WEBVTT 00:00:04.269 --> 00:00:07.370 Hi everyone, welcome to Pot Luck Food Talks. We're 00:00:07.370 --> 00:00:10.050 in the middle of somewhere between Basque Country 00:00:10.050 --> 00:00:12.029 and La Rioja. Have you been to La Rioja before? 00:00:12.210 --> 00:00:13.730 I've never been to La Rioja. I'm really excited. 00:00:13.949 --> 00:00:16.589 First time as well. And we're going to talk about 00:00:16.589 --> 00:00:22.390 the deep and diverse world of noodles. Noodles. 00:00:22.769 --> 00:00:25.989 Noodles. Noodles. Do you have a favorite type 00:00:25.989 --> 00:00:29.070 of noodle? Don't ask. You know the answer to 00:00:29.070 --> 00:00:32.710 that, Eric. Where do noodles come from? China, 00:00:32.710 --> 00:00:36.149 for sure. Yeah? Yeah, it has to be. This is a 00:00:36.149 --> 00:00:38.689 bunch of Italians crying right now. No, they 00:00:38.689 --> 00:00:40.829 know this. They actually, they... They're in 00:00:40.829 --> 00:00:46.609 denial. They claim it was Americo Vespucci? No, 00:00:46.770 --> 00:00:49.609 Marco Polo. Marco Polo, the one that went to 00:00:49.609 --> 00:00:53.289 Asia and brought noodles to Italy. There is this 00:00:53.289 --> 00:00:58.609 creation around pasta that it has to do with 00:00:58.609 --> 00:01:03.479 China. But, yeah, I mean, like, it's such a complex 00:01:03.479 --> 00:01:06.280 elaboration that you don't see in other cultures 00:01:06.280 --> 00:01:09.000 except the ones that were influenced by China. 00:01:09.140 --> 00:01:11.180 But, you know, taking a dough and stretching 00:01:11.180 --> 00:01:13.459 it up until you have, like, this fine string 00:01:13.459 --> 00:01:18.239 and multiplying it a hundred times and some cases 00:01:18.239 --> 00:01:20.939 drying it, some cases throwing it directly to 00:01:20.939 --> 00:01:26.480 boiling water. I mean, it's a very non -obvious 00:01:26.480 --> 00:01:30.959 way to treat wheat. Do you think so? I think 00:01:30.959 --> 00:01:32.879 it's actually like... I don't know if I would 00:01:32.879 --> 00:01:36.400 agree. I think it's a very common... I feel like 00:01:36.400 --> 00:01:38.879 you can find a kind of noodle in every culture. 00:01:39.000 --> 00:01:41.939 And obviously the question is when did it come 00:01:41.939 --> 00:01:43.640 there? When did they start doing it and stuff? 00:01:44.620 --> 00:01:48.040 But in Mesoamerica, for example? Yeah, that's 00:01:48.040 --> 00:01:52.260 true. Or Africa, you know? yeah and the ones 00:01:52.260 --> 00:01:54.640 in europe were introduced by asia yeah yeah from 00:01:54.640 --> 00:01:57.140 the silk road like all the way down yeah for 00:01:57.140 --> 00:01:59.879 sure for sure yeah but that set apart yes there 00:01:59.879 --> 00:02:03.060 are different styles of noodles and for example 00:02:03.060 --> 00:02:08.240 italians and let's say germans and catalans they 00:02:08.240 --> 00:02:10.439 have their own thing which is different from 00:02:10.439 --> 00:02:12.979 everything else it's interesting like if you 00:02:12.979 --> 00:02:16.460 look at the history of like a pasta I know like 00:02:16.460 --> 00:02:19.900 John Regelfeld does a very interesting talk on 00:02:19.900 --> 00:02:25.879 pasta. John Regelfeld from the BCC. And I remember 00:02:25.879 --> 00:02:27.939 he was talking about like how pasta used to be 00:02:27.939 --> 00:02:29.840 eaten in the beginning where they used to make 00:02:29.840 --> 00:02:32.039 like big sheets of dough and like dry it out 00:02:32.039 --> 00:02:34.460 and then cut it. And this is like very, very 00:02:34.460 --> 00:02:36.699 different approach and how that then developed 00:02:36.699 --> 00:02:39.560 over the years until all these little like different 00:02:39.560 --> 00:02:43.310 pasta shapes arrived. that we have today because 00:02:43.310 --> 00:02:45.870 i mean if you if we just look at italy the shapes 00:02:45.870 --> 00:02:48.590 of pasta are insane you know and then if you 00:02:48.590 --> 00:02:50.590 go to china i mean it's completely different 00:02:50.590 --> 00:02:53.090 thing china is like a world of its own and like 00:02:53.090 --> 00:02:56.229 the the type of noodles from like north which 00:02:56.229 --> 00:02:59.009 is like desert -y kind of like with like lots 00:02:59.009 --> 00:03:03.090 of muslim influence to like the south east you 00:03:03.090 --> 00:03:07.330 know like sichuan uh it doesn't really have one 00:03:07.330 --> 00:03:08.490 thing doesn't really have to do with the other 00:03:08.490 --> 00:03:11.330 you can't generalize china as that Not at all, 00:03:11.370 --> 00:03:15.110 not at all. Same with Italy and, yeah, and even 00:03:15.110 --> 00:03:17.469 other regions of Europe. You will find, like, 00:03:17.610 --> 00:03:20.229 specific types of pasta, particular to every 00:03:20.229 --> 00:03:23.509 region. Or noodles. Let's say Spätzle, for example. 