Hong Kong The Hairy Bikers' Asian Adventure


Hong Kong

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Transcript


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'We've packed our passports.'

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'And bought our phrasebooks.'

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HE SPEAKS FOREIGN LANGUAGE

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'Because we're off on our biggest, craziest adventure yet.'

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Delicious. Delicious.

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Meow! Meow! Bee!

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HE MAKES TARZAN CRY

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'We're travelling further than we've ever done before.'

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'To uncover the authentic routes of Britain's favourite takeaway foods.'

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I've always wanted to know how to make proper sweet and sour sauce.

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'Going off the beaten track

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'and being welcomed into some of Asia's hidden worlds.'

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How marvellous is this?

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'From the high rises and hot woks of Hong Kong.'

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The heat on this is really, really intense,

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-but listen...

-HOB FIRE ROARS

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It's like a jet engine.

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I love it.

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'To the sweltering tropics of Thailand...

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'..where they say it's impossible to eat badly.'

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Thai food has arrived in Britain, but by crikey,

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it's only the tip of the iceberg.

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'And we fulfil a lifelong ambition to explore Japan.'

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-That is perfect.

-Wow. Look at that.

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I've just had a sushi-gasm.

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'We finish up in South Korea, where the spicy cuisine is sensational.'

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This would go down a bomb down the local.

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'So leather up and take to the road.'

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'For one extremely hairy...

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BOTH: 'Asian adventure!'

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-We're in Hong Kong.

-This is Asia's world city.

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It's famous for finance and fantastic food.

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And it has one of the highest concentrations

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of restaurants per capita of anywhere in the world.

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Chinese is now the most popular takeaway in the UK.

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So what better place to come to track down the origins

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of our favourite dishes than Hong Kong, our gateway to China?

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Hong Kong is a dazzling, busy, crowded, hot,

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steamy and stunning place where East meets West.

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And it's here where our love affair with Chinese cuisine began

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almost 150 years ago.

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Hong Kong became a British colony in 1842.

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Merchants ships crewed by Chinese sailors headed for Britain

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bringing their cuisine to our shores.

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Look at all the ships in the harbour! That's amazing.

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What a city!

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Today, Hong Kong is under Chinese rule,

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home to seven million people,

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and it's the most vertical city on the planet.

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It's like Canary Wharf with chopsticks.

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And the food here is Cantonese -

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a mouthwatering mix of stir-fries, seafood and roast meats.

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It's what we have on our Chinese takeaway menus back home.

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Dave and I love a Chinese takeaway like anybody else.

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What's your favourite takeaway?

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Oh, beef and black bean sauce with crispy noodles, without a doubt.

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-What's yours?

-Well, good old predictable,

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-sweet and sour pork for me, matey.

-Oh!

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We can't wait to find out how Chinese food here compares

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to what we know and love back home.

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Plus, we want to understand what our beloved Chinese cuisine

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means to the nation that invented it.

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We want to find out what Chinese people

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have for their takeaways,

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what they eat in their homes, and what they have for Sunday lunch.

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What I'm looking forward to is to having a big adventure

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in Hong Kong, to really immerse myself in Chinese cuisine.

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There's got to be more to it than a number 42 with an egg fried rice.

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But first, we've got to get our bearings.

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Hong Kong is made up of a chunk of mainland China,

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plus more than 200 islands in the South China Sea.

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The beating heart of it is Hong Kong Island, so that's where

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we're heading for our first taste of true Chinese cooking.

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Nestled beneath the skyscrapers

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that are home to some of the world's biggest banks,

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are traditional food stalls that are knocking out

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some of the most authentic Cantonese food in the city.

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These open-air stalls, called dai pai dongs,

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have been here for 60 years or more.

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Today, they provide the perfect lunchtime fix

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for busy office workers.

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'We're meeting a two Michelin starred chef, Alvin Leung.'

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So, you know, we're going to go to a dai pai dong.

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-This is my favourite one.

-Brilliant.

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He's going to give us the lowdown on fast food, Cantonese style.

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You know, the chefs here are amazing. They do thousands of these dishes.

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Can you imagine doing this 14 hours a day in this immense heat?

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-He's doing the clams for us.

-And that's black bean, yeah?

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That's black bean.

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The dish is cooked in under a minute.

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Practically done in a minute.

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-You see him stir-frying, or he's moving the things around.

-Tossing it.

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Get everything coated.

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The wok's fantastically versatile, isn't it?

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You can make soup it in, you can sear in it, you can braise in it.

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You deep-fry in it.

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-Deep-fry, yeah.

-You can even steam in it.

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-Look at that.

-Wow.

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'He's done these clams with my favourite - black bean sauce.

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'Get in!'

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I love that! It's like a jet engine, isn't it?

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-HOB FIRE ROARS

-It's so powerful.

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Intense heat. It's over 200 degrees.

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Scrub it and get on with the next dish.

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This is the good thing.

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You have the dishwasher and the stove all in one place.

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Isn't that great?

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Oh, sifu, thank you.

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You know, you've got a complexity of flavours there.

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It's a wonderful dish.

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-Aw, hey.

-Is it beautiful?

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Aw, man, that is...

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The flavours are perfectly balanced.

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-Fabulous.

-Thank you.

-Wow.

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Alvin has challenged us to cook for him

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and the sifu here on the dai pai dong,

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but first, we'll need some ingredients.

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This is what we call the wet market.

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Fantastic.

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-Here we are.

-Wow.

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It's bouncing fresh, isn't it?

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We just need pak choi and choi sum, don't we?

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-Yeah.

-That's a good basis.

-Perfect.

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Jobs a good 'un.

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SHE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

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I've got myself caught between the devil and the deep blue sea.

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You have, haven't you?

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-OK?

-OK, yes.

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Very good, thank you.

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-22, she says.

-22. Beautiful.

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Oh, wow!

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Hong Kong's surrounded by water, it's an island,

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so here, we just love seafood. Everything is live.

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Cantonese food isn't very spicy.

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Instead, it relies on really fresh produce.

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Everything is swimming. It's not just fresh. It's live.

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You've got live crabs, live shrimps.

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These are not the fresh ones, so don't take these ones.

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-These are what is on sale.

-Ah, right!

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Get those ones, OK?

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They're the ones we want.

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Oh, defo, look at those.

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About a dozen, eh?

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There we go.

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-Some scallops?

-Scallops, yeah.

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Thank you. That's smashing that, isn't it?

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We're going to do a stir-fry with seafood and Chinese greens.

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I hope you've got wok it takes, Kingy!

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# Hong Kong Phooey!

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# Quicker than the human eye! #

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Hong Kong on a dai pai dong!

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I can't believe it, dude.

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-Kingy, I'm a bit nervous.

-So am I.

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We're cooking for the sifu who owns this establishment,

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and also a two-star Michelin chef who is an expert in Cantonese food.

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And we are but two humble Northern cooks.

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But never mind, we're going to give it a go, because we're like that.

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Tenacious, if nothing else.

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Now, we're going to cook a prawn and scallop stir-fry.

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We've kept this simple. Respect the fresh ingredients.

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Everything must be properly prepared. The same goes at home.

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When I do a Chinese meal,

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I'll have little pots of everything ready to go.

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We're going to cook the dinner in about three minutes.

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This is a culinary sprint, not a marathon.

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Are we ready?

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Huh!

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Let's go.

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The heat is so important.

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Garlic, sliced.

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Pump up the volume, pump up the volume!

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Ginger.

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Brilliant with seafood.

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And that's flavouring the oil.

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We're using groundnut oil cos there's not much taste

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and it's a really high temperature.

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-Are you ready?

-Get it in.

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Six big prawns, de-veined. Watch these little fellows bounce.

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Medallions of scallops which I have seasoned lightly.

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We put them on and we want them to catch on one side.

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-Say when, Kingy.

-I'll tell you, mate.

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-Right, they're catching.

-Rice wine.

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One spoonful of.

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-All right, Kingy?

-Yeah, mate.

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Spring onions going in.

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'As well as spring onions,

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'garlic and ginger are key for an authentic Cantonese flavour.'

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Mangetout.

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Pak choi. Choi sum.

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They're going to wilt like us in this searing heat.

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Red chilli. Wah!

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I'm feeling manly.

