- 1 year ago
The Food Truck NZ - S01E05 - Chinese
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TVTranscript
00:00The New Zealand fast food industry is worth over 1.3 billion dollars a year, but there's a huge social cost.
00:08Two out of every five deaths have some link to diet-related factors.
00:12Without putting you off your dinner, us Kiwis need to change what we eat.
00:19Michael van der Elzen is the owner and head chef at the award-winning molten restaurant and liquid molten bar in Mount Eden, Auckland.
00:27Let's get a show on the road.
00:29We set up a mobile kitchen to find out if fast food can be healthy food.
00:33All right. Open for business.
00:35Yummy.
00:36That's good.
00:37Faceless.
00:38Fast food can be exciting, it can be healthy, it can be food that we serve in our restaurant.
00:43The bit I'm worried about is, are Kiwis willing to go for it?
00:48Last week, Michael discovered that fast food needs to be just that,
00:52after some customers had to wait nearly an hour before they could order their pizza.
00:57Today I got a lesson in fast food.
01:00Tonight, can Michael create nutritious, affordable Chinese food with the quick-tick customers demand these days?
01:07Find out in the food truck.
01:16Chinese food has been served in New Zealand since the gold rush brought the first wave of migrants in the 1860s.
01:22Since then, it has gone on to become a Kiwi ethnic classic.
01:27I love Chinese food.
01:29You know, it's generally really quick.
01:31It's got heaps of flavour, heaps of meat, heaps of veggies.
01:34You get a lot of bang for your buck.
01:36The bad thing about Chinese food is they use a lot of salt and a lot of sugar in their cookery,
01:41and that MSG, it's always associated with it.
01:45MSG is really frowned upon.
01:47What it is is monosodium glutamate, and it's a man-made flavour enhancer.
01:52The Chinese use it to bring out the flavour in their meat.
01:55The problem is MSG has been linked to causing cancer.
01:58Compared to Chinese food, or food as they call it at home,
02:02our local takeaway versions are a lot higher in fat and calories,
02:06which partly explains the massive difference in obesity rates.
02:10China's 5% is miles from our disgraceful 35%.
02:16Michael has a week to prepare his own healthy take on Chinese takeaways
02:20before setting up shop at the Chinese New Year celebrations in Auckland.
02:24Chinese food is as varied and interesting as the nation's people,
02:28so Michael's first stop is a selection of Auckland's 500 Chinese restaurants.
02:34I love noodles. I love the joy of eating them. They're fun to eat.
02:38He wants to check out their menus, compare prices, and of course,
02:42taste what's on offer over and over again.
02:46$7.50 for three choices on noodles.
02:51You get a whole lot of food for a very small price.
02:54I think we have to get sweet and sour pork. What do people buy the most here?
03:04As soon as your order comes in, bang, it's getting made.
03:09There is truckloads of vegetables in there.
03:12With the taste of this, while it is a bit bland, I don't think there's any MSG in here.
03:17There's nothing like cold sweet and sour the next morning when you've got a hangover.
03:20It's not so good for you, I know, but neither are hangovers.
03:24My challenge is to create something worth that vegetable content
03:28but also offer good value for money.
03:31You can get three choices on noodles for $7.50, two big meals for $25.
03:35That's something I've got to take with me into the food truck.
03:38Armed with the knowledge of what his competition cooks up,
03:41Michael now needs a crash course in Chinese.
03:45It's a great restaurant. It's really busy.
03:48It does great, punchy, very-for-money food.
03:52Head chef Ching works at Canton 365 days a year.
03:56Now that's a work ethic.
03:58He's the perfect chef to show Michael the ropes
04:01because he lives, breathes, eats and even smells of Chinese food.
04:05Hello, Chef. Hi.
04:07How are you? Good, thanks.
04:09So, Chef, in a couple of days, I need to serve Chinese food out of my truck to a lot of people.
04:13And I've got to do it fast. Okay.
04:15You are my head chef.
04:17What are the four things I need to have in my cupboard to make Chinese food?
04:22Sugar, salt, garlic, ginger.
04:26And then you've got it.
04:28A bit of soy, a bit of oil, a bit of oyster sauce.
04:31What are we cooking? Spicy, it's good.
04:34I know my chef writing is quite messy, but that's taking it too far.
04:38I've never used a wok in my life.
04:41Look at it.
04:43Do you trust me? Yeah, of course.
04:45If I muck it up, I'll buy it.
04:47Onion. Onion.
04:49Spring onion.
04:51And chilli.