00:03:23.669 --> 00:03:25.629 It's pretty much its own thing. That's true. 00:03:25.770 --> 00:03:29.909 And it's this, I don't know, amorphous kind of 00:03:29.909 --> 00:03:32.069 noodles, you know, like... It's its very own 00:03:32.069 --> 00:03:35.110 technique. That's very true. Yeah. Should we 00:03:35.110 --> 00:03:37.590 talk about what the technique is? Yeah, well, 00:03:37.650 --> 00:03:42.860 the traditional way... You have to mix it. Usually 00:03:42.860 --> 00:03:45.340 it was mixed by hand. Yes. And while mixing it, 00:03:45.360 --> 00:03:48.280 you have to say, du sau, du sau, du sau. No, 00:03:48.340 --> 00:03:54.979 that was just your experience. Do you want to 00:03:54.979 --> 00:04:00.180 tell the story that you witnessed? So the chef 00:04:00.180 --> 00:04:03.139 that we used to work for, Eric and I, he learned 00:04:03.139 --> 00:04:05.840 to cook in a very traditional German restaurant 00:04:05.840 --> 00:04:08.039 when he was young. And he had to make Spätzle 00:04:08.039 --> 00:04:10.840 dough. by hand. So as Eric just mentioned, Spätzle 00:04:10.840 --> 00:04:13.680 dough traditionally gets beaten with a flat hand 00:04:13.680 --> 00:04:17.120 and stretched as you beat it to really, really 00:04:17.120 --> 00:04:18.959 stretch the gluten because it's like fairly liquid 00:04:18.959 --> 00:04:22.079 dough. You can't knead it because it's too sticky. 00:04:22.180 --> 00:04:25.720 And we at one point made Spätzle in this restaurant. 00:04:25.860 --> 00:04:28.279 We were all kind of like beating the dough, so 00:04:28.279 --> 00:04:30.759 to say. And then the chef came, he was like... 00:04:30.759 --> 00:04:34.410 He started whispering at my ear. you have to 00:04:34.410 --> 00:04:38.430 say which means how would you translate that 00:04:38.430 --> 00:04:42.910 you you pig you pig but female pig and then he 00:04:42.910 --> 00:04:44.930 started doing it and he started just like yeah 00:04:44.930 --> 00:04:48.649 the result is really better if you say that wow 00:04:48.649 --> 00:04:51.339 you think so oh yeah for sure I think we should 00:04:51.339 --> 00:04:53.639 try this out with more than just Spätzle. There 00:04:53.639 --> 00:04:56.899 are like these mantras that you have to do. I 00:04:56.899 --> 00:05:00.240 can imagine like a sushi master making nigiris 00:05:00.240 --> 00:05:02.540 while whispering to himself. Yeah, and I don't 00:05:02.540 --> 00:05:08.180 know, talking to the storm gods, move the waters 00:05:08.180 --> 00:05:10.540 of the sea or I don't know, something like that. 00:05:11.459 --> 00:05:14.699 But yeah, so Spätzle, you beat the dough. You 00:05:14.699 --> 00:05:16.459 let it rest and you put it on a wooden board, 00:05:16.579 --> 00:05:19.649 wet wooden board. scrape it flat because this 00:05:19.649 --> 00:05:21.850 dough is basically like a paste. You have a pot 00:05:21.850 --> 00:05:25.129 of boiling water, salt it, lightly salt it, and 00:05:25.129 --> 00:05:28.889 then you have a scraper, you wet it, you flatten 00:05:28.889 --> 00:05:30.769 the dough out and then from the edge of the board 00:05:30.769 --> 00:05:34.829 you shave these like thin noodles into the boiling 00:05:34.829 --> 00:05:38.149 water. You cannot scrape them into the water 00:05:38.149 --> 00:05:42.490 with a knife or a spatula. Yes. So that you have 00:05:42.490 --> 00:05:45.930 like this. Little pizzas. That's the most traditional 00:05:45.930 --> 00:05:48.069 and old -school way today. Of course, you have 00:05:48.069 --> 00:05:50.689 like... I had that actually at home. My dad would 00:05:50.689 --> 00:05:53.230 do that at home. Like these presses where you 00:05:53.230 --> 00:05:56.370 put the dough inside and then it goes out. I've 00:05:56.370 --> 00:05:58.709 met the granddaughter of the man who invented 00:05:58.709 --> 00:06:00.889 the press, actually. She's a friend of mine. 00:06:01.470 --> 00:06:05.930 What do you like Schmetzels with? What's your 00:06:05.930 --> 00:06:09.649 favorite thing to eat with Schmetzels? Lots of 00:06:09.649 --> 00:06:12.560 things. I mean... episode earlier we were talking 00:06:12.560 --> 00:06:16.220 about game i was thinking exactly this i think 00:06:16.220 --> 00:06:19.180 it's like a really nice side dish for a game 00:06:19.180 --> 00:06:21.560 and for like a goulash and stews and goulash 00:06:21.560 --> 00:06:24.939 so good oh yeah yeah but also i mean you can't 00:06:24.939 --> 00:06:27.399 forget about cheese spetzle of course he's a 00:06:27.399 --> 00:06:30.360 spetzle austrian up delicacy with a certain with 00:06:30.360 --> 00:06:33.620 caramelized onions a certain kind of cheese and 00:06:33.620 --> 00:06:36.139 then gratinated absolute classic super delicious 00:06:36.139 --> 00:06:38.540 but also with like a chanterelle cream sauce 00:06:38.540 --> 00:06:42.209 for example Like in mushrooms. Super tasty. End 00:06:42.209 --> 00:06:45.089 game. Absolutely. End game. Everything together. 