[0:00] For years,
[0:01] China's food scene has been
somewhat hidden from the world,
[0:04] locked away behind borders, language,
and limited exposure online.
[0:07] But beneath that surface
lies one of the oldest,
[0:10] most authentic,
[0:11] diverse street food
cultures on the planet.
[0:13] So today,
[0:14] I'm trying as many of the greatest
street foods as I can across China.
[0:17] And of course, guided by local experts,
[0:19] we're going to be seeing Chinese
food like outsiders almost never do.
[0:23] And we're starting things off in Xi'an,
which, if you've never heard of it,
[0:27] listen up!
[0:28] Not only were noodles literally
invented here—and yes,
[0:30] they still slap a thousand years
later—but because of the incredible
[0:34] diversity of cuisine I think
people don't know about: breads,
[0:37] meats, sandwiches.
They might look simple,
[0:39] but let's not judge a
book by its cover because,
[0:41] like our first bite,
they tend to surprise.
[0:43] In Xi'an,
[0:44] you're almost never gonna
see locals lining up;
[0:46] it's not really a thing
unless it's really,
[0:48] really, really good.
And there's a line.
[0:49] We have a maxed-out bao.
[0:51] Look at the size of this thing!
[0:53] I mean, this is a big boy.
[0:54] And also, it only costs two RMB.
[0:56] For two of them, it maybe costs,
like, 50 cents.
[0:59] Insane!!
[0:59] You can charge five dollars
a pop for this in America.
[1:01] Now,
I would have gone for the pork normally,
[1:03] but what I find interesting is
they have an eggplant version that
[1:06] everybody seems to be getting.
[1:07] That looks and sounds tremendous.
[1:09] It's not something I've
ever seen in the West,
[1:11] so why not try that?
Here we go.
[1:12] Cheers!
[1:13] Cheers!
[1:14] Oh yeah.
[1:15] Rich juicy.
[1:16] Just like you.
[1:17] Okay, I'm rich.
You're juicy!
[1:19] Wow, this is so good.
[1:21] Is that zucchini?
[1:22] You live here, I don't know!
[1:23] I'm blown away every time I
order something that is not meat.
[1:27] My first thought is,
"I wish I had meat," but it's so rich and
[1:29] flavorful being just eggplant.
[1:31] And I love this texture.
[1:32] It almost has the texture of fat.
[1:34] It's seasoned perfectly.
[1:35] The salt levels are, like, perfect.
[1:37] Like, exactly where I want them to be.
It's a little spicy.
[1:39] This is, like,
one of the best bao I've ever had,
[1:41] and there's no meat in it.
I can't believe it.
[1:42] I'm gonna be honest: despite
it being so unassuming,
[1:45] it was so good.
Kind of like our guide, Allen.
[1:47] Look at him.
Come on, he's cute!
[1:48] He's also a Xi'an local who actually
has been using my burger bun recipe
[1:51] in his restaurant for years.
Xièxie, Allen.
[1:53] Allen, we love you.
Next up, we have breakfast: jidan youtiao.
[1:56] Basically,
a freshly fried egg-stuffed cruller.
[1:59] There's no way this is
not gonna blow our mind.
[2:03] So good!
[2:04] Like, looking at this,
I'm like,
[2:05] "How much flavor can really be in there?"
[2:06] That looks like fried dough;
[2:07] there's not much on it, just an egg.
This is delicious.
[2:10] That's why we have it
every day in the morning.
[2:11] This really is a perfect breakfast food.
[2:13] I mean, this bread,
it's crispy and soft like a donut,
[2:16] but the inside is almost like a
really well-hydrated ciabatta.
[2:20] It's very unique.
[2:21] I've never had anything like this before.
It's unbelievable.
[2:23] It is fried absolutely perfectly.
[2:25] There's moisture in it;
it's not greasy.
[2:26] It's salted nicely;
[2:27] the salt levels are good.
[2:29] Whatever they season
this egg with is nice.
[2:30] And that's the reason why they've
been open for a really long time.
[2:33] Maybe more than 20, 30 years, I guess.
[2:35] If it's 30 years, it's older than me!
Unbelievable.
[2:37] Basically perfect.
I don't think I could outdo this.
[2:39] On to the next.
[2:40] We now have another classic breakfast.
[2:43] It's called liji jiamo.
[2:45] Kind of like a soft steamed bun...
[2:46] pork loin...
