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  • - We're back for part two of our Worth It Taiwan series.

  • Today, we're doing soup.

  • - Taiwan style.

  • It's amazing 'cause it's so hot in Taiwan,

  • and yet, they love their soup here.

  • - It's eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner,

  • so many great dishes to try.

  • But before we get there,

  • Steven where are we?

  • - We are here at the Jingzaijiao Tile-paved Salt Fields.

  • Is that right Inga?

  • - Jingzaijiao.

  • - Historically one of the earliest

  • salt-producing areas of Taiwan.

  • Ocean water comes in, the sun evaporates it,

  • and you're left with salt.

  • Speaking of salty liquids.

  • - Sweat?

  • - No. - Oh.

  • - We're doing soup.

  • - Today on Worth It,

  • we're going to be trying three Taiwanese soups

  • at three drastically different price points

  • to find out which one is the most worth it at its price.

  • - It's so windy.

  • - The typhoon just passed.

  • - We're heading a little bit north of the city of Tainan

  • to where, Inga?

  • - We're going to Chiayi to have some fish soup

  • at Lin Cong Ming Yu Tang.

  • - Lin is my last name, and cong ming is smart,

  • so we're just going to, like, the smart version of me

  • fish place. - Oh wow.

  • That'll be a extra special treat.

  • (jazzy music)

  • - Taiwan is very hot.

  • - Yes.

  • - [Steven] Soup is a very hot food.

  • Why do Taiwanese people love soup so much?

  • Taiwan was a poor place.

  • It's easier to feel full adding soup to the meal.

  • We've been serving this soup for the past 60 years, since my grandfather's time.

  • What's special about this is we cook 100 servings in one go.

  • The taste can only be acquired by using such big amounts of ingredients.

  • The essence of the abundant ingredients is condensed in one bowl of soup.

  • - What kind of fish is in the soup?

  • We mainly use silver carp and salmon in our soup.

  • Silver carp is a native Taiwanese river fish.

  • Our salmon is imported and it's quite popular among gourmets.

  • Our broth base is made with pork bone and water, cooking from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m.

  • Meanwhile, preparing the rest of the ingredients.

  • Napa cabbage

  • Garlic

  • Onion

  • Scallion

  • Non-GMO tofu

  • Next step is chopping up the fish and deep-frying them.

  • Why is the fish fried and then added afterwards?

  • There was no refrigerating to preserve the fish back then in Taiwan.

  • My grandpa opted for deep- frying to dehydrate the fish.

  • It also helps to absorb the broth when submerged in the soup.

  • I noticed that customers can come back with their bowls

  • and get more broth.

  • It's a tradition of the restaurant.

  • We strive to treat our customers like family. You should eat to your heart's content at home.

  • It's also thanks to the continuous support of our customers that we can cook in such great quantity.

  • That allows a continuous flow of soup for everyone to share.

  • (cash register dings)

  • - Ooh!

  • - Oh...

  • Yay...

  • (Steven speaks in foreign language)

  • - What's the plate for?

  • - For the fish bone.

  • - Oh, fish bones. - Oh...

  • - Is this your beer?

  • - Yes, it's my fish beer.

  • - Cheers, Steven.

  • (bottles clink)

  • (trumpet music)

  • Look at that logo.

  • Fish soup beer, I am blown away.

  • - Cheers in Mandarin is...

  • (Steven speaks in foreign language)

  • Is that right?

  • (Andrew speaks in foreign language)

  • - Okay, that was very unexpected.

  • Wow, again.

  • - Wow, a thousand times.

  • - This is very refreshing.

  • - It is.

  • - Give me one word.

  • - Wow.

  • - [Steven] So this is the marquis piece right here.

  • I'm just gonna bite into this.

  • (Andrew groans in satisfaction)

  • - This is like a dish that dares you

  • to want something else.

  • You want vegetables?

  • Boom, we got it.

  • You want tofu?

  • Forget about it.

  • You want pork?

  • We got it right here.

  • You want fish? Boom.

  • Fry it? We can do it.

  • - Yeah, when she was listing the ingredients,

  • it was just like the NBA All-Star Game.

  • And here we have the tofu!

  • Next up, cabbage!

  • - Y'all ready for this?

  • (Steven laughs)

  • Chiayi is also very famous for turkey meat sauce over rice.

  • Customers always get the combo of turkey rice and fish head soup in here.

  • Turkey rice.

  • I love how this soup, with all of this stuff,

  • they were like,

  • "Nah, you still need some turkey rice."

  • - That's right.

  • If there's one thing we learned here in Taiwan,

  • you cannot leave a restaurant hungry.

  • They will assault you with food.

  • In the most lovingly way possible.

  • - Yeah.

  • (upbeat music)

  • Mm, it's just turkey meat and fat on a bowl of rice.

  • It's great.

  • If you weren't an adventurous eater,

  • this would seem like a scary bowl of food,

  • but it all just kind of blends into this big soft hug.

  • I don't know.

  • It tastes nice.

  • It's a kind taste.

  • - That's exactly how you say it in Mandarin though.

  • - Really? - Good eat, right?

  • Good taste.

  • (Inga speaks in foreign language)

  • - Means good eat, good taste, yeah.

  • - Let's spread the kindness.

  • (Andrew slaps hand on table)

  • - Once I finish this meal,

  • it will be so long until I get to eat this again.

  • And that makes me sad.

  • - I know, this whole trip is actually just--

  • - It's sad. - The worst.

  • (Inga speaks in foreign language)

  • - That soup was incredible.

  • In the rainbow of soup to stew,

  • this was somewhere in the middle in like the--

  • - Stoup? - Stoup

  • section, yeah. - There it is!

  • - So before we get to our next soup,

  • we decided to get some treats

  • at the Garden Night Market in Tainan.

  • - [Steven] This is my favorite treat at Night Market.

  • It is a peanut roll with ice cream and cilantro.

  • - [Andrew] What?

  • Cilantro in a dessert?

  • I guess it makes sense,

  • we put mint in desserts,

  • and that's just

  • another green leaf. - Oh, I didn't even

  • think of that.

  • Cheers? - Cheers.

  • - [Steven] Huh?

  • Huh? - Oh.

  • Huh? - Oh.

  • I like dessert cilantro.

  • So our next soup is actually going to be hot pot.

  • - Hot pot fact!

  • - Archeologists have found pots from two thousand years ago

  • that may have been used to make an early iteration

  • of hot pot.

  • These were found in the Anhui province of China.

  • - Wow, old hot pot.

  • Dude, hot pot for me,

  • every Thanksgiving in the Lin family,

  • we always, always, always eat hot pot.

  • - It would make sense that soup was one

  • of the oldest things humans ate.

  • - Yeah just water, throw some stuff in there and eat it.

  • - Tomorrow, hot pot.

  • Inga where are we going?

  • - We are going to A Yu Niu Rou Sha Sha Guo

  • to eat some beef soup.

  • - That's what I'm talking about.

  • Beef soup.

  • Get that hot pot, throw some beef in there,

  • throw some soup in there, throw some veggies in there.

  • Whatever you want, we're gonna eat it.

  • (Steven coughs)

  • Excuse me.

  • I choked on a peanut.

  • Why do you love hot pot so much?

  • Life is perfect while you enjoy this pot of delicious broth and beef.

  • Room temperature beef shabu-shabu is known for its freshness.

  • The cattle are raised in the mountains all over Taiwan.

  • Then butchered in the government-run slaughterhouse in the Shanhua District of Tainan.

  • The beef comes straight from there after being butchered and inspected.

  • - How often do you get the deliveries?

  • Every meal.

  • Every meal?

  • For example, the beef served now during lunch was butchered this morning.

  • Therefore the beef has this natural sweetness and QQ (chewy) texture.

  • We saw that it arrived by taxi.

  • Is it always come by taxi?

  • We paid the cab to pick it up because we're too busy in the store.

  • That's so cool, the meat takes a cab to every meal.

  • (everybody laughing)

  • It takes about 6-8 hours to make the broth.

  • The first layer of ingredients is beef bones.

  • Second layer is stacks of beef brisket.

  • We use about 264 pounds of brisket for the broth.

  • Topping the pot with one bag of vegetables and fruits each.

  • There's also vegetables in the dish already?

  • The vegetables in the small pot is to bring out the taste of the broth.

  • Cabbage is the star of the pot.

  • The vegetables really complement the broth and make the hot pot perfect.

  • For someone who's never had hot pot before,

  • how do you eat it?

  • Dip the beef in the boiling soup around 3 times/5 seconds and it's ready to eat.

  • I always recommend eating without condiments first.

  • For the second bite, try the beef with a bit of our special sauce.

  • My husband is in charge of extracting the prime cut out of the beef.

  • The freshly butchered beef is quite soft and requires great skills with the knife.

  • He is so good with the knife! Every piece comes out with the same thickness!

  • You also have this pork rice.

  • It's free for all the customers?

  • My husband is a generous guy.

  • He wants the customers to have the rice to go with the delicious beef shabu-shabu.

  • Perfect combination!

  • (everybody laughing)

  • (cash register dings)

  • (jazzy music)

  • (Andrew and Steven speak in foreign language)

  • We've eaten a lot of beef on this show,

  • but this is some of the prettiest beef I've ever seen.

  • The color is ridiculous.

  • Cold-brewed oolong.

  • This is one of the coolest things.

  • It's like, tea snow globe.

  • And it's got the net in the--

  • - [Steven] No way!

  • - [Andrew and Steven] Cheers.

  • - Mm.

  • - [Andrew] You wanna start with this one?

  • - [Steven] Let's do it, the shoulder cap.

  • - Cheers, Steven.

  • - Whoa.

  • - [Andrew] One, two,

  • three. - Wow.

  • Going in.

  • One.

  • Two, oh no!

  • (Andrew laughs)

  • - This smells incredible.

  • - Cheers.

  • - Oh, that's nice beef.

  • - We're just getting to eat really nice steak.

  • - Yeah. - With soup.

  • - And you get to eat it the second it's done cooking.

  • - Mm!

  • - I'm gonna try the same piece of meat this time,

  • but now dip it.

  • Shabu, shabu.

  • Ooh.

  • - Shabu.

  • - That rocks. - Can I get in there?

  • - Yeah.

  • You should absolutely. - All right.

  • One.

  • Two.

  • - Whoa. - Three.

  • - Like you're baptizing the meat.

  • (Steven cheers)

  • - [Andrew] The dip is awesome.

  • - Okay.

  • That's doing it right.

  • - There's two great ways to enjoy beef.

  • You either cook it very briefly

  • or you cook it a really long time.

  • This is the best of both worlds.

  • The quick cook beef and also the super long cook beef.

  • - 'Cause the soup is a 10 to 12 hour,

  • steeped in beef bone soup.

  • - But enough about beef.

  • Pork break. - Pork break.

  • (Andrew and Steven groan in satisfaction)

  • - At first this did not make sense to me.

  • But it's because the beef is so precious,

  • it breaks up the flow,

  • so I don't just crush my plate of beef all in one bite,

  • like I want to.

  • - Well, and also, this bowl of rice is bringing me

  • more comfort than my body pillow.

  • - What?

  • - I've had the same one for over 10 years.

  • It's hard to sleep without it.

  • - [Adam] Change pillows

  • more frequently. - Wow.

  • - No, I wash it.

  • - That explains a lot about you.

  • - It's like a teddy bear.

  • We all have that, like, item.

  • - Yeah but now mine is in my parents' attic,

  • because I stopped sleeping with it after the age of eight.

  • - Why would you give up something that's so comfortable?

  • - All right, we're gonna have the broth now.

  • We've finally reached the soup part of the meal.

  • Ooh, the smell though.

  • - Cheers.

  • - Ooh, that is nice.

  • It's not so beefy, actually.

  • It's got like--

  • - Fruity flavor.

  • - Yeah. - Like, apples or something.

  • This is the best way to close out this meal.

  • - Yeah, this nice gentle landing.

  • It's like when you have a delicious sauce

  • and you want a piece of bread to mop it up

  • to get all of the sauce.

  • Here, you just drink the sauce.

  • (patrons talking in background)

  • - Hot pot.

  • - That hot pot was so good.

  • Okay, so we've come to Taichung for our final soup.

  • But before we have that, we're gonna have some cold drinks.

  • - That's right.

  • We're going to Ten Ren,

  • one of my favorite places in the States, so.

  • About to be having it here in Taiwan,

  • where it's actually from.

  • - So we've got oolong tea, and a black tea boba.

  • Confession time.

  • I'm not the biggest fan of boba.

  • - That's fine.

  • - I just, eating while drinking, I don't--

  • - Isn't that what soup is?

  • - Soup is drinking while eating.

  • It's completely different, don't get it twisted.

  • - Cheers.

  • (glasses clink)

  • Mm.

  • - That's what I like.

  • Unsweetened, nice ice tea.

  • That's all I want.

  • Instead of another soup fact,

  • we're actually gonna have a boba fact.

  • - [Steven] Boba fact.

  • - Boba tea was invented in the 1980s in Taichung.

  • - Oh, some genius out here put boba and milk tea together.

  • There're controversies around

  • who actually invented boba milk tea.

  • There's multiple reports of different people, so.

  • - Interesting.

  • We're now on our way to Gubami,

  • where we're going to see Chef Chen

  • to try her beef noodle soup.

  • - [Steven] The iconic dish of Taiwan.

  • - We've had it a few times off-camera so far,

  • just for our crew meals and such,

  • and it's usually a very inexpensive dish.

  • Five or six US dollars equivalent.

  • But today's is going to be a little more deluxe.

  • - It's gonna cost around 30 US dollars,

  • which is a lot for beef noodle soup.

  • But it's gonna be really good.

  • - Gubami is beef noodles in Taiwanese dialect.

  • - Why do you think Taiwan loves

  • their beef noodle soup so much?

  • - It's fast, and also it's luxury.

  • You have a big bowl of noodle soup and meat.

  • I never really see restaurants can do all three good.

  • I wanna do things the best,

  • so when I do noodles, I want to find out the best formula.

  • We test with different flours

  • for almost, six months I would say.

  • We want the noodles to be al dente in the middle,

  • but also the outside can absorb a little bit the soup.

  • We use the Japanese wagyu beef shank

  • and also we have a condiment of smoked bone marrow

  • and on top of it, we have some shabu shabu of the beef shank

  • to give two different textures of the meat.

  • - What is your background in cooking?

  • Like, where did you come from?

  • - I learned in Paris and I traveled to States a little bit,

  • and then I come back.