00:06:45.529 --> 00:06:50.310 Do you have any favorite Chinese noodles? Yeah, 00:06:50.430 --> 00:06:53.529 I mean, definitely. I'll probably butcher the 00:06:53.529 --> 00:06:56.170 pronunciation, but I love the biang biang noodles. 00:06:56.350 --> 00:06:59.610 Ah, fuck. I was going to say exactly that. Yeah, 00:06:59.610 --> 00:07:02.290 I swear. I found this place in Barcelona where 00:07:02.290 --> 00:07:04.790 they do biang biang noodles. And I go there every 00:07:04.790 --> 00:07:06.730 single time I go to Barcelona because it's... 00:07:07.149 --> 00:07:09.389 It costs like, I don't know, like five bucks 00:07:09.389 --> 00:07:13.050 for a big bowl of this. I would describe it like 00:07:13.050 --> 00:07:19.430 a XXXL tagliatelle, right? It's like this thick 00:07:19.430 --> 00:07:23.569 tagliatelle, like this long, like wide, plain 00:07:23.569 --> 00:07:26.709 kind of noodle. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. And it's 00:07:26.709 --> 00:07:28.550 like stretched by hand. You make a certain dough, 00:07:28.730 --> 00:07:31.550 you kind of stretch it and you flip it and bang 00:07:31.550 --> 00:07:34.149 it against the... against the table as you stretch 00:07:34.149 --> 00:07:36.790 it and then often you rip the end and rip the 00:07:36.790 --> 00:07:39.329 whole noodle along the center to make a tw the 00:07:39.329 --> 00:07:42.389 noodle twice as long and then you often you get 00:07:42.389 --> 00:07:44.370 a bmw noodle it's just one long noodle in the 00:07:44.370 --> 00:07:48.529 bowl and use some laugamai on top of that and 00:07:48.529 --> 00:07:51.149 that's it i went to there's a new noodle place 00:07:51.149 --> 00:07:55.689 opening well it just opened in berlin it's called 00:07:55.689 --> 00:07:59.610 mr noodle chang And it's supposedly a chain from 00:07:59.610 --> 00:08:02.410 China and they do hand -pulled noodles. It's 00:08:02.410 --> 00:08:04.009 super nice because you can choose your noodle 00:08:04.009 --> 00:08:07.870 thickness. I know you would like that. But you 00:08:07.870 --> 00:08:10.490 can have like really flat noodles, like really 00:08:10.490 --> 00:08:13.170 thinly stretched noodles with like just really 00:08:13.170 --> 00:08:16.350 simple traditional like beef broth, braised beef 00:08:16.350 --> 00:08:19.589 brisket, some sour fermented mustard greens and 00:08:19.589 --> 00:08:22.870 chili oil. Ultra delicious. So comforting. I 00:08:22.870 --> 00:08:26.519 remember being... with john reggaefalk in a street 00:08:26.519 --> 00:08:30.620 market in malaysia and having a chinese hand 00:08:30.620 --> 00:08:32.679 pulled noodles just in front of me i have videos 00:08:32.679 --> 00:08:36.080 i i can't post them on this episode it was so 00:08:36.080 --> 00:08:38.720 cool the guy would it would take him like less 00:08:38.720 --> 00:08:41.700 than a minute like punk punk punk pulled to the 00:08:41.700 --> 00:08:45.019 water and then i remember john said something 00:08:45.019 --> 00:08:48.159 really interesting like that we in europe or 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:52.299 in the west that we really underestimate the 00:08:52.299 --> 00:08:56.159 power of or undervaluate the power of a simple 00:08:56.159 --> 00:08:59.460 nice stock oh yeah you know like just having 00:08:59.460 --> 00:09:02.539 like a good chicken broth and noodles and that's 00:09:02.539 --> 00:09:04.899 it that's pretty much it that's like an amazing 00:09:04.899 --> 00:09:08.399 meal that you have and i think that's way more 00:09:08.399 --> 00:09:11.200 appreciated in asia oh yeah especially in china 00:09:11.200 --> 00:09:13.759 oh yeah for sure i mean we do have it in germany 00:09:13.759 --> 00:09:18.190 as well and we like in europe but not close to 00:09:18.190 --> 00:09:20.129 what it is and actually there's an interesting 00:09:20.129 --> 00:09:23.750 dish from austria called fledler which is basically 00:09:23.750 --> 00:09:27.649 a pancake you make pancakes you roll it up and 00:09:27.649 --> 00:09:29.929 you cut it into thin noodle strips and traditionally 00:09:29.929 --> 00:09:33.110 that is eaten in a clear beef or also maybe game 00:09:33.110 --> 00:09:36.220 consommé as noodles yeah it's basically yeah 00:09:36.220 --> 00:09:40.120 and it's super delicious it's really really because 00:09:40.120 --> 00:09:44.139 the the pancake the the porous texture it soaks 00:09:44.139 --> 00:09:45.879 up a little bit the broth and the texture of 00:09:45.879 --> 00:09:48.840 the noodle changes but like what you were saying 00:09:48.840 --> 00:09:51.600 about this broth i went the other day to a very 00:09:51.600 --> 00:09:56.080 famous far place in berlin berlin huge amount 00:09:56.080 --> 00:09:58.460 of vietnamese people living in berlin since like 00:09:58.460 --> 00:10:01.000 a long long time ago and so there's really really 00:10:01.000 --> 00:10:03.519 good far places one of the most famous ones being 00:10:03.519 --> 00:10:06.129 monsieur wong and I had one of the most exceptional 00:10:06.129 --> 00:10:08.350 fosa the other day. It was like, and the power 00:10:08.350 --> 00:10:12.389 of the broth, crystal clear broth with like eyes 00:10:12.389 --> 00:10:15.330 of fat swimming on top and then loads of fucking 00:10:15.330 --> 00:10:19.389 herbs and spring onions on top and then the traditional 00:10:19.389 --> 00:10:24.049 rice noodles. But the broth, I would wager there's 00:10:24.049 --> 00:10:26.309 few things that have an impact on you eating 00:10:26.309 --> 00:10:28.669 as a well -made broth, whether that's a dashi 00:10:28.669 --> 00:10:32.090 in Japan or like a clear, you know, consomme. 