[2:47] fried egg, lettuce,
chili oil, some sort of sauce.
[2:50] This whole thing is less than one dollar.
[2:52] As big as your face.
literally.
[2:54] Cheers!
[2:55] Cheers!
[2:57] The seasoning's great!
[2:58] God, they know how to season here.
[3:00] The meat's cooked nicely.
It's not too fatty.
[3:02] I like that they did pork loin
instead of bacon because you do get,
[3:05] obviously, the fat cap for some richness,
[3:07] but the meat itself is
actually nice and unctuous.
[3:09] It's got a good tenderness to it.
[3:11] Having lean meat in here—lean
protein—gives it a chew and
[3:14] just adds a density to it.
The flavor is great.
[3:16] I can taste the pork.
The fried egg is cooked perfectly.
[3:19] Allen, what do you think?
[3:20] What do I think?
[3:21] Yeah, I don't...
[3:22] my brain's stopped.
[3:24] Now I really want to dig in.
For Xi'anese people,
[3:26] I'm really proud we have
this kind of breakfast.
[3:28] There's a lot of carbs in this city.
[3:30] This is maybe the only
chance we can have some,
[3:33] like lettuce.
[3:34] Not to diss Austin—and I love Austin,
I live there—
[3:38] this is better than most breakfast tacos,
if I'm being honest.
[3:40] Now listen here,
brother: I know those are fighting words,
[3:43] but I'm gonna be honest,
[3:44] I've never had street
food like this before.
[3:45] And to be honest,
[3:46] it's been a while since I've seen a
pork sandwich that I've wanted to...
[3:49] well, you'll see.
Oh!
[3:50] BLEEP that smells good.
[3:51] It tastes good as well.
[3:52] It's like slowly braised pork.
Super fatty.
[3:55] She's chopping it up fresh,
[3:56] puts it in there with a little
bit of the juice from the braise,
[3:59] and then of course,
the fresh chilies and onions.
[4:02] The smell is
[4:03] sensual.
[4:04] Cheers
[4:11] I'm taking my pants off.
[4:13] That is absurd.
[4:14] The fact that this is just
something you just stroll along
[4:16] the street and it's like,
[4:18] "I guess I'll have, like,
one of the best, crispiest,
[4:20] fattiest little pork
bites I've ever had." God,
[4:22] this is so good!
[4:23] There is a green chili and also the onion
[4:25] gives it a natural flavor and fragrance.
[4:27] The exterior is so crispy, so crunchy,
so flaky like a croissant,
[4:31] but not buttery like a croissant,
[4:33] which I think is good because it
would be way too rich if it was,
[4:36] because the inside is so
salty and fatty and porky.
[4:39] The fresh pepper kind of
freshens it up a little bit.
[4:41] It's not spicy at all.
[4:42] I might even opt for double the amount of
pepper just cause I like the flavor of it.
[4:46] How can you make this better?
[4:47] Maybe something like acidic?
[4:48] More meat.
[4:49] Yeah, more meat.
[4:50] The best part would be, in a hurry,
you can just grab one and go.
[4:53] On to the next.
This is insane!
[4:55] But just when I thought the
pork couldn't get any better...
[4:58] Xun Rou Da Bing.
[5:00] When I was young,
I had them pretty much every lunch.
[5:02] So, it's got barbecued pork,
which she chopped up.
[5:04] But what is this exterior?
[5:05] Pretty much like a deep-fried tortilla
and wrapped all the meat inside.
[5:09] And the meat is smoked pork, green onion.
[5:11] It smells super smoky.
[5:12] I'm just going to go in.
[5:13] You should put the
whole one in your mouth.
[5:15] The whole one?
[5:16] Yeah, of course.
[5:17] Okay.
[5:18] Don't look at me like that...
[5:19] I'm in love.
Oh, it's smoky.
[5:22] Lightly smoked, lightly sweet,
fatty yet meaty.
[5:24] This is the perfect blend of pork.
[5:26] They basically cook and
smoke the whole shoulder,
[5:28] the fat and everything.
[5:29] But then they chop it up in
a way where you get a good,
[5:32] like,
50/50 of very lean meat and pure fat.
[5:34] So it all comes together.
[5:35] Little bites of nice chewy lean
meat and then bursts of fat.
[5:39] And it's smoky and it's slightly sweet.
[5:41] Makes you so satisfied, right?
[5:43] Beyond satisfying.
[5:44] That is unbelievable!