  • I started my French restaurant 10 years ago.

  • Very fine dining, it was my dream restaurant.

  • But it's in Taichung, it's very weird.

  • I think Taiwan people, they like something casual.

  • I want to do something smaller and now I have the bar,

  • I have noodle shop.

  • I always just trying to do something I like.

  • (Chef Chen laughs)

  • It looks like very refined, but I didn't do it on purpose.

  • I just trying to make it good, and then it becomes this way.

  • - [Steven] Mm.

  • (cash register dings)

  • - Look at this.

  • That's not soup.

  • We have tofu skin, cooked in some of the beef stock.

  • This is the radish with lemon and olive oil.

  • Zucchini, confit in goose fat.

  • Some kind of green bean and beef mushroom deliciousness.

  • - I know there's a lot of delicious stuff in front of us,

  • I cannot wait for the soup right now,

  • but I will be patient.

  • (jazzy music)

  • Whoa, whoa, whoa.

  • Hold on the soup.

  • (Andrew laughs)

  • That is damn good.

  • (Andrew laughs)

  • - [Andrew And Steven] Green bean.

  • (jazzy music)

  • - Oh, I did not think that was gonna taste like that.

  • - What?

  • (Andrew laughs)

  • - It's a smoky, porky, green bean.

  • Tofu skin.

  • - That looks super juicy.

  • And meaty.

  • Cheers.

  • - That's the best one.

  • - No, this is the best one.

  • - No, no, no, no, no, no.

  • - [Steven] Zucchini.

  • - Confit in goose fat.

  • (jazzy music)

  • Every time I eat something green,

  • I expect it to taste like a crisp vegetable.

  • Instead it tastes like a fatty animal.

  • This is awesome.

  • - Wow, finally the beef.

  • (jazzy music)

  • - Oh!

  • - I'm ready to eat some beef noodle soup right now.

  • - Ooh, thank you.

  • All right. - Smell this thing!

  • - Oh...

  • - I can't believe this.

  • I can't believe this.

  • - Yeah. - I can't believe this.

  • - [Andrew] This is a $30 bowl of soup.

  • - Broth cheers.

  • (jazzy music)

  • (Andrew exhales)

  • - Okay.

  • - I didn't think a beef taste could be refreshing.

  • - Yeah, shabu shabu?

  • - Yeah, let's do the choice cut meat on top.

  • (jazzy music)

  • - Wow.

  • - Very flavorful beef, okay.

  • - Jeez!

  • That is good.

  • I literally just ate a pastrami sandwich in one bite.

  • - Yeah.

  • - And the juices of the soup just bursting out.

  • Inga have some.

  • Come, come, come.

  • - This is so good.

  • (slurping sounds)

  • - Those are great noodles!

  • Springy, chewy.

  • Look at that beef.

  • Wow.

  • Holy crap, I didn't think it was going to be that soft.

  • What? - Yeah.

  • (crew laughing in the background)

  • - It's like softer than taffy.

  • Softer than, it's somewhere...

  • - You gotta be kidding me!

  • - Okay, let's add the bone marrow.

  • This is like buttering already buttered bread.

  • (slurping sounds)

  • (Steven exhales)

  • - Gah, whoa.

  • Including all the steaks we've eaten,

  • this beef, best beef taste I've ever tasted.

  • And the best part?

  • You get to eat noodles the whole time.

  • It's like usually a steak,

  • you're just eating steak.

  • Pretty fun, but okay.

  • Noodles the whole time?

  • (both laugh)

  • - Yeah, I've had a lot of beef noodle soup before,

  • and it's never bad, it's always satisfying and comforting.

  • But this one is like,

  • a boy was born in Akron, Ohio,

  • awarded him the chosen one in an ESPN magazine

  • when he was 14,

  • turned out to be a great basketball player.

  • - Who is this?

  • - LeBron James.

  • - Oh, goddammit.

  • Every time.

  • - Gubami.

  • - One of the best soup dishes I've ever had,

  • one of the best noodle dishes I've ever had,

  • one of the best beef dishes I've ever had.

  • - I like what you did there.

  • - Before we get to our Worth It winners,

  • Andrew, what was your favorite thing that was not a soup

  • in this episode?

  • - The craft beer at Smart Fish.

  • - [Steven] Oh.

  • - I never thought I'd see a beer with a fish soup logo.

  • What was your favorite non-soup thing?

  • - Beef taxi.

  • There's not even a escort.

  • Just beef in the taxi, beef out the taxi.

  • - Okay Steven, which soup was most worth it to you?

  • - I thought Smart Fish soup was gonna be my winner

  • when we ate there,

  • I thought the beef hot pot was gonna be my winner

  • when we ate there,

  • but Gubami is my Worth It winner today.

  • So beefy, just so much thought put into it.

  • - My Worth It winner goes to Smart Fish.

  • - Oh. - Fish soup was crazy.

  • Truly one of the most unique dishes I've ever eaten.

  • - Inga and Annie?

  • - Gubami.

  • - Gubami.

  • - What?

  • Adam, who's your Worth It winner?

  • - [Adam] Gubami.

  • (Andrew sputters) (Inga laughs)

  • - I've never been so,

  • this is a Worth It first. - I win today!

  • - That's it for Worth It Taiwan soup.

  • We have one more episode in this miniseries coming up next.

  • Steven, what is it?

  • - Chicken!

  • (upbeat music)

  • We're in Taiwan!

  • We're back with a three-part mini-series.

  • Joining us on all of our episodes,

  • our friend, translator,

  • - [Andrew] Fellow Buzzfeed producer,

  • - Inga Lam!

  • - Taipei! (laughing)

  • - We're gonna be seeing some great modes of transportation,

  • some fun games, some tricks, some treats,

  • and some delights.

  • You know how you know we're in Taiwan?

  • The beautiful 101 Tower.

  • And because it's steamy,

  • which is perfect for the first food

  • that we're doing in our trip: dumplings,

  • a food that's often cooked with steam.

  • - Great transition.

  • Today on Worth It, we're gonna be trying three dumplings

  • at three drastically different price points to find out

  • which one is the most worth it at its price.

  • - I am so excited to do dumplings.

  • - So excited!

  • - I feel like we've been talking about this episode

  • since season one.

  • - One of my goals this trip is to brush up on my Mandarin

  • because I have the Mandarin skills of a four-year-old.

  • (Andrew chuckling)

  • My goal is to get it to a five-year-old

  • by the end of this trip.

  • - That's a very good goal.

  • - Thank you. - Yeah.

  • Dumpling Number One.

  • - We're going to see Ms. Liu in her restaurant

  • (Inga speaks in foreign language)

  • (Steven speaks in foreign language)

  • How's that? - Is that good?

  • - Good! - We're gonna get some

  • fifty-cent pan-fried dumplings.

  • And it's-- - Have we ever had a price

  • so low on Worth It?

  • - No, we haven't!

  • That is a drastic price point.

  • (Andrew laughing)

  • (high-spirited piano music)

  • You've been making dumplings for 30 years.

  • I'm just curious what you think makes the perfect dumpling.

  • (Ms. Liu speaks in foreign language)

  • - What types of buns do you serve here?

  • (Ms. Liu speaks in foreign language)

  • - And which one is your favorite?

  • (Ms. Liu speaks in foreign language)

  • (Steven speaks in foreign language)

  • (Ms. Liu speaks in foreign language)

  • (laughing)

  • (Ms. Liu speaks in foreign language)

  • - We've heard that the dough of your buns is very delicious.

  • What makes it so special?

  • (Ms. Liu speaks in foreign language)

  • How many should we have?

  • (Ms. Liu speaks in foreign language)

  • (Inga laughing) Oh, three?

  • - You know how you're actually in Taiwan?

  • - How?

  • - Dumplings.

  • - And motor scooter sounds.

  • - [Steven] It's a beautiful noise.

  • - So, not only are we having dumplings,

  • but we're also having...

  • - Soy milk.

  • So, we noticed you're actually making

  • your own soy milk here.

  • Can you tell us about how you guys make that?

  • (Ms. Liu speaks in foreign language)

  • Cheers.

  • Oh!

  • Jeez! - What?

  • I didn't know that's what soy milk's supposed to taste like.

  • Kinda like a peanut butter drink.

  • - Uh-huh. - Like that's how nutty

  • it tastes to me.

  • Inga, how's the soy milk?

  • - I'm like almost done with it. (laughing)

  • - Oh my gosh. - Really?

  • - I really like soy milk.

  • This is really good.

  • - It's like the first time I had full-fat milk.

  • - Oh, yeah, yeah. - You know?

  • Adam, try some soy milk.

  • (laughing)

  • - Yeah. - Okay.

  • - Let's get to the buns. - Let's get to the buns.

  • Pork, cabbage, chive.

  • Look at the bottom crust.

  • It's like a little, "Hi! I'm crispy."

  • (Steven laughing)

  • Cheers.

  • (groovy music)

  • (Steven laughing)

  • The dough is so good.

  • What was the term for chewy?

  • - QQ.

  • - QQ? - QQ?

  • Is that an actual term?

  • - Yeah.

  • - This is so QQ (Inga laughing)

  • - I don't know how to describe the weight of it but...

  • - It's pleasantly plump.

  • - Pleasantly plump.

  • - Okay, the pork bun.

  • (Steven chuckling)

  • (groovy music)

  • Oh.

  • - Whoa!

  • - That's my favorite.

  • Adam, you wanna take a bite?

  • - You know my problem with burgers?

  • - [Adam] Oh!

  • (Steven and Andrew laughing)

  • - You're playing a game of, like, Jenga and Tetris

  • as you're biting into it.

  • With the bun, you're not losing anything.

  • - Lastly, the cabbage.

  • I love the shape of this one.

  • It looks like a clam.

  • - This is 50 cents.

  • We just ate three dollars of food, by the way.

  • - Okay, this one might actually be my favorite.

  • Dammit!

  • (Steven laughing)

  • I don't live in Taiwan!

  • 50 cents?

  • I don't even have to be hungry.

  • (Steven laughing) It's just,

  • it'll be foolish not to.

  • - The pleasure you get out of chewing really good

  • - Good dough. - Bread.

  • - Yeah.

  • - Oh my gosh.

  • - QQ!

  • - QQ!

  • I think you need to open this in America.

  • I can give you my address, just open up shop next to me

  • 'cause I need to eat this on my way to work, please.

  • (Ms. Liu speaks in foreign language)

  • (Inga laughing)

  • (Steven speaks in foreign language)

  • (Inga laughing)

  • (Ms. Liu speaks in foreign language)

  • That was a dumpling.

  • Well, it's actually a bao, but bao's a dumpling.

  • - QQ is my new favorite food terminology.

  • It's quite warm here in Taiwan.

  • - It's very warm. - So, I think before

  • we have our next dumpling, we need a refreshing treat.

  • We're in Taiwan.

  • What kind of treat should we have?

  • - Shaved ice!

  • - [Andrew] We're going to Showa Ice.

  • - [Steven] The Chinese name is

  • (Inga speaks in foreign language)

  • (Steven speaks in foreign language)

  • (Inga speaks in foreign language)

  • (Steven speaks in foreign language)

  • (cheerful music)

  • - This looks awesome.

  • This is one of your favorite desserts, right?

  • - Not this specifically, - Yeah.

  • - But shaved ice in general. - Shaved ice generally.

  • - [Inga] So, there's two types of shaved ice here,

  • the classic mango chunks on top of milk shaved ice

  • and then chocolate shaved ice with whiskey.

  • It's really good, but it tastes really different.

  • - Ooh. - I'm going full mango.

  • - Oh, wow.

  • This texture is very surprising.

  • - Oh, the mango!

  • Inga, get in here and try this mango.

  • This is like Garden of Eden mango right here.

  • - This is so sweet.

  • (cheerful jazz music)

  • - Of course that tastes good.

  • You drink whiskey with ice?

  • - Yeah. - And chocolate.

  • Chocolate works.

  • We're eating a food that's cooked with steam,

  • and now we're eating ice.

  • So, we're just exploring all the,

  • I'm gonna call that the states of matter.

  • - Yeah. - Do we have any chemists

  • in the room? - Oh, excuse me.

  • - All right, chemist.

  • - Give me a fact!

  • - Dumpling fact!

  • It's not a dumpling fact.

  • - Oh?

  • - It's related to dumplings though.

  • Dumpling-related fact.

  • - Dumpling-related fact.

  • - Because most foods humans eat are soft,

  • the body and brain have learned to like the novelty

  • of an opposing texture, like crunch.

  • Even after all that effort to make a perfectly QQ dough,

  • it's still worth it to add the crunch on the bottom.

  • - Back to the perfect food, man.

  • - All right, we're off to our next dumpling spot.

  • - We're gonna go see Mr. Chen

  • in his steamed dumpling restaurant.

  • Inga, what's the name of it?

  • (Inga speaks in foreign language)

  • (Steven speaks in foreign language)

  • (Inga speaks in foreign language)

  • (Steven speaks in foreign language)

  • (Inga speaks in foreign language)

  • (Steven speaks in foreign language)

  • - Good work!

  • - Nice!

  • (lively piano music)

  • - How many dumplings do you think

  • your restaurant makes per day?

  • (Mr. Chen speaks in foreign language)

  • Wow. - A day.

  • - 5000 a day.

  • - And they're all made by hand.

  • (Mr. Chen speaks in foreign language)

  • - What makes a really great dumpling?

  • (Mr. Chen speaks in foreign language)

  • - When customers come here, are they only eating dumplings

  • or are they ordering other things as well?

  • (Mr. Chen speaks in foreign language)

  • (Inga speaks in foreign language)

  • (Mr. Chen speaks in foreign language)

  • So, we should order a few more things as well?

  • (Mr. Chen speaks in foreign language)

  • (laughing)

  • (Mr. Chen speaks in foreign language)

  • That's right.

  • (cash register dinging)

  • We've built out our meal with some extra stuff here.

  • - We have. - Let's dumpling it up.

  • - They make 5000 of these,

  • a literal army of dumplings

  • in one day. - Yeah.

  • It feels like I'm fighting an army of dumplings

  • with my mouth.

  • - Boom.

  • Dip.

  • (string music)

  • - That's incredible.

  • - Oh, wow.

  • - Dumplings I've had in the past,

  • once it's steamed, it becomes loose around the filling.

  • - Yeah.

  • - But these are tight and dense and still juicy inside.

  • - So juicy.

  • - Let's do a side dish break.

  • - [Steven] I vote century egg tofu madness.

  • - [Andrew] Yeah.