00:10:32.639 --> 00:10:34.740 if it's well made and balanced you drink it you 00:10:34.740 --> 00:10:37.519 feel in your entire body you know like the history 00:10:37.519 --> 00:10:39.639 of four is super interesting because as you see 00:10:39.639 --> 00:10:42.440 it's a it's a beef broth and that's not as common 00:10:42.440 --> 00:10:45.120 in asia so you will find more like chicken or 00:10:45.120 --> 00:10:48.039 pork right yeah and the reason is because it 00:10:48.039 --> 00:10:50.600 was not meant to be for asians you know you had 00:10:50.600 --> 00:10:53.200 like this street food vendors in the south of 00:10:53.200 --> 00:10:56.480 vietnam that would sell this to the french it 00:10:56.480 --> 00:10:59.080 had just more demand and it was a best seller 00:10:59.080 --> 00:11:01.860 if it was a beef broth instead of a pork or a 00:11:01.860 --> 00:11:04.039 chicken oh really yeah so they started to develop 00:11:04.039 --> 00:11:08.059 and then this um spices added to it you know 00:11:08.059 --> 00:11:11.200 like clove and i had the best fall in my life 00:11:11.200 --> 00:11:14.659 it was in malaysia as well a vietnamese restaurant 00:11:14.659 --> 00:11:17.639 there incredible it's one that is listed in the 00:11:17.639 --> 00:11:19.759 michelin guide we went there just for the fall 00:11:19.759 --> 00:11:22.799 and yeah you could feel the the spices go through 00:11:22.799 --> 00:11:26.639 this beef broth And with this rice noodles and 00:11:26.639 --> 00:11:31.940 also, like you said, herbs, citrus. I mean, we 00:11:31.940 --> 00:11:34.940 have to go to Vietnam. Yeah. No, no. I have a 00:11:34.940 --> 00:11:37.139 plan for beginning of next year, actually, that 00:11:37.139 --> 00:11:39.320 I want to go to Vietnam because I'm dying to 00:11:39.320 --> 00:11:42.220 go. Pho is like such an interesting broth because... 00:11:42.220 --> 00:11:43.980 Without me, so you didn't tell me anything. Oh, 00:11:44.000 --> 00:11:47.019 we can talk about it. Okay. In private. Pho is 00:11:47.019 --> 00:11:48.480 a really interesting broth because you like, 00:11:48.480 --> 00:11:51.500 you basically like char the ginger and you char 00:11:51.500 --> 00:11:54.299 the onions. and it also has like you say star 00:11:54.299 --> 00:11:56.539 anise and cinnamon really importantly cinnamon 00:11:56.539 --> 00:11:58.659 for me is like something i'd rarely put into 00:11:58.659 --> 00:12:00.100 like i would never think of putting cinnamon 00:12:00.100 --> 00:12:03.000 into a broth like me personally like unless it's 00:12:03.000 --> 00:12:06.759 like very gainy or like something but it works 00:12:06.759 --> 00:12:09.139 so well it's so delicious and clove same thing 00:12:09.139 --> 00:12:11.100 i would say the same thing about clove it's very 00:12:11.100 --> 00:12:13.120 traditional this thing that you put a clove into 00:12:13.120 --> 00:12:16.440 an onion or in some cases like 20 cloves into 00:12:16.440 --> 00:12:18.919 an onion like something very french but i think 00:12:18.919 --> 00:12:21.789 when it's subtle And I think it's a key part 00:12:21.789 --> 00:12:26.450 of a good pho broth. It's a shared piece. Talking 00:12:26.450 --> 00:12:30.690 about noodles, and if we then go from China and 00:12:30.690 --> 00:12:32.690 Vietnam to Japan, obviously everybody always 00:12:32.690 --> 00:12:34.350 talks about ramen. But you know what I think 00:12:34.350 --> 00:12:36.629 people don't talk about enough? It's soba and 00:12:36.629 --> 00:12:40.909 udon. Everybody always talks about ramen this, 00:12:41.090 --> 00:12:43.230 ramen that. But the soba culture, and especially 00:12:43.230 --> 00:12:45.870 the udon culture, that is like something that 00:12:45.870 --> 00:12:47.980 almost... only the locals keep for themselves 00:12:47.980 --> 00:12:50.419 it doesn't really go out that much it hasn't 00:12:50.419 --> 00:12:54.879 become like a international sensation like ramen 00:12:54.879 --> 00:12:57.559 has i had the best noodles in my life in kyoto 00:12:57.559 --> 00:13:01.840 yeah and uh it was kind of it was a soba place 00:13:01.840 --> 00:13:05.059 and it was the flagship place of like kind of 00:13:05.059 --> 00:13:08.120 like a restaurant group it was a huge mess because 00:13:08.120 --> 00:13:11.840 all of