[5:46] It's good.
[5:47] Ooh, and the onion's a little spicy too,
which I like.
[5:48] Simple but good...
Classic example of a street food.
[5:51] And it's made quickly.
I love it.
[5:52] On to the next!
I'm going to be honest,
[5:55] Xi'an by far has been one of my most
favorite places to eat in the world.
[5:59] But we can't leave Xi'an
without one iconic dish,
[6:02] which also inspired a recipe that
I released in the second channel.
[6:05] It is Biang Biang noodles.
[6:07] I named this my favorite noodle
on our noodle tour across Asia.
[6:11] But now we're having it streetside
and in the birthplace of noodles.
[6:14] This shop is legit.
[6:16] To operate a Biang Biang noodle shop,
[6:18] you need to have this official
seal in order to even prove
[6:21] your credibility to serve.
Also,
[6:23] look at how this dude is
tossing the noodles in the pot.
[6:25] We got some potential.
We have two different kinds,
[6:27] and we're enjoying it
right here on the street.
[6:29] One that is the short noodle,
[6:30] where they basically are tearing the
noodles and you have little pieces of it.
[6:33] And then one that is
the whole long noodle.
[6:35] And it looks like the toppings
are slightly different.
[6:37] This has like a chili oil, sesame,
garlic chives, and braised pork.
[6:40] This one's similar,
but it's slightly different.
[6:42] It's got a different chili powder
with almost like a green onion.
[6:44] And then it has like a
stir-fried egg and tomatoes.
[6:47] Very traditional.
[6:48] That's what you're gonna say?
[6:49] Yeah.
[6:50] I'm eating, like,
[6:51] one of the best noodle dishes
of my life and he's like,
[6:53] "Very traditional." "Very good."
[6:54] This is incredible!
[6:55] Flavor is genuinely perfect.
[6:57] Balanced, seasoned absolutely perfectly.
[6:59] The texture of the noodle is ridiculous.
[7:01] It's so chewy, but it's also,
like, perfectly cooked too.
[7:04] And the meat is tender.
It's porky.
[7:06] It's rich.
God...
[7:07] Okay, on to the next one.
[7:08] It's wider than your belt.
[7:10] It's wider than my belt.
[7:11] You'll notice that I took my
belt off and my pants stay on.
[7:13] That's 'cause I've gained
some weight since I got here.
[7:17] Wow!
These are a lot more saucy.
[7:18] When I first saw the tomato,
I thought it was like, "Ah,
[7:20] I don't need a marinara sauce.
Thanks, though."
[7:22] And what I realized was I was a
fucking idiot for thinking that.
[7:25] All it is is a dispersion
for the chili oil.
[7:27] It just creates its own sauce.
[7:29] This looks really spicy;
[7:30] hardly spicy at all.
[7:31] This is more balanced than this because
it has the acidity from the tomato.
[7:35] They're both perfectly evenly good.
[7:37] I would pick this one first because I
love the experience of the big noodle.
[7:40] If this was being produced in America,
this would be considered, like,
[7:42] one of the best restaurants in the state.
[7:43] How about we open a restaurant
like this when you're back?
[7:46] You want to do it?
[7:46] Yeah sure.
[7:47] Okay.
[7:48] Okay deal.
[7:49] Done.
America, be ready.
[7:50] Yeah, in Texas,
actually,
[7:52] that's a legally binding contract.
[7:54] Street food in Xi'an feels
like almost a cheat code.
[7:57] Every single thing just
banged at the highest level.
[7:59] But now we turn the flavor
all the way up in Chengdu,
[8:02] a city who's famous for a particular
spice that's beloved and maybe even
[8:07] slightly feared for its tingling,
[8:09] numbing qualities: the Sichuan peppercorn.
[8:11] And our food writer guide, Harry Li,
[8:13] is starting me off strong in Chengdu
with a twist on crispy roast duck.
[8:16] If you like Peking duck...
[8:17] Kind of hard to imagine anything better,
[8:19] if I'm being honest. But this duck
is dunked in boiling chili oil.
[8:22] Could this be better than
what we had in Xi'an?
[8:25] So, it's a whole meal.
[8:26] Basically, you can order one portion.
[8:27] It's a family-style meal.
[8:29] You can sit down with three, four,
five people and just go to town on this.
[8:32] For example,
[8:33] if you're a housewife and
you don't want to cook today,
[8:34] you just order one
portion and take it home.