  • (Mr. Chen speaks in foreign language)

  • (Steven speaks in foreign language)

  • (Mr. Chen speaks in foreign language)

  • (laughing)

  • - Wow!

  • - Whoa. - Wow!

  • - [Steven] That's not what I was gonna do.

  • - [Andrew] Wow! (laughing)

  • - Okay.

  • - Yay! - Okay.

  • - Wow, (Steven speaks in foreign language)

  • - Do you know what I realized?

  • - Yeah.

  • - Egg, nature's dumpling.

  • (Steven laughing)

  • - Wow. - Whoo!

  • - Cheers, Steve. - Cheers.

  • To a hundred years.

  • Oh, yeah.

  • Hold that up, hold that up!

  • - Yeah, that's what the egg--

  • - This is egg and you can see through it.

  • - It's very jelly.

  • - [Steven] All right, so, here we have

  • the vegetable dumpling.

  • - Watching them make these dumplings was like magic.

  • They closed their hands and when they open it,

  • there's a dumpling.

  • It's really like someone's doing a card trick

  • in front of your eyes.

  • - Fun fact.

  • This is actually Inga's grandmother's suggestion

  • of where to eat. - Really?

  • - Yeah, my grandma was the one

  • who recommended this place to me.

  • - [Andrew] Good recommendation.

  • - It's so QQ. (Andrew chuckling)

  • - Think about the amount of work

  • that's put into these dumplings and how cheap it is.

  • That is the ultimate magic trick.

  • (Inga laughing)

  • - My mouth's so full!

  • - That pork dumpling.

  • - Like a Korean spa.

  • - Like a dry-cleaned shirt

  • steamed to perfection. - Steamed to perfection.

  • - Our next dumpling is also going to be steamed.

  • We're having the soup dumpling.

  • - [Steven] The Xiao Long Bao.

  • - That's right.

  • But before we do that, we're going to have

  • another Taiwanese dessert treat.

  • - SunnyHills Pineapple Cake.

  • It's one of my, oh my God,

  • it's one of my favorite places.

  • (playful piano music)

  • (Inga speaks in foreign language)

  • - Please enjoy.

  • - So, every time you come here,

  • even if you don't buy anything,

  • they will give this to you, like a pineapple cake

  • with oolong tea.

  • - That's confidence.

  • That's, like, we know how good it is

  • because you're definitely gonna get it.

  • - Yes, and you will.

  • - Cheers. - Cheers.

  • - Cheers.

  • (playful piano music)

  • Ooh-long, right? - Good, right?

  • (laughing) - Golly.

  • - Pineapple cakes are really good.

  • Buttery and flaky on the outside,

  • and then you get that really fresh pineapple sweetness

  • and tartness.

  • - [Steven] Iconic.

  • - [Inga] Iconic.

  • - New York and cheesecakes.

  • Taiwan and pineapple cake.

  • - Yes, yes. - Or something like that?

  • - Yes.

  • Smell it.

  • - Hmm.

  • - [Inga] Right?

  • - Mm, okay, I see.

  • I get it, yeah.

  • I've never had pineapple jam-ified like this.

  • - So, you just pop the rest?

  • - Well, you might want to save to enjoy it

  • while you listen to this.

  • Dumpling fact!

  • (Steven laughing) Sorry.

  • - What is fact in Mandarin?

  • - Oh!

  • Fact in-- - Could you say dumpling fact?

  • (Inga speaks in foreign language)

  • - Doesn't Andrew do language better?

  • - Say that again?

  • - Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa.

  • (Inga speaks in foreign language)

  • (Andrew speaks in foreign language)

  • (bleep)

  • (Steven speaks in foreign language)

  • (Andrew loudly laughing)

  • - In 2013 and 2014, chef-turned-writer

  • Christopher St. Cavish created a soup dumpling index,

  • measuring the thickness of the dough,

  • the soup volume, and the total weight of each individual

  • xiao long bao at 52 different restaurants.

  • This data was then calculated with the formula,

  • filling plus soup divided by thickness of skin

  • times a hundred to assign a score representing

  • the quality of structural engineering in xiao long bao.

  • - Look, quadratic formula was already hard enough.

  • All right, next stop.

  • We're going to a soup-er star--

  • (Andrew laughing) - Oh!

  • - Soup dumpling spot, Din Tai Fung.

  • We're going to meet the bossman, Mr. Yang.

  • It originated here in Taiwan.

  • They, right now, at this very moment,

  • have 164 locations worldwide.

  • That's at this moment.

  • - That's wild.

  • - By tomorrow, there might be 180.

  • (Andrew laughing) We don't know.

  • We're gonna go eat their Truffle Soup Dumpling.

  • Truffle.

  • Have you had it before?

  • - Not truffle.

  • I'm not boujee. (Andrew chuckling)

  • - I'm just gonna walk away from that comment.

  • (heavy bass music)

  • (Mr. Yang speaks in foreign language)

  • - Was it always soup dumplings?

  • (Mr. Yang speaks in foreign language)

  • How do you get the soup inside the dumpling?

  • - Yeah.

  • (Mr. Yang speaks in foreign language)

  • (laughing)

  • (Mr. Yang speaks in foreign language)

  • So, when it's steamed, it becomes liquid-y?

  • (Inga speaks in foreign language)

  • (Mr. Yang speaks in foreign language)

  • What's important about that pleating process?

  • (Mr. Yang speaks in foreign language)

  • How do you maintain such high quality around the world?

  • (Mr. Yang speaks in foreign language)

  • - This is the Taiho IPA.

  • It's locally brewed,

  • and it has a really strong flavor of fruits.

  • - Oh, the logo is great.

  • It's a tiger.

  • Cheers, Steven.

  • - Cheers.

  • - Mm that's good. - That's, like,

  • almost cider.

  • - So, then, for the pork xiao long bao,

  • the most important part is the soup inside.

  • It's sort of, like, the soul of the xiao long bao.

  • So, we lift it up from the top,

  • we place it at the back-- (Steven and Andrew hollering)

  • of the spoon-- - Sorry, the bottom

  • just sagged down in a very satisfying way.

  • - Yeah. - We poke a little hole inside

  • to let the broth come out.

  • - Oh, okay. - Okay.

  • - And then please take a sip.

  • - You're gonna wait for me or just eat alone?

  • Okay, great.

  • - I'm following instructions, Steven.

  • (Andrew exclaiming)

  • - Nice?

  • - Yes, nice.

  • - And then we can add a little bit of ginger

  • with the sauce on top,

  • and then you can enjoy the xiao long bao together.

  • - All right, together. - I'm gonna wait for you

  • to drink your--

  • Yeah.

  • - [Steven] I'm not good at.. how did you poke that so well?

  • (Andrew laughing)

  • - Would you need some help?

  • (laughing)

  • - Cheers, Steven. - Cheers.

  • (lips smacking)

  • - Oh, yeah.

  • - Yeah. - That's really good.

  • - [Steven] It's almost cloth-like--

  • - Like a fabric. - The bottom of it.

  • - The broth has, like, a sweetness to it.

  • It's so good.

  • Do people ever eat it in one bite?

  • - Yes, they do.

  • But please be careful because it's really hot.

  • - Right. - Okay.

  • - Sometimes, you just gotta fly too close

  • to the sun though, so...

  • - I feel like I wanna feel it burst into my mouth.

  • - It is hot.

  • (laughing)

  • We've mentioned it so much in this video,

  • but I really have to bring it back to the QQ.

  • - Even though the dough is so thin,

  • it still is very satisfying.

  • - How do you attain that kind of texture

  • in, like, a film sheet.

  • - Adam, can you try this, please?

  • (laughing)

  • - Oh, that's good.

  • - Yeah, it's really good.

  • - This is our truffle and pork xiao long bao.

  • - Why do a truffles dumpling?

  • (Mr. Yang speaks in foreign language)

  • (cash register dings)

  • - [Andrew] Cleanse my palate.

  • (perky music)

  • - Before we get into the eating,

  • (Andrew laughing)

  • I do have to point out the pleating

  • - Yeah. - On this dumpling.

  • They're beautiful.

  • - Oh, yes.

  • (slurping sounds)

  • Oh!

  • What?

  • (Andrew chuckling)

  • - [Steven] Boujee cheers!

  • - Oh, sorry.

  • (laughing)

  • These are awesome.

  • Okay.

  • Last season, we ate soup that had truffle in it.

  • We learned that it has to be activated by heat and fat.

  • - Right.

  • - So, the truffle in a soup dumpling totally makes sense.

  • It really says something about this dough

  • that even though it's so thin,

  • you still get that QQ.

  • - [Steven] It's impossibly thin.

  • - Common complaint about our show

  • is that we always just put truffle in stuff

  • to make it more expensive.

  • - And we see you comment section, we see you.

  • - But these are about three US dollars per dumpling,

  • which is expensive, but for the taste of truffle,

  • how nice this is, I'd say that's worth it.

  • (laughing)

  • Show title, watch out. (laughing)

  • - They're doing truffle right.

  • - Yeah.

  • They're not doing it wrong.

  • (Steven laughing)

  • Adam, you wanna see if they're doing it right?

  • (laughing)

  • (Adam chuckling)

  • - [Steven] So, we're here at Raohe Night Market

  • because Inga suggested that we come

  • and eat their stinky tofu.

  • - The smell around the stall is quite stinky,

  • but once it's fried, it is much more subdued.

  • Cheers, Steven.

  • - Cheers.

  • - So juicy!

  • Holy crap!

  • Speaking of soup dumpling, there's a soup tofu.

  • - Try stinky tofu.

  • - Okay, so before we get to our Worth It winners,

  • what was your favorite thing in this episode

  • that was not a dumpling?

  • - My favorite thing was the fire hydrant soy milk.

  • (Andrew laughing)

  • at the (in foreign language) place.

  • The visuals of that are just astounding.

  • - My favorite thing was getting dressed like a scientist

  • at Din Tai Fung's central kitchen.

  • We went to this airlock that blew all the dust

  • and hair off of us.

  • And we got to see some really cool

  • behind-the-scenes stuff.

  • So, Steven, which dumpling was the most worth it to you

  • at its given price?

  • - My Worth It winner today goes to the pan-fried dumpling

  • at (in foreign language).

  • The value was incredible there.

  • The dumplings were amazing.

  • - The cabbage bun at that location was very nearly

  • my Worth It winner, but I have to give it to the

  • steamed pork dumplings at Location Two.

  • Like my fantasy of a dumpling is that dumpling.

  • Inga, who's your Worth It winner?

  • - I don't know.

  • It's so hard.

  • I wanna say two because it's my grandma's favorite,

  • but I think it's honestly one.

  • - [Andrew] Annie?

  • (laughing)

  • Adam says his winner's Din Tai Fung.

  • Next week, soup.

  • That's right.

  • Soup, again.

  • So soon, you say?

  • Trust us.

  • Taiwan may be the perfect place to have soup.

  • - Yes, so excited.

  • There's so many soups.

  • We have so many soups.

  • It's gonna be great.

  • - So many soups.

  • (Inga laughs)

  • (groovy music)

  • - "Worth It: Taiwan" is back.

  • - "Worth It" chicken.

  • Is that a chicken?

  • - Yeah. - Kind of.

  • - It's a rooster.

  • Which is a chicken.

  • - Is that a chicken?

  • - No, that's a pigeon.

  • We're here in Taiwan's garden night market.

  • We just picked up our chicken treats.

  • Tomorrow the journey begins.

  • We're going to three cities for three acts of chicken,

  • ending in a chicken finale like you've never seen before.

  • - Bok, bok, bish.

  • Leggo.

  • - Mm!

  • It's like a pancake.

  • - Today on "Worth It," we're going to be

  • trying three chicken dishes

  • at three drastically different price points

  • to find out which one is the most worth it at its price.

  • - So we're eating chicken, but our first chicken

  • is actually a soup.

  • I know we just finished a soup video,

  • but that's just how many soups there are here.

  • You can't escape the soup.

  • We're off to see the Chen family at Walking Su,

  • where we're going to be trying their sesame oil chicken.

  • - What is that in Mandarin, Inga?

  • (Inga speaks in foreign language)

  • (Steven speaks in foreign language)

  • (Inga speaks in foreign language)

  • (Steven speaks in foreign language)

  • - Okay, I'm excited to eat some chicken.

  • - Let's do it.

  • (xylophone music)

  • - Tell us about how this business got started.

  • (speaks in foreign language)

  • So this is a family business.

  • What do each of you do?

  • (speaks in foreign language)

  • Do you find it easy working together?

  • (speaks in foreign language)

  • - [Steven] Sesame oil chicken.

  • Is that dish a classic Taiwanese dish?

  • (speaks in foreign language)

  • (laughs)

  • - What are those herbs adding to this dish?

  • (speaks in foreign language)

  • (cash register dings)

  • - [Steven] This looks incredible.

  • - We're got a couple additional accoutrements here.

  • The Thai basil sauce, the spicy fermented bean paste,

  • and sticky rice.

  • All right, let's taste the broth.

  • Sesame oil chicken.

  • Mm.

  • Delightful nuttiness of the sesame oil.

  • - Yes.

  • Super nutty.

  • - Super.

  • - It's got this hearty feel to it.

  • - Oh, yeah, this is hearty as (beep).

  • How was that?

  • - So incredibly juicy and tender and, ugh.

  • I'm going to smell the Thai basil,

  • because that's their specialty here.

  • - Whoa!

  • Smells like pesto.

  • - Yeah.

  • What?

  • - That is awesome.

  • That is like a salad dressing to dip your soup into.

  • Adam, you gotta try the chicken in the Thai basil.

  • - Ooh. (Andrew laughs)

  • - Want to try some rice?

  • - Oh, yes.

  • - Chicken, Steven. - Cheers.

  • - The thing I keep getting blown away by in Taiwan,

  • I go to a meal expecting one thing,

  • and then there's always all this bonus stuff

  • that just blows my expectations out of the water.

  • - Yeah, and even when they first started this restaurant,

  • this was a bonus dish.

  • - Right.

  • - Right, that's crazy. - This was a free thing.

  • - So there's a lot of herbs added to this soup.

  • It tastes like an elixir.

  • It just washes away all of the pain in your body.

  • Achy back, I got a soup for that.

  • Tired eyes.

  • - Soup for that.

  • - My foot hurts.

  • - Throw some soup on there.

  • - It's all the same soup.

  • It's very convenient.

  • Adam, you want to get some of this soup?

  • I'm pretending like Adam's over here,

  • even though he's over there.