the you know the spending machines in 00:13:11.840 --> 00:13:16.019 the noodle shops It was all in Japanese. And 00:13:16.019 --> 00:13:19.100 there was a queue. So we didn't have time to 00:13:19.100 --> 00:13:21.759 use it. We felt completely pressured. There was 00:13:21.759 --> 00:13:24.299 like no... With the Google Translate, like, I 00:13:24.299 --> 00:13:27.139 don't know, just pick something. Just press the 00:13:27.139 --> 00:13:31.039 button. Just pay whatever. Exactly. And so I 00:13:31.039 --> 00:13:34.340 didn't have actually what I would have if I wouldn't 00:13:34.340 --> 00:13:39.759 push a random button. I had soba to dip it. The 00:13:39.759 --> 00:13:41.580 dipping sauce, the cold one? Yeah, exactly. It 00:13:41.580 --> 00:13:44.580 was cold to dip it. and in this place the particular 00:13:44.580 --> 00:13:47.600 thing about it is that they would emulsify the 00:13:47.600 --> 00:13:50.200 broth so they every once in a while you would 00:13:50.200 --> 00:13:53.320 see someone with a tournament and it was like 00:13:53.320 --> 00:13:57.799 this almost pill pill broth for the soba wow 00:13:57.799 --> 00:14:00.860 incredible that's crazy one of the best bites 00:14:00.860 --> 00:14:02.899 i had in japan for sure i'll send you the address 00:14:02.899 --> 00:14:05.320 i think it's so underrated it's like the cold 00:14:05.320 --> 00:14:08.080 soba the people don't know soba are buckwheat 00:14:08.080 --> 00:14:10.379 noodles and there's different types of soba there's 00:14:10.379 --> 00:14:13.279 soba that are made from a mix of buckwheat flour 00:14:13.279 --> 00:14:16.679 and wheat flour but the soba masters the real 00:14:16.679 --> 00:14:19.879 soba masters they make the sobas out of 100 buckwheat 00:14:19.879 --> 00:14:22.480 flour which is super difficult because buckwheat 00:14:22.480 --> 00:14:25.559 has almost no gluten right so making a cohesive 00:14:25.559 --> 00:14:27.879 noodle out of it is extremely difficult but obviously 00:14:27.879 --> 00:14:30.700 if you have it 100 buckwheat the flavor is much 00:14:30.700 --> 00:14:32.860 more intense i think there's like cold dipping 00:14:32.860 --> 00:14:35.179 sauce usually get condiments next to it like 00:14:35.179 --> 00:14:39.860 nori grated daikon sesame And wasabi, I think, 00:14:39.899 --> 00:14:42.279 also. And then you have the tensuyu, the dipping 00:14:42.279 --> 00:14:45.519 sauce. And you mix that in, and you take a portion 00:14:45.519 --> 00:14:47.659 of your noodle, you put it in, and you slurp 00:14:47.659 --> 00:14:50.340 it. Extremely delicious. But then, something 00:14:50.340 --> 00:14:52.740 that blew my mind when I was in Japan, is that 00:14:52.740 --> 00:14:54.259 then you have this, like, dipping sauce with 00:14:54.259 --> 00:14:56.120 still the condiments. You finish your noodles. 00:14:56.259 --> 00:14:59.360 They bring you a little can of the cooking water 00:14:59.360 --> 00:15:02.700 from the noodles. Okay, never saw that. That 00:15:02.700 --> 00:15:05.360 is insane. because they give you this like slightly 00:15:05.360 --> 00:15:09.179 salty starchy water which is almost a broth and 00:15:09.179 --> 00:15:11.580 you pour that into your sauce and then you drink 00:15:11.580 --> 00:15:13.639 it like it was a broth it's like buckwheat tea 00:15:13.639 --> 00:15:16.779 wow okay and that like blew my mind and i thought 00:15:16.779 --> 00:15:19.600 that was so cool and also this absolute appreciation 00:15:19.600 --> 00:15:22.600 for kind of using everything yeah also resourcefulness 00:15:22.600 --> 00:15:26.080 this is something that probably originated in 00:15:26.080 --> 00:15:28.700 poverty you know like 100 but then becomes an 00:15:28.700 --> 00:15:32.259 appreciation yeah yeah Udon also. Have you had 00:15:32.259 --> 00:15:35.720 cool udon experiences? Oh yeah, for sure. For 00:15:35.720 --> 00:15:44.309 me, udon was limited to this kind of... but then 00:15:44.309 --> 00:15:47.809 you also have like squared udons, you know? Yeah, 00:15:47.889 --> 00:15:49.950 it's different styles, original styles. Completely 00:15:49.950 --> 00:15:51.990 different styles of different udons, yeah. I 00:15:51.990 --> 00:15:53.809 think that's Sanuki udon, if I'm not mistaken. 