Chinese The Best of British Takeaways

Now, we Brits love our fast food.

We spend a staggering £6 billion every single year on takeaway.

We have more places than anywhere else in Europe serving it up.

Across the series, from curry to fish and chips,

we'll be exploring our love affair with the takeaway.

This week, we want to know what makes Britain's best Chinese.

Give me chillies, please.

We'll be uncovering the secrets behind some of

Britain's top takeaways.

You need to have fire, of course.

That is so hot!

I'll be discovering how Chinese food

was first introduced to ordinary Britons.

Use chopsticks, it's easy.

Or, so they tell these holiday-makers

at a Clacton holiday camp.

I haven't been this stressed in a long time.

And we are inviting some award-winning chefs to a contest...

I am shatterooned!

..to find out what makes the best Chinese takeaway.

Erm, it's a disaster.

Good team. We are good team.

It's the battle of the woks in the heart of London's Chinatown.

We're celebrating the real food we eat and the people behind it.

Whether it's sweet and sour pork or steamed dumplings,

Chinese is currently the UK's favourite takeaway.

And we eat a staggering eight million meals every week.

So, we've been searching the country to find out what makes the best.

We found three of the finest Chinese takeaways in the UK

to take part in a contest.

They're all award-winning, but they're all very different.

Between the university spires of Oxford lies a little piece of China.

Ahead of the contest,

Michelin-starred chef Tom Kerridge is here to meet the first contender.

HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

George is head chef and owner of Shanghai 30's,

which features in the Michelin guide.

HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

Yeah, perfect.

A small piece of impurity, so you've got to remove it.

You only gave me two pancakes. One more pancake, please.

George, definitely in control.

Make sure there's no small bones, yeah?

Must check and double-check, yeah? Must double-check, OK?

Feels like an exciting, vibrant place.

-Pancake, please.

-George was raised in Taiwan,

and his dishes are inspired by recipes from all over Asia.

All right. Two more seconds to go, gentlemen.

OK, once the door's open, I'm going in.

But it's his attention to detail

which really makes his food stand out.

-What temperature are you looking for?

-I'm looking for 62.

So, you're not far, you're 60?

Yeah, but I want to make sure.

-It's got to be consistent.

-OK.

This is quality control. When it's not ready, it's not ready.

The secret to a perfect stir-fry is in precision,

but also in the temperature it's cooked at.

To cook the food fast, you need a hot fire, of course.

-But the thing is...

-That noise!

That is so immense.

That is why the food tastes better, because,

when you cook with high heat, you know, it's more tasty.

These turbo woks are standard in professional Chinese kitchens

and can reach temperatures of 700 degrees Fahrenheit.

Let's try some noodles. In there.

-These noodles?

-Yeah. Put it in here.

-All of it?

-Yeah. That's it.

-Well done, sir.

-And then we move straightaway?

-That's it.

Start stirring. That's it, and you've got to be quick,

or else this will stick.

And what we're going to do is add a little bit of sesame oil.

That heat is so intense.

-It is so hot.

-You are getting a suntan already, sir.

-Yeah!

-No more need for holiday!

Straight away that sesame oil, the sesame oil,

-you can smell straightaway.

-Yeah. Now when it's ready, you put it in.

And you have to be quick again, so it doesn't stick.

If you're not quick, it's going to start sticking again.

The one thing that I'm just finding amazing is the intensity of the

heat, and how quick everything cooks.

George's obsession with cooking perfection is what he thinks makes

his takeaway unique.

And that's it. And once you've packed it,

put a little bit of decoration on it, and perfect.

Today, I've been very impressed with George.

He's very tight, very precise.

OK, hot oil.

That level of consistency that George strives for,

will he be able to keep it up when it comes to the contest?

-What's this?

-The timing of the steam item is so crucial.

And if a customer complains, I have to deal with it.

Two thirds of Chinese takeaways in the UK serve dishes

that originate from the Hong Kong region of China.

PHONE RINGS

Hello, Sweet Mandarin.

You want a Mabel's clay pot chicken? OK.

Our second contenders have this Cantonese style of cooking

down to a fine art.

Order for John, coming right up.

Sweet Mandarin in Manchester is owned by twin sisters

Helen and Lisa.

Oh, they're ready now.

Both their mother and grandmother before them owned Chinese takeaways.

Fried rice? Got that, right here.

But following in their footsteps was never the plan.

I was working in London as a lawyer.

Lisa was in finance.

And, to the horror of our parents,

we gave up those high-flying careers in London to open up Sweet Mandarin.

THEY SPEAK OWN LANGUAGE

Thanks, Lis.

So, funnily enough, we actually followed in our family's footsteps

and became the third generation to be women restaurateurs.

-Thank you.

-Thank you.

-Enjoy your dinner.

-See you next week.

Thanks a lot. Goodbye.

When your destiny is created for you, you just follow that path.

With just a few weeks to go before the contest,

Tom wants to find out what they think makes their takeaway special.

BELL DINGS

-Hey, Tom.

-How are we doing? Talk me through what's going on,

what's happening. This is quite exciting for me.

Welcome to the kitchen. This is where the magic happens.