[8:36] The whole family is all set.
[8:38] I'm the housewife!
[8:40] Let's go for it!
Okay.
[8:42] This is absolutely incredible.
[8:44] There's so many different things in here.
[8:45] There's vegetables, there's cauliflower,
there's bok choy, there's jelly noodles.
[8:49] There's even little tofu skin in here.
[8:51] And it kind of almost has
like a hot pot flavor.
[8:53] If you've had hot pot before,
[8:54] you kind of get that
almost like a mala spice,
[8:56] right?
Like, it's so simple, yet so good.
[8:57] You get a million experiences in one!
[8:59] This is like everything
in one pot with rice.
[9:01] I don't need anything else.
I could stop eating this and go home.
[9:03] In comparison to, like,
[9:04] something like a Peking
duck meal where you have,
[9:06] like, all these components—you have duck,
[9:08] you have the pancakes and the
sauce and da-da-da—this is,
[9:10] to me, way better.
More exciting, more flavor.
[9:12] And this guy's doing it every
day like it's no big deal.
[9:14] I would come back to China just for this.
[9:16] One of the best family-style
meals out there...
[9:18] by far.
I feel like I'm family here.
[9:20] Welcome to the family.
[9:21] Yes.
God!
[9:22] It's hard to say that we're moving on,
but I'm gonna enjoy this for now.
[9:25] Let me be clear about something here:
this was $7.25 for a whole duck hot pot.
[9:29] This was one of the better
meals that I've had so far.
[9:32] But I have a feeling we're
just getting started!
[9:35] Because next up is a legend in
Chengdu: Grandma Yen's Guokui,
[9:38] a famous baked pancake that looks simple,
[9:40] but it's cut in half and stuffed with
a Sichuan chili oil-doused filling...
[9:44] of your choice.
[9:45] We had the beef and,
most classic and unique to me,
[9:48] a starch jelly.
[9:49] You can't knock it 'til you try it.
[9:51] Mm!
I thought it was gonna be too much starch.
[9:54] Not at all.
That is a great texture.
[9:55] Super crispy on the outside,
and it's not very gelatinous.
[9:58] It's like a very soft noodle.
[10:00] Little bit of chew,
[10:01] and then all that
Sichuan oil just kind of,
[10:03] like, coating your palate.
Super tasty!
[10:05] If the oil's doing this,
that's a good sign.
[10:07] I'm learning, I'm learning.
[10:08] Okay, this is the beef one.
[10:10] This beef is, like, with some vegetables.
[10:13] This is gonna go straight
to the gains factory here.
[10:16] Mmm!
It's very steaky.
[10:18] Almost like sliced steak.
[10:19] Oh, yeah, because they are braised.
[10:21] But it's not chewy at all.
[10:22] The meat is nice and tender.
[10:23] It's beefy, but, like, I love this oil.
[10:25] I like this one a little bit better
than the noodle because there's
[10:28] more flavor from the meat.
[10:29] The meat plus that oil
creates such a perfect flavor.
[10:31] And it's not too spicy, but the crisp,
the crunch of the exterior of this is so,
[10:36] so, so good!
And I'm a fan.
[10:37] Moving on.
[10:38] We wrap up Chengdu here with a
dish that could potentially be the
[10:41] greatest bite in all of China,
possibly my life.
[10:43] Supposedly, it hits all...
all five tastes,
[10:45] but it's an old-school
recipe and technique,
[10:47] and at risk of going extinct.
Supposedly,
[10:49] this is one of the last places in the
world that makes noodles like this.
[10:53] What we have in here is called Tian
Shui Mian—the sweet water noodle.
[10:58] The most traditional kind—
[11:00] of noodle in Chengdu.
[11:01] And you can see the
noodle is quite different.
[11:03] They're, like,
almost as thick as my pinky.
[11:05] The smell, the aroma from this...
[11:07] you can't really describe it.
[11:09] It's just, like, toasted.
It's roasty.
[11:11] It's sweet, it's spicy.
[11:13] It's very complicated.
[11:14] Shall we take a bite?
[11:16] Mm!
Oh, the chew!
[11:17] This is an important dish.
[11:18] This is one of the few dishes that
we have had that is almost more
[11:21] about the noodle that you're eating
than it is about anything else.
[11:24] This is not coming out of a box.
[11:26] These are clearly being
made fresh by hand.
[11:28] And they have such a presence when
you bite them because they're so big.