00:15:53.970 --> 00:15:55.669 Yeah, but some are round, some are square, some 00:15:55.669 --> 00:15:56.730 are a little bit thicker, some are a little bit 00:15:56.730 --> 00:15:59.769 thinner. Yeah. I would say udon is like the ultimate 00:15:59.769 --> 00:16:03.570 sort of like people food in Japan. honestly like 00:16:03.570 --> 00:16:05.870 the more you get into like real sort of japanese 00:16:05.870 --> 00:16:08.549 eating culture udon is really yeah like an everyday 00:16:08.549 --> 00:16:12.370 food it's super affordable it's like there's 00:16:12.370 --> 00:16:15.190 lots of different toppings and it's basically 00:16:15.190 --> 00:16:17.669 just a wheat noodle i've actually when i was 00:16:17.669 --> 00:16:19.830 in dubai with michael started making udon fresh 00:16:19.830 --> 00:16:22.029 in the restaurant so i was making udon like every 00:16:22.029 --> 00:16:24.389 like two or three days and we stopped buying 00:16:24.389 --> 00:16:27.730 udon all together udon is kind of funny because 00:16:27.730 --> 00:16:31.639 it is a firm dough and it's kneaded extensively 00:16:31.639 --> 00:16:33.820 so that you get this texture. Traditionally, 00:16:33.899 --> 00:16:36.139 you make the dough and then you put it, you wrap 00:16:36.139 --> 00:16:38.200 it, you put it on the floor and you step on it 00:16:38.200 --> 00:16:40.820 so that you knead it with your feet. So if you 00:16:40.820 --> 00:16:43.340 see udon factories, even like in cities where 00:16:43.340 --> 00:16:45.500 you have like a small udon restaurant that somebody 00:16:45.500 --> 00:16:48.059 took over and they still make the noodles in 00:16:48.059 --> 00:16:50.340 -house, they will take off their shoes, they'll 00:16:50.340 --> 00:16:52.340 have like a little area and they'll put the dough 00:16:52.340 --> 00:16:55.419 on the floor and knead it by stepping on it in 00:16:55.419 --> 00:16:57.879 a particular way. Then afterwards, you know, 00:16:57.940 --> 00:16:59.620 you roll it, you rest it, you roll it out, you 00:16:59.620 --> 00:17:02.539 cut it fairly thick, and you boil it for a really 00:17:02.539 --> 00:17:04.519 long time. When I was doing it, it was about 00:17:04.519 --> 00:17:07.500 12 minutes. Boil it, and then you wash it, you 00:17:07.500 --> 00:17:10.740 rinse it in cold water. And that gives you this, 00:17:10.839 --> 00:17:15.720 like, bouncy... Elastic, I would say. Yeah. There's 00:17:15.720 --> 00:17:18.440 this word, and I think it comes from Korean food, 00:17:18.480 --> 00:17:21.460 it's called kyukyu. This, like, texture, this, 00:17:21.500 --> 00:17:24.319 like, bouncy, starchy texture. which is very 00:17:24.319 --> 00:17:26.980 appreciated by asians this chewiness right yeah 00:17:26.980 --> 00:17:29.119 this bouncy chewiness that you also have in rice 00:17:29.119 --> 00:17:31.740 cakes and stuff like that yeah super nice i was 00:17:31.740 --> 00:17:35.519 just going to talk about mention this korean 00:17:35.519 --> 00:17:39.539 rice cake that feel like rice gnocchi also super 00:17:39.539 --> 00:17:41.440 what's the name ebook or something like that 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:44.480 oki is something like that yeah yeah something 00:17:44.480 --> 00:17:47.500 like that Yeah, I had one of those recently with 00:17:47.500 --> 00:17:51.019 tomato sauce and cheese. Oh, yeah? Yeah, and 00:17:51.019 --> 00:17:53.960 for me it was crazy. I haven't got so deep into 00:17:53.960 --> 00:17:57.599 Korean food, but finding tomato sauce and cheese 00:17:57.599 --> 00:18:00.579 with Asian noodles was very counterintuitive 00:18:00.579 --> 00:18:03.940 for me. But apparently this is something in Korea. 00:18:04.359 --> 00:18:07.900 Yeah, I also feel like I really want to educate 00:18:07.900 --> 00:18:10.420 myself more on Korean food because that's another 00:18:10.420 --> 00:18:13.039 whole world. But for example, the whole Ramyeon 00:18:13.039 --> 00:18:15.299 culture. which is totally different to ramen 00:18:15.299 --> 00:18:17.559 culture you know so like the similarities obviously 00:18:17.559 --> 00:18:20.720 uh i mean even the name everything goes back 00:18:20.720 --> 00:18:24.640 to china yeah yeah absolutely absolutely we haven't 00:18:24.640 --> 00:18:27.859 talked about italy we have not talked about italy 00:18:27.859 --> 00:18:30.039 enough but people talk enough about italy you 00:18:30.039 --> 00:18:32.019 know like you have to showcase other places of 00:18:32.019 --> 00:18:37.200 the world okay have you tried this um these are 00:18:37.200 --> 00:18:40.980 like sweet potato starch noodles that are also 00:18:40.980 --> 00:18:44.759 korean yes i love those that are like translucent 00:18:44.759 --> 00:18:47.380 you know i love those they have them in japan 00:18:47.380 --> 00:18:49.940 as well they're for example a very quintessential 00:18:49.940 --> 00:18:52.720 part of sukiyaki i don't know if you've had sukiyaki 00:18:52.720 --> 00:18:55.279 rings a bell but i'm not sure it's almost like 00:18:55.279 --> 00:18:57.880 shabu shabu all right so like you have like different 00:18:57.880 --> 00:19:00.359 things cooked down in like a sauce and you have 00:19:00.359 --> 00:19:02.839 these like glass noodley starch noodley type 00:19:02.839 --> 00:19:05.779 noodles i think that isn't it starch called konjac 00:19:08.029 --> 00:19:09.789 I feel like that might be the name for it. Okay. 00:19:10.130 --> 00:19:12.849 That you put in and braise. We used to have it 00:19:12.849 --> 00:19:15.470 for star food in Rio again a lot when I was working 00:19:15.470 --> 00:19:18.569 in Tokyo. Super, super nice. Again, like a super 00:19:18.569 --> 00:19:21.410 particular texture. This like braised starchy 00:19:21.410 --> 00:19:23.309 thing. I think you also have it in like other 00:19:23.309 --> 00:19:25.890 things like wooden and stuff like that. You know 00:19:25.890 --> 00:19:29.049 wooden? No. It's like this, like one pot stew 00:19:29.049 --> 00:19:31.569 of like chunky stuff. It's like also a Japanese 00:19:31.569 --> 00:19:33.769 comfort food where you have like whole eggs and 00:19:33.769 --> 00:19:36.690 like big chunks of tofu, big chunks of starch. 