So, talk me through the style of food that you cook here.

We're from the Guangzhou and the Hong Kong region.

-So we are Cantonese...

-Yeah.

-..cooking.

It's the Hong Kong Cantonese style of classic dishes that,

here in the UK, we're most familiar with.

-Family recipes, isn't it?

-They are family recipes, yes.

-Right, OK.

-Even the sauces, they're passed down from our grandmother,

-to our mother, to us.

-So, it's all Cantonese cooking?

-Yes.

-What are you going to show me? What are we going to get cooking?

The twins believe their food is the best because their dishes have been

perfected over three generations.

-See for your salt and pepper mix...?

-Yes.

What's in the salt and pepper mix?

We can't tell you that!

-OK, it's still a secret.

-Yeah.

-OK.

Sweet-and-sour chicken is one of the most popular dishes.

Sweet-and-sour is a bestseller across the UK.

It's a classic example of a Chinese recipe

that's been adapted for British tastes.

In Chinese cooking there are five main flavours -

there's sweet, sour, spicy, savoury and bitter, OK?

Now, this classic flavour is based on the two main flavours of Chinese

cooking, which is sour and sweet.

Our British version is sweeter than the Cantonese original,

and often uses chicken instead of pork - the Chinese meat of choice.

-So much of this cooking is very quick, very fast.

-Yeah, yeah.

The secret is the preparation, Tom.

That'll be my sweet-and-sour chicken.

The best one you'll ever taste.

-There you go.

-Thank you.

-See you.

The twins' cooking is classic British Chinese takeaway.

It's Chinese food that, like most takeaways here,

has adapted to our palate.

It's done to a very high standard,

but is it enough for them to win the contest?

From crunchy stir-fry to crispy aromatic duck, today,

Chinese takeaway is available in every corner of the UK,

with 10,000 places serving it up.

And we have an unlikely invention to thank for that.

The washing machine.

Believe it or not, this helped the spread of your local Chinese.

The first Chinese immigrants were sailors,

working on ships importing goods to Britain from Hong Kong and Shanghai.

During the 19th and early 20th centuries,

some of the sailors settled in Britain

and found jobs in the laundry business.

But in the 1950s, that all changed.

It's the new English Electric Liberator,

the dial fabric washing machine that out dates all others.

Automatic home washing machines sent traditional Chinese

laundries out of business.

So, it was out of necessity that Chinese laundry owners

converted their businesses into small cafes

and then takeaways instead.

Cooking became an ideal introduction to British life for the next wave of

Chinese immigrants arriving from the colony of Hong Kong.

They were invited as members of the Commonwealth

to help rebuild Britain after the war.

But what was on the menu then was very different from today.

And their Hong Kong Cantonese recipes were too exotic for most

Brits at that time.

In the 1950s,

to serve Chinese food would have been completely outlandish.

People would never have heard of it,

would never have experienced something like sweet-and-sour pork,

chicken chow mein, it would be off the radar for those people.

'Food historian Polly Russell has unearthed

'a typical Chinese menu from 1958.'

I'm seeing a lot of chips.

"Steak and chips, ham and chips, omelette and chips,"

there's a lot of kind of authentic British food.

They served typically British dishes and a few Chinese dishes.

So, this is a beginners' guide to Chinese food.

Should you be feeling adventurous,

you can veer into the sweet-and-sour pork.

That's exactly right.

This sort of menu slowly introduces people to new tastes,

to think about possibly venturing outside their comfort zone.

Since the '50s, we've become much more experimental

in our eating habits.

Give me chillies, please.

Tom has come to meet the final contender in our contest,

who is pushing the boundaries of Chinese takeaway here in the UK.

SHE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

Thank you.

Omelette.

Give me fish, sea bass.

Wong's opened in Bristol four years ago.

It's all ready.

And owner Annie is uncompromising when it comes to ingredients.

We've got a squid, and we've got a bean curd

and Chinese wood mushroom.

She sources authentic home-cooked recipes from across China,

and nothing is adapted for British tastes.

That's beef. Stomach, it's like a cow's stomach.

Nice!

-Hi, Annie.

-Hi.

-Hi. How are you? Nice to see you.

-I'm fine.

-So, the food that you do for takeaway is the same as you do

in the restaurant. What's your philosophy?

-What's your outlook?

-In England,

this one, you can't find in any other restaurant.

Traditional Chinese food is like family food.

So, if you expect your normal takeaway,

like sweet-and-sour chicken balls, something that is normal,

everyone's everyday standard, you don't do that.

-No do that.

-You do authentic, proper, homely, wonderful food.

Yes!

Annie's already won a prestigious Legacy of Taste Award -

the industry's gold standard for Chinese cooking.

-Star anise.

-Yes.

Straight away, those smells of the star anise, the garlic,

-the ginger...

-Yeah.

These mushrooms, you've brought these back from China?

Yeah. We don't need too much.

So, this is really authentic, really home style cooking.

-Yes.

-Yeah. Glass noodle.

-So, boiling quite rapidly.

-Quite hot.

Mm, nice.

Her dishes depend not only on exotic Chinese ingredients,

but the freshest local produce, too.

Now it's ready.

Smells fantastic.

