Kalen Allen is a man with discerning tastes! The YouTube sensation, who made a name for himself thanks to his hilarious commentary of recipe videos on the social platform, recently stopped by Us Weekly’s New York City offices to play “We Tried It” – a game that featured him sampling a variety of trendy foods.
Allen, who has become a fixture on The Ellen DeGeneres Show after first appearing on the program in 2018, kicked things off by trying some mochi. The Japanese dessert is a sticky rice dough that has been wrapped around various ice cream flavors, and it’s become increasingly popular in recent tears.
“It’s like a pimple,” Allen said as he used the fork to pierce the sweet treat. Still, despite its questionable consistency, Allen agreed the food wasn’t bad. “There’s an aftertaste to this,” he explained. “It’s not, like, a dessert kind of taste.”
A bit later on in the video, Allen tries another Japanese food item, only this time was much less enthused. The food in question was wasabi-flavored seaweed, which the social media star greeted with skepticism. “Ain’t that hot?” he asked.
Upon taking a little nibble, Allen’s fears regarding the flavorful food were realized. “That’s terrible,” he declared. “That is absolutely atrocious. And it was dusty!”
In a second video, Allen dishes about how he went from college student to social media superstar after seeing a cornbread recipe video and releasing a clip of himself commenting on it. When that video quickly went viral, Allen kept on going and a phone call from “Ellen DeGeneres herself” soon followed.
“I remember exactly where I was when I got the call,” Allen said of his first interaction with the Finding Nemo star. “I was in class … I literally got up out the seat, ran outside and picked up my phone.” Allen then told DeGeneres he was willing to do “whatever you need me to do.”
These days, the Kansas City, Kansas, native holds a regular guest spot on Ellen and has his very own weekly digital news series, OMKalen, where he gives his one-of-a-kind commentary on hot topics and trending stories of the week.
For more from Allen, check out the videos above!