00:19:37.069 --> 00:19:40.549 Just like, stewing in like a seasoned broth that 00:19:40.549 --> 00:19:42.470 you then kind of like take out as like ultimate 00:19:42.470 --> 00:19:45.650 comfort food, basically. Thai noodles don't get 00:19:45.650 --> 00:19:47.650 talked about a lot. Have you ever had a cow soy? 00:19:47.829 --> 00:19:53.029 No, and my knowledge is not so deep about Thai 00:19:53.029 --> 00:19:56.309 food. You've been to Thailand, right? I've not 00:19:56.309 --> 00:19:58.549 been to Thailand, but I've spent a lot of time 00:19:58.549 --> 00:20:01.089 cooking Thai food with Thai cooking experts. 00:20:01.329 --> 00:20:03.829 And I actually learned a lot. Cow soy is super 00:20:03.829 --> 00:20:06.210 amazing. Basically, it's like it's almost like 00:20:06.210 --> 00:20:09.170 a Thai spaetzle. in a way that you make this 00:20:09.170 --> 00:20:12.029 like slurry this like dough you put it in the 00:20:12.029 --> 00:20:14.329 press and you press it into hot water and you 00:20:14.329 --> 00:20:17.269 make these like pressed noodles you you take 00:20:17.269 --> 00:20:19.849 them and you can deep fry them and they make 00:20:19.849 --> 00:20:22.490 this like big nest of like crispy noodles so 00:20:22.490 --> 00:20:26.369 often you have this like noodles i think it's 00:20:26.369 --> 00:20:28.549 a breakfast staple in thailand you have these 00:20:28.549 --> 00:20:32.150 noodles and like a spicy coconut curry with a 00:20:32.150 --> 00:20:34.730 big chunk of like crispy noodles on top it's 00:20:34.730 --> 00:20:36.750 super delicious i mean you eat that for breakfast 00:20:36.750 --> 00:20:41.400 you're you're set you're ready to go you're you're 00:20:41.400 --> 00:20:43.920 with your foot on the gas pedal well something 00:20:43.920 --> 00:20:48.119 i can say about like italian pasta in general 00:20:48.119 --> 00:20:52.039 that can be learned from is you have this whole 00:20:52.039 --> 00:20:54.720 diversity of shapes and these shapes have like 00:20:54.720 --> 00:20:57.579 particular functionalities yeah absolutely and 00:20:57.579 --> 00:21:03.250 also for example like some are just lines that 00:21:03.250 --> 00:21:06.769 are just designed to catch more sauce or these 00:21:06.769 --> 00:21:10.069 shapes where the sauce goes inside so that it 00:21:10.069 --> 00:21:12.970 explodes in your mouth when you bite. And it's 00:21:12.970 --> 00:21:15.549 part of it. Also, the way of cooking it, there 00:21:15.549 --> 00:21:18.809 is this mistake of washing the noodles that some 00:21:18.809 --> 00:21:22.809 uncooks do, adding hot water or even adding oil 00:21:22.809 --> 00:21:25.309 to the water. Who does that, though? It's pretty 00:21:25.309 --> 00:21:27.849 common. Really? Yeah, it's pretty common. And 00:21:27.849 --> 00:21:31.390 at the end, you're not allowing the pasta to... 00:21:31.919 --> 00:21:35.059 become sticky and get the sauce stick to it, 00:21:35.079 --> 00:21:37.279 which is what you want, right? I think we've 00:21:37.279 --> 00:21:40.140 talked about it in home hacks that finishing 00:21:40.140 --> 00:21:43.220 your pasta in the sauce or even adding some pasta 00:21:43.220 --> 00:21:47.660 water to your sauce happens so often that I have 00:21:47.660 --> 00:21:49.240 to do that, especially when I'm in a restaurant, 00:21:49.279 --> 00:21:52.119 I cook pasta all the time. It's like 90 % of 00:21:52.119 --> 00:21:54.099 the time that I finish pasta in the sauce or 00:21:54.099 --> 00:21:56.180 at least add some pasta water to the sauce. I 00:21:56.180 --> 00:21:59.220 think what a lot of people also forget is like... 00:21:59.519 --> 00:22:01.640 Pasta isn't pasta, like if you talk about Italy, 00:22:01.839 --> 00:22:05.000 if it's like, because you don't use the same 00:22:05.000 --> 00:22:09.359 recipe of a dough for, say, a tagliatelle or 00:22:09.359 --> 00:22:11.819 papardelle, right, that you use, for example, 00:22:11.819 --> 00:22:13.859 for a filled pasta. It's a completely different 00:22:13.859 --> 00:22:15.980 dough recipe, you know, whether you only use 00:22:15.980 --> 00:22:18.579 egg yolks or you use whole egg. Or no egg at 00:22:18.579 --> 00:22:21.000 all. Or no egg at all, exactly, if it's just 00:22:21.000 --> 00:22:24.099 a semolina, you know, flour and water dough. 