It's very authentic looking.

It looks really great.

And then those lovely looking, very interesting dried mushrooms.

It's definitely not like Chinese food that I've seen before.

I'm really excited by Annie's cooking.

It's authentic Chinese and it's something that,

I suppose, in the UK, that we're not used to.

Pitched up against those more familiar flavours,

I think it might be tough for her.

So, three completely different approaches

to cooking Chinese takeaway.

And today, we're going to find out which is the best.

I'm here in Chinatown, just off London's bustling Piccadilly Circus.

The heart of the Chinese community is here,

so where better to base our contest?

Tom Kerridge will be judging our three teams.

Today, I'm looking for the chefs to bring their A-game,

cook their hearts out, and win my soul over.

Just pour it in, Lis, it's here.

The twins, Lisa and Helen, have travelled from Manchester.

You don't know where you stand until you see your competitor, you know?

George has come from Oxford.

HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

And Annie has arrived from Bristol.

The chefs will battle it out in three tasks across one day,

to help us decide who makes the best Chinese takeaway.

The average takeaway takes less than 40 minutes to arrive at our door.

Speed is a very important part of any takeaway.

So, for our first task,

we want to see how quickly our chefs can make our orders

and get it perfect every time.

The first team to serve and bag up

all of their order wins this task,

but, please, remember -

the last dish must be as good as the first.

Chefs, you are open for business.

All right, so we'll get the stuff.

Get one of these.

Each team has seven orders to complete.

It's a race to finish first,

but fast food shouldn't mean bad food.

We want to check that the quality of the food is really high,

even though they're pushing through those orders.

Tom will be helped in judging by Chinese food writer and chef,

Ching-He Huang.

In a race situation,

the tendency is that you're going to rush things and they might cut

corners, so they might not slice or dice things properly,

but the key to a great Chinese dish is getting the prep right.

For the takeaway, you have to have everything ready,

and then you rock and roll.

Rock and roll. I love that!

First thing you do is make the spring roll.

-Yeah, I'm going to make the spring roll.

-Secondly,

-I'm going to make the fried rice.

-I'm going to chop.

-OK.

All three teams will be cooking spring rolls,

a chicken dish, and a stir-fry.

-Lis, how you doing?

-I'm doing good.

Shall I ask for the first order?

I don't know whether I've got everything, but we'll start for now.

-OK.

-Order, order.

-Order, order.

Order one - please, can I get one chicken, one beef,

-and two egg fried rice.

-Certainly.

Helen and Lisa have chosen a surprising strategy.

They've called for their first order,

even though they haven't finished prepping.

I think that gives them a bit of a head start.

The twins are making two Hong Kong Cantonese dishes

we are familiar with here in Britain.

Fire-cracker chicken!

A spicy version of chicken with cashew nuts...

That's really good. That's really spicy.

..and a stir-fry of beef and peppers.

Shall I throw it in?

Sorry. That's done, done, enough.

It's just basically, we work really well,

we almost mind-read each other, so it's all right.

Annie's spent over 30 years preparing food

in Chinese restaurants.

So, she's sticking to the standard practice of chopping everything

before she starts cooking.

You know, that's quite a clever way to approach the contest.

So, if all the elements are prepared first,

all she needs to do as the orders come in is to marry them,

and season them, and it's straight out of the door.

Come on, Mr Yu, I need it now.

But George has decided to follow the twins' lead.

Open for business, now serving.

-What would you like?

-One beef, one chicken, and two egg fried rice.

-OK.

-On the double.

-Oh, lady, you want it quick? Wow, OK.

-Yeah, thank you.

-Thank you.

-He's starting cooking before his prep's finished,

so he'll need to chop on the go.

I'm doing flaming chicken now. This is my grandma's special recipe.

It's got 20 of the green chillies in there.

COUGHING

Ooh! Very spicy!

This is a very spicy dish.

I normally wear a mask when I do this dish.

I can tell you want to try a little bit of this.

George's cooking is a fusion of dishes from all over Asia.

A bit nervous, but, you know, that's what it's all about.

For his second dish,

he's stir-frying his beef in a honey and black pepper sauce.

I've got everything down to science.

First order!

But before the other teams have got their first order cooked,

Annie's finished all the chopping.

What do you order?

One chicken, one pork, and two egg fried rice.

Yes. There, there.

There's a lot to do to catch up with the others.

SHE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

Her chicken will be deep-fried in batter then tossed with whole

Szechuan dried chillies in the wok.

For her stir-fry,

Annie's cooking pork with star anise and jalapeno peppers.

These are typical dishes you'd expect to eat

in a home in northern China.

It could be a case of the tortoise and the hare -

she's behind now, but she could steal the race.

I'll cut the peppers, I'll cut the peppers.

No, no, no, no, I can do it.

The twins were first to take an order, but it still isn't ready.

Yeah, I just need onion cubes. Can you do me onion cubes?

I'll do onion cubes.

They're having to chop everything as they go along,

which is slowing them down.

Very stressful. I don't want to be stressed.

It can be very stressed, but I don't want to be stressed.

Oh, God, I've cut myself.

-You all right?

-No, it's bleeding.