[11:31] The first bite: all about the noodle.
[11:33] And then as you chew, all these,
like, diverse flavors.
[11:35] Literally all five tastes: salty, sweet,
umami, spicy,
[11:38] a little bit of bitterness
from the chili too.
[11:40] So you're literally getting
all the flavors in one.
[11:43] And there's no meat in here.
[11:44] There's no green onions to crunch on.
[11:46] It's all about the noodle.
This is, like...
[11:47] might be one of the best
noodle dishes I've ever had.
[11:50] Some of these places are really popular,
[11:51] but what we're really looking for are
the hidden gems. What are the gems that
[11:54] people don't know about around the world?
[11:56] I mean, look around us.
[11:57] There's no, like,
tourists walking around here.
[11:59] I mean, this is,
like, working-class food,
[12:00] but they're cooking it
at a Michelin level.
[12:02] Actually, it's on the Michelin list.
[12:04] Oh, it is?
[12:05] Yeah.
[12:06] Wow!
Chengdu.
[12:07] Incredible flavor.
[12:08] Not only was everything
that I had delicious,
[12:10] but also different than
what I had in Xi'an.
[12:13] Each city is unique to itself,
[12:14] but if there's one city that
has the culinary firepower to
[12:17] possibly steal the spotlight,
it's Shanghai,
[12:20] where people from all
over the world perfect
[12:22] some of the most iconic street foods
ever—like this loaded jianbing.
[12:25] This, to me,
is the Chinese breakfast of champions.
[12:28] It's from the north of China,
but our guide, Rachel,
[12:31] a prolific local food writer,
says this is one of the best.
[12:34] This is the luxe version of jianbing.
[12:37] If you're going to ever go
shell out on a jianbing,
[12:40] this is 22 RMB, so maybe like just $3.
[12:43] I mean, $3 for this is crazy!
[12:45] So this has sausage, fried chicken,
jianbing cracker—
[12:48] the youtiao,
which is the deep-fried cruller—
[12:50] and basically a whole egg and sauce.
What are the sauces?
[12:53] One is a tianmianjiang,
so like a sweet fermented bean sauce.
[12:56] And then the other one's
just a chili sauce.
[12:58] So many textures!
[12:59] Crunchy soft airy...
God!
[13:01] And the seasoning on this is so good.
[13:03] You get a hint of sweetness
from the tianmianjiang.
[13:05] I love that fragrant
five-spice coming through,
[13:07] too.
It just, like,
[13:08] sweetens everything up in a
way that just goes together so,
[13:11] so perfectly.
It's so balanced!
[13:13] My first concern was, "God,
there's so much in this!"
[13:15] There's no way this is
going to be balanced.
[13:17] It's just going to be a fatty, heavy bite.
[13:18] But honestly, it's quite light.
Like,
[13:20] I could finish this
and I would feel great.
[13:21] This is awesome!
[13:22] I wish that I could have this
every day for my breakfast.
[13:24] You gotta make a video
how to make it at home.
[13:26] I don't feel confident enough in that.
[13:27] I need to work on that one for...
[13:29] for a minute, because this
is so good.
[13:30] The sausage alone is, like,
such a great bite, too.
[13:33] I love this.
[13:34] Jianbing is definitely a
breakfast hall of famer,
[13:36] no doubt.
[13:37] But next up is a breakfast dish that
may be even more famous in Shanghai,
[13:40] and I have zero expectations.
[13:42] So this is doufuhua or doufunao,
which is soft, silken tofu,
[13:45] and this is a savory version.
[13:47] You can also get it sweet.
[13:49] And on top,
they season it with light soy sauce,
[13:52] scallions, pickled vegetables,
and little pieces of dried krill.
[13:55] So the best way to enjoy it is the combo.
[13:58] You have your youtiao, your fried cruller,
and then you dip it into your tofu hua.
[14:02] Let it soak a little.
[14:03] Soak a little.
[14:05] Ooh, they're so airy!
[14:06] Like, when you bite into them,
it, like,
[14:08] squeezes out all the juice.
It's so light.
[14:10] It looked like it was gonna be, like,
really strong.
[14:12] It's very light tasting,
but there's a lot of flavor in it.
[14:14] Yeah.
[14:15] It's got, like,
[14:16] an earthy pickliness to
it that's really nice.
[14:17] But you get a little bit
of richness from the bread.
[14:20] It's a little oily, it's a little fatty,
but in a nice way.