00:22:24.670 --> 00:22:26.650 uh which is also very common they have completely 00:22:26.650 --> 00:22:28.630 different functionalities like you say completely 00:22:28.630 --> 00:22:31.009 different attribute so i think in general you 00:22:31.009 --> 00:22:34.029 know with china it's very obvious we can't generalize 00:22:34.029 --> 00:22:36.890 it it's so vast it's like a whole universe in 00:22:36.890 --> 00:22:41.009 itself culinary also because it's like the birthplace 00:22:41.009 --> 00:22:44.029 of so many things you know the influence that 00:22:44.029 --> 00:22:46.349 china has had on so many things that have come 00:22:46.349 --> 00:22:48.690 out into the world is insane you know if you 00:22:48.690 --> 00:22:52.559 think about it is uh a culture that has existed 00:22:52.559 --> 00:22:55.559 for like 4 000 years yeah it's crazy as the same 00:22:55.559 --> 00:22:59.220 it's not like i don't know romans became italians 00:22:59.220 --> 00:23:02.019 and you know no chinese have been chinese for 00:23:02.019 --> 00:23:05.119 the last four thousand years yeah yeah and like 00:23:05.119 --> 00:23:07.039 it's the same with italy you can't generalize 00:23:07.039 --> 00:23:09.700 italy and i love that i love looking at these 00:23:09.700 --> 00:23:12.759 sorts of things and realizing that food is like 00:23:12.759 --> 00:23:17.279 an ever like changing flow we like to think of 00:23:17.279 --> 00:23:19.240 like the time and place that we're in now and 00:23:19.240 --> 00:23:21.240 like Relatively recent traditions and saying 00:23:21.240 --> 00:23:23.440 all this is from here and this is like that and 00:23:23.440 --> 00:23:25.559 it's always been like this I know it's a constant 00:23:25.559 --> 00:23:29.119 exchange of cultures. You know, it's not people 00:23:29.119 --> 00:23:32.430 get so pressed about cultural appropriation when 00:23:32.430 --> 00:23:34.230 it comes to food but actually when you look at 00:23:34.230 --> 00:23:36.210 it and you take a few steps back everything is 00:23:36.210 --> 00:23:39.190 a constant osmosis of stuff yeah of an exchange 00:23:39.190 --> 00:23:41.829 of cultures you know the arabs coming to spain 00:23:41.829 --> 00:23:43.849 you know and like people say this is spanish 00:23:43.849 --> 00:23:45.309 you can't do this you can't do this any different 00:23:45.309 --> 00:23:48.490 way you know potatoes come from america exactly 00:23:48.490 --> 00:23:51.950 and it's like rice from asia you know like especially 00:23:51.950 --> 00:23:54.329 when we talk about produce yeah and it's like 00:23:54.329 --> 00:23:57.190 chill out you know food and eating is the thing 00:23:57.190 --> 00:23:59.410 that we all have in common you know and we should 00:23:59.410 --> 00:24:03.349 celebrate the like the constant flow and evolvement 00:24:03.349 --> 00:24:05.490 and everything that is a tradition today was 00:24:05.490 --> 00:24:07.650 an innovation at some point somebody somebody 00:24:07.650 --> 00:24:10.970 did something crazy that was not okay to do you 00:24:10.970 --> 00:24:14.789 know and if it was good it survived during some 00:24:14.789 --> 00:24:17.289 generations until today yeah yeah and it started 00:24:17.289 --> 00:24:19.210 at one point but it doesn't mean that that's 00:24:19.210 --> 00:24:21.890 the final stage it keeps evolving and evolving 00:24:21.890 --> 00:24:24.009 and evolving it'll keep doing that things that 00:24:24.009 --> 00:24:25.589 we find traditional today will keep evolving 00:24:25.589 --> 00:24:29.529 also And new impressions will come. New cultures 00:24:29.529 --> 00:24:32.990 will merge and mix. A big amount of immigrants. 00:24:33.410 --> 00:24:39.170 What about Nikkei cooking? Now a thing of itself. 00:24:40.109 --> 00:24:43.250 Just born out of immigrants coming to a country 00:24:43.250 --> 00:24:45.650 and making something out of it. What about New 00:24:45.650 --> 00:24:48.529 Nordic? Just like a group of visionaries decided 00:24:48.529 --> 00:24:52.410 to create a new cuisine out of scratch. And that's 00:24:52.410 --> 00:24:54.430 insane, you know? And it's something that today 00:24:54.430 --> 00:24:56.930 is distinctive. Now it's a thing. You can say 00:24:56.930 --> 00:24:59.910 these are the features of New Nordic and you 00:24:59.910 --> 00:25:03.509 can identify it and, yeah, distinguish it from 00:25:03.509 --> 00:25:05.549 other regions. Yeah, I mean, at the end of the 00:25:05.549 --> 00:25:09.150 day, food and culture are inseparable. And just 00:25:09.150 --> 00:25:11.190 like culture doesn't stay the same, it keeps 00:25:11.190 --> 00:25:17.730 evolving, food will do the same. That's it for 00:25:17.730 --> 00:25:20.150 this week's episode of Putt Lock Food Talks. 00:25:20.150 --> 00:25:22.539 If you like what we're doing, Make sure to subscribe 00:25:22.539 --> 00:25:24.779 to the podcast so you never miss an episode. 00:25:25.160 --> 00:25:27.240 You can also find us on Instagram and TikTok 00:25:27.240 --> 00:25:30.759 as potluckfoodtalks. The show airs every Monday.