Remi Cruz on her Twice bias, Maangchi, and being Lana Del Rey's favorite vlogger

You may know Remi Cruz from her 10 years of vlogging as MissRemiAshten, or her "Cooking with Remi" series, or her podcast Pretty Basic which she co-hosts with bestie and fellow vlogger Alisha Marie. But in March, Cruz reached a new echelon of fame when Lana Del Rey referred to her as one of "the vloggers who got [her] through Covid" in an acceptance speech at the Billboard Women in Music Awards.

Del Rey had run into Cruz, Marie, and their friend Oli Abbas before the show and immediately started gushing about how much she loved their content. "I was like Lana knows what YouTube is?" Cruz tells Mashable over Zoom from her Los Angeles home. "The biggest thing for me is that she knows what Vlogmas is. Hearing the word 'Vlogmas' come out of Lana Del Rey's mouth is something I never had on my bingo card, ever."

Now, Cruz says, they'll never get over it. "I will message [Marie and Abbas] and be like, 'Don't forget that that happened!' We'll be driving and listening to Lana and just be like, 'Oh my god!,'" she laughs. "It's crazy... On the way home [after meeting her] Oli was like, 'I can die happily. Like if I die right now, I'd be OK.' And I know he truly meant it."

In this interview, we turn the tables on Cruz to get to know her favorite creators, K-pop idols, and icons.

1. Juicystar07, "a lot can happen in a few years..."

Mashable: When I saw this Juicystar07 video I thought, "Oh my god, Remi and I watched the same OG YouTubers."

Cruz: She was the OG, she got me obsessed with YouTube. When I was in middle school, or very early high school, I was obsessed with her room tours, everything she did. I tried to scrunch my hair like hers — I had Asian, straight hair so I didn't understand why it wouldn't stay, but I would try every morning, every night. I followed all her tutorials. I'd decorate my room, moving my furniture to look like hers.

I watched her relentlessly for years and years and then she took a break. But she's the one YouTuber that all of the friends I've met through doing lifestyle content are inspired by. Alisha, my best friend, and I always talk about her. Alisha's the one that sent me the video with an all-caps, "OH MY GOD!" And so I had to watch immediately.

I'm interested to see where [Juicystar07] is gonna go from here because she is so OG YouTube and [in this video] she was very much like, "I know YouTube's not really as poppin' as it once was, maybe now I'll do short-form." I would love to see Juicystar on TikTok. 

In the video, she talks about falling out of love with content creation. I hear that from a lot of creators. But you've been hitting it so hard for years and seem to find some way through it, which is impressive.

Thank you so much! When I do [feel burnt out] I take it as a challenge to pivot and try different content which is why I really got into cooking. My main channel felt almost too broad; lifestyle is so broad that I could be doing a hair tutorial one day and then a room tour the next and while that's fun, I didn't feel like I had a niche to come back to and hone in on. So that was why I started "Cooking with Remi."

I don't get burnt out with vlogging specifically because it's my everyday life, and I don't really plan or filter anything. It just feels natural to me to grab the camera. It feels more unnatural to not grab a camera.

2. Maangchi, "Sweet and Sour Pork (Tangsuyuk: 탕수육)"

Maangchi is an iconic queen.

Iconic! Another OG. I have learned so many techniques and recipes from her. My parents are both of Korean descent, and my mom made a lot of Korean food staples.

Where I live now, I'm kind of far from any good Korean restaurant. So when I moved I was like "OK, I need to make it myself." I watch Maangchi if I crave a certain dish, like this sweet and sour fried pork. We always ate it going out, so I've been learning how to make it myself. It's one of my all-time comfort foods. She makes it with a technique that I never had even thought of before. I feel like she's very innovative but traditional at the same time.

Which technique?

When she soaks the potato starch in water! I never even heard of doing that before, but I just trust her. She says to do it and I do it. It turns out great.

What are your other current cooking inspirations?

I love the OG Food Network people, like Rachael Ray and Ina Garten, who is a huge, huge one for me. And there's just such a huge wave of TikTok creators who are doing very candid, in-the-moment cooking like "This is what I'm making for lunch." I love Snack Queen. Emily Mariko is an icon also. I get a lot of inspiration from TikTok.