04:53Turn on.
04:55It's like the space shuttle taking off.
04:58A lot of Chinese cookery, it's about the heat.
05:01That's why you've got big wok burners, all about the heat.
05:04Fast, fast, fast.
05:08How do you get that flick into that?
05:10You put the wok in there.
05:12So you take it right out on the edge.
05:15Look at that.
05:17We're flicking.
05:19Okay, ready.
05:21Here we go, we've got squid.
05:23Go, go, go.
05:25Fast, fast, fast.
05:27I'm going.
05:29Okay.
05:31Look at that.
05:33What do you think?
05:35You like that? Yeah.
05:37Let's go eat.
05:39This is amazing.
05:41How fast does this take us?
05:43Two minutes for one dish.
05:45Two minutes.
05:47That is fast food.
05:51Obviously you don't use MSG.
05:53No.
05:55We use different things.
05:57Like the hot sauce.
05:59Garlic, ginger.
06:01You use natural flavour.
06:03Yeah.
06:05What are the healthy parts of Chinese cookery?
06:07Fish, vegetables.
06:09And you're cooking them very quickly.
06:11Yeah.
06:13So you're retaining all the nutritional benefits.
06:15I really enjoyed that.
06:17I thought it was great.
06:19I got to work with a true Chinese chef.
06:21Told me I wasn't fast enough.
06:23Told me off.
06:25I haven't been told off in a kitchen for years.
06:27I think we need to use the wok
06:29on at least one of the dishes in the truck.
06:31And I love that squid.
06:33That squid was fantastic.
06:35I have to cook food as fast as he does.
06:37He cooked food in two minutes.
06:39Maybe I could ask Ching to come and work in my truck for a day.
06:41Go on Ching, I'll drag you out for a day.
06:45I can do it.
06:47Michael took the Chinese squid in the truck.
06:49I think the truck is too small
06:51and Michael too slow.
06:53Ha ha ha.
06:57Chef Michael van der Elzen has spent the last few days
06:59researching and learning to cook Chinese takeaways.
07:01In just a few days
07:03he'll be serving up and selling his scrummy take
07:05on a New Zealand staple
07:07at a Chinese New Year festival.
07:09But today Michael is setting up shop
07:11in a large Chinese supermarket area
07:13in Newmarket, Auckland.
07:15The crazy plan
07:17is to buy all the ingredients for his experiments
07:19from the local Chinese specialists.
07:21Then offer his creations back to them
07:23using sign language.
07:25Excuse me, what is this?
07:27Yeah, yeah.
07:29Should be enough.
07:31This chicken looks fantastic.
07:33Morning, morning.
07:35I have to cook your food today.
07:37I need some chopsticks and a hundred other things.
07:39Yellow bean paste.
07:41I'm going to marinate some squid.
07:43Would you use this for your cooking?
07:45Yeah.
07:47Shaoxing wine.
07:49That looks like porridge.
07:51Fresh tofu.
07:53What else do we need?
07:55We've got some noodles.
07:57It's like it's the first time I've ever been to a Chinese supermarket.
08:01That was great.
08:03And it's even better when there's someone to show you around.
08:05It's fantastic.
08:07We've got some great food.
08:09Michael's going to knock up attractive alternatives
08:11to three popular Chinese dishes.
08:13The first is a healthy twist on fried rice
08:15without the fryer.
08:17Sounds unwalkable.
08:19I want to cook the rice in the oven
08:21because as much as fried rice is fantastic
08:23it's really quite bad.
08:25He chops garlic shoots, spring onions
08:27watercress, bok choy
08:29and Chinese lettuce
08:31and whips up an interesting ground Sichuan pepper mix
08:33then stir fries.
08:35I love to still have a crunch in my greens.
08:37You've got to have a crunch.
08:39Roasted tofu marinated in soy sauce
08:41goes into the cooked rice dish and it's done.
08:43A little bit of the tofu.
08:45A little bit of the veggies.
08:47Here you go, sir.
08:49That's my take on fried rice.
08:51Tell you, I can't eat that fast with chopsticks.
08:53How much is it?
08:55How much would you pay for a bigger portion?
08:57Like a good bowl?
08:59$7.
09:01$7? For all that goodness?
09:03I would pay at least $30 for that.
09:07Do you think Chinese people would buy that?
09:09Too many vegetables?
09:11Yeah.
09:13Too healthy?
09:15No meat?
09:19For Michael's second dish
09:21he wants to try and make a noodle dish
09:23using a most versatile deep sea friend.
09:25I love