[14:23] It absorbs the liquid well.
[14:24] It's got so much air in it.
[14:25] It's more of a vehicle for
this to get in your body.
[14:28] Also, I love the little krill.
Just, like,
[14:30] adds a nice little uncomplicated
oceanic flavor without it being,
[14:33] like, overwhelmingly so.
[14:34] This is not too strong.
[14:35] So it's usually served warm.
[14:36] So in the morning, you want something,
like,
[14:38] hot and warm and soothing to get
your stomach going for the day.
[14:41] This next one I know
looks a little boring.
[14:43] You got to hear me out.
[14:44] These are bao and dumplings
cooked in a unique style that
[14:46] I've always wanted to try.
[14:48] So, how do they taste?
[14:49] We have the seared bao,
which is shengjian bao,
[14:51] and then these are pot stickers,
essentially called...
[14:54] guotie.
[14:55] Goutie.
Guo- Guo- Yes.
[14:56] Guotie.
[14:57] Guotie.
Where should we start?
[14:59] I think you should start with the...
shengjian.
[15:00] So be careful.
It's juicy, it's hot.
[15:02] It's called shengjian
because they're cooked raw.
[15:05] Sheng meaning raw,
jian meaning pan-seared or fried.
[15:09] So inside is like a meatball
and a little bit soupy,
[15:13] more like juicy.
[15:14] Some places use a leavened dough so
that when you cook it and cover it,
[15:18] the steam cooks the top while the
bottom sizzles in the cast iron.
[15:22] Mmm!
So good.
[15:23] The crustiness on the sear is so good.
[15:25] It's so crisp and almost
bready on the bottom.
[15:27] And the top is more like dumpling skin.
[15:28] It gets thinner as you go to the top,
[15:30] and the actual meat on the
inside seasoned really nicely.
[15:33] It's kind of like the classic
dumpling flavors you would expect.
[15:35] It's nice.
I'm enjoying it.
[15:37] Very, very good.
Also, these are two-biters.
[15:38] There's no way you're eating one
of these whole unless you're,
[15:41] like, in a huge rush.
This is very filling.
[15:42] So these are guotie, aka pot stickers,
[15:45] and they're cooked in the same
exact way as the shengjianbao.
[15:48] Put them into the cast iron,
you add the water,
[15:50] and then you close them to
steam while the bottom sizzles.
[15:53] They're also probably filled
with the same meat filling.
[15:56] Hot hot hot hot hot.
Oh no
[15:58] no!
[16:00] We lost one!
[16:01] Honestly, this is totally different.
It's juicier.
[16:03] It feels a little more flavor dense.
[16:06] So hot!
[16:06] We paid a dollar to fill ourselves
up and to burn our mouth.
[16:09] You can see how juicy and filled they are.
[16:11] Somehow this retained way more juice.
[16:13] Similar flavors, similar textures.
[16:14] It's all the same stuff in there.
[16:16] I actually like these just a little more
just because they're retaining more of
[16:19] that juice and losing less of the flavor,
[16:20] whereas these kind of
lost a little bit of it.
[16:22] But they're both incredibly delicious.
[16:24] The next dish is exactly what this
video and Shanghai are all about.
[16:27] I've never heard of it.
[16:28] It looks simple, and wow,
[16:29] did it impress me.
[16:30] Okay, so this place is known for cai fan,
which is essentially a rice dish.
[16:35] Porky.
[16:36] It's cooked in lard,
and it's got pork bits,
[16:38] which look a little cured.
[16:39] Little bit of mushroom, onion,
and what looks like chopped bok choy.
[16:43] It actually smells very, like,
vegetable-forward,
[16:45] which I'm excited about.
[16:46] And they also cook it in this cast iron,
so it, like,
[16:48] soaks up all the flavor as well.
[16:51] Oh wow.
[16:52] It's not too much at all.
[16:53] I was thinking, like,
"Oh, there's so much pork fat in this.
[16:55] This is going to be too
rich." But it's very balanced.
[16:57] There's so many textures in this.
[16:58] I thought I bit into a piece of pork fat.
It was a mushroom.
[17:00] The mushroom was cooked in so much
pork fat that when you bite into it,
[17:04] it just releases this juicy, deep,
porky, salty flavor.
[17:06] You have bits of cured pork in there that
are also salty and contributing porkiness.
[17:10] Also, how's the texture of the rice?
[17:11] Because you can see they're
like individual beads,
[17:13] right?