-Hels, I've got a tissue here.

-I need a plaster, please.

You going to be all right, Hels? OK, OK.

Ow, ow, ow.

Annie's preparation is starting to work.

She's already bagging her first order.

Hello, order number one, please!

Annie was the last to start cooking but the first to finish her order.

Wow-ee! So, are you ready for order two?

-Yeah.

-Four chicken, one pork, three egg fried rice.

I try my best!

She is so fast.

-Lis?

-Yeah?

-Get me them two chickens, pronto.

Where are you up to, Lis? Can you do, like, one by one?

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

-Her first order is almost ready.

But with chopping still to do, Lisa is struggling to keep up with Annie.

-Order ready.

-Right.

So excited!

Roger that, over.

If I feel like making a big batch before the order comes in,

I'm doing it that way instead.

Otherwise, I'm going to be really behind.

So, I'm just going to make a big batch, make up all the food, then,

when the order comes, just scoop and go.

Lisa's new tactic may be risky.

So, batch cooking is a great idea, in essence.

However, the temptation is to overcrowd the wok.

By adding too many ingredients at the one time...

Have you got the cashew nuts in there, as well?

That's right at the end.

..the temperature falls as you add ingredients in,

so the food is not going to sear and cook at a high temperature.

Hong Kong chicken, just scoop and go.

And the dish could end up being soggy.

Oh, they're kicking our ass.

I could pack this right now, but it's not quite there, yet.

George's meticulous attention to detail is now holding him back.

He's still on his first order.

George is kind of going quite slowly.

I think, in a speed test, George has forgot the speed element of it.

The reason I'm a bit slow is I want to make sure my dishes are up to

standard. So... Like, when I fried chicken,

I've got to make sure it's 90 seconds.

I could have taken it out slightly earlier, but, you know...

Sesame seeds.

If it's quality food, you've got to wait, you know?

SHE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

Annie is still in the lead.

Over halfway through her orders.

Table three, order ready!

Annie is motoring ahead. This is clearly somebody who is completely

in control of her kitchen.

Not talking to each other, just hammering those orders out,

but each single one with precision.

You're ready?

Yeah. Thank you so much.

-Order ready!

-Order ready!

Hels, where's the orders?

I need two chicken.

Coming right up!

Order ready!

The twins are gaining ground.

Their batch cooking is helping them close the gap with Annie.

-What's the order? What's the order?

-One fire-cracker, one beef.

That's the last one, just focus on that.

Both teams have just one more order to go.

It's a race to the finish line.

Start putting the cashew nuts in there.

Being speedy may win the race,

but they must remember to not compromise on quality.

So close.

Lis, put it in the bag!

-In the bag, in the bag.

-Just put the lid on.

Order's ready.

-It's ready.

-Ready.

-That's it?

-That's it.

That's it.

Everyone, please, stop cooking!

-Lisa and Helen have done it.

-Oh, well done.

-Yes!

That's relief, you know?

But the proof is in the pudding.

Still got to taste it.

I need some water. I need some water.

The twins have won on speed, but Tom and Ching need to check the quality

hasn't suffered in the race to finish.

-Well done, guys, well done. Well done.

-Thank you, thank you.

George cooked spring rolls, chicken with chillies,

and stir-fried beef in a honey and black pepper sauce.

But he was the slowest to serve his orders.

You seemed to be cooking in a world of your own, there, George.

-You were concentrating on the food, not on speed.

-Yeah.

That's how... What I'm all about, you know?

I think the beef is lovely, I think the flavours are good.

-The flavour is nice.

-And then you've got the flaming chicken.

Chicken comes apart beautifully.

-Great colour.

-Thank you.

That is fantastic.

That is hot, hot, hot.

If only we'd cooked it all quicker.

I know, sir. Thank you, sir.

-Thank you.

-Thank you very much.

Annie came a close second to the twins.

She made spring rolls with Chinese wood ear mushrooms,

stir-fried pork with star anise and jalapeno peppers,

and deep-fried chicken with Szechuan dried chillies.

It looks wonderful, fresh ingredients.

-Thank you.

-Tastes great.

-The chicken is very good.

-Lovely and golden.

And then, lastly, the spring roll.

Oh! That is a great spring roll.

-Thank you.

-Spot-on!

Spot-on.

That is the best spring roll I have ever eaten.

-Are you sure?

-I am sure.

OK.

-Well done, mate.

-Tried my best.

The twins finished first, but they will only win the task if

their food's been cooked perfectly.

They made stir-fried beef with peppers,

spicy chicken with cashew nuts,

and vegetable spring rolls.

There's quite a lot of pastry on that.

-Not a lot of vegetable. Shall we go on to the beef?

-Yeah.

OK, I've got to be honest, the box looks a little messy.

-As a takeaway...

-Yeah.

-..if I got this to my house,

I'd feel a little disappointed.

It feels a little bit rushed.

Was it quite rushed towards the end to try and win?

-A little bit.

-A little bit.

-Yes.

-A little bit, OK.

-Yeah.

It feels a little bit messy, a little bit rushed.

It's lovely.

But I am also looking for consistency.

Now it's a tough decision for the judges.