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We need some liquid in there. They're sort of wilting.

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Right, some light soy sauce.

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The heat on this wok is really, really intense.

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It's great, cos you can regulate it.

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-Listen, it's like a jet engine.

-HOB FIRE ROARS

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I love it.

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Right-o, matey.

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In Cantonese food, seasoning is minimal.

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It's all about preserving the fresh fragrant tastes.

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You don't want to kill the scallops, prawns and the wonderful greens.

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And a teeny drizzle of sesame oil.

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Toasted sesame oil is for serving after, for dressing.

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Don't dry cooking with it. It'll be rank.

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Now...

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Very simple, very quick.

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That's it Kingy, we need to get this out fresh.

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They're going to get to taste our stir-fry.

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Come on, sifu.

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After you, mucker!

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'Fingers crossed Alvin approves of our British take on Chinese food.'

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Well, I'm really tempted to taste this,

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and see if you guys have really learned the secret of wok chi.

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-Alvin, what is wok chi?

-Wok chi is the power from the wok.

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Basically, it's from the heat, the intense heat, the hot oil,

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and then you put in the herbs, the ginger, the green onions,

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the garlic, and before you put in the vegetables and seafood,

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and it flavours the whole dish.

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We put the spring onions in with the veggies.

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Would you have put the spring onions in first into the oil?

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I would have, because it think it basically flavours the oil.

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Who knows? You may have discovered something new.

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Alvin, could you ask sifu what he thinks

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about the look of it, initially?

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HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

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HE SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

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-He says, "Not bad, not bad." Now, to Chinese, not bad is good.

-Oh.

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We're are not very complementive people, OK?

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So, when he says not bad...

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Guys, let's taste, come on.

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Nice. Really nice.

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Um...

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Very well seasoned.

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I don't need to add any salt, I don't need to add any chilli sauce.

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The only criticism I would have is that the sauce is a bit watery.

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We never...

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It's good to thicken the sauce, cos the sauce is very important.

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It has a lot of flavour.

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You want to thicken it so you can coat all the vegetables.

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If we had put some cornflour through the soy,

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we would have thickened it as well, had a nice glaze.

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It would have looked better as well.

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Yeah, it would, it would.

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I really like, guys. Excellent.

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He said, "It's OK."

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You know, I think we've learned more about wok cooking

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from you and sifu in three minutes

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than we have done in like ten years of pottering.

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-I want to try that recipe again.

-Yeah.

-Work on the wok chi.

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'You know, Dave, it's interesting.

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'We don't tend to think of Chinese food as a healthy option

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'in the UK, but here, it's convenience food

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'that's good for you too.'

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Now we've got to grips with Cantonese fast food,

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I reckon we need to find out what people eat at home

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and how food fits into family life.

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Well, you're in luck,

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because we're going to gate-crash a local family's weekday dinner.

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So, it's bye-bye to the big banks of Hong Kong Island

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and hello to the New Territories on the Chinese mainland,

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where three and a half million people live.

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Speaking of the banks, Kingy,

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Hong Kong has more billionaires per capita

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than anywhere else in the world.

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Yes, and you need to be loaded to buy your own gaff here.

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House prices in Hong Kong have doubled over the past four years,

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so nearly half the population lives in council owned skyscrapers

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with subsidised rents, like the one we're going to eat our tea in.

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This is a government housing estate on the Hong Kong/Chinese border,

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and it consists of hundreds of high-rise apartments.

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Now, each high-rise consists of 456 flats spread over 38 floors

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with approximately 12 flats per floor.

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With four to five people living in each apartment,

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that makes a total of 2,200 people in each high-rise.

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Now, as you know,

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Dave and I are not adverse to "a mam knows best".

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Now, well, this is "Chinese grannies know best".

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I wonder what we'll find.

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Our destination is floor 35, home to the Feungs -

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a typical Hong Kong working family.

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Jackie and Lulu's.

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Hello, Jackie? I'm Dave.

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-Pleased to meet you.

-Jackie, hello.

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-I'm Si, very nice to meet you.

-Yeah. Nice to meet you.

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-Thank you for...

-This is Si.

-Hello.

-Hello.

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'University student Jackie lives here with his Grandma Lulu,

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'two brothers, and Dad and Mum.'

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And my mother.

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'All six of them live in this two-bedroom flat.'

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Here's my bedroom, and I share the bedroom with my younger brother

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and also my grandma.

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-So there's three of you sleep in here?

-Yeah.

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-My younger brother is sleeping here.

-OK.

-And me, I will sleep in here.

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-Yes.

-And my Grandma Lulu is sleeping here.

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-Ah, she's got a little bit under there?

-Yes.

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-Ah!

-A little pull-out.

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Yes.

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So here's my little kitchen.

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And you see our servant today.

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Ah, with a LITTLE CHEF!

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BIKERS CHEER

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'Like the majority of families here,

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'Jackie's parents both work full-time.

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'Mum is an accountant's clerk an hour away in Kowloon.'

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'And Dad is one of the half a million Hong Kong residents

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'who work over the border in China.'

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So there's two woks and a wok ring and a rice steamer.

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'So Granny's in charge of feeding the family.'

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Lulu cooks for six, in a kitchen the size of a broom cupboard,

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and tonight, we're squeezing in.

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'First, a bitter melon, pork and black bean stir-fry.

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'Bitter melon is a bit like courgette, er, but bitter.'

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-So this is...?

-Palm sugar!

-Palm sugar, yes.

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I think this is why it tastes good.

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That's a lot of palm sugar!

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-LULU SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

-I'm doing...

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SHE CONTINUES Some water.

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Some water?

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I don't think I've cooked over a very small Chinese grandma before.

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-It's brilliant.

-Yeah.

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She must feel like it's like having the Gruffalo in the kitchen.

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She's fantastic.

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Oh, look, now.

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-Jackie, now I know why you live at home.

-Yeah.

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-And there's a chicken dish coming now.

-Is there?!

-Yeah.

-Where from?!

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'This 70-year-old doesn't stop for a second.

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'Every night she cooks five or six different stir-fries, plus rice.'

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DAVE LAUGHS

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LULU LAUGHS

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-So what dish is this one?

-Sweet-and-sour pork, Kingy.

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-It's sweet-and-sour pork...

-Yeah, yeah, yeah.

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-With sweet-and-sour sauce.

-Ah, yeah!

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'Ah, love it! Lulu knows just how to make these Englishmen

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'feel right at home.'

0:17:080:17:09

Like magic.

0:17:090:17:11

-She's got stuff hidden everywhere!

-It's brilliant.

0:17:120:17:15

-Right, this is the sweet-and-sour sauce.

-This is it.

0:17:150:17:19

Juliennes of carrot, right?

0:17:190:17:21

I've always wanted to know how to make proper sweet-and-sour sauce.

0:17:210:17:24

-Everybody loves it.

-Yes, pineapple now.

0:17:240:17:27

Ohhh, look!

0:17:280:17:31

-And the peppers.

-Yeah, peppers.

-Ooh, you can smell... Lovely.

-I like it.

0:17:310:17:35

Hurray!

0:17:350:17:37

Wow, very big.

0:17:370:17:39

BIKERS AND JACKIE: Ohhh!

0:17:390:17:41

-Tomato ketchup.

-Yeah, ketchup!

0:17:410:17:43

Oh! Crumbs.

0:17:430:17:45

That's three quarters of a bottle tomato ketchup.

0:17:450:17:48

I think it is a whole bottle of ketchup, Kingy.

0:17:480:17:50

'Crumbs. Dude, that's 700 calories in the tomato sauce alone.'

0:17:500:17:55

'Do you know, sweet-and-sour pork's been on Chinese menus in Britain

0:17:550:17:58

'since 1908?'

0:17:580:18:00

This is so sweet and savoury and...

0:18:000:18:02

-Smells fantastic.

-It does, doesn't it?

0:18:020:18:05

'I'm telling you, this one's definitely sweet.'

0:18:060:18:08

-Ah, look at those.

-Fantastic, Kingy.

0:18:080:18:11

Beautiful.

0:18:110:18:12

'This family feast

0:18:120:18:14

'has only taken Granny Lulu 45 minutes to rustle up.'

0:18:140:18:17

Now I feel as though I've arrived in Hong Kong.