[17:14] It's cooked so perfectly.
It's chewy.
[17:16] It's perfectly al dente,
each individual grain.
[17:18] You could count the rice.
[17:19] And they don't clump together.
[17:20] So that's what makes it really good.
[17:22] Out of all the rice dishes I've had,
this is one of the most unique.
[17:25] A lot of mixed rice dishes become very
homogenous as you cook and you toss them.
[17:28] It's all kind of one fluid flavor
that flows through the whole rice
[17:31] dish as the rice gets coated
in all the juices and this,
[17:33] that, and the other.
What's interesting about this,
[17:36] every little flavor in
this is totally separate.
[17:38] Really unusual and really fun.
[17:39] And also super simple,
[17:40] because all of these ingredients
are relatively cheap.
[17:43] Honestly,
[17:44] this is a top-tier choice
for just basic street food.
[17:46] Simple and good.
Moving on...
[17:48] Shanghai is like magic.
[17:50] Simple dishes made with a shocking
level of care that you just
[17:53] don't see that much anymore.
[17:55] China has continued to surprise me every
step as we arrive to our final city in
[18:00] search of China's best street food.
[18:02] And here we are.
[18:03] Chongqing China.
[18:05] People call this place the "cyberpunk
city." Sounds cringe until you get there.
[18:09] As soon as the sun goes down,
[18:11] this place turns into some
sort of futuristic nightclub...
[18:15] LED...
[18:15] light show that I have
never seen in my life.
[18:18] To be honest,
it's almost a little overstimulating,
[18:20] but at the same time,
[18:21] I'm so bewildered I might
as well just enjoy it,
[18:23] right?
[18:24] So it's only fitting that our guide's
personality is as big as his native city.
[18:27] But would the food here be
enough to top Xi'an or Chengdu?
[18:30] It's raining outside.
[18:31] This is still a street food,
[18:32] so we're sitting inside
just to avoid the rain.
[18:34] Thank you for being here with me today.
[18:35] My pleasure.
[18:36] Can you tell me about this dish?
[18:38] This is what we call You Cha.
[18:39] It's the most tremendous tea in the world.
[18:42] It's tea, but it's not drinking tea,
it's chewing tea.
[18:45] So what we have is on the top
is the fried dough sticks,
[18:48] the bottom is the...
porridge.
[18:50] We got the crunchiness.
[18:51] We also have the hearty
soup at the bottom.
[18:54] So we mix them together.
[18:55] This is a very retro, nostalgic...
food.
[18:58] This is the food my
mom and dad would like.
[19:00] I still remember when I,
when I was a little kid,
[19:02] I would have this before go to school.
[19:04] And this is all carbs.
[19:06] This whole trip has
been all carbohydrates.
[19:07] I've been having to try and outrun
everything I've been eating,
[19:10] and it's been impossible.
[19:12] Oh, wow, it's so good!
[19:13] It is the pickled vegetable
that's making it interesting.
[19:17] So smart!
[19:18] It's like, creamy,
but also, like,
[19:19] just melts in your mouth.
[19:20] The congee's perfectly cooked.
[19:21] It's not too thin, it's not too thick.
It's not soupy.
[19:24] It's got that, like, unctuousness to it.
[19:26] Just a little spicy,
but not too spicy at all.
[19:28] I love the little flecks of crunch.
But like you said,
[19:30] the thing that makes this special
is the little pops of flavor
[19:33] from the pickled vegetable.
[19:34] This is one of those things where I
think most people would look at
[19:37] it from afar and they're like,
[19:38] "Well, how good is it really?
[19:39] It looks a little boring,"
but the flavor is insane.
[19:41] One of my favorite bites so far, actually.
[19:43] I love the simplicity of this.
[19:44] But it's not our last item.
Moving on.
[19:46] On the way to our next stop,
Ryan taught me a little local language.
[19:49] Yeb-a-yang-yang.
[19:50] Yeb-a-yang-yang.
[19:51] I don't see your passion there.
Zai Tim Bao.
[19:54] Zai Tim Bao.
[19:55] Chi Bao Gua.
[19:56] Chi Bao Gua.
That was good.
[20:02] Welcome to Chongqing.
[20:03] What did I just say?
[20:05] That your aunt was hit by lightning
and—sadly—passed away in the cornfield
[20:11] eating this pie.
You know.
[20:14] I can't tell you how hyped
I am for this next spot.