The twins may have finished first, but, in the rush,

the quality of their food has dropped.

Annie, on the other hand,

was close behind them on speed

and has maintained her high quality to the very end.

So, for me,

Annie has won this task.

Well done, Annie.

Today, everything is amazing.

Under the circumstances, you know, I've done the best I could today.

She may have lost out on this task, but Lisa's cooking pedigree

stretches back all the way to 1950s Hong Kong.

Her grandma Lily Kwok set off from here with thousands of others

to build a new life in post-war Britain.

She is thought to be one of the first woman in the UK

to set up a Chinese restaurant, in Middleton, Greater Manchester.

So, is this is where your grandmother's

original restaurant was?

-Yes, it was.

-Yes.

But it's now been demolished.

-Wow.

-But the Warwick Mill's still here.

So, that was overlooking your grandmother

-as she built up her business.

-Yes.

Lily's original terrace restaurant has been long lost.

But the area's traditional red brick industrial heritage

still looms large.

It was very similar to something, you know, like this kind of house.

Do you think they would have ever seen a Chinese person?

No, she was the only Chinese person, I think, in the whole village.

And it was such a culture shock.

And in those days, there would have been loads of people standing

and sitting on the street corners. Children playing around them.

They'd be watching her every move.

And they'd be like, "Oh, God, there's that Japanese lady.

"She's going to poison us!"

Oh, my God!

It's hard to imagine what it must have been like,

leaving somewhere like Hong Kong, with all of the familiar sights

and smells and sounds to come

and set up a new life somewhere like this.

It must have been such a culture shock.

Lilly left Hong Kong on a ship bound for Britain in 1953.

It was a 10,000 mile journey.

-How long was the trip from Hong Kong?

-35 days.

35 days?!

It was the P&O SS Canton that she took.

This is my grandmother. on the ship.

She did benefit from the journey, because it stopped off in India

and she learnt about the spices in India.

It travelled to Singapore, and she picked up the laksa curry

recipe there and learned about coconut being infused into a curry.

So, by the time she'd got to the UK,

she'd created her own Lily Kwok's chicken curry.

So, that's where she learned that recipe, on the ship?

-Yeah, on the ship.

-To England?

-Yeah.

Lily opened her first restaurant in 1959 -

to a hostile reception.

Initially, everybody boycotted the restaurant.

So, how did she overcome the problem?

She actually hired a lady called Mavis, who knew the whole town.

So, my grandmother, being quite entrepreneurial, she thought,

"I'm going to hire Mavis and win her over, and then win the town over."

And one of the dishes that people really raved about was her curry.

The Loon Fung Cafe grew in popularity,

partly because Lily opened all hours,

catering to the post-pub crowd in the 1960s.

I've tracked down original customers Brian,

John and Danny to find out why it was such a hit.

We were in bands at the time, and we'd get back, midnight, 12:30,

something like that, and we'd go to Lily's.

Do you remember what you had, the first time you tasted it?

-Chips and curry.

-That is very authentically Chinese(!)

That was really exotic, that, for me, believe you me!

-Really?

-Curry? Oh!

-It made a hell of a difference to chips.

It was just something different, like everything was, in the '60s.

We were breaking free. We finally had a bit of money to spend,

and what clothes we wanted to wear,

what music we wanted to listen to, and what food we wanted to eat.

Chinese food had become hip, but it was yet to reach the masses.

Today, Chinese has become so familiar

that one survey revealed 94% of the population has tried it.

At the heart of Chinese cooking is a really clever blend

of exotic Eastern spices,

but do our cooks know their Szechuan peppercorns from their star anise?

Our Chinese connoisseur and specialist judge Ching-He Huang

intends to find out.

I've got a spice test for you now.

I want to test your knowledge on what you think is the perfect

Chinese five spice.

Five spice is said to be rooted in Chinese Yin and Yang philosophy,

achieving a perfect balance of sweet and savoury flavours.

It's the base seasoning for dishes from spare ribs to Peking duck,

so getting it right is crucial.

Up for the challenge?

Away you go.

Five spice is usually bought already blended,

so the chefs may find choosing the correct spices tricky.

They should be using star anise, Szechuan pepper,

cloves, cinnamon, and fennel.

George is adding some brown liquorice root.

He's picked up dried tangerine peel as well.

George came last in the speed test, so to catch up,

he'll need to do well in this round.

I like to make mine slightly spicy, but for this,

I'm trying to make it as traditional as possible.

There's got to be a good balance,

otherwise the flavour's going to be off.

Oh, and he's also picked up some black cardamom.

Chinese black cardamom looks very similar to nutmeg,

which is often added to the five spice mix,

but has a much more potent flavour.

Lisa's taking her time.

She's checking all the ingredients.

She's smelling every single product to make sure that there aren't any

curveballs in there.

Lisa didn't win the speed test because she cut corners,

so now she really can't afford to make a mistake.

A really good Chinese five spice would be ground really fine.

It's not easy using a pestle and mortar when you've got whole spices.

This big one just won't break.

Lisa's toasting the ingredients,

and that's good, because you want to release the aroma of those spices.

It's my turn.

First up to be judged is George.