0:18:180:18:21

Yes, it doesn't get more traditional than a family meal.

0:18:210:18:25

So let's start.

0:18:250:18:26

That's fantastic, that sauce.

0:18:280:18:31

-So nice and crispy.

-Mm.

0:18:310:18:34

You are a good cook, aren't you, Lulu?

0:18:340:18:36

JACKIE TRANSLATES

0:18:360:18:38

SHE REPLIES IN OWN LANGUAGE

0:18:380:18:41

You must love her, man.

0:18:410:18:42

THEY LAUGH

0:18:420:18:45

And, you know, this super-gran isn't just a genius cook.

0:18:450:18:48

-Did Lulu look after you?

-When I was young, yeah.

-Yeah?

-Yeah.

0:18:480:18:52

HE TRANSLATES

0:18:520:18:54

Yes, yeah.

0:18:540:18:55

THEY LAUGH

0:18:550:18:57

When I'm the baby, yeah. When I'm a baby.

0:18:570:19:01

I've been living with my grandma for 19 years.

0:19:010:19:04

'Grandparents living in to help out working parents

0:19:040:19:07

'is a really common set-up in Hong Kong.

0:19:070:19:09

'And Jackie's dad is a manager at a computer parts factory

0:19:100:19:14

'over the Chinese border.'

0:19:140:19:16

Do you work during the week in China,

0:19:160:19:18

-and you come back to Hong Kong at the weekends?

-Yes.

0:19:180:19:21

-Because in Hong Kong, it's a lot of factory...

-Yeah.

0:19:220:19:26

There's not any factory.

0:19:260:19:27

That's why many people have to work in the mainland.

0:19:270:19:30

-So there's really no manufacturing base in Hong Kong at all?

-Yeah.

0:19:300:19:34

-It's all in China now?

-Yes. It's all in China now, yes.

0:19:340:19:37

The food is just so good.

0:19:370:19:40

-And produced in next to no time, in the smallest, smallest space.

-Yep.

0:19:400:19:46

But bundles and spoonfuls of love and care,

0:19:460:19:50

and that was beautiful to see.

0:19:500:19:53

-Thank you very, very much.

-Yeah, you're welcome.

0:19:530:19:56

JACKIE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE ..you're welcome.

0:19:560:19:59

SHE TRIES TO REPEAT

0:19:590:20:00

SIMON CHEERS, THEY LAUGH AND CLAP

0:20:000:20:03

Try again.

0:20:030:20:04

(SLOWLY) You are welcome.

0:20:040:20:06

You are welcome.

0:20:060:20:07

THEY ALL CHEER

0:20:070:20:10

-Man, your granny is the coolest granny.

-She is the coolest granny.

0:20:100:20:14

-Every night, Jackie sits down to that!

-Yeah.

-I mean, fantastic.

0:20:150:20:19

-It was a banquet.

-It was.

0:20:190:20:20

Cor, I bet Dad looks forward to coming back from China

0:20:200:20:22

-for the weekend.

-I bet he does as well.

0:20:220:20:24

But, you know, it also... It gives Lulu a place within the family.

0:20:240:20:28

-Yeah.

-Every night, I bet she puts that down with pride.

0:20:280:20:31

-Oh, yeah, absolutely.

-It's her role, it is her worth.

0:20:310:20:34

-Yeah.

-Proper family.

0:20:340:20:35

And I bet there's loads of people here that do exactly the same

0:20:350:20:38

-as we've been in receipt of in that flat, man.

-Yeah.

0:20:380:20:40

It's funny to think that 6,000 miles away in Britain, people are

0:20:400:20:45

tucking in to sweet-and-sour pork just like Lulu's.

0:20:450:20:49

-Well, thank you, Hong Kong.

-Lulu, we love you.

0:20:490:20:52

Hong Kong is impressive enough by day,

0:21:020:21:04

but at night, the skyline comes into its own.

0:21:040:21:07

We've headed for Temple Street in Kowloon.

0:21:100:21:12

One of the city's biggest night markets.

0:21:120:21:15

-You could fill a truck, couldn't you?

-Oh, aye. It's everything.

0:21:160:21:20

-THEY LAUGH

-You dance like that, dude.

0:21:200:21:22

See?

0:21:240:21:26

'The people here don't just believe in bargains, though, do they?

0:21:270:21:30

'They believe in fate, too.'

0:21:300:21:32

Are you superstitious, Kingy?

0:21:330:21:36

I am, mate, a bit, yeah. Are you?

0:21:360:21:37

I am, I am, but not half as much as the Chinese people.

0:21:370:21:40

I mean, fortune-telling, astrology, customs, superstition.

0:21:400:21:44

Yeah? Well, apparently, before any big event in their lives,

0:21:440:21:47

they always go to a fortune teller.

0:21:470:21:49

-I'll tell you your fortune for nowt.

-What?

-Look into my eyes...

0:21:490:21:53

-You are going on a long journey.

-Oh. So are you, come to that!

0:21:530:21:57

'There's a whole load of ways to see into the future, here, Si.'

0:21:570:22:02

Which one shall we go for? Shall we go for tarot, a kind of palms...

0:22:020:22:06

I'll have my palm done, I think.

0:22:060:22:08

'Yeah, but nobody could say, dude, our lack of lingo puts us off,

0:22:080:22:11

'though, could they? No.'

0:22:110:22:13

'Now, pay attention, Kingy, because this man has a gift that

0:22:130:22:17

'allows him to see deep into the core of my being.'

0:22:170:22:20

Aha.

0:22:200:22:22

My head?

0:22:220:22:24

PALM READER SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

0:22:240:22:25

'And he realises that you're stark raving bonkers.'

0:22:250:22:28

Oh, right. Oh, thank God for that.

0:22:470:22:50

PALM READER SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

0:22:500:22:51

-What did he say?

-Thank you.

0:22:510:22:54

He said smashing long life and prosperity.

0:22:540:22:56

-Oh. That's all right, then.

-Everything, yeah, is smashing.

0:22:560:22:59

Well, that's good.

0:22:590:23:00

'Right. Now it's my turn.'

0:23:000:23:02

'Simon King, surely you're not entrusting your fate to a budgie?'

0:23:040:23:08

'Well, yeah, but these are specially trained

0:23:080:23:11

'fortune-telling lovebirds, you know.'

0:23:110:23:13

Go on, mate. Pick one out. Pick a good'un.

0:23:130:23:16

Didn't want to come out. Ooh. That one looks keen, this one.

0:23:190:23:23

No, it's away back in.

0:23:230:23:24

WOMAN SPEAKS OWN LANGUAGE

0:23:240:23:26

It's not going well.

0:23:280:23:29

The one in the middle looks like he's up for it.

0:23:290:23:33

BIRD CHIRPS

0:23:330:23:35

He's nearly got... Oh!

0:23:350:23:38

Is it good? What does it say?

0:23:380:23:40

-Free!

-I'm free?

0:23:470:23:48

Ah, right. Smashing.

0:23:510:23:53

-Seemed all right, that, didn't it?

-Yeah, and the bird was positive.

0:24:080:24:11

It was a very positive movement.

0:24:110:24:13

-Thank you very much.

-Thank you. Bye-bye.

0:24:150:24:19

'Dave, you know I'm a bit psychic too, you know? Oh, yeah.

0:24:200:24:24

'I predict that next we will stumble across Hong Kong's

0:24:250:24:29

'most popular takeaway.'

0:24:290:24:30

'And I predict it won't be something

0:24:300:24:32

'you'll see on our takeaway menus at home.'

0:24:320:24:34

-Curried fish balls!

-Yes!

0:24:340:24:37

Now, 37 million of these are eaten every single day in Hong Kong.

0:24:370:24:43

SHE SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

0:24:430:24:45

Thank you.

0:24:450:24:47

What did she say?

0:24:470:24:48

"Do you want them in a pot?"

0:24:480:24:49

HAIRY BIKERS LAUGH

0:24:490:24:52

'These fish balls, made from ground-up whitefish,

0:24:520:24:55

'are a cheap, filling snack which first appeared here in the 1950s.'

0:24:550:25:00

'And, about the same time,

0:25:000:25:01

'Chinese restaurants in the UK started doing takeaways too.'