[20:17] Finally, a dancing wok on the street.
[20:19] This is what I've been looking for.
[20:20] They had choices of meats, veggies,
aromatics.
[20:23] I loaded up a bowl.
[20:24] Hopefully this is the
correct thing to do here.
[20:26] He snatched the bowl out of my hand.
[20:27] I'm going to assume that I'm on the right
track here because he started cooking.
[20:30] I didn't know it was going to happen.
[20:31] You know,
it's happening right now in front of us.
[20:33] We lost Ryan.
I'm getting hungry.
[20:34] I saw fried rice,
so I at least know what that is.
[20:36] Except I realized that
I don't speak Chinese.
[20:38] I'm not 100% what I got,
[20:40] but I do know I got
twice-cooked pork in there,
[20:42] so I'm excited.
[20:43] And also, this is only $2,
which is crazy!!
[20:44] For all of this.
[20:45] He double-checked if I wanted chilies
because he noticed that I'm white.
[20:48] And I was like, "Don't worry,
[20:49] I'm different." I could tell by the
motion of this man and his wok skills
[20:52] that this was going to be good.
[20:53] Oh, yeah, that is so good.
[20:55] The flavor is just so deep.
[20:57] It's seasoned really nicely.
[20:59] The rice is cooked really beautifully,
so it's got that perfect chew.
[21:01] It's not overcooked.
[21:02] And the twice-cooked pork is just so
perfectly fatty and just unctuous.
[21:05] And he slices it like, kind of,
some thick, some thin,
[21:07] which normally I would
complain about uneven cuts,
[21:09] but I like that.
[21:10] I bite into one piece of pork:
explosion of juicy fattiness.
[21:13] I bite into another one:
crispy unctuousness.
[21:15] This is a beautiful bowl of fried rice,
Ryan.
[21:16] You shouldn't have missed this one, dude.
[21:18] In China in general,
but also in Chongqing,
[21:20] you're gonna see a lot of different
carts doing meat skewers and all
[21:23] sorts of things like that...
[21:24] But this place is different.
[21:25] When he's grilling his meat skewers,
it looks beautiful.
[21:28] It looks good.
It looks nice.
[21:29] And then all of a sudden, flamethrower!!
[21:35] It's an incredible show.
[21:36] Yeah, it's a presentation.
Look at that!
[21:38] These are beef skewers.
I'm excited to try them.
[21:39] Why don't you grab one and
let's give it a little taste?
[21:43] Oh, it's actually good.
It's—
[21:44] actually surprisingly good.
[21:45] It's really
good.
[21:46] This was a surprising one because
there was so much oil on the plate.
[21:49] It's seasoned really well.
It's got a good spice.
[21:51] Got some numbing spice in there.
[21:52] It's got a lot of the
flavors that I've enjoyed...
[21:54] Across Chongqing.
[21:55] Joshua mentioned there was a lot of...
[21:57] But actually,
most of the street food of Chongqing,
[21:59] there's a lot
of oil,
[22:00] and sometimes you just take
it as a ketogenic food.
[22:02] Mmm...
[22:03] Just avoid carbs.
[22:04] That's physically impossible.
[22:06] We've done the opposite
of avoid carbs today!
[22:07] What happens if you eat the carbs?
[22:09] Some people, they like it.
[22:10] Ketogenic people, they also like it.
[22:12] It's for everybody.
It's diversity.
[22:14] Thank you, Ryan.
[22:16] My pleasure.
[22:17] But that said,
I have one more thing to say.
[22:19] So our journey ends here in Chongqing,
China,
[22:21] one of the greatest cities I've ever seen.
I mean, it's...
[22:24] That's surreal.
[22:25] But the crazy part is we've barely
covered even a fraction of this country.
[22:28] There's so many cities and foods
and small little towns that
[22:31] we didn't even eat at.
[22:32] We just got a little taste.
[22:33] And yet I had some of the
greatest food in my life.
[22:36] And it wasn't on a white linen tablecloth.
[22:37] It wasn't in a
Michelin-starred restaurant.
[22:39] I maybe spent a hundred
dollars for the whole trip,
[22:41] but instead,
it was served on the side of a street.
[22:43] If you're gonna go somewhere
and you have travel plans,
[22:45] you might want to consider going to China.
[22:46] And if you're gonna go somewhere in China,
pretty much any street corner will do.
[22:49] Subscribe.
Love you...
[22:50] See you next time.