-OK, George, you're up.

-Here's my five spice.

So, this is your five spice.

-Yes.

-Now, let's have a smell.

Oh! I can smell some interesting notes there.

My main scent is a more cinnamon-y one.

-Nutmeg.

-Nutmeg?

Are you sure it was a nutmeg?

Yeah, the big one, the biggest spice you have on the stand, yeah.

It's Chinese black cardamom.

Look, we have...

OK, fine.

To test the balance and flavour of the five spice blend...

Put that in.

..Ching is coating pork ribs in the mix, and then rock frying them.

-Nice and golden.

-Enjoy.

Thank you.

-It's OK?

-That black cardamom is really quite strong.

I think you pushed it a little over the edge.

Missed the mark. Sorry.

Next up is Annie.

-OK, Annie...

-Hi.

-So, this is it.

-My mix of five spices.

-This is your spice?

-Yes.

-Smells really good.

I can smell cumin, though.

-Yeah, I've got cumin.

-Where's your cloves?

For me, very like aniseed, cumin.

So, you put cumin instead of cloves?

-Yes.

-Let's taste it.

Yum, yummy.

I have to say, with the ground cumin, cooked, there's a nice,

delicate balance. Well rounded, but it didn't have punch,

it didn't have cloves in it.

-Smells good.

-Thanks, Ching.

-So, what have you got in there?

-OK, we've got star anise.

-Yeah.

-We've got cinnamon bark.

I've got Szechuan pepper, fennel seeds and a little bit of cloves.

-And I also toasted them a little bit as well.

-You did. I saw that.

-I saw a good pound. This is pretty fine.

-Yeah.

I'm impressed.

Right.

Let's go.

-Pretty good.

-Thank you.

Can taste all those notes, it's really ground fine, there's no grit.

-Beautiful balance.

-Oh, thank you.

Well done.

Now Ching must decide on a winner.

So, the Chinese chef that has mastered Chinese five spice is...

-Lisa. Well done.

-Thank you!

Back in the late '50s and early '60s,

Chinatown was the place to come for the rich and famous

to get a taste of the new, hip cuisine.

But, for most ordinary people, it was still an alien concept.

So, how did Chinese food go mass-market

and spread to all the corners of Britain?

To find out, I'm off to the seaside.

It must be nice to have as much energy as this.

And just as nice to have none at all.

Back in the '50s,

new welfare laws gave the majority of workers a paid holiday,

and the nation flocked to the coast for their summer break.

And if you get too hot, well, the remedy is right beside you.

It was here by the sea that many people

got their first taste of China, thanks to one man.

Billy Butlin was the ultimate show man,

and started serving Chinese food

in his holiday camps from 1958.

Hello! Morning, campers!

Do come in.

'I'm treating some former Redcoats to vintage archive

'reels from the 1960s.'

Ladies and gentlemen, today we have some very special archive footage of

Butlins, back in the day.

Run VT!

Wow! Look at that.

They've introduced Chinese food.

And they had a dedicated Chinese restaurant.

It must have seemed so exotic.

It was totally alien.

It was like walking into a totally different world.

All the staff were Chinese,

and many people had never met the Chinese people.

They were working class families,

so they hadn't experienced anything like this before.

If they couldn't afford to go abroad,

Billy Butlin brought it to them.

-Exactly.

-Because it was like a holiday within a holiday.

The food wasn't the only novelty -

eating it was a whole new world, too.

'Use chopsticks. It's easy!

'Or so they tell these holiday-makers

'at a Clacton holiday camp!

'They've entered a Chinese eating competition,

'because they've never tasted Chinese food before.

'Nobody realised they'd have to do it the hard way!'

Oh, I know that feeling!

You could see it, on a regular basis,

flying over people's shoulders or skidding across the table.

'Oh, forget the chopsticks, then.

'He's found the chop!'

At their peak, the holiday camps attracted more than a million guests

in a single summer. One of the former managers, Stewart,

believes that many of the campers took home

a new-found taste for Chinese food.

People who had perhaps refrained from using a Chinese restaurant in

their home towns, may well, because they were at Butlins, said,

"Hey, why not?" You know?

So, they tried it at Butlins, loved it, and when they went home...

Yes. "I've been to Butlins. I've had Chinese food.

"We'll go again, shall we?"

So, it spread among all those thousands of people

who went to Butlins?

I think it's what they call a symbiotic relationship.

The Chinese helped Butlins and Butlins

certainly helped the Chinese.

Since those pioneering early days,

Chinese food has taken off on a massive scale.

Back in Chinatown for the final task, we want our chefs to look to

the future and reinvent the Chinese takeaway.

Our chefs need to prepare two totally original dishes

-in less than an hour.

-This test is about something new.

I'm looking for inspiration and innovation.

Each team will be judged on taste and creativity.

And it'll all be served up within 45 minutes.

Chefs, you have 45 minutes to show us how you would reinvent the

classic Chinese takeaway!

Get cooking!

-Yes!

-Perfect.

The heat is on, in more ways than one!

Ching, we've got three different types of Chinese chefs here.

-Yeah, absolutely.

-We've got the girls that are cooking...

British Cantonese food.