  • - Hi.

  • (laughs)

  • - So our next chicken location is in Taipei,

  • but first we're going to take a countryside detour.

  • - Yep, that's right.

  • We're going to a scallion farm in Yilan.

  • And we're going to be making our own scallion pancakes.

  • Not just cooking them.

  • We're going to pick them ourselves.

  • - Scallions, yeah. - Yes.

  • - It's a chicken episode, it's a soup episode,

  • and now it's a pancake episode.

  • (upbeat trumpet music)

  • - What you see in front of you here is a scallion pancake,

  • but rewind three hours.

  • What did we do?

  • - [Andrew] We're in this unique valley

  • where you get different temperature winds

  • at different times of day,

  • which create a nice perfect humidity for growing scallions.

  • So today we've picked a bunch of scallions,

  • cleaned them up, chopped them, cried a little bit,

  • and then learned how to make scallion pancakes.

  • And here we have it, the spoils of our toils.

  • - Cheers! - Cheers!

  • - Mm.

  • - Oh, yo.

  • - Yo.

  • Okay, this is one of the best things I've eaten so far.

  • You know what time it is now?

  • Time for a Taiwan food fact.

  • The concept of "xiao chi," meaning little eats,

  • is popular in Taiwan, basically meaning snacking

  • throughout the day, often on street food, between meals.

  • - Of course, yeah.

  • In Taiwan, if you only eat three meals in one day,

  • you're just doing it wrong.

  • - We're actually on our way to a snack shop next.

  • Inga, where are we going?

  • (Inga speaks in foreign language)

  • We're going to see Reebok and Julia

  • and try their fried chicken.

  • (solemn piano music)

  • - What makes a perfect fried chicken to you guys?

  • (speaks in foreign language)

  • - [Andrew] So what makes your Taiwanese

  • fried chicken unique?

  • (speaks in foreign language)

  • - [Steven] What do you recommend that we drink

  • with the fried chicken?

  • (speaks in foreign language)

  • - [Andrew] What?

  • - This is not what I was expecting.

  • - You ready, Steven?

  • - I'm ready.

  • - This is called dining al fresco.

  • - So we've ordered the recommended sparkling wine.

  • Apparently, you only order by the bottle here.

  • - I like that.

  • - It's my speed. - Let's go.

  • Cheers.

  • - How awesome is this?

  • This is some riviera (beep).

  • - We got to eat this while it's hot, so let's go.

  • Ooo.

  • It smells so good. - Oh, it's so fragrant.

  • The garlic, the onion, this basil.

  • The meat inside is so soft.

  • - It's very pleasing.

  • - Very pleasing.

  • Like brûléed marshmallows.

  • Seriously.

  • - Oh man. - It's wild.

  • I thought QQ was only for dumplings.

  • - Whoa. (Andrew laughs)

  • - It's so soft.

  • - It's almost like chicken nugget-esque.

  • - You know what's crazy about this?

  • We've eaten fried chicken in Minneapolis,

  • where the restaurant thought, "You know what's actually

  • the best drink to have with fried chicken?

  • Sparkling wine."

  • And here we are in Taiwan,

  • and this restaurant had the same idea.

  • - I see, I see.

  • - If there's a restaurant on either side of the world

  • that is doing the same thing, it must be great.

  • (speaks in foreign language)

  • - I'm scared to eat this, because I'm scared

  • of how much I'll like it.

  • - [Andrew] Pork knuckle and radish cake.

  • - Wow.

  • Ooo.

  • Oh, man.

  • - Watch out, you're going to push me off my stool.

  • - Radish cake is a classic dim sum dish.

  • I've eaten this every time I go out.

  • You know, they bring around the carts

  • and they're all steamed, right?

  • It's still hot but it doesn't have

  • that break-through-the-crunch texture that this has.

  • - You could maybe liken it to a potato pancake.

  • That's so good.

  • - Yeah it's crazy. - Yeah.

  • How should we eat the pork knuckle?

  • - [Chef] By hand.

  • - [Andrew] By hand?

  • Just like an apple?

  • - [Chef] Mm-hmm.

  • - Okay.

  • Kind of looks like a donut.

  • - Oh!

  • Yours does.

  • - Mine does.

  • - Cheers.

  • - Oh my god.

  • This is like a pork donut.

  • Wow.

  • (Steven laughs)

  • - So this is actually cartilage, but it feels like fat

  • with how loosey-goosey it is.

  • - The gelatin is the jelly of this pork donut.

  • - Right.

  • - And to wash it down, sparkling wine.

  • - Oh, thank goodness for this.

  • - How awesome is this?

  • - Thank you. - Thank you.

  • - This was really good.

  • - Thank you.

  • (speaks in foreign language)

  • - We are at the Beijing hotel,

  • where they serve a boba croissant.

  • Yes, you heard me right.

  • Boba croissant.

  • (imitates whooshing)

  • - We got the matcha, tiramisu and the milk tea.

  • Which one do you want?

  • - My gut is going toward matcha,

  • but I'm going against my gut and going for the tiramisu.

  • - I actually knew that you were going to pick that one,

  • because it has gold flake on it.

  • (Steven laughs)

  • All right, I'll go milk tea.

  • Very satisfying to pick up.

  • Cheers.

  • - Cheers.

  • Are you going to bite into it?

  • - Yeah. - Or open it up?

  • - I'm going to bite into it.

  • - Oh. (Steven gasps)

  • This is just all of the textures.

  • This is nice.

  • It's satisfyingly squishy.

  • - I think there's a word for that, QQ.

  • - Ready for a Taiwan food fact, Steven?

  • - Taiwan food fact!

  • Taiwan food fact.

  • - Um.

  • - Up until the 1960s, the most common Taiwanese breakfast

  • was rice or congee.

  • Buns emerged as a popular Taiwanese food in the 1960s

  • when U.S. trade introduced wheat into the Taiwanese diet.

  • - Shouldn't that fact go in the dumpling episode

  • that we did?

  • - Well, it was more about breakfast.

  • I just wanted an excuse to talk about congee,

  • because it's just a nice, savory thing

  • to have for breakfast.

  • - This is a very good croissant.

  • - Yeah.

  • - I got a cake.

  • - [Steven] Oh, my.

  • - [Andrew] This boba croissant is part of a boba festival.

  • - Boba fest.

  • - And Inga's got the crown jewel of the festival.

  • And now it's time to take a little train ride.

  • - QQ.

  • (Andrew laughs)

  • You want to hear my boba rap?

  • - Yeah.

  • - How do you like your boba?

  • - Yeah.

  • - Eat it like a cobra.

  • - Yeah.

  • - My name is Yoda.

  • - [Andrew] Yeah.

  • - [Steven] And I like yoga.

  • - Now dab.

  • - Never.

  • - This is a train water bottle that they sell

  • on the train.

  • (imitates train chugging)

  • So once we get done with this guy, we'll be in Taichung

  • and we'll be eating at our final chicken location.

  • - We're going to go meet RuiHong at Yan Xiang Lou

  • to have Beggar's Chicken.

  • (uplifting orchestral music)

  • - What kind of cuisine is the food here?

  • (speaks in foreign language)

  • - Tell us about this dish, the Beggar's Chicken.

  • (speaks in foreign language)

  • - What happened to the beggar?

  • (speaks in foreign language) (laughs)

  • (speaks in foreign language)

  • I hope so.

  • (speaks in foreign language)

  • - [Andrew] Why bake the chicken in clay?

  • (speaks in foreign language)

  • How do we get the chicken out from the clay?

  • (speaks in foreign language)

  • Which one of us gets to do it?

  • - [Steven] I'll do the hammering, you do the hammer time.

  • - What?

  • You just automatically assume that you get to hammer.

  • (speaks in foreign language)

  • - You can both do it.

  • - Two hammers? - Yeah.

  • - Okay.

  • - Great. - Resolved.

  • Ooh, thank you.

  • Cheers to our final meal in Taiwan.

  • - Oh, no!

  • - I know.

  • - Cheers.

  • - Since this is our last meal in Taiwan,

  • we're blowing it out.

  • - [Steven] Let's do it.

  • - I saw a little sneak peek of what's coming upstairs.

  • It's going to blow you away.

  • So this is winter melon.

  • - [Steven] Whoa.

  • - Wow. - Wow.

  • - What?

  • Look at it coming out, pouring on the fish's head.

  • - These look too real.

  • Look at the scales on these guys.

  • - Honestly, every time I've seen a koi fish,

  • I've thought they looked like a tasty fish.

  • Cheers, Steven.

  • Fish kiss.

  • That's a good dumpling.

  • - Aw, fish super good.

  • - This looks like in "Hook," when Robin Williams

  • is imagining the food.

  • Have you seen this movie?

  • It's all vibrant colors.

  • Do yourself a favor, go watch "Hook."

  • You'll have a delightful time.

  • You'll be reminded of this moment.

  • - I'm going pink for my hair.

  • We might as well have just shot all three episodes here.

  • - Much like the origin myth,

  • first we're eating like an emperor,

  • and then we're taking a journey to discover the chicken.

  • - Food is all about storytelling.

  • Well, and taste.

  • (Andrew laughs) But also storytelling.

  • (dramatic orchestral music)

  • (Steven laughs)

  • - Ohh. - Ohh.

  • Hey, oh. - Okay.

  • What?

  • - Yes.

  • - What?

  • - [Inga] You guys can go up now.

  • - Hammer time? - Okay.

  • - All right, Steven.

  • I'm nervous.

  • - I am scared, too.

  • - [Both] One, two, three!

  • (clay shatters)

  • - Wow. - Nice!

  • - Looks like chocolate.

  • - Smells like dirt. - Dirt.

  • (laughs)

  • We just hatched our chicken dinner.

  • It was very dino egg-like.

  • - [Both] Mm.

  • - Wow.

  • Chicken cheers.

  • - Chicken cheers.

  • - Oh, that's good.

  • - What?

  • That is so soft.

  • - Some people say chicken's a boring meal.

  • I would say those people haven't had it--

  • - Deep-fried, baked in clay.

  • - Stuffed with pork and aromatics.

  • - There's pork in the chicken?

  • - Yeah.

  • - [Inga] So now she's just adding a sauce.

  • I think it's an oyster sauce slurry.

  • - Oh.

  • That tastes like my mom's fried rice.

  • Whoa, that was weird.

  • - "Mom?"

  • (laughs)

  • You know what this chicken is?

  • It's a time capsule.

  • For flavor.

  • Buried under dirt, much like a regular time capsule.

  • But it's also a dish--

  • - From the Ming dynasty.

  • Is there a letter written in there?

  • Like, "Dear diary, do I still taste good?"

  • - Yeah.

  • - Very soft.

  • - Very soft.

  • At its core, this dish is just a plate

  • of really nice chicken.

  • So simple, so perfect.

  • We're going to take it back into artistry land now,

  • if that's okay with you.

  • - Let's do it.

  • What is going on right now?

  • - Yeah, dude.

  • (Andrew laughs)

  • Looks like a scene from "Nightmare Before Christmas."

  • This is too beautiful not to share.

  • I think we should get everybody in here

  • and we all take a bite.

  • Who wants a swan, who wants a pumpkin?

  • Cheers, everybody.

  • - Cheers. - Cheers.

  • - What?

  • Oh my god.

  • It's red bean.

  • - Why? - Wow.

  • - Why?

  • - Not "why."

  • Why not?

  • Worth it.

  • Beggar's Chicken.

  • You know they say beggars can't be choosers,

  • but beggars can be chicken.

  • That was quite an experience.

  • Steven, before we get to our "Worth It" winners,

  • what was your favorite thing that wasn't one

  • of the highlight foods in this "Worth It" episode.

  • - The Pork Knuckle at Chu Zha Xiaoshi Dian.

  • Mm. (hand thuds)

  • - That's the knuckle.

  • - It was so good, I contemplated eating my own knuckles.

  • What was your favorite thing?

  • - Honestly, the hard ass rain while we were filming

  • location two.

  • We had a typhoon barely graze us, but we still got

  • some awesome hard rain, which I love.

  • - Which chicken was the most worth it to you?

  • - My "Worth It" winner, Walking Su sesame oil chicken.

  • - [Steven] Woo.

  • - If that chicken had been in the soup episode,

  • it would have won that episode, too.

  • - Wow.

  • - Comforting, exciting, inexpensive.

  • It was wonderful.

  • Who was your "Worth It" winner?

  • - Okay.

  • Walking Su, totally new experience.

  • - [Andrew] Yeah.

  • - Yan Xiang Lou.

  • If you could eat with your eyes, that place would have won.

  • But, because that pork knuckle was so effing good,

  • my "Worth It" winner must go to Chu Zha Xiaoshi Dian.

  • - Inga, "Worth It" winner.

  • - Two, Chu Zha Xiaoshi Dian.

  • With Reebok and Julia.

  • - [Steven] Annie?

  • - [Annie] The swan.

  • - Adam, who's your "Worth It" winner?

  • - [Adam] Fried chicken.

  • - Oo, the fried chicken.

  • Very good choice.

  • - All right.

  • That's a wrap on "Worth It: Taiwan."

  • - Very special thank you to the Taiwan Tourism Bureau,

  • that helped us out tremendously with this trip.

  • Couldn't have been here without them.

  • - All right, let's get out of here.

  • Bye!

  • (upbeat groovy music)

  • - Welcome back.

  • - Welcome back, Steven.

  • We're doing another three episode burst

  • before the new year rolls in.

  • You might be wondering why we're not driving.

  • Say hi, Devon.

  • Devon's up front driving

  • because we're picking up our special co-star today.

  • He's an avid fan of the show, from River Forest, Illinois.

  • His name is Jackson, and his visit is made possible

  • by Make-A-Wish.

  • - [Steven] What's up?

  • Nice to meet you

  • (parents laughing)

  • Hi, guys! - Hey.

  • - You ready to go? - Yes.

  • - [Steven] All right.

  • (grunts)

  • There's Adam, say hi.

  • - Hey. (Andrew laughs)

  • - Welcome to the car, Jackson.

  • - It's the worth automobile.

  • - That's right. - Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa,

  • I'm the pun master on this show.

  • - [Steven] I like it.

  • - But thank you Jackson for joining us

  • on our double cheeseburger episode today.

  • - Thank you for having me.

  • - You flew all the way out from Illinois.

  • - Yes. - The Midwest,

  • I like you already.

  • - Should we do the Today on Worth It?

  • - You don't know how to do that?

  • - Today on "Worth It", we're having

  • three double cheeseburgers at three addresses

  • at three different price points

  • to see which one is worth it.