0:25:010:25:04

-Chilli oil.

-Chilli sauce.

0:25:040:25:07

Well, this is it. Our first fish ball in Hong Kong.

0:25:090:25:13

THE most popular ball on the planet.

0:25:130:25:15

Chilli sauce is hot. They're nice.

0:25:180:25:20

They're like...

0:25:200:25:23

boiled fish paste, put together, glued together into a ball.

0:25:230:25:27

OK, I've overdone the chilli. Oh...

0:25:290:25:32

Whoo!

0:25:320:25:33

They're like fish Maltesers. Do you know what I mean?

0:25:360:25:39

-(MUFFLED) They are, aren't they?

-They are!

0:25:390:25:41

'Curried fish balls.

0:25:410:25:42

'Now, you don't see those down the Golden Chopsticks.'

0:25:420:25:45

'I'm in love!

0:25:530:25:55

'I reckon, you know, Dave, our adventure's off to a flying start.

0:25:550:25:59

'We've tasted real Chinese cooking here in Hong Kong, and found

0:25:590:26:02

'that they love our favourite foods just as much as we do.'

0:26:020:26:05

'And today we're getting to grips

0:26:060:26:08

'with a cornerstone of Cantonese cuisine.

0:26:080:26:11

'The delicious dumplings and other bite-size morsels known as dim sum.'

0:26:110:26:16

Now, we both love dim sum,

0:26:170:26:18

but Hong Kong is like the spiritual capital of dim sum.

0:26:180:26:23

Food for the heart.

0:26:230:26:24

'There's a restaurant serving these parcels of steamed, boiled

0:26:240:26:27

'or fried perfection in every Chinatown around the world.

0:26:270:26:31

'Best served between breakfast and lunch time,

0:26:320:26:35

'some folk reckon dim sum are the original brunch.'

0:26:350:26:39

'These days, going out for dim sum here is a bit like Sunday lunch is

0:26:390:26:43

'to us - a chance to catch up with your family and have a blow-out.'

0:26:430:26:47

'We've talked way into the kitchen of one of Hong Kong's

0:26:470:26:51

'most authentic dim sum houses to see some masters at work.'

0:26:510:26:55

Could you ask Mr Lai how long he's been doing this for?

0:26:560:26:59

Because he looks very, very skilled.

0:26:590:27:01

HE TRANSLATES

0:27:010:27:02

MR LAI REPLIES

0:27:020:27:04

-He became a dim sum master for more than 40 years.

-40 years?

-40 years!

0:27:060:27:13

-Yes.

-This is the place to come for dumplings and good dim sum.

0:27:130:27:18

'These guys are serious craftsmen.

0:27:180:27:21

'They have to learn over 300 different dishes

0:27:210:27:24

'and feed over 700 hungry mouths a day.

0:27:240:27:28

'The biggest sellers are steamed barbecued pork buns

0:27:280:27:31

'called cha siu.

0:27:310:27:33

'And har gow, a clear,

0:27:330:27:35

'bonnet-shaped dumpling filled with shrimp and bamboo shoots.'

0:27:350:27:38

That is a beautiful thing.

0:27:380:27:41

I mean, if Penelope Cruz was a dumpling, that would be Penelope.

0:27:410:27:44

'The instant the dim sum are cooked,

0:27:440:27:47

'the baskets are banged onto serving trolleys.

0:27:470:27:50

'The ladies known as aunties, push them around the restaurant,

0:27:500:27:53

'shouting their wares

0:27:530:27:55

'and doling out dumplings to hungry punters who tip them the wink.'

0:27:550:27:58

'And today, we get to turn trolley dolly.'

0:27:580:28:00

Does this make me an auntie?

0:28:000:28:03

'Wagon dragons, more like, dude.'

0:28:030:28:05

I'll tie you round the back.

0:28:050:28:07

Listen, are you going to be a miserable auntie or a happy auntie?

0:28:070:28:11

-I think I'm going to go traditional.

-What do you mean?

0:28:110:28:15

-They're kind of quite stern, really.

-SI LAUGHS

0:28:150:28:17

'I tell you what, dude,

0:28:170:28:18

'it's going to take more than a stern look to win this challenge,

0:28:180:28:21

'Auntie Dave.'

0:28:210:28:22

Cha siu mai, kai pao chai!

0:28:220:28:25

-Yes?

-OK. What would you like?

0:28:270:28:30

Cha siu mai, kai pao chai!

0:28:300:28:34

There you go. That was three. Thank you.

0:28:340:28:37

'A hat-trick! I'm cleaning up with my trolley dolly charm offensive, you know.

0:28:370:28:41

'Take that, Myers, get in!'

0:28:410:28:43

Thank you.

0:28:430:28:45

Bye-bye.

0:28:450:28:46

'I guess it just goes to show that when food's this good,

0:28:460:28:50

'it sells itself.'

0:28:500:28:52

It's easy being an auntie.

0:28:520:28:55

Plus it's so good, people love it.

0:28:550:28:58

And I think I've got two of their favourites -

0:28:580:29:00

cha siu mai, kai pao chai.

0:29:000:29:03

'These little dumpling numbers are selling like a...

0:29:040:29:07

'well, hot dumplings.'

0:29:070:29:08

-You give us the wrong dim sum.

-Oh.

0:29:120:29:15

-We wanted cha siu bao, but you gave us...

-Kai pao chai?

0:29:150:29:18

'Whoops!

0:29:180:29:20

'Dumpling identification fail!'

0:29:200:29:23

-Ah, yes, thank you.

-Thank you.

0:29:230:29:25

'That's the last of me baskets gone!

0:29:250:29:28

'Looks like a win for the Kingy.'

0:29:280:29:30

-Oh, in record time, Kingy. Boom!

-Host!

0:29:300:29:33

Yeah, hostess trolley. Smashing.

0:29:330:29:36

'Seems like we're naturals when it comes to smelling dim sum.

0:29:360:29:39

'I just hope making them comes as easy.'

0:29:390:29:42

'First we need some ingredients,

0:29:430:29:46

'so we're heading for Hong Kong's back garden.

0:29:460:29:49

'The fishing village of Sai Kung, in the New Territories,

0:29:490:29:53

'for a spot of shopping.'

0:29:530:29:54

It's one of the most popular places for locals to kick back

0:29:540:29:58

and indulge their voracious appetite for all things fishy.

0:29:580:30:01

There's a whole culture of it here. You walk along the prom,

0:30:010:30:04

look at the beautiful scenery,

0:30:040:30:06

you pick your fresh fish, you pick your fresh shellfish,

0:30:060:30:09

and then you nang it.

0:30:090:30:11

Yeah, it's the ultimate pick 'n' mix seafood platter.

0:30:110:30:14

We'd like to say, with a plethora of fishing boats just there,

0:30:140:30:18

that it's all locally caught and there's no food miles

0:30:180:30:21

but the truth is, loads of this stuff comes from China.

0:30:210:30:24

Hong Kong is so built up and it's so overpopulated,

0:30:240:30:27

it eats its way through a phenomenal amount of fresh fish.

0:30:270:30:32

It's not just fish. 95% of all groceries are imported here,

0:30:320:30:36

so living ain't cheap.

0:30:360:30:38

And we're after some super-fresh seafood to make dim sum.

0:30:380:30:42

So I hope you've got your wallet.

0:30:420:30:44

What a fantastic way to go out and get your ingredients!

0:30:460:30:49

It doesn't get much fresher, but how the hell do we ask for

0:30:490:30:52

six bouncing fresh jumbo-sized prawns in Cantonese?

0:30:520:30:55

SI ATTEMPTS TO SPEAK IN CANTONESE

0:30:550:30:59

Those ones. Go up a bit.

0:30:590:31:01

Not that one.

0:31:010:31:03

HE REPLIES IN OWN LANGUAGE

0:31:030:31:06

Yes! Yes. Good.

0:31:060:31:08

Thank you.

0:31:080:31:10

He wants 200.

0:31:110:31:13

-We've only got 100.

-Hey?

0:31:130:31:15

-200 - that's 20 quid for six prawns.

-That's ridiculous.

0:31:150:31:19

That's like a major department store in London prices.

0:31:190:31:22

-It's local at the source, isn't it?

-Go on, use your Geordie charm.

