Instagram Is Nodding Off To Padma Lakshmi's ASMR Post
Mukbang is basically the equivalent of ASMR, but for the foodie crowd. Both mukbang and ASMR turn one particular seemingly ordinary act like eating or whispering into a sensory experience imbued with the power to affect viewers on an almost primal level. Now, just imagine combining the two: What would that even look like, let alone sound like? Padma Lakshmi has shown her fans exactly what that would be.
If the mukbang-ASMR mashup that "Top Chef" host recently posted to Instagram is any indication, then it might very well look like Padma Lakshmi enjoying herself a delicious-looking snack of the popular Indian street food pani puri while looking into the camera and offering a whispered play-by-play. Lakshmi's fans and followers on Instagram were not only vibing quite nicely to it but also finding themselves nodding off to the video, if not fully falling asleep for the night. Either way, Lakshmi's followers appeared to love the video.
Here's what happens when Padma Lakshmi whispers while eating street food
On March 3, celebrity chef and endometriosis spokesperson, Padma Lakshmi posted a winking mukbang video to Instagram. In the post she whisper-narrates while she prepares and noshes on the Indian street food pani puri. The dish consists of a bite-sized puffy cracker (kind of like a clam chowder cracker, only much bigger), filled with a "dribbly joyful mess" consisting of chickpeas, and tamarind water, and spices (via The New York Times). As Lakshmi hoists the crackers and doles out a little sweet here and a little spicy there, her daughter, Krishna, who provided the inspiration for the video, pops in and out of the frame. So too does Divina the dog.
"You might need to turn the volume up to get the full ASMR effect," Lakshmi noted in the post's caption, along with "sincere apologies to anyone with misophonia." Misphonia involves being unable to hear certain kinds of sounds without becoming intensely angry, anxious, or repulsed (via Nature). Apparently, whispering can provoke a reaction in some people who deal with misphonia. She needn't have worried, however. Instagram basically loved every second of it — to the tune of well over 24,000 likes. The comments section was basically wall-to-wall hearts, flowers, smiley-faces, and, occasionally, their verbal equivalents. One wrote, "Had me at the first 10 seconds." Another said, "This is the Mother Of All Mukbangs." Another fan commented, "ASMR at its finest."