  • - The most worth it.

  • - [Together] The most worth it.

  • - At its given price point.

  • - So that's at least six patties.

  • - Are you prepared?

  • - I'm hungry.

  • - Good

  • - So the first place we're going to

  • is called Burgers Never Say Die.

  • We're gonna see Shawn.

  • - This is a smash burger joint.

  • I love Super Smash, the game, Ultimate, and all.

  • You play Ultimate?

  • - Yes

  • - Ooh, who's your main?

  • - (chuckling) Oh my God.

  • - Donkey Kong.

  • - Okay, okay, I'm a Ness man.

  • - You're bringing all the co-host attributes

  • that Steven wants in me, but I don't possess.

  • - Hey, do you watch the NBA?

  • - Yes.

  • (all exclaiming)

  • - That's what I'm talking about.

  • - So your menu starts with the regular,

  • and the regular has two patties.

  • - Yes - Why is that?

  • - I like double cheeseburgers.

  • That's what I grew up eating.

  • It also works because it's a smash patty.

  • - [Andrew] And tell us what a smash burger is?

  • - [Shawn] It's cooked on a flat top, at very high heat,

  • and you just smash it down there, so it sears to the griddle

  • and the whole process probably takes a minute or less.

  • - [Jackson] What makes a really good burger?

  • - [Shawn] It's so subjective, like personally, for me,

  • I like burgers cooked on the griddle.

  • - [Jackson] What does the griddle add?

  • - [Shawn] You get flavor that's been there, the seasoning

  • from the food items other than burgers.

  • - [Andrew] What drew you to making burgers specifically?

  • - My wife and I, we were always really into burgers

  • and got into the food scene of LA.

  • Bringing together all the burgers we ate,

  • I thought, I wanna try making this burger myself.

  • I started in my backyard

  • with no intention of opening a restaurant.

  • For a couple weeks, I was just begging people to come

  • and try the burger; friends, coworkers, whoever.

  • And then, some people approached me,

  • asking if I wanted to open a restaurant.

  • And throughout my whole life,

  • I usually just jump in,

  • and I thought, let's give this a shot and see what happens.

  • - We have a sign right here that says, "always order two".

  • Why?

  • - It's an ode to the backyard.

  • People would order one, and they would regret it

  • and then there would be a long line or we had sold out, so.

  • - Is two still doable?

  • - I recommend two for you, yeah.

  • - What about you, do you do two?

  • - I do two, I've eaten like six in one day, so.

  • (laughing) - Oh my goodness.

  • - I mean we're gonna do six probably,

  • over the course of this day, for us,

  • so why not start with two?

  • - (sighs) Here we go.

  • (cash register dings)

  • - [Andrew] All right, Jackson, take it away.

  • - Worth-it, Double Cheeseburger, take one.

  • - Nice. - That was perfect.

  • That was better than I usually do.

  • Take two.

  • (clattering) (laughing)

  • So that Burgers Never Say Die,

  • they also have soft serve ice cream.

  • Insider pro tip;

  • you get your soft serve in a cup, order a soda on the side,

  • and then mix it for your own float.

  • What are the correct proportions for a float?

  • Does anybody know?

  • - The whole bottle. - It's a feel.

  • - Jackson's got classic root beer float.

  • This is Steven's--

  • - [Steven] I got chocolate--

  • - And a blueberry root beer.

  • Okay, when, when, when, when.

  • Cheers! - Cheers!

  • How do you eat this?

  • - Who thought of floats? - Ooh!

  • - Pour some soda on some ice cream?

  • That's like some,

  • the-parents-aren't-home, mischief (all laughing).

  • - [All] Cheers.

  • - The fries!

  • - Taste like McDonald's. - Taste like McDonald's, yeah.

  • - So these fries are fried in beef tallow.

  • Apparently this is what McDonald's tasted like

  • way back in the day,

  • before they switched to a vegetable oil.

  • Staying true to their motto,

  • we've two burgers for each of us except for you Jackson,

  • because this is your first time on one of these rodeos,

  • I don't wanna do that to you.

  • - Whoa.

  • - It looks the way a fast food burger looks in a commercial,

  • but this is how it is in real life.

  • - [Jackson] It smells good.

  • - Great bun smell.

  • Did you think you'd have to wait this long

  • before you actually get to take a bite?

  • - Can I point out one more physical attribute

  • of this burger before we bite into it?

  • Sorry, Jackson.

  • Look at the way it's like a lattice.

  • - [Andrew] Yeah, yeah, yeah.

  • - Crispy? - Very crispy.

  • But you can almost see through the meat.

  • - [Andrew] Like a spider's web.

  • - [All] Cheers!

  • - Oh, man.

  • Wow!

  • - It's crunchy too

  • - It's really crunchy. - Yeah.

  • - It's the essence of burger.

  • There's nothing extra.

  • There's not like strange sauces or condiments.

  • - Oh man.

  • - This might be the best burger I've ever had.

  • - Oh man.

  • - Like truly.

  • - Would you agree with that?

  • - Yes.

  • - This is one of my favorite ones.

  • - Swallow your food.

  • (Jackson and Steven laughing)

  • - Next burger, here we go.

  • - You would definitely be satisfied by one of these,

  • but you're gonna want two.

  • - I do agree.

  • Order two.

  • What am I doing with my life now?

  • I'm only slightly lactose-intolerant,

  • so low levels of cheese, that's fine.

  • Are you lactose-intolerant at all?

  • - No.

  • - You're a lucky person.

  • Oh, we had ice cream, too.

  • What am I doing? (all laughing)

  • - [Andrew] Jackson, what do you think

  • about the part of the show where Adam eats?

  • - He takes really large bites.

  • (laughing)

  • - I'm gonna finish mine before you.

  • - Of course.

  • I don't know if I could do that.

  • - What a cheeseburger.

  • - [Jackson and Steven] That was insane.

  • - We keep talking at the same time.

  • - Oh.

  • - Twins! - Look who is simpatico.

  • So before our next double cheeseburger,

  • we're actually gonna get another double cheeseburger.

  • We're going to this French restaurant

  • in West Hollywood, called Tesse.

  • I saw on Instagram, that for National Burger day,

  • they made, we're just gonna call it

  • a special dessert burger.

  • We reached out, and the pastry chef, Sally,

  • so kindly agreed to remake it, but double this time.

  • This might be the most visually

  • appealing burger of the day.

  • (charming old school music)

  • - Close your eyes. - Okay.

  • - Man, this is gonna blow you away.

  • Three, two, one, reveal!

  • (Steven and Jackson exclaiming)

  • - [Andrew] It's very realistic.

  • - Dude, is that a strawberry?

  • - [Jackson and Andrew] Yes.

  • - [Andrew] Two macaroons, chocolate ganache,

  • mango passion fruit cheese, strawberry slices, shiso leaf,

  • and a raspberry jelly for the ketchup.

  • - Wow.

  • If you did not tell me that was dessert,

  • I would not have guessed it.

  • - [All] Cheers!

  • - [Steven] How to eat this?

  • (mumbling)

  • - It's actually really good.

  • I mean it's chocolate and fruit, what's not to like?

  • - It's sweet and bitter at the same time.

  • - [Steven] That's the nosh.

  • - The tasting notes coming off of Jackson.

  • This isn't your first time, is it?

  • - No. - All right, I retire today,

  • you can have the--

  • - Do you know what time it is now?

  • - Yes.

  • Oh, you're asking me or Jackson?

  • - If you didn't know, I'd be concerned.

  • - Fact time.

  • - That's right, double cheeseburger fact.

  • - Double cheeseburger fact.

  • - One minute.

  • (all laughing)

  • Double cheeseburger fact.

  • - Bob's Big Boy, is credited with selling

  • the first double cheeseburger in 1937.

  • The chain's original name was Bob's Pantry

  • but after the double cheeseburger,

  • dubbed the Big Boy, was invented,

  • the restaurant changed its name to boast its famous burger.

  • The double cheeseburger became so famous,

  • they changed their restaurant name.

  • - [Adam] What about renaming this show?

  • - Whoa. - Whoa.

  • It would probably be called, Adam's Silent Bite.

  • - No, Adam's Big Bite.

  • - Adam's Big Bite.

  • Yes!

  • For our next double cheeseburger,

  • we're on our way to see Frederick and Max,

  • at Burgerlords, in Highland Park.

  • Similar to this double cheeseburger,

  • this next double cheeseburger's made without meat.

  • - I've never had a veggie cheeseburger before.

  • - Curveball for the episode.

  • - I'm scared and excited.

  • - Scared and excited is a good place to be with food.

  • Tell us what kind of restaurant Burgerlords is.

  • - The way I think of it, it's kind of a bizzaro version

  • of a traditional fast food restaurant.

  • You're used to a frozen garden burger, portobello.

  • This is the opposite, where everything is vegan, vegetarian,

  • except the beef burger.

  • - Do you think you're more popular

  • with traditional beef cheeseburgers

  • or with the vegetarian and vegan crowd?

  • - Honestly it's like 50-50.

  • - Yeah? - Yeah we look at it

  • every week.

  • - [Steven] How did you guys develop

  • the recipe for this patty?

  • - [Max] Everything kind of has its role.

  • The barley for chewiness, and cashews give it a nice crunch.

  • We're roasting all the eggplants,

  • slicing up the other vegetables.

  • Those get sauteed with all the spices on the flat top.

  • Cooking barley in a rice cooker, with kambu and miso,

  • roasting nuts, garbanzo beans, cashews,

  • and then it all goes into one batch, and just mixed up.

  • - [Fred] Once it's cold, it settles,

  • and then we're balling it like a traditional burger.

  • We roll it in Panko, then we patty it out,

  • so the Panko when it's cooking gives it a kinda crispy edge.

  • - [Max] Helps keep the patty from burning on the grill, too.

  • - [Fred] All of the work comes at the beginning,

  • so we can push it out really fast.

  • On average, I mean our tickets, are like five to 10 minutes.

  • It's like neo-fast food.

  • - [Max] It feels like fast food, it looks like it

  • on the exterior, but in the kitchen, we're cooking all day.

  • - [Steven] Now that you've explained all of this,

  • it feels like a burger joint

  • is the hardest thing to do for vegetarians.

  • Like why did you wanna tackle a burger joint?

  • - You know, there's the nostalgia.

  • You know, it's the experience of a diner,

  • a fast food restaurant, having fries and eating a burger.

  • It was also to create something that we didn't think

  • really existed here.

  • You know, when we grew up,

  • there was a lot of times we felt left out,

  • so we wanted to make sure that everyone felt

  • they had a good option here.

  • (cash register dings)

  • - So to round out our experience,

  • we also got the tofu nuggets and french fries,

  • lord-of-the-fries style.

  • - Lord of the fries, that's a good pun.

  • Have you read "Lord of the Fries" yet?

  • (all laughing) - Oh God.

  • - We can't take you anywhere.

  • - Cheers. - Cheers.

  • - Ah, this is good.

  • We need napkins. - Oh my goodness.

  • For the first time in my life,

  • I have somebody who is also a messy eater.

  • Look at that.

  • - [Jackson] Cheese crust.

  • - [Andrew] It's got the cheese crust.

  • - Cheers. - Cheers.

  • - [Steven] Veggie bumps.

  • - This is good. - Wow.

  • - It doesn't taste like plants at all.

  • It tastes like real beef.

  • - It's hot, cheesy, juicy, meaty, and yet there's no meat.

  • So when you think, "Man, I could really go

  • "for a burger right now."

  • Does this satisfy that feeling?

  • - 100%

  • (laughing)

  • - Are you gonna finish that thing Steven?

  • - I'm trying to.

  • - Put a little hot sauce on there.

  • - Ooh! - Ooh!

  • - Yeah, hot sauce me.

  • You know what, that's really good.

  • It's a nice little kick.

  • It really brightens the flavor of the burger.

  • - Oh, it has a good kick to it, that's good.

  • - It is like I'm in a different universe right now.

  • Vegetarian food, in this universe, is the norm.

  • - It does kind a feel like we're in a Twilight Zone set,

  • a little bit, just like transported back in time,

  • but to an alternate reality where everybody's a vegetarian,

  • and you know what?

  • Pretty good.

  • You ever watch Twilight Zone?

  • - [Andrew] Wow, that was a good bite.

  • - This is so good.

  • - Life blowing.

  • - Life blowing (laughing)

  • - Not just mind blowing

  • - Life blowing

  • - Life.

  • Oh my gosh, guys, I'm on patty number ten.

  • (laughing)

  • - That was eight. - Oh, sorry, eight.

  • - It was eight.

  • Yeah. - I can't count anymore.

  • That's how many patties I've had.

  • - Before we go to our last burger, it's time for one more--

  • - Burger fact.

  • - [Andrew] Double cheeseburger fact!

  • - Oh dang it. (laughs)

  • - Would you like to read the fact today?

  • - Sure.

  • The price of the Big Mac

  • when it debuted nationwide was 49 cents.

  • - 49 cents?

  • So you're telling me I could go to a McDonald's

  • with two quarters and come back with a Big Mac and a penny?

  • - Yeah, in the 60s, when it debuted.

  • - Oh, sorry.

  • - [Adam] That happened a long--

  • - Back in the 60s.

  • - Back in the 60s, right.

  • - We're on our way to Petit Trois,

  • where we're gonna see Chef Ludo,

  • and his double cheeseburger called, The Big Mec.

  • - And what is on this Big Mec?

  • - Well, it's a French Restaurant, so sauce.

  • - Petit Trois, it's a classic French restaurant.

  • The design and the food is very French.

  • - And so you have this burger.

  • How does that fit into that classic menu?

  • - In France, we eat a lot of steak hache,

  • you know, is a patty, so I decided to just do a burger,

  • like what Americans like, you know?

  • And look like a burger, too.

  • - [Jackson] What makes a really good burger?

  • - [Ludo] A burger needs to be crispy and juicy.

  • When I eat a steak or any meat, that's what I want.

  • I want the meat to be crispy

  • - It's called the Big Mec, styled after the Big Mac,

  • of course, right?

  • - Of course, yeah yeah, of course.

  • Mec, in France, means guys,

  • (speaks in foreign language)

  • French food is all about the sauce,

  • so what's very important for me to have my burger

  • in the plate, swimming in the sauce,

  • like when you eat a steak, so I decided to do

  • a classic French sauce, called Bordelaise,

  • beef stock with a lot of shallot and a red wine sauce.

  • We take like eight hour to do,

  • then after we have aged cheddar cheese.