0:31:220:31:25

Right. Well, no, we don't want your hat, we just want the prawns!

0:31:250:31:29

100! For the pra... Hello! 100.

0:31:290:31:32

Is he telling us what I think he's telling us?

0:31:320:31:34

There's no need to be rude! Two?

0:31:340:31:36

Yeah, two.

0:31:360:31:37

Yeah.

0:31:370:31:40

OK. Oh, great, great, great. He didn't see the other 100. Smashing.

0:31:400:31:44

-Ah! So you don't have to climb down.

-Excellent.

0:31:450:31:48

-Hey! Great.

-One!

0:31:490:31:52

DAVE LAUGHS

0:31:520:31:55

Look at that. Hey?

0:31:560:31:58

Oh, we get change.

0:31:580:32:00

BOTH: Ah!

0:32:000:32:02

Thank you!

0:32:020:32:04

It was an amazing way to buy prawns but it wasn't cheap.

0:32:040:32:09

Cheap or not, dude, I'm sure they'll be belter in our dim sum recipe.

0:32:090:32:13

Here we are with the South China Seas behind us.

0:32:140:32:17

Yeah! We're doing dim sum Sai Kung style!

0:32:170:32:20

I'll be making a lotus leaf parcel with a mouthwatering meat filling

0:32:200:32:24

encased in rice.

0:32:240:32:26

And I'm going to do scrumptious prawn and crab dumplings.

0:32:260:32:30

But first, we need the necessary Cantonese cooking implements.

0:32:300:32:34

# Everybody was kung fu fighting... #

0:32:340:32:38

Where did they come from?

0:32:380:32:40

-These are good for small work.

-Good for big work.

0:32:400:32:43

-Good for medium-sized work.

-Good for mashing.

-Good for prepping.

0:32:430:32:46

They're good for shaving yourself when you lose your razor.

0:32:460:32:49

-Everything can be done with your Chinese chopper.

-Indeedy.

0:32:490:32:52

First, I'm chopping chicken and pork loin to make the filling

0:32:520:32:57

for my lotus leaf recipe. Now, I haven't been too particular

0:32:570:33:00

about trimming the fat off this,

0:33:000:33:02

because the fat will seep into the rice

0:33:020:33:04

and give it additional flavour.

0:33:040:33:06

Fire up the wok and get some garlic in.

0:33:060:33:09

You kind of frizzle the garlic. Don't worry if it gets burnt.

0:33:090:33:14

Again, that's one of the things he says - don't burn the garlic.

0:33:140:33:17

-It's kind of all right with this.

-30 seconds. Wait till it goes crispy

0:33:170:33:20

and then cook off the meat.

0:33:200:33:23

That just needs to be coloured through.

0:33:230:33:25

Lovely.

0:33:270:33:29

This is a lap cheong sausage.

0:33:290:33:31

Wah-hah!

0:33:310:33:33

They're a sweet sausage, full of fat, really, really, really nice.

0:33:330:33:37

If you can't get to an Oriental supermarket,

0:33:370:33:40

try using sweet-cured bacon.

0:33:400:33:42

So it's not too meaty, we're adding some mushrooms to the filling mix.

0:33:440:33:47

DAVE STRAINS

0:33:490:33:52

-This wouldn't happen to Rick Stein, would it?

-It wouldn't.

0:33:520:33:55

He-yah!

0:33:550:33:58

I'm making a sauce for the meat

0:33:580:34:00

starting with rice wine.

0:34:000:34:02

Isn't that a bobby dazzler?

0:34:020:34:04

Drink your wine and then make a lamp.

0:34:040:34:07

This is going to help the lotus wrap filling stick together.

0:34:070:34:10

Add some soy sauce and cornflour

0:34:100:34:12

and that's job done.

0:34:120:34:15

And watch it go thick.

0:34:150:34:17

It sticks together lovely so that'll be perfect

0:34:210:34:25

for our parcels.

0:34:250:34:26

We let that cool for about... It'll take about half an hour.

0:34:260:34:30

But what we are going to do is dress that

0:34:300:34:32

with just a splash of sesame oil. Give it that extra bit of doodah.

0:34:320:34:38

So that's the inside of Si's wrap sorted.

0:34:380:34:41

Now I need to start on my seafood dim sum.

0:34:410:34:44

The filling for the prawn and crab dumplings

0:34:440:34:48

is an assembly of fine flavours and fruits of the sea.

0:34:480:34:51

I have a lovely dressed crab here.

0:34:510:34:53

Pop that into a bowl.

0:34:530:34:55

These perfect prawns need chopping up.

0:34:550:34:59

Then add some garlic, ginger,

0:34:590:35:02

dried orange peel and water chestnuts before thickening the mix

0:35:020:35:06

with the old cornflour and water trick.

0:35:060:35:08

And the prawns are quite sort of gelatinous.

0:35:080:35:12

When that mixes with the cornflour,

0:35:120:35:14

hopefully they should be quite easy

0:35:140:35:16

to mould into my little dumpling cases.

0:35:160:35:18

Add chopped carrots and spring onions for a bit of colour.

0:35:180:35:22

Look at that.

0:35:220:35:24

It's like a mosaic. It's like a terrazzo floor

0:35:240:35:26

in a Victorian vestibule.

0:35:260:35:28

That's lovely, that, dude, lovely.

0:35:280:35:30

Let's make dumplings.

0:35:320:35:34

And I've got a dumpling dabbler.

0:35:340:35:36

People use them for packing your dumplings. I'm making my dumplings

0:35:360:35:39

with won ton skins, which you buy in packs of 50.

0:35:390:35:43

I've put a little spoonful of the mixture in the middle

0:35:430:35:48

and I've painted cornflour and water around the edge.

0:35:480:35:51

I pick up my doodah...

0:35:510:35:53

Little pleaty, like so...

0:35:540:35:57

Get it quite firm

0:35:590:36:01

and dab it down.

0:36:010:36:03

And that's number one.

0:36:030:36:05

My dim sum are parcels wrapped in a lotus leaf.

0:36:070:36:11

I'm using cold cooked rice.

0:36:110:36:14

Into the middle...

0:36:140:36:16

we put our lovely mixture.

0:36:160:36:19

A little bit more rice on the top, there.

0:36:190:36:22

Then what we do is, we gather it all together...

0:36:250:36:29

You can buy lotus leaves at Oriental supermarkets

0:36:300:36:33

or, alternatively, use grease-proof paper instead.

0:36:330:36:37

Little parcel.

0:36:370:36:40

All ready to get steaming, Kingy?

0:36:400:36:42

Make sure they don't touch or they'll stick together.

0:36:440:36:48

And they both take 15 minutes to steam,

0:36:480:36:50

cos the rice is cooked already.

0:36:500:36:53

They look amazing.

0:36:530:36:54

It's definitely food for the heart.

0:36:540:36:56

Well, Kingy, "dim sum" actually means a drop ON the heart,

0:36:560:37:00

because they were meant to be eaten as a snack, not a main meal.

0:37:000:37:04

-Shall we?

-I think so.

0:37:060:37:09

Oh, little bundles of joy, Mr King.

0:37:090:37:12

How fabulous.

0:37:120:37:14

Whoa! How lovely does that little melange look?

0:37:150:37:20

Si...

0:37:200:37:23

Whoa!

0:37:230:37:24

They are flaming lovely.

0:37:270:37:30

-They've got some life, haven't they?

-Cor, yeah.

0:37:300:37:32

-Boom!

-Boom! Yeah, nice. The carrots are there, you've got crunch,

0:37:320:37:36

the water chestnuts.

0:37:360:37:37

That's lovely.

0:37:370:37:39

You could have the most wonderful dim sum party,

0:37:390:37:42

all sorts of different types of dumplings

0:37:420:37:44

and you can do all the work before your guests are there.

0:37:440:37:47

When your guests arrive, in the steamers, Bob's your uncle,

0:37:470:37:50

-50 minutes later - serve it.

-Great. Oh, that's chewy.

0:37:500:37:53

-Oh.

-Oh, man.

-They are good.

0:37:550:37:58

Jousahn - that's Cantonese for "good morning", that is.

0:38:130:38:16

And what a morning, dude! Back in the thick of it.

0:38:190:38:23

Monday rush hour on Hong Kong Island.