3. Disneyland Vlogs, "disneyland day with the girls (+ schultzzie vid behind the scenes)"

I'm from Anaheim so growing up, in middle school and high school, when my mom didn't want to watch me she would just drop me off [at Disneyland]. That was like my babysitter [laughs].

I don't want to say I'm a Disney adult because they scare me. But I love Disney and have that nostalgia of growing up there. I don't like rides. I don't like roller coasters. I don't like going fast. I don't like spinning. I just go for the food.

This vlogger, I'm just obsessed with her. She's the one YouTuber that I will never miss a video [from]. I think she's so cute. I like to say that she's like me in a mom form, even though she's younger than me [laughs]. It reminds me a lot of my life: She loves gardening [and] going to Target. I was like, this is the same life!

She has polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) and I have PCOS. So when she was going through fertility struggles, I felt like I would resonate with that one day. I've been seeing this specialist and she was saying, "I see 20 people a day and every single woman will be completely different on the spectrum of PCOS." There's still so much research to be done.

When I chatted with the guys from Watcher, we also struggled with the label "Disney adult."

I have some Disney adult friends, and I have friends that are so against them. We get into some heated conversations at dinner. I feel like I'm very neutral. I'm like, "Let people have what makes them happy." I'm not one to judge, but I do think sometimes it can just be a little intense.

Honestly, I feel like I fall into Disney adult things sometimes. I'll wear a pair of ears always. I'll usually get a sweatshirt if I get cold, but I only wear it at the park, not outside. I guess I am a Disney adult to a degree.

4. Strictly Dumpling, "NEW #1 Best LOBSTER BRUNCH BUFFET in Las Vegas! Review of M Resort STEAKHOUSE Bruch Buffet"

I love his energy, and it perplexes me how he can eat so much and be so fit. His metabolism is crazy. Every time I watch him I'm like, "How? How?" I've been watching him on and off for quite a few years and then more recently, I've been binging. I don't miss a video.

I love Mikey because, for instance, when we went to Japan we looked up every restaurant that he went to and went to a majority of them. I think he has quality recommendations, and I just like watching his face. He seems so happy. It's not over the top. It's just perfect, where you know he's not lying. 

My boyfriend always wants to watch some action movie and I want to watch a romcom, and this [channel] is the one thing we can both agree on. So we'll sit there and watch that or the Try Guys' "Keith tries everything."

What's one Mikey recommendation you remember?

Anytime I go anywhere I look up where he ate. He gave me my best New York bagel recommendation: Brooklyn Bagel and Coffee Company. I went recently and bought 48 bagels and brought them home for my family. I brought a second bag to bring them back and went to CVS and bought gallon bags and sat in my hotel room bagging them up [laughs]. The bagel suitcase weighed more than my suitcase of shoes, makeup, and clothing. But it was so good. I gave them to my mom and my aunt and my friends when I got home. My bags still smells like everything bagel seasoning.

5. First We Feast, "TWICE Break Down Their Favorite Snacks | Snacked"

I'm a hardcore Once [fan of Twice]. I actually just went to MetLife to see their concert. That's why I got the bagels! I was there for the concert. I've only been a Once for maybe a year or so, so I missed their last tour. I made sure I got to New York for the last show [this year]. It was incredible. I didn't realize that MetLife is outside, and it was like 90 degrees with 85 percent humidity. My body was drenched. And I was like, "If I'm miserable, I can't imagine how hot and tired the girls are."

I've been into K-Pop for as long as I've been into YouTube, but I always like go through waves where I'm obsessed and then I fall out of love. I have to really get into it to become obsessed with them. I need to be on their bios knowing who's the leader and what their signs are. It's an investment.

I think I'm in it for the long haul now. I began with Wonder Girls, and then I was obsessed with Girls' Generation. I was like really into Sistar when they were around. When they disbanded, I cried really hard. I love Le Sserafim and (G)I-DLE. I love NewJeans. I'm really into XG now.

XG's synchronization is mind-blowing! I've never seen anything like it in my life. Who's your Twice bias?

Jeongyeon. I switch all the time, but I always go back to her because I just love her so much. She seems so sweet. I feel so connected to her. The reason I watched this video recently is because I'm doing a video on my channel where I'm eating like Twice for a week. I'm going to Korea in September. I want to see one of them on the street. I know I won't, but I want to.