  • How do you know if I'm going to put aged cheddar cheese

  • or American cheese?

  • Because I love American cheese.

  • - Really? - Oh I love it.

  • - You love American cheese?

  • - Oh we don't like American cheese?

  • Guys, come on. - Some people don't.

  • - When I think about French cuisine, I think fine dining,

  • or I think like kind of--

  • - Foufou?

  • - [Steven] Yeah, a little bit,

  • I mean this burger is not what comes to mind, right?

  • - My job as a chef is also to cook what people want.

  • And it's fun to mix American food with French cuisine.

  • I recommend to eat the burger with a fork and knife.

  • Very French foufou, like you say.

  • - You said that, not me.

  • - So it is fork and knife?

  • - In France, we eat our burger with a fork and knife.

  • Okay guys, sorry, yeah we do.

  • (cash register dings)

  • - [Steven] There it is.

  • - It's really unlike any burger I've ever seen before.

  • - Look at how it's plated.

  • - [Jackson] It's in a pool of sauce.

  • - Yeah, it looks like a lily pad in a murky pond.

  • - [Steven] Will you do the honors?

  • - Oh man, oh okay.

  • - [Steven] Everybody on the internet

  • is going to watch you cut this in half.

  • - We're losing traction here.

  • - Oh, god. (laughs)

  • - [Andrew] This is a $25 cheeseburger

  • that you're just hacking through.

  • - [Steven] Double.

  • - Stab through the whole thing to secure your bite.

  • What?

  • Oh god. (all laughing)

  • - I regret saying that I would be okay sharing a burger.

  • I'm gonna cheers? - Cheers!

  • - And then I'm gonna mop up some sauce.

  • - It's magical.

  • - Yeah. - Yeah, boy.

  • - Wow.

  • Oh man, that sauce.

  • - That sauce. - Is incredible.

  • - The patty is so crispy.

  • - It's juicy and crispy at the same time.

  • - Okay, if I were to go back to Burgerlords,

  • that was everything I want in a burger,

  • but it's vegetarian.

  • - This is everything I didn't know I wanted in a burger.

  • - Exactly, I don't think I've had a sauce like this before,

  • that is so rich and yet tantalizing.

  • - Yes, the sourness just makes you crave more.

  • - Yes, it does.

  • - Jackson's like, keep talking

  • while I eat the rest of this burger.

  • - (chuckling) He is destroying our burger.

  • - Is this what you thought an expensive burger

  • would look like on Worth It?

  • - No, I thought it would look fancier.

  • Most expensive burgers, like your episode with Keith,

  • it was a lot of ingredients, like foie gras and lobster.

  • This one just has beef and cheese and a sauce.

  • It's so simple that you don't need anything else.

  • How is it?

  • - I can see why you'd use a fork and knife.

  • (laughing)

  • - So how do you feel?

  • - Food coma. - Food coma?

  • - So now's the time.

  • You know what time it is.

  • - Double cheeseburger dance time.

  • Go!

  • (laughing)

  • Double cheeseburger, hey!

  • Oh!

  • - Before we get to our Worth It winners,

  • what was your favorite thing today

  • that wasn't a double cheeseburger?

  • - The dessert at Tesse.

  • - Oh yeah. - That was good.

  • - You just stole my answer.

  • - My favorite thing today that wasn't a double cheeseburger

  • was our co-star Jackson.

  • - Aw. - Aw.

  • - And that fact that I didn't have to eat alone

  • with Steven one more time.

  • I think we'll start with you today, Steven.

  • Which double cheeseburger was most worth it to you,

  • at its given price?

  • - Burgers Never Say Die.

  • The texture of the patty was what I try to accomplish

  • when I add chips to my burgers.

  • Crunchy, crispy, juicy.

  • - Hold on, rewind this back.

  • You put potato chips on your cheeseburgers?

  • - Yeah, great double cheeseburger.

  • But I gotta say my worth-it winner

  • just barely goes to the Burgerlords.

  • - [Andrew] Oh the vegetarian double cheeseburger.

  • - That redefined what a double cheeseburger could be.

  • Next up, we got Andrew.

  • (Andrew groans)

  • - I love all of these places.

  • Burgers Never Say Die, probably the best straightforward

  • cheeseburger I've ever had.

  • Burgerlords, I think that's where I'd go if I wanted

  • to hang out with people.

  • Am I gonna say my worth it winner is Petit Trois?

  • I think I am.

  • When I think about it, I start salivating.

  • I think it's the Bordelaise sauce.

  • - Did you see that coming?

  • - No.

  • - I thought he was gonna choose Burgers Never Say Die.

  • - Yeah, me too - Look.

  • Obviously, they were all great burgers.

  • - Okay, before I say my worth it winner,

  • how could you not pick the last one?

  • I mean you're the hype beast of food.

  • - (laughing) What?

  • - You're a very fancy boy, you know?

  • - Hot dog, you picked the high-priced one.

  • Steak, high priced.

  • - Wow.

  • If you actually go back and tally the ones I pick

  • the high-priced one, though, it's not that often.

  • - Sushi and burger.

  • - Okay, all right, I'm out of here.

  • - Jackson knowledge of the show is coming back to haunt us.

  • - Just kidding, I love you, buddy.

  • - I love you too, bro.

  • - All right, Jackson. - Okay.

  • - No more beating around the bush.

  • Who's your Worth It winner?

  • - [Jackson] So the veggie burger,

  • it was a new experience for me.

  • I'm going to start ordering veggie burgers,

  • so Burgerlords is my Worth It winner.

  • - What?

  • (Jackson and Steven exclaim in excitement)

  • Are you kidding me?

  • That was a good fake out.

  • Adam, who's your Worth It winner?

  • - [Adam] Burgers Never Say Die.

  • - Annie, who's your Worth It winner?

  • - Burgers Never Say Die.

  • - All right, we've got a good mix here.

  • But all we know for sure is that Andrew lost today.

  • - I did not lose.

  • - This has been quite the journey.

  • - Thank you for having me.

  • - No, thank you for flying all the way out here.

  • - It was worth it.

  • - What?

  • Show name, watch out.

  • (laughing)

  • This Worth It winner decision is going to haunt me forever.

  • - So you wanna change it?

  • - I take it back, it's--

  • (upbeat music)

  • Back for another episode of Worth It.

  • - And we're not just noodling around here,

  • but we are covering noodles.

  • - Noodles.

  • We've done many types of noodles in the past.

  • Pasta, spaghetti, ramen.

  • Today, we're focusing on non-Italian noodles in Los Angeles.

  • - Today on Worth It,

  • we're going to be trying three delicious noodle dishes

  • at three drastically different price points

  • to find out which noodle is the most worth it at its price.

  • Okay, so we're sticking specifically to Asian dishes.

  • The first place we're going to, where are we going?

  • - We're going to Lao Xi'er Noodle House

  • to see Joe and Ellen,

  • and we're having their Wife's Special Noodle dish.

  • - Sweet.

  • Very, very sweet.

  • Like, the story is sweet.

  • - It is actually a sweet story.

  • (upbeat jazz music)

  • How did you come to start this business together?

  • - It's his dream.

  • - I can't find my favorite noodle in LA.

  • - It was different than what you were used to?

  • - Very different.

  • He wanted to keep the original style from my hometown.

  • Shanxi Province, northwest of China.

  • - [Andrew] I'm curious how many styles of noodle

  • there are from your hometown?

  • - [Ellen] More than a thousand different.

  • - More than a thousand different styles?

  • - Yeah. - That's a lot.

  • - [Ellen] The cat's ear noodle, Mau Er Duo

  • also in my hometown we make a lot.

  • Most of the time we make it with lamb or beef soup.

  • Actually, it's very similar to, like, macaroni noodle.

  • Knife-cut noodle is a flat and thick noodle.

  • That noodle we usually make stir-fry.

  • - We are focusing on the Wife's Special Noodle dish.

  • Could you tell us what is the story behind that dish?

  • - Introduce this.

  • - She's my wife.

  • (both laugh loudly)

  • (Joe speaks in foreign language)

  • - [Ellen] The noodle is called Helao-style.

  • It's a long and thin noodle.

  • The machine push it to the pot directly,

  • so it's very very fresh.

  • It really only take two or three minutes to cook it.

  • The first sauce, the beef

  • taste will be a little bit spicy

  • and the tomato with egg,

  • we just use tomato fried with egg.

  • A little bit sour tasting.

  • The ground pork just soybean paste with ground pork.

  • - [Andrew] If I'm understanding this correctly,

  • in your hometown it's common to eat

  • each of these sauces with noodles.

  • Sometimes people will combine two,

  • and you had the idea to put all three together.

  • - [Ellen] Yeah.

  • - Why was that?

  • - [Ellen] The flavor will be more complex

  • - [Joe] Because I like this flavor.

  • Together have a vegetable,

  • and a meat, have a sour, have a salty.

  • One bowl is great.

  • (cash register dings)

  • - You guys also make dumplings here.

  • Do you have a recommendation on which one we should try?

  • - Yeah, lamb dumpling, I like.

  • New item for me.

  • - [Steven] I'm gonna do it with vinegar and chile oil.

  • - Dumpling cheers. - Cheers.

  • (laughs) Go to the bath together.

  • Come on.

  • - [Both] Mm.

  • - I have to have another.

  • - Share some with...

  • Oh there it is.

  • - Mm. - Want one Annie?

  • It's a very soft lamb flavor.

  • - [Steven] Very light.

  • - Yeah.

  • Yidi hasn't had one.

  • - Actually, the most important thing

  • about this dumpling, the wrapper.

  • - Which is the same dough as the noodles.

  • - This is a lot of food.

  • - This is a fun amount.

  • - Cheers. - Cheers.

  • (slurping sounds)

  • - Delicious noodle, yeah.

  • - I always love a noodle

  • that you can just stuff in your face.

  • - [Adam] You guys are monsters.

  • - Are we monsters? - I'm sorry.

  • - I see Annie going like this with the headphones.

  • It's all right, it's a lot of slurping going on.

  • - I honestly have never heard of tomato egg before today.

  • - This is kind of crazy because it's like combining

  • all of these flavors from my childhood.

  • Just all of those things are just like, whoa.

  • You just like (exhales).

  • - [Annie] Steven, that's Ratatouille.

  • - That's Ratatouille?

  • I still haven't seen that movie.

  • (slurping sounds)

  • - A thousand types of noodles, approximately.

  • - So comforting.

  • Very, very good noodle dish.

  • - Before we go to our next noodle place,

  • we're going to a place called Bistro Na's

  • that does Beijing specialty desserts.

  • - Yes.

  • - And this place is recommended by our good friend Yidi.

  • Do you want to finish that before we,

  • yeah this is the biggest Lazy Susan I've ever seen.

  • - Choo-choo.

  • - Okay.

  • I said, "Yidi, where should we get some deserts?"

  • And she said, "You have to go to Bistro Na's."

  • Why is that?

  • - They have food from my hometown Beijing.

  • I eat here a lot to cure my homesick,

  • and their dessert is something I grew up eating

  • so I figured you guys should try it.

  • - [Andrew] Wow.

  • - [Steven] Okay.

  • - Here you go, guys.

  • - So this is how Yidi lives.

  • I know exactly what I want,

  • but I want to ask Yidi what we should eat.

  • - The donkey roll.

  • - [Andrew] The donkey roll.

  • - [Yidi] Yes.

  • - [Andrew] Okay, do you want to start with the donkey roll?

  • - That's not the best one Yidi, you're wrong.

  • I'm a sesame roll kind of guy.

  • (soft jazzy music)

  • - Mm.

  • - Mm, good.

  • - Before we enjoy the rest of these deserts,

  • let's enjoy a noodle fact.

  • - Noodle fact for your noodle.

  • - Oh wow, aren't all facts noodle facts?

  • - Yeah.

  • - Because they improve your noodle.

  • - I did that joke just now.

  • - The Chinese, generally speaking,

  • don't dry their pasta, but Italians do.

  • - I've never made that distinction.

  • - For our spaghetti episode, we saw spaghetti extruded

  • but they allowed it to dry before boiling.

  • Whereas at Lao Xi'er, it extruded straight into the water.

  • I think it's because it's not optimized

  • for that al dente flavor that you get from drying.

  • - It explains so much of why I like

  • Chinese noodles more than pasta.

  • - Yeah?

  • - 'Cause they're just--

  • - Squishier.

  • - Squishier, yes.

  • - So for our next noodle stop,

  • we're going to see Bugra at Dolan's Uyghur Cuisine

  • where we're going to be trying their Big Plate Chicken.

  • Before we have that,

  • we're gonna eat the rest of these desserts.

  • - Okay so cut the camera, let us go to town.

  • - I like it.

  • - Mm.

  • (upbeat instrumental music)

  • What is Uyghur cuisine?

  • - The Uyghur region is located as

  • middle point of the Silk Road.

  • It's influenced by the Persian,

  • the Indian, Turkish and Chinese.

  • Many people ask, "You guys have kebab,

  • and you guys have some wok dish?"

  • "How did you invent this?"

  • But actually this is original Uyghur food.

  • Our chef, Alerken, is going to do all dishes today.

  • - What are the highlight dishes of Uyghur cuisine?

  • - In ancient times, the Uyghur people do kebab in desert.

  • So you make a fire, and you make that tower,

  • and its shape is like that fire.

  • Polo is very traditional braised rice and meats,

  • carrots, raisins together.

  • Manta, it looks like Chinese dumping but bigger.

  • The dough is very thin.

  • It's stuffed with beef and onions and spices

  • - So talking about the Big Plate Chicken.

  • So I imagine it's big.

  • - Yes, it's huge.

  • - I thought this was a noodle episode, Andrew.

  • - This is a noodle dish, right?

  • - Of course, yeah, it comes with noodle.

  • This is like very typical Chinese and Uyghur fusion.

  • We fry the chicken with the oil, and peppers and spices:

  • cinnamon, cumin, star anise, sichuan pepper.

  • So this is spicy.

  • We put the potato and we braise half an hour.

  • We also make the handmade noodle.

  • Noodle, it should be chewy.

  • We make the noodle with water, salt and egg whites.

  • - Egg whites in the dough? - Egg whites, yes.

  • Because it makes it really chewy, and it's thick noodle.

  • This is the difference between Big Plate Chicken noodle

  • with the other noodle dish.

  • It should be thick and wide.

  • - [Steven] I noticed with the Big Plate Chicken,

  • all the noodles are covered by the things on top.