0:38:230:38:26

It's mayhem in this mega city.

0:38:260:38:28

Hundreds of thousands of people

0:38:280:38:30

are hurrying into the Central District

0:38:300:38:33

for work in the skyscrapers.

0:38:330:38:35

But we're here to find out what Hong Kongers eat in the morning.

0:38:350:38:39

I like the look of this for breakfast, Si.

0:38:390:38:42

-Oh, it's fabulous, isn't it?

-Yeah.

0:38:420:38:45

-It smells of Asia!

-Fish. I can smell fish.

0:38:450:38:48

Can you believe it? A quarter of locals here

0:38:480:38:51

have their morning meal out at least five times a week.

0:38:510:38:54

And Dave and I have heard

0:38:540:38:55

the locals are rather partial to a good old-fashioned fry-up.

0:38:550:39:00

-There's Suzie.

-Hey!

-There she is!

0:39:000:39:02

-Hey, Suzie.

-I've been waiting for over two hours!

0:39:020:39:05

-You cannot be. You haven't got a watch on.

-So, if you want to eat?

0:39:050:39:08

-I'm starving.

-Yeah.

0:39:080:39:10

All you two need is a fishing rod!

0:39:100:39:13

You have to help me down. Oh, I love you!

0:39:130:39:16

SHE CHUCKLES

0:39:160:39:18

Hong Kong celebrity Suzie Wong

0:39:200:39:22

is going to show us how she likes to start the day.

0:39:220:39:25

You see? This is how this man makes tea.

0:39:260:39:30

-Oh, yeah, look!

-So we have a stocking.

-A silk stocking!

0:39:300:39:33

Yes, silk stocking.

0:39:330:39:35

Back in the good old days of the jolly Empire,

0:39:350:39:38

the English love of a brew filtered through to the local population.

0:39:380:39:42

Now they reckon that straining the tea eight times through what

0:39:420:39:45

looks like my old granny's nylons makes the tea taste silkier.

0:39:450:39:49

This place is called a cha chaan teng.

0:39:500:39:53

A load of them opened up in colonial times

0:39:530:39:55

and they're still popular today.

0:39:550:39:58

It's as close to a greasy spoon as you'll get here,

0:39:580:40:01

serving mixed-up comfort foods to locals who want

0:40:010:40:03

a taste of Western grub on the cheap.

0:40:030:40:06

I guess, to them, it's a bit like chop suey and chips is to us.

0:40:060:40:10

A bit of what you know and a bit of what you don't.

0:40:100:40:13

There's a Spam noodle.

0:40:130:40:15

-Spam noodles?

-Yes! Spam noodles.

0:40:150:40:18

# Spam, beautiful Spam!

0:40:180:40:20

# Beautiful Spam... #

0:40:200:40:22

-This is brilliant.

-Now this is the French toast.

-Oh!

0:40:220:40:25

I tell you, the tea...

0:40:250:40:27

The eight-time passing...

0:40:270:40:30

It certainly draws the mouth.

0:40:300:40:33

-Wow.

-Egg sandwich.

-Oh, egg butties!

-Corned beef?!

0:40:330:40:37

-Corned beef!

-It's white bread, sliced, with the crusts off.

0:40:370:40:40

Fundamentally, that's a corned beef savoury sandwich.

0:40:400:40:43

-This is a Pot Noodle with Spam and a fried egg.

-Yeah.

0:40:430:40:47

It's very westernised.

0:40:470:40:49

Are you going to have a try?

0:40:490:40:51

I'll give some to you.

0:40:520:40:55

-Have a bite.

-Aw, look at this, Kingy.

0:40:550:40:58

It's a Hong Kong breakfast club sandwich.

0:40:580:41:01

Corned beef, egg, four slices white processed.

0:41:010:41:04

Double-decker, dude. Class.

0:41:040:41:06

SI AND SUZIE LAUGH

0:41:060:41:08

-It's not bad.

-Isn't it?

-No.

0:41:080:41:11

-It's interesting. It's not full of expats in here.

-No.

0:41:110:41:14

I thought it'd be full of crusty old colonels

0:41:140:41:17

that had been left behind, having their bully beef and egg butties.

0:41:170:41:20

It's fascinating, isn't it, that you have these kind of echoes

0:41:200:41:23

-of the cuisine of the past... from 100 years ago.

-Hmm.

0:41:230:41:26

You can see how important to a lot of nations Hong Kong was,

0:41:260:41:30

and from that, you get these multi layers of food

0:41:300:41:34

from different places around the world, different influences

0:41:340:41:37

brought in, and kind of mish-mashed together

0:41:370:41:40

in this mad city cuisine. It's nuts!

0:41:400:41:42

-Come on, let's have a go.

-Yeah.

0:41:420:41:44

It is, um...

0:41:440:41:46

How do you like it?

0:41:460:41:48

It's strange, because the luncheon meat is quite kind of economy

0:41:480:41:53

luncheon meat, and the noodles do seem to be quite kind of instant.

0:41:530:41:57

Yeah, it is instant noodles.

0:41:570:42:00

How come you're not touching your French toast?

0:42:000:42:04

They're not worried about the calories, are they?

0:42:040:42:07

It's all a bit, um... Ah.

0:42:070:42:09

-There's something inside it.

-What's the something inside?

-Peanut butter.

0:42:120:42:16

SHE CHUCKLES

0:42:160:42:19

It's a fried white-bread

0:42:190:42:21

peanut butter, eggy, syrupy, sweet, buttery,

0:42:210:42:26

extra-butter sandwich.

0:42:260:42:28

Exactly!

0:42:280:42:29

This is the sort of food that killed Elvis.

0:42:290:42:32

A minute on the lips...

0:42:320:42:34

-BOTH:

-..a lifetime on the hips.

-Oh!

0:42:340:42:36

Trust the British to leave a legacy of corned beef and egg sandwiches,

0:42:360:42:41

spam and egg noodles,

0:42:410:42:43

and eggy bread! God bless 'em!

0:42:430:42:46

It's interesting that in the same way

0:42:460:42:48

we Brits have westernised Chinese cooking,

0:42:480:42:51

the people here have adapted our food for their tastes.

0:42:510:42:54

Well, that's not what you call an Asian treat, is it?

0:42:540:42:57

-No.

-I mean, it's interesting, it's a legacy that we Brits left behind,

0:42:570:43:01

but I did feel it's come back to haunt me.

0:43:010:43:04

It's still coming back to haunt me, I tell you! That's wrong.

0:43:040:43:07

I wanted Asian adventure, not an egg sandwich.

0:43:070:43:09

-We need to go and find something local.

-Something bright.

0:43:090:43:12

I've got just the thing - noodles!

0:43:120:43:15

Of course, Hong Kong's the place that brought us Brits

0:43:170:43:21

this key Cantonese ingredient.

0:43:210:43:23

And we've wangled a rare invite

0:43:250:43:27

into the back room of the Lau Sum Key noodle house in Kowloon

0:43:270:43:31

to learn the secrets of making the ultimate heritage noodle.

0:43:310:43:34

You know, Kingy, what I'm excited about

0:43:360:43:38

is, for years, the first Chinese food I ever tasted as a kid

0:43:380:43:41

was in my local takeaway

0:43:410:43:44

-and it was chow mein.

-Yeah?

-It was noodles.

0:43:440:43:46

And it was the way the noodles were just fried on the bottom of the pan

0:43:460:43:50

and they were soft on the top

0:43:500:43:52

and there was something special,

0:43:520:43:54

and to wait kind of 40 years

0:43:540:43:57

to have the real thing, it's so worth it.

0:43:570:43:59

This place opened in 1931 and the family business

0:43:590:44:04

has been handed down from father to son,

0:44:040:44:07

ending up today in the hands of noodle artiste Jason.

0:44:070:44:11

JASON SPEAKS IN OWN LANGUAGE

0:44:110:44:14

How many?

0:44:140:44:15

About 30, 35.

0:44:150:44:18

-35?

-30?

0:44:180:44:19

Duck eggs are going to make it really rich, aren't they?

0:44:190:44:22

The colour of those yolks is going to go through the noodles. Fabulous.

0:44:220:44:25

It's good to see you get cracking, Kingy.

0:44:250:44:28

Did you have to?!