That people are comfortable with here in the UK.

-The food that I've grown up with.

-Absolutely.

We've got George, who cooks fusion.

He is modern, he's forward-thinking. As long as it tastes good.

-That's George.

-OK, and then Annie.

Annie, she is old school Beijing, Szechuan, she is, like, traditional,

Chinese, classical cooking.

I try my best. I do traditional Chinese food.

I take a risk,

Because English people don't like chillies.

Annie came out on top in the first speed task.

Tonight, she's cooking Szechuan pepper mala beef.

Szechuan mala beef. It's lovely. The smell's amazing.

Mala broth is made with Szechuan chillies and peppercorns.

It's the main speciality of the Szechuan region

and it's mouth numbingly spicy.

Originally used to flavour cheaper meats,

it's now one of the most popular sauces in China.

-Wood ear mushrooms.

-Big ones.

-Yeah, it's nice and crunchy.

Yes, crunchy.

Because it's very hot...

-Everything down.

-It's calm. So, it's not just all fire and heat?

-No, good.

-So, are you all about yin and yang?

-Yes!

-Balance. What have you got over there, is that ham?

-Chinese ham.

-It looks like Spam.

Yeah. It's nice, tasty.

That is not something you'll see in your average takeaway.

When you eat food nowadays, you want a bit of adventure,

-you want a bit of a twist.

-So far,

maverick George has impressed the judges with his creative cooking.

But he's yet to win a round,

so he's hoping to steal this task with a surprise.

Every item on the dish will be nice and round.

His ping-pong chicken is a combination of melon,

sweet potato and chicken,

all disguised as identical-sized balls.

Have you ever eaten a chicken dish, you know, the sides are round?

I don't think so.

I certainly haven't eaten any dishes in the world,

you know, that everything's round.

Keep time. Right, is that enough garlic for you, Mrs?

Yeah, that's perfect. That's perfect, boss, thanks.

We're going to use some ingredients that are not traditionally used in

Chinese cooking.

The twins' new dish is inspired by Mexico.

They're making burritos.

Chinese burrito is definitely something new.

Lisa lost the speed task, but now she's won the spice round,

she could win the contest if she doesn't panic.

She is using her winning five spice

blend to give the dish a Chinese twist.

Just to give it a little bit of fusion between Mexican and Chinese.

Chefs, you have 20 minutes left.

20 minutes remaining.

Annie is also using unconventional ingredients.

For her second dish, she's combining quails eggs and chicken

with something you wouldn't expect to find on a Chinese menu.

-What's this one?

-Blueberry with the chicken.

Blueberries?

Do you have blueberries? Do you use blueberries in Chinese cooking?

-Not like this.

-I tried this only last week back.

I see it, I do it.

So, this will be a new thing for you as well?

-That would be totally new, yes.

-It could be a risky strategy.

Annie won the speed task,

but her unconventional spice blend let her down.

She can't afford to mess up this round

if she's going to win the contest.

Ooh, well, we are going to use sweet potato.

It's actually a superfood with lots of beta-carotene, OK,

we're going to turn that into a wonton.

For the twins' second dish,

they're putting a nutritious spin on a Chinese classic.

So, sweet potato, not normally used in a lot of Chinese cooking?

Not used at all. And it's great for wontons.

So, how's that been involved in Chinese cooking?

Because the sweet potato is actually sweet,

you will have the sweetness and a little bit of sour.

Where does the sour come from?

A bitter lime. So, lime is never used in Chinese cooking, either.

-OK, girls, well, I'll let you crack on.

-Thank you.

George is also serving dumplings for his next dish,

filled with marinated chicken thigh.

Wow, that's beautiful.

Perfect.

One side's curry, one side's like a normal dumpling and in the middle is

Italian mozzarella cheese.

-No way!

-Oh, really? I like the sound of that.

This is his last chance to catch up and impress the judges.

Erm, I think we might have a problem.

My dumpling's kind of sticking to the bottom.

Yeah, it's a disaster. Yeah.

THEY SPEAK OWN LANGUAGE

George hasn't used enough oil in the pan to prevent

the pastry from sticking.

-So disappointing.

-So, we've got stuck dumplings?

Yeah. We'll have to make another one.

-You're doing it all again?

-Yeah.

-You going to have enough time?

Maybe not, but I will do all I can,

because it's not how often you fall down, it's how you get up.

-Good luck, George. Good luck with that.

-OK, thank you.

Chefs, you have ten minutes left.

Ten minutes? Oh, boy!

We are a little bit behind from how I want to be.

We need to start assembling the burritos now.

Am I assembling? Yeah.

Just do five of each burrito.

Am I putting rice in it?

-Yeah. Pea first.

-Pea first.

-Then the rice.

All their dishes must be cooked

and served up in the allotted time if they're going to stand a chance

of winning the contest.

Whilst the others are racing to finish...

Stop cooking, don't cook them.

..George is still meticulously testing the core temperature

of his sweet potato balls.

Next, we'll have this one.

How much time have we got left?

Chefs, you have five minutes left!

-Five minutes. Five minutes, Lis.

-You're giving me a heart attack.

-How long?

-Five whole minutes!