  • Why are you trying to build this mountain of meat

  • on top of the noodles?

  • - Because the Big Plate Chicken, it has soup,

  • so when you eat the noodle, mix it with the soup.

  • It's like, amazing taste.

  • (cash register dings)

  • - [Andrew] I have never seen a teacup like this before.

  • - [Bugra] All are handmade.

  • - Wow.

  • - Handmade? - Yeah.

  • Flower tea, this is very common in my country.

  • This is also sort of my creation.

  • - Cheers.

  • - Cheers. - Don't spill the tea.

  • - Mm, oh yeah.

  • - Ooh.

  • - Rose.

  • - Is there cinnamon in here?

  • - Yes. - Cinnamon.

  • - Cardamom.

  • - [Bugra] Cardamom.

  • - You ready for some Big Plate Chicken Steven?

  • - Big Plate Chicken, here we go.

  • - My goodness.

  • Okay we got one noodle sticking out over here.

  • Should we start with chicken? - Yeah.

  • - Since this is Big Plate Chicken?

  • Wow that smells good.

  • (clicks tongue)

  • Mm, that's a little spicy, yeah.

  • - The taste that comes with it, linger.

  • - [Andrew] There we go, a noodle.

  • - Oh, I want one of those kinds of noodles.

  • That one's been sitting below the weight of the chicken

  • Got it, I got it here.

  • - It's delicious looking, right?

  • (laughs)

  • - Cheers - Cheers

  • Oh, man.

  • - Whoa.

  • - The noodle itself is very dumpling like,

  • - Dumpling like. - in it's softness.

  • - It's like you're eating a dumpling in one noodle.

  • - [Andrew] It really is like a soup at the bottom.

  • - I know, why don't we have a spoon?

  • - I think it's because the noodle is your spoon.

  • (spoons clank)

  • - (laughs) Sound of spoons.

  • - As we say that.

  • Thank you so much.

  • See this peppercorn here?

  • It's all going in.

  • Oh that's so good. - Really?

  • Okay I need to try it now. - You gotta do it.

  • Focus in on the tongue.

  • - The heat builds a little bit.

  • The numbing peppercorn is there a little bit.

  • - I love that, yeah.

  • - The addition of cinnamon

  • is really surprising and delightful.

  • - But it reminds me of Malaysian cuisine.

  • A lot of the dishes there are literally marriages.

  • There's no better description of this

  • than a marriage of dishes.

  • - [Andrew] It's delicious.

  • - I get it.

  • I get why they say stop noodling around,

  • because it takes a long time to eat a noodle.

  • Is that it?

  • Sometimes when you get out of a movie

  • and you're like, "I don't know what to say."

  • - Like when you finish a good book and you just need to

  • take a walk and do nothing.

  • - Or like a one and a half hour drive across Los Angeles

  • all the way to Beverly Hills.

  • - Cause that's where we're going next,

  • but before that happens--

  • - Noodle fact.

  • Historians believe that Chinese noodles originated

  • more than X years ago.

  • What is X?

  • - 1500 years ago.

  • - Now double that and add 1000.

  • 4000 years ago. - 4000 years ago?

  • I wonder what the first shape was.

  • You find that funny, Annie?

  • - I never thought of that before.

  • - Yeah, what was the first noodle shape?

  • - Oh, noodle shape? - Oh noodle shape!

  • - I thought you were just talking about shapes.

  • - Yeah, me too.

  • - [Adam] China has been making bread

  • longer than they've been making noodles,

  • and noodle making stemmed from the ripping of dough

  • into boiling water.

  • - [Both] Whoa.

  • - Okay, going across town.

  • Making my way across town

  • Now we're headed to Crustacean,

  • a landmark Vietnamese-American spot.

  • We're going to be having An's Famous Garlic Noodles,

  • and on top of that, Dungeness crab.

  • The noodles are the creation

  • of the founder of the restaurant, Helene An,

  • and she's kept the recipe a secret.

  • So they are made in a secret kitchen

  • and we can't go in there.

  • - We'll be speaking with Chef Tony,

  • maybe he can spill the beans on these noodles.

  • - That's okay, I mean, Oprah actually filmed here

  • and she wasn't allowed in there,

  • so we're pretty much Oprah.

  • (everybody laughs)

  • (upbeat electronic music)

  • - I understand that your kitchen operates

  • somewhat in secret.

  • - Somewhat.

  • We have a kitchen within a kitchen.

  • That kitchen's for family members

  • and people that have worked in the restaurant

  • for over 10 years.

  • - Why?

  • - My boss, Chef Helene An, she first started

  • way back in the 70's in this little deli,

  • and slowly putting Asian flairs here and there.

  • She knew she was on to something,

  • so she wanted to keep it within the family.

  • We have about four items that come from secret originally.

  • The garlic noodles have been around since we've been open.

  • She saw that everybody loves spaghetti and Parmesan

  • so that was her inspiration.

  • She was just named the mother of Asian fusion.

  • This is the signature dish of the restaurant.

  • - Asian fusion has been looked at in a variety of ways.

  • Where I grew up, it was looked down on,

  • but you're doing Asian fusion,

  • and it's right here in Beverly Hills.

  • How are you able to flip the narrative of Asian fusion food?

  • - I think it was just something cool

  • for people to hate on fusion,

  • but the way I became very comfortable about it

  • is when I spoke with Helene.

  • She didn't really know what fusion was.

  • She was just like, "I'm just cooking

  • the way I want to cook."

  • Now we're grabbing from different regions of the world,

  • as long as you're doing it intelligently,

  • the end result should be pretty tasty.

  • - So this is our last stop in our video,

  • it's the three dollar signs,

  • but the noodles themselves are not really

  • the expensive thing here, right?

  • - Generally if you're getting a crab

  • you're always getting a garlic noodle,

  • but they're two separate items on the menu.

  • I would say 99.9% of people that get the crab,

  • they always get a noodle.

  • - To enjoy the noodles to their best.

  • - This is not a question, you have to get the crab.

  • (both laugh)

  • - Gotcha.

  • (cash register dings)

  • - Whoa.

  • This smells like my fire alarm is about to go off.

  • (laughs)

  • - Look at that.

  • It feels like something you shouldn't do at a restaurant

  • this nice but I do just want to go (throaty laugh).

  • - Caviar cheers.

  • - Oh man, that's so awesome.

  • - Actually, that makes a lot of sense.

  • - Here we go.

  • - Here we go.

  • Ah, there's the hit of garlic.

  • It takes about two seconds.

  • - [Tony] One crab in the shell,

  • and one crab picked out the shell.

  • - Nice. - Wow.

  • And bibs?

  • No way.

  • - Yes!

  • This is way more simple than I thought.

  • - [Andrew] Right.

  • - Cheers.

  • - Oh yeah, that's really good.

  • I just want to eat this whole bowl.

  • - It's so fluffy.

  • Squishy, fluffy noodle. - Fluffy noodle, yeah.

  • I'm gonna do a little bit of crab.

  • - [Steven] Isn't this the life?

  • Pre-picked crab.

  • (sensual blues music)

  • - It's really good, right?

  • - This is my fantasy as a kid

  • of what a dish should taste like.

  • - This is so close to the buttered noodles

  • you would eat as a kid, right?

  • Add on the best version of a buttery thing,

  • buttery crab meat.

  • - Pre-picked crab, okay,

  • is like birds who get to eat food

  • that's already been chewed up for them by their parents.

  • - Talking about when a mama bird chews up food

  • and then throws it up into the chickling's mouth.

  • - The idea of having food prepared for you.

  • - It's a mothers love, right?

  • It's great.

  • - Now how do you make it, that's the question.

  • (somber blues music)

  • Long noodles, long life.

  • - Long day.

  • - That's what they say.

  • One thing that was your favorite thing

  • that was not a noodle today?

  • - The noodle extruder at Lao Xi'er Noodle House

  • that was like a old fashioned manual train cart.

  • - At Crustacean, below the floor, there's a fish tank

  • and there's a lot of beautiful Koi fish living down there.

  • Okay Andrew, which noodle was the most worth it

  • at it's given price?

  • - I'll give a honorable mention to

  • the Cat's Ear Noodle from Lao Xi'er.

  • My Worth It winner is gonna go to

  • Dolan's Uyghur Cuisine,

  • - Oh my gosh. - So good.

  • - Oh my gosh, I can't believe it, we agree for once.

  • I love Crustacean, and I was gonna say Lao Xi'er

  • because the vast experiences you get in one bowl.

  • My Worth It winner goes to Dolan's Uyghur Cuisine.

  • - Adam, who is your Worth It winner?

  • - [Adam] Lao Xi'er.

  • - Annie, who is your favorite noodle from today?

  • - Crustacean

  • - [Andrew] And Yidi, while we're in the neighborhood.

  • - Donkey Roll!

  • (laughs)

  • - Well that does it for episode two

  • in our end of year miniseries.

  • Come back next week for a very crispy conclusion.

  • - It also has soft ends.

  • - [Adam] Fried Chicken Sandwich.

  • - Aw, come on Adam.

  • (gentle piano music)

  • - All right Steven, this will be

  • our final Worth It episode for 2019.

  • - Today on Worth It,

  • we're going to be trying three fried chicken sandwiches

  • at three drastically different price points

  • to find out which one is the most Worth It at its price.

  • - I think we're experiencing, at the moment,

  • a little bit of a fried chicken sandwich craze.

  • We thought we'd investigate the issue

  • and do fried chicken sandwiches ourselves.

  • - I like what you said, "investigate."

  • - Oh look at that, fresh asphalts.

  • - The way you say words (laughs)

  • - It's look golden and delicious

  • the way fresh fried chicken does.

  • Doesn't that look delicious?

  • That looks tasty,

  • what?

  • So the first place we're heading to is

  • The Window At American Beauty.

  • Chef Elisha is going to be showing us

  • their fried chicken sandwich.

  • American Beauty is a steakhouse.

  • And during the day, they have a to-go window

  • that does things like burgers, fries,

  • fried chicken sandwiches, obviously.

  • - I like that a lot, it feels very New York.

  • I don't know where I'm going with that.

  • I just like it, I just like New York.

  • (atmospheric music)

  • - What is The Window?

  • - So The Window is our daytime operation

  • where we serve delicious food

  • at a very affordable price.

  • - [Steven] As I understand it,

  • this chicken sandwich is under six bucks?

  • - [Chef Elisha] Yeah, it's five dollars and 50 cents.

  • - Wow. - That is crazy.

  • - I don't know if I'd say we're competition

  • with fast-food, but we're trying to hit around

  • the price point of the regular fast-food chains.

  • We're making everything in house

  • and the idea is to deliver hospitality to our guests,

  • whether they order the fried chicken sandwich at the window

  • or they're ordering our steaks at night.

  • So we butterfly the chicken, so it spreads out,

  • we pound it so it's the same thickness around.

  • - [Andrew] I saw that you were also scoring the meat

  • before you were pounding it.

  • - [Chef Elisha] By scoring it, we're both helping

  • the buttermilk and the seasoning penetrate,

  • but also we're getting a little bit more surface space,

  • so there's a little bit more crunchy parts.

  • And then we just fry it.

  • We have the awesome Martin's Potato Rolls.

  • The jalapeño aioli, which gives a little bit

  • more fat and some heat.

  • And then we have this very simple slaw

  • that gives a little freshness.

  • Just cabbage, some carrots, red onion,

  • and a very simple red wine vinaigrette.

  • - [Steven] Is that what you would say

  • makes a perfect fried chicken sandwich?

  • Is it the balance of all of those things together?

  • - [Chef Elisha] For me, I think it's really

  • the combination of it all.

  • It's an evolution while you're eating it.

  • And as it goes, it's kinda all compliments itself.

  • And I think that really makes for a better

  • and more enjoyable eating experience.

  • (cash register dings)

  • - [Announcer] Order for Worth It.

  • - That's our order!

  • - Thank you guys! - Thank you.

  • - Oh, that smells amazing. - Oh!

  • - Sorry, I just want that. - That was a hard hit.

  • There's something about food in a box

  • like this that I just love every time.

  • - Mm-hmm.

  • - It's like the American Bento Box.

  • - Nice.

  • - Do you eat ketchup with your fries?

  • - I do.

  • - Okay, hold on, I got you. - All right.

  • I took a fry, I mean what?

  • - You what?

  • You're lucky I don't dump this ketchup on your head.

  • - Do it, I dare you.

  • Fries.

  • (video game music)

  • - Mm, incredible fry.

  • It's crunchy like cereal is crunchy.

  • - [Steven] Okay, lets go sando' time.

  • - Oh, look at that. - Whoa!

  • It feels fluffier than I thought.

  • - That's that potato bun.

  • Cheers. - Cheers.

  • (upbeat music)

  • - Mm! - Mm.

  • Yeah, that was a really good first bite.

  • - [Andrew] Wow.

  • - Mm!

  • That was a really good second bite.

  • - I have a feeling every bite is going to be good.

  • - What I'm realizing about this bun,

  • it's so soft and fluffy that it's doing its job

  • in like making the fried chicken

  • the real star of the show.

  • - So this is the, "why are we having

  • fried chicken sandwich" as a question, you know?

  • 'Cause we've done fried chicken before,

  • but the bun just dials the whole thing back

  • into like soft doughnut territory.

  • - Mm-hmm. - Which I kind of like.

  • You know what this does kind of remind me of?

  • - Tell me. - I think you're going

  • to be mad that you didn't think of this.

  • - No, I think this is going to be

  • less exciting than I thought.

  • - The peking duck bun that we had in New York.

  • That soft, squishy bun with a delicious meat

  • and condiment and crispy vegetable.

  • Plus the cucumber and the sauce

  • that adds a little sweetness. - Yeah, yeah.

  • You're right, okay, yeah.

  • (video game music)

  • - American Beauty, what a beautiful time in America.

  • - That's too easy for you, I'm disappointed.

  • - Okay, so before our next proper

  • fried chicken sandwich, we're actually gonna

  • have a bonus piece of fried chicken.

  • (Steven sighs)

  • Friend of the show, David Chang,

  • has a number of fried chicken sandwich shops called Fuku.

  • They have an off menu, mega spicy, fried chicken

  • designed to taste better as a cold product.

  • It's like a food pun but in the language

  • of flavor and temperature.

  • - It sounds more like an oxymoron.

  • - It's like a fun--

  • - You'd have to be an oxy-moron to eat this.

  • Aah!

  • - Okay you know what's terrifying?

  • Black gloves that come with your food.

  • Here it is, oh, whew!