0:44:280:44:30

SI CHUCKLES

0:44:300:44:31

All that's in these noodles is eggs, flour and water.

0:44:320:44:36

Not mixed, but pressed into a dough.

0:44:360:44:38

How old were you when you started making noodles?

0:44:380:44:41

-11 years old.

-11?

-Yeah.

-Do you like making noodles?

0:44:410:44:45

I like doing this now,

0:44:450:44:47

but when I was young boy, I don't like this.

0:44:470:44:50

THEY LAUGH

0:44:500:44:52

So far, so normal.

0:44:530:44:55

Having worked the dough to activate the gluten,

0:44:550:44:58

it's time for Jason's party trick.

0:44:580:45:00

OK.

0:45:020:45:04

THEY LAUGH

0:45:070:45:08

Well, I can honestly say I've never seen a rodeo technique of noodle making before.

0:45:080:45:13

Yee-ha! Saddle up, cowboy!

0:45:130:45:16

The pressure of kneading with the bamboo and Jason's body weight

0:45:160:45:20

makes for a denser noodle with a springy texture...apparently.

0:45:200:45:24

And he's agreed to see just how dense

0:45:260:45:29

two hairy bikers can bum bounce his noodles.

0:45:290:45:32

I'll just pull me pants up. So, like, the crease in your bum...

0:45:320:45:36

-No, not your bum, your thigh.

-No, that's what I'm doing.

0:45:360:45:38

Oh, I'm a machine, dude. I'm a machine.

0:45:400:45:42

-You're getting good compression.

-I'm not surprised, there's about 20st of Geordie on the end of it.

0:45:420:45:47

I never thought I'd see the day when you were pole dancing.

0:45:510:45:54

Very flaming funny! Get on here. Hey? Get on.

0:45:540:45:58

And don't break his pole.

0:45:580:46:01

-Right.

-That's it. That's it.

0:46:010:46:03

Yeah, let gravity work.

0:46:030:46:06

Steady on, Madame Butterfly! Have you had dance training?

0:46:060:46:09

It's funny you should mention it. It's all about the posture, in't it?

0:46:090:46:13

Keep your back straight, eyes forward.

0:46:130:46:15

Once the dough's been ridden to within 3mm of its life,

0:46:180:46:21

it's on to grandad's original cutting machine for noodle formation.

0:46:210:46:26

-Wow!

-Wow!

0:46:260:46:28

It's a really, really strong dough, isn't it, Kingy?

0:46:280:46:31

-Yes, mate.

-And that means you can cut it really fine.

0:46:310:46:34

Do you know what, they're a beautiful from of foodstuff, aren't they?

0:46:340:46:38

-Yeah.

-I mean they look... so beautiful.

0:46:380:46:41

And long may the bamboo-pole method of noodle making continue.

0:46:450:46:49

I'll second that, Kingy.

0:46:510:46:52

The Pearl River!

0:46:580:47:00

You know, there's so much more to Hong Kong than the city.

0:47:000:47:04

We're heading out to the fishing village of Taikoo.

0:47:090:47:13

For hundreds of years, the Tanka people have made a living here salting and drying fish.

0:47:130:47:18

Their open-plan stilted houses over the tidal flats

0:47:200:47:24

are a world away from the high-rises of the city.

0:47:240:47:28

Hey, Si, you know how Hong Kong

0:47:280:47:30

would have been all sleepy fishing villages like this till the Brits arrived?

0:47:300:47:34

Back then, it only had a population of just 1,500.

0:47:340:47:38

I know, mate, it's mad to think

0:47:380:47:40

that there would have been English policemen in khaki shorts

0:47:400:47:43

in that colonial police station over there.

0:47:430:47:46

And that's where we're going to do some cooking.

0:47:460:47:49

We're going to do possibly the best egg fried rice you've ever tasted.

0:47:490:47:53

-Don't say, "Oh, no, I don't like egg fried rice!"

-Listen, this is a minter.

-It is.

-It's brilliant!

0:47:530:47:58

We're going to do our own crispy belly pork to start the egg fried rice off.

0:47:580:48:02

Where could be better to roast some piggy than here in China,

0:48:020:48:05

where they produce over half the world's pork?

0:48:050:48:09

This piece is super fatty, so it should crisp up like a good 'un.

0:48:090:48:13

But it needs a marinade.

0:48:130:48:16

The dry ingredients are star anise, five-spice powder and salt.

0:48:160:48:22

Just give that a little shoomozel.

0:48:220:48:24

I love Sichuan peppercorns.

0:48:240:48:26

It's like the culinary equivalent of local anaesthetic.

0:48:260:48:29

-It is, isn't it?

-And my department's the wet ingredients.

0:48:290:48:33

Grate two cloves of garlic,

0:48:330:48:35

some palm sugar and a thumb-sized piece of ginger.

0:48:350:48:39

Why do people say that? I mean, whose thumb's that?!

0:48:390:48:42

And we're going to marinate the pork in a plastic bag.

0:48:430:48:47

-So that's our drys.

-Invisible tennis ball. Go on, then. Go on.

0:48:490:48:53

Thrown the invisible ball.

0:48:530:48:55

Oh, nice catch, dude.

0:48:580:49:00

Then add the wet stuff.

0:49:000:49:01

Plus a spoon each of hoisin sauce and sesame oil.

0:49:010:49:05

Just give it a good squidgy up.

0:49:050:49:07

You pop that in.

0:49:110:49:12

And then we're going to massage the pork.

0:49:130:49:16

You know, you want a kind of... put Barry White on in your head.

0:49:160:49:20

-You know, that kind of... Hey, baby!

-BARRY WHITE PLAYS IN BACKGROUND

0:49:200:49:24

-Go on.

-THEY HUM

0:49:240:49:27

# My everything. #

0:49:270:49:30

Whoo, baby! Laying on the love!

0:49:300:49:33

So look at that, no washing up.

0:49:340:49:36

Then put it in a moderate oven, about 160 degrees Celsius,

0:49:360:49:39

for an hour-and-a-half, an hour-and-three-quarters,

0:49:390:49:41

until it's cooked through and maybe a little bit crispy.

0:49:410:49:44

Obviously, take it out of the bag first.

0:49:440:49:48

And there's just time to emulate our colonial forefathers.

0:49:480:49:52

-We'd take a little kind of tea-time gin and tonic, wouldn't we there?

-Yes.

-Yes, on the terrace.

0:49:520:49:56

-Oh, yes, once the sun set over the Empire.

-Yes.

0:49:560:50:00

-And fill ourselves full of quinine because of the malaria.

-Yah!

0:50:000:50:03

Oh, God! They're biting again tonight!

0:50:030:50:06

Let's shoot something as well, that's a good chap.

0:50:060:50:08

-Yes, we did a lot of that, didn't we?

-Yes.

-Yes.

0:50:080:50:11

MUSIC: "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" by Noel Coward

0:50:150:50:20

Yes.

0:50:200:50:22

DAVE LAUGHS AND SNORTS

0:50:230:50:26

-Cheers.

-Cheers.

0:50:260:50:28

Fabulous!

0:50:280:50:29

-Cheers.

-Cheers. It reminds me of Broadstairs.

0:50:320:50:35

Come on, mate. The pork's got to be done by now.

0:50:370:50:42

That's me belly pork.

0:50:500:50:52

Oh! Beautiful!

0:50:520:50:53

It's very sticky, it's icky, it's just as it should be.

0:50:530:50:57

A mistake a lot of people make when they're doing egg fried rice

0:50:580:51:02

is just to pop the eggs into the rice and it ends up being kind of soggy.

0:51:020:51:05

You don't want that. Cook the eggs first in a kind of rolled up omelette.

0:51:050:51:10

Shred it and put it in the eggs at the end, it's beautiful.

0:51:100:51:13

Right, put that in there. Just throw it into the pan.

0:51:130:51:16

First off, about two tablespoons of ground nut oil.

0:51:160:51:21

Now, we've soaked some dried prawns to flavour the dish.

0:51:210:51:24

Bung 'em in!

0:51:240:51:26

Now to this, we want the garlic.

0:51:260:51:29

One big clove finely sliced.

0:51:290:51:32

-Pop that in.