It's not five minutes, is it?

You need to just wrap like crazy now. I'm cramping up, Lis.

They are really going for it.

No, no, too much, too much!

-It's going to ruin it.

-Next, next, next, all right.

I am shatterooned!

Ready, go!

Can you do this for me? Just do the last one.

With just seconds remaining,

George has managed to remake his dumplings,

but they still need to be pan-fried.

Ready!

I haven't been this stressed in a long time!

I need to fry this for another two minutes.

Chefs, your time is up.

Grease-proof first. And the last one.

Please, turn off your woks.

-No way!

-Finished!

Where's the chicken? Oh, yeah, done. OK, That's fine. Finished.

Please, put anything down.

Hey, George, how did it go?

To be honest, it didn't go as well as I planned.

All right, well, let's have a little look.

For his reinvention of the classic Chinese takeaway,

George has made ping-pong chicken and rainbow pan-fried dumplings.

-Mm!

-The flavours inside of that, amazing.

-Boom!

-Oh, wow!

-I just wish you got it crispy.

-I know.

-Yeah.

-I love it.

-Ping-pong chicken.

-It looks like a dish out of the 1950s.

-I thought, "You know what?

"Get them guessing," and my inspiration is from the movie

Forrest Gump. "Life is like a box of chocolates,

-"you don't know what you're going to get!"

-Right!

You bite into it, you don't know if that's a chicken ball yet

until you taste it, or is that the sweet potato mashed up

with the flavour of deep-fried? Or is that a good old, you know, melon?

I love the idea. I love how it looks. I think it looks fantastic.

My only concern is that I'm not sure that they all go together.

True.

Annie has cooked Szechuan pepper mala beef

and Chinese ham with chicken,

blueberries and quail eggs.

At first, I don't think it works.

It's messing with my mind. It's going, "This isn't right."

But, actually, as the blueberry breaks down,

-that's where you get that natural sweetness.

-Mm!

Unusual, but I like it.

-Thank you. This one is a Szechuan beef broth.

-OK.

With the beef and the mixed ham, the Chinese ham.

Chinese ham is actually Spam.

As a child, this is what I used to have all the time.

-Yeah.

-But it was called Spam, not Chinese ham, but, you know,

I never did it in a Chinese sauce, so this is quite interesting for me.

What do you think?

I think it's amazing. I've had Spam in lots of ways,

but never like that before.

In that spice, in that flavour, I think it's fantastic.

That Szechuan flavour.

-Yeah?

-That is really outstanding.

It's spicy, but I can also taste all the other flavours.

I really like it. Szechuan Spam, amazing!

Lisa's hoping to impress the judges with Chinese chicken burritos

and sweet potato wontons.

What have we got here? Wontons, sweet potato.

That is surprisingly great.

Chinese flavours come through really nicely.

The wonton's very crispy.

Definitely new. Well done, mate.

-And then here?

-This is the hot numbing chicken,

Chinese burrito with a pea puree.

That, for me,

is great tasting, but...

does feel a little bit like a lunchtime sandwich kind of dish.

Not really something I'd associate as Chinese takeaway.

It is takeaway, but whether it's Chinese takeaway...

-Well done, mate.

-Well done.

-Come on. Let's move on.

It's been an incredible day and night of cooking here

in Chinatown, but were the twins' burritos,

George's ping-pong balls or Annie's blueberries a step too far in the

final round? Tom and Ching will now have to decide the overall winner.

There was a lot of craziness coming from Annie.

Spam, OK?

Chinese ham. Wow, flavour, flavour, flavour.

Loads of flavours. It didn't taste like Chinese food I'd had before.

It is mind-blowingly good.

And Lisa's cooking, the sweet potato wonton was absolutely stunning.

It wowed me - I thought it was fantastic.

You're right. I agree with you.

But then came those burritos.

It just felt a little bit like a sandwich

that tasted a bit Chinese-y.

That burrito wasn't a standout.

Now, George's cooking is really interesting.

There just wasn't very much of it!

If we were looking at somebody who just cooks a couple of dishes,

full of flavour, George is right up there with some of the best food

I've actually eaten. I don't think he stood up to the pressures of the

-competition.

-I have to agree with you there.

So, that leaves us with the decision of who's going to win.

Guys, the food today has been outstanding.

And this has been a really tough decision for me and Ching.

Lisa, your wonton at the end, it blew my mind.

Those burritos, though,

still need a bit of convincing, I think.

George, two of your dishes today, world-class, but on the whole,

crumbled around the edges.

Annie, your food, full of amazing flavours,

loads of which I hadn't even seen or experienced before.

Both of us seriously impressed.

But the best takeaway on today's performance is...

-..Annie. Well done, girl!

-Well done!

Oh, thank you!

Oh!

Thank you very much!

Oh, today is special for me.

I am a winner, is number one.

I'm very surprised, and very, very happy.

Thank you very much.

-I never think of that!

-Well done. Incredible flavours.

Thank you so much. You are giving me my dreams for now.

Well done.

Fast food doesn't need to be bad food or boring food.

For me, Annie's cooking is a perfect demonstration of that.

Exciting flavours, cooked fast.

She really deserved to win.