  • Put your gloves on. (laughs)

  • This guy's walking his dog and is just looking

  • at three guys putting on black gloves.

  • (dramatic music)

  • Oh my god!

  • It looks upsetting.

  • - Why!

  • Oh!

  • - It looks like mummified meat.

  • - Why is it so dark? (laughs)

  • - Adam, I wish you had that bottle of ranch on standby.

  • - Oh! (laughs)

  • - I thought we were just dipping!

  • (laughs) Adam!

  • This is so bizarre.

  • - Oh, it's cold! (laughs)

  • - Cheers!

  • (dramatic music)

  • Oh, it's not too bad.

  • Oh!

  • - Oh, it's like cinnamon-sugary too.

  • - Oh! - Oh!

  • - It's bad.

  • - There's pickles that you can have along side (sighs).

  • (sighs) No, I don't like this.

  • - Give me the fact!

  • - Okay.

  • Hot-cold fried chicken fact time.

  • Mm, that's good, an ice, slush drink.

  • - It's making it worse.

  • - Can you say hot-cold fact chicken time?

  • - Hot-Cold Fact Chicken time!

  • (Adam sneezes)

  • (laughs) Oh, wow!

  • - The chemical in spicy foods that

  • makes something spicy is capsaicin.

  • Capsaicin is known to increase energy, reduce appetite,

  • increase salivation, and release endorphins.

  • (laughing)

  • - Ability to taste reduces in higher temperatures,

  • above 86 degrees Fahrenheit,

  • as well as lower temperatures below 68 degrees Fahrenheit.

  • Oh!

  • - I think this chicken might be right in the center.

  • You're still going?

  • - Oh my goodness!

  • - So we're on our way downtown to Pikunico.

  • We're going to see chef Kuniko

  • and have her fried chicken sandwich.

  • - Okay, is it spicy?

  • - No, it's okay.

  • - Okay, good. - Yeah.

  • (atmospheric music)

  • - Pikunico means picnic plus Kuniko.

  • So everything is in a to-go box and you can eat outside

  • of the restaurant, like a picnic.

  • - Why did you choose fried chicken

  • as the cornerstone of the menu?

  • - I grew up with it.

  • My grandma never liked cooking,

  • so we'd always go buy it. (laughs)

  • When I came here, I ate this southern style fried chicken,

  • with thick, thick crust and I loved it, so I did a hybrid.

  • Light, as Japanese, but also with a crunchiness.

  • Normally it's a wheat flour,

  • but we do brown rice and potato starch.

  • That's maybe the most special part of our fried chicken.

  • Our fryer don't carry any gluten.

  • A lot of my friends' kids, they have serious allergy,

  • and they never eaten fried chicken.

  • So I said, okay you can come here.

  • - [Andrew] Why did you want to offer a sandwich option

  • for your fried chicken?

  • - I'm trying to belong here. (laughs)

  • - [Andrew] Do you ever find those in Japan?

  • - [Kuniko] I don't believe it's a popular thing.

  • Japanese just pack rice balls,

  • and fried chicken, and pickles.

  • And that's our picnic.

  • But a lot of people said, "Kuni, come on,

  • like you're living in the United States,

  • everyone loves sandwich, come up with a great one."

  • I wanted to make the sandwich as special as I could.

  • We created a golden bun which carries turmeric.

  • The turmeric is antiinflammatory.

  • So you can lessen your feeling

  • of I'm eating fried chicken today. (laughs)

  • To me, sandwich is about combination.

  • The soft bun, crunchy chicken, acid from lemon vinaigrette.

  • I want it to have everything in one bite.

  • - I mean you say one bite, but I've seen the sandwich,

  • and it's quite tall. - Yes.

  • - How do I eat that with one bite?

  • - Smoosh. (laughs)

  • (cash register dings)

  • - We've come for the sandwiches, but we also got a salad

  • that we're going to try first.

  • - [Kuniko] I like my seaweed and cucumber salad.

  • Our seaweed is from Japan and it's salt cured.

  • The texture is not like dehydrated,

  • like wakame, like paper thin.

  • It's very meaty and satisfying.

  • I eat my salad everyday.

  • - Cheers.

  • (atmospheric music)

  • - Mm! - Wow.

  • - I'm not sure I've ever had this type of seaweed before.

  • It is denser and meatier.

  • - Pause button, back to the sandwich.

  • She gave us good advice to smoosh.

  • - Look at how juicy the chicken is.

  • Do you see the juices coming out?

  • It's the hidden benefit of the squish.

  • - Cheers.

  • - That's awesome.

  • - Wow.

  • - That's a face wiper, for sure.

  • It's a very good sandwich.

  • - Dude, the star of this fried chicken sandwich.

  • - Say it on three, one

  • - Two, three.

  • - The pickles. - The bread.

  • Oh, defend your case because I think you're wrong.

  • - It's the sourness that makes you want all the other stuff.

  • - True, but come on, look at this bread.

  • It's squishy, has a nice bite, it's not falling apart.

  • - It's a beautiful sandwich.

  • The texture of this stuff, almost like moss-like.

  • You ever look at moss and think, I bet that's tasty?

  • - I never think that, no. - Really?

  • I think it'd be a cool texture to eat.

  • It's like a hanging garden.

  • - It's like that plant up there.

  • I think this makes like potentially the perfect sandwich.

  • You've got this fried chicken that's delicious.

  • But then, the things surround it so you're not

  • feeling like greasy.

  • - [Andrew] It's not greasy at all.

  • - There's fried chicken is on this side, right.

  • So she's like, okay, what do I put on this side

  • to balance it out.

  • - Sprouts, miso jam, pickles, a little too far.

  • - Oh, okay.

  • - Jalapeños on this side, boom.

  • I feel like we've said some good stuff.

  • - Ooh.

  • - Dirty move Adam.

  • That's a dirty, dirty move.

  • Are you using the one that you

  • didn't already steal a piece of chicken out of?

  • I see, I know how you work.

  • Pikunico, what do you think?

  • - The bread, it's so good.

  • - Ooh, I feel like a picnic.

  • Does that make any sense?

  • - No.

  • Before we go to our next spot,

  • Fried Chicken Sandwich Fact time!

  • - Fried Chicken Sandwich fact.

  • - Though it's not currently on the menu,

  • for a time, KFC offered the Double Down sandwich,

  • I remember that one.

  • Which consisted of two fried chicken filets

  • doubling as the bun

  • and the filling was bacon, cheese, and sauce.

  • I actually have a very fond memory of this.

  • - You actually ate this thing?

  • - I tried it.

  • It was as amazing as it sounds.

  • - Really?

  • I remember that thing, that was madness.

  • It's like, just eat food guys, what are you doing?

  • Is it even a sandwich at that point

  • or are you just picking up food?

  • Like if I just pick up a steak and eat it with my hand,

  • is that a sandwich?

  • - [Adam] If you have two of them.

  • - We started this video at a steakhouse,

  • now we're going to a seafood restaurant.

  • - Oh, okay

  • - We're on our way to Son of a Gun, where Chef Greg

  • is going to show us their fried chicken sandwich,

  • and probably a couple other seafood treats.

  • (electronic music)

  • Is this modeled after a certain style

  • or like genre of seafood?

  • - Definitely, Jon and Vinny the owners are from Florida,

  • the vibe of it is the Florida fish shack.

  • - [Steven] I wanna know why you put a fried chicken sandwich

  • on a menu of a seafood restaurant.

  • - [Greg] Well our menu is really diverse,

  • which is like the way we like to eat.

  • Living in Los Angeles, you have so much diversity,

  • there's amazing food in Korea Town, amazing Chinese food in

  • San Gabriel, you name it we got it here.

  • So this is what influences our menu,

  • we're not an Italian restaurant,

  • we're not a French restaurant,

  • we just take something that we're into at the time

  • and try to develop a dish.

  • - [Andrew] The tuna dish for example--

  • - [Greg] Exactly yeah, that tuna dish is influenced by

  • Peruvian cuisine, first we take market avocado,

  • red onion, cilantro, and some tortilla chips.

  • Mix all that together, and then the tuna has been

  • pounded out into carpaccio, so it makes the texture

  • of the fish really nice.

  • So that gets wrapped around the avocado mix,

  • and then the bottom of the bowl is a leche de tigre,

  • so, you eat it with a spoon

  • and get a little bit of the tuna,

  • the avocado, the tortilla chips all together.

  • - Ohh.

  • Thank you. - Wow.

  • - [Steven] This is delightful.

  • - This reminds me of our time

  • at Pacific Seas, remember that?

  • I don't exist in this bar as you know me.

  • - We've shared like one donut.

  • (clapping)

  • Wait, whoa.

  • - Thank you. - Okay

  • These are the coolest straws I've ever seen.

  • - This is a drink you don't have to cheers.

  • 'Cause how would you?

  • - Like this.

  • (upbeat music)

  • - I'm concerned because I taste no alcohol in there.

  • But I definitely feel alcohol in here.

  • - [Steven] Alright, oyster time.

  • - [Andrew] Mmm, yeah, mignonette me.

  • - [Steven] And then you want a horse radish or are you good?

  • - [Andrew] Yeah.

  • - Cheers

  • Ohhh - Mmm, Hell yeah

  • - Okay turn it up - Oh my god.

  • I think oysters are the most Disney princess food.

  • It's like a spoon made of an ocean fish,

  • and so it makes me feel like I'm in Little Mermaid.

  • You get what I mean?

  • - No, I'm not, I'm not picking up what you're laying down.

  • - People are shaking their heads

  • but those people haven't been having scorpion bowl.

  • - [Steven] Whoa.

  • - [Andrew] This is the wildest looking thing I've ever seen.

  • It looks like a whole brain on a plate.

  • - Whoa. - Wow.

  • (upbeat music)

  • - Goddammit that's good.

  • Oh my God, that's good.

  • - [Steven] Look at how much avocado is in this.

  • - And this juice at the bottom is like spicy orange juice.

  • - This tastes more like a cocktail than this.

  • - Yeah. - Hold up.

  • - [Andrew] No Steven, you're a mad man.

  • (slurping sounds)

  • (Steven coughs) (Andrew laughs)

  • - [Greg] A lot of people have asked if

  • we could make a cocktail out of the leche de tigre

  • - I was saying, it tastes more like a cocktail

  • than the scorpion bowl does. - I said that, not you.

  • - [Greg] We take a free-range chicken breast,

  • brined overnight in some lemon and herbs,

  • bread it with a three-step breading process,

  • seasoned flour into buttermilk, and then we make crumbs

  • out of the flour and the buttermilk, so it gives it

  • a little bit of a crispy texture when we fry the chicken.

  • Then let it rest, let the juices reabsorb in, and then we

  • use red rooster aioli which is red rooster hot sauce from

  • Louisiana and it's not Sriracha, it's more like Tabasco.

  • And then we make a slaw with market vegetables,

  • we make some bread and butter pickles in house here,

  • so we'll make the dressing for the cabbage slaw

  • from the vinegar that comes from the pickles.

  • (cash register dings)

  • - Okay - Here's the fried

  • chicken sandwich guys.

  • - Thank you - Okay, that's actually

  • not at all what I expected to see.

  • There's pickles embedded into the slaw.

  • - It's my kind of slaw.

  • Have you ever seen a more beautiful chicken sandwich?

  • Commercial perfect.

  • Okay, I'm gonna split it for us.

  • You're gonna love the feel of this bun, I can already tell.

  • - Yeah?

  • - Yeah, you're a big bun guy.

  • - Oh, these dishes are actually very similar.

  • There's like the fattiness and the acidity.

  • - Yeah - Fattiness, acidity

  • - Fattiness, acidity - Oyster

  • - Fattiness, acidity

  • - Fattiness, acidity

  • - Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa

  • - You're gonna set me up like that, I'm gonna dunk hard.

  • How's that for a sports analogy?

  • Cheers Steven - Cheers.

  • (groovy music)

  • Oh no.

  • You know you had a good time

  • when the sandwich is in shambles.

  • - What do you think about the texture of the fried crust?

  • - It sounds like you wanna talk about the texture

  • of the fried crust, Andrew.

  • - Yeah, you know how there's different levels of crunch.

  • A crunchier crunch would be like leaves, high pitch crackle,

  • then there's also lower pitch crackle,

  • like stepping into snow.

  • I think this is more like snow crackle

  • and the other chicken we've had is more like leaf crackle.

  • Was that too long winded?

  • - I wanna spend a day in your head.

  • Just like, what are you thinking?

  • (groovy music)

  • - All right Steven.

  • - We did it again.

  • - Not only did we have three fried chicken sandwiches,

  • but this also concludes a three episode set for us.

  • The first one had buns, the last one had buns.

  • In effect it was a sandwich of its own.

  • What was your favorite thing in this episode

  • that was not a fried chicken sandwich?

  • - The giant ropes that held

  • the hanging light bulbs at Pikunico.

  • - Hmm yes.

  • We don't often get to talk about restaurant decor.

  • I kinda have a similar favorite thing

  • that wasn't a fried chicken sandwich.

  • - Aha.

  • - The bathroom faucets at American Beauty.

  • It looked like a swan throwing up the water into your hands.

  • - All right, which fried chicken sandwich

  • was the most worth it at its given price?

  • - My Worth It winner goes to The Window at American Beauty.

  • That fried chicken sandwich is everything I wanted

  • on a Martin's Potato Roll,

  • which is near and dear to my heart.

  • - You're not often wrong on the show, but you're wrong today

  • - Oh (bleep)

  • - My Worth It winner goes to Pikunico.

  • That fried chicken sandwich was so smoosh-able.

  • - Yeah.

  • The smooshing today was pretty excellent.

  • Adam, who's your Worth It winner?

  • - [Adam] Pikunico

  • - Adam picks Pikunico.

  • A good pick unico. - Unico.

  • - And that's gonna be it for 2019.

  • Thanks to everybody who works on this show

  • to make it happen, most of them are not here.

  • - And thank you all for watching.

  • - Yeah - We appreciate it.

  • We'll be back.

  • If you wanna suggest a food, we do check our Instagram page

  • instagram.com/buzzfeedworthit

  • - And the comments of this video

  • - Comments of this video

  • - We're probably reading them right now

  • as you're watching this.

  • I am also watching.

  • Oh yeah, what did we learn about fried chicken?

  • - Its delicious.

  • - Well fried chicken sandwiches may continue

  • to be eaten the world round,

  • at least we'll know that they taste good.

  • Solved. (laughs)

  • (triumphant music)

- We're back for part two of our Worth It Taiwan series.

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