, Lum says she can’t cook a lick. She admits she’s the type of cook who could ruin instant ramen.
“I’ve never been trusted around a kitchen, so I thank everyone involved for opening that part of my house up to me,” said Awkwafina. “Food has been a huge part of my family’s history, and to be able to explore and reconnect with that legacy has been an incredibly rare and very special opportunity.”
The series follows Awkwafina as she interacts with restaurant owners, chefs, and her relatives, exploring the traditions that underpin her family heritage — and trying to pick up skills she never learned in her younger days. A running theme throughout the show is that food is more interesting when it’s used to understand where a person came from.
The Unlikely Cook with Awkwafina is produced for Apple TV by Twofour and is executive produced by Lum, David Brindley, Itay Reiss, and Caroline Davies. This marks the second collaboration between the production company and Apple TV. A premiere date for the series has yet to be announced.
The first is the popular, Emmy Award-nominated travel series The Reluctant Traveler with Eugene Levy, which follows the SCTV alum and Emmy Award winner as he travels to hotels around the globe, exploring the surrounding areas and their cultures along the way. Sort of like a version of Somebody Feed Phil — with less eating. The show has run for three seasons so far, with season one premiering on February 23, 2023, season two on March 8, 2024, and season three on September 19, 2025.
The Unlikely Cook with Awkwafina is not Apple TV’s first food-focused series, as the streamer also debuted the documentary series Knife Edge: Chasing Michelin Stars last month, produced by celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay.
The eight-episode series, hosted by food expert and Topjaw co-founder Jesse Burgess, visits restaurants in New York, Chicago, the Nordics, the UK, Mexico, Italy, and California, as they chase their first, second, or even third Michelin star.
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