-I tell you what, mate, I'm going to come round this side

0:51:320:51:35

-and see if I can be a bit of a shield, cos the wind's up.

-Yeah.

0:51:350:51:38

Because you want to get heat under a wok, you know.

0:51:380:51:41

Now, take the pork... it's fantastic!

0:51:410:51:45

Ah!

0:51:450:51:47

Crushed Sichuan peppercorns.

0:51:470:51:49

Chinese five-spice.

0:51:490:51:52

And now the rice.

0:51:520:51:54

Never use fresh rice, you want stone-cold leftover rice,

0:51:540:51:58

cos you don't want it to go soggy.

0:51:580:52:00

So what I often do is if I'm having rice the day before, say with a chilli,

0:52:000:52:03

I'll do double rice.

0:52:030:52:05

And now for the fresh prawns, which need less cooking time.

0:52:100:52:14

If you're me, I dig for the prawns.

0:52:140:52:16

-Wok-static in't it?

-Hey, man, it's absolutely beautiful!

0:52:190:52:23

And now the spring onions.

0:52:230:52:26

And now the omelette.

0:52:270:52:29

Look at the colours in that, though, it looks fabulous.

0:52:310:52:34

-Well, some people call it rainbow rice, don't they?

-Yeah.

0:52:340:52:37

And lastly...a dressing of soy sauce.

0:52:390:52:42

That...looks and smells epic.

0:52:470:52:50

And where better to eat our seafood supper

0:52:520:52:55

than here on the shore of the South China Sea?

0:52:550:52:58

-Well, what a perfect end to a perfect day.

-Mmm!

0:52:590:53:03

Well, unfortunately, our adventure in Hong Kong is nearly over,

0:53:080:53:12

but there's one last thing on our to-do list.

0:53:120:53:15

It's nice to head out into the wild blue horizon!

0:53:160:53:20

We're hooking up with The Mad Dogs, a Hong Kong biking club.

0:53:200:53:25

Hey! You all right?

0:53:260:53:28

-I used to have one of them! Yeah!

-How you're doing?

-Are you all right?

0:53:280:53:33

They regularly get together at the weekend to bike out of the city

0:53:410:53:45

and into the surrounding countryside.

0:53:450:53:47

It's about an hour's ride to our destination,

0:53:470:53:49

the Tai Chu Hut Temple near the Chinese border.

0:53:490:53:53

SI GROANS

0:53:550:53:57

-It's like a pressure cooker, in't it?

-In't it?

0:53:590:54:02

-Yeah.

-THEY LAUGH

0:54:020:54:04

What's the motorcycling scene like in Hong Kong?

0:54:040:54:07

We have the luxury of some really beautiful mountains,

0:54:070:54:09

some really beautiful closed roads.

0:54:090:54:11

-And where we do get to ride is fantastic.

-Yeah.

0:54:110:54:14

It's not all motorway riding to get somewhere scenic,

0:54:140:54:16

you step outside your door, ride for five minutes and you're in some beautiful countryside.

0:54:160:54:20

Do you not run out of roads and places to go?

0:54:200:54:23

Pretty much in two hours. It takes about two hours.

0:54:230:54:26

LAUGHTER

0:54:260:54:27

-Can you go into China and motorcycle there?

-We're not allowed.

-Unfortunately not.

0:54:270:54:31

-Really?

-Unfortunately not, no.

0:54:310:54:33

-Why, what happens?

-Perhaps we are too fast for the Chinese police.

0:54:330:54:37

I don't know.

0:54:370:54:39

There are 600 temples and shrines here in Hong Kong

0:54:390:54:42

where the dominant religions are Taoism and Buddhism.

0:54:420:54:46

This temple honours the sea goddess, Ting Hau,

0:54:460:54:49

who is worshipped by both faiths.

0:54:490:54:51

Here, The Mad Dogs are going to send us on our way

0:54:530:54:56

with a traditional Chinese good-luck ceremony.

0:54:560:54:59

-And this is a bissum?

-Basically, yeah.

0:54:590:55:01

This is our way of blessing journeys and houses and workplaces and all sorts of stuff.

0:55:010:55:07

Expat biker Jeff is going to guide us through the bissum.

0:55:070:55:11

Take three of these, sir.

0:55:110:55:13

-Thank you.

-And you get three of them.

-Thank you. Thank you.

0:55:130:55:16

-So then we approach...

-So you light your incense stick.

0:55:160:55:21

This ceremony worships the gods of the land and air

0:55:210:55:24

and is typically performed for any new venture that might disturb them,

0:55:240:55:28

a new business, construction project or event, for example.

0:55:280:55:33

Or a couple of hairy bikers travelling through Asia.

0:55:330:55:36

This sort of ceremony is really important in Hong Kong.

0:55:360:55:39

No matter whether it's your house or your business, everyone will do this ceremony

0:55:390:55:43

when they first move in to get rid of any evil spirits that may be around, or any bad feeling that's there.

0:55:430:55:48

-Just to kind of exorcise it?

-Yeah, absolutely.

0:55:480:55:52

And after a while of living here, you kind of get drawn into it.

0:55:520:55:54

And the more you hear people talk about it, the more real it becomes, I suppose.

0:55:540:55:59

I'm off.

0:55:590:56:01

To the Chinese, three is a lucky number,

0:56:020:56:05

so we've got three incense sticks.

0:56:050:56:07

Then we have to bow three times

0:56:070:56:10

and then give the gods a drink of rice wine.

0:56:100:56:14

And then bow to the sky and just pour a little bit on the floor.

0:56:140:56:17

Next, an offering of roast pork.

0:56:200:56:23

The way you cut the pig is very important too, isn't it?

0:56:230:56:26

-It is, the position of the pig with the head facing the temple.

-Yes.

-Right.

0:56:260:56:30

The way the pig is cut, the way it's served, everything has a meaning to it.

0:56:300:56:33

Oh, so from the neck?

0:56:330:56:35

Using the Chinese cleaver to cut the pig from top to tail in one fluid stroke signifies completion.

0:56:350:56:42

And sharing the chopper means sharing the luck.

0:56:420:56:46

Wah!

0:56:460:56:48

Oh, thank you.

0:56:500:56:52

Oh, wow!

0:56:540:56:56

It's like the Hong Kong biker's equivalent to the bacon butty, do you know what I mean?

0:56:560:57:01

Mmm! Thank you.

0:57:010:57:02

Before we go, there's one last thing to keep the gods onside.

0:57:020:57:07

The eternal financial flame.

0:57:070:57:09

Offer them some paper money. That's alight.

0:57:090:57:12

-What a great day, wasn't it?

-Wasn't it just?

0:57:140:57:16

I never expected all those people to turn up.

0:57:160:57:18

What was cool was people were joining us as we were riding through,

0:57:180:57:21

-it was just brilliant, weren't it?

-Yeah.

0:57:210:57:24

And actually we were amongst ex-pats,

0:57:240:57:26

but they're ex-pats who have adopted the culture, appreciated it and get a lot out of it, you know.

0:57:260:57:32

-And that pork was good, wasn't it?

-Excellent.

0:57:320:57:34

Aye, pork crackling and a joss stick.

0:57:340:57:37

Well, hopefully we're guaranteed a bit of safety on the rest of the trip.

0:57:370:57:41

-Thank you.

-Yeah, thank you very much.

0:57:410:57:44

Our time in Hong Kong has come to an end.

0:57:440:57:47

You know, it's kind of reassuring that the Chinese dishes

0:57:470:57:50

we love back home are so important to Hong Kongers too.

0:57:500:57:54

Yes, I've also realised, Dave, it's easy to take Chinese food for granted.

0:57:540:58:00

It's so simple, just fresh ingredients cooked quickly.

0:58:000:58:03

And you know what, mate, that its beauty.

0:58:030:58:06

Our journey to discover the roots of Britain's favourite food

0:58:080:58:11

continues next week when we hit...

0:58:110:58:14

Thailand!

0:58:140:58:16

# One night in Bangkok and the world's your oyster! #

0:58:160:58:19

But will our efforts to cook Thai food impress the locals?

0:58:240:58:27

-Good. Very good.

-Good. Good.

0:58:270:58:29

-Oh! Champion.

-Champion!

0:58:290:58:31

LAUGHTER

0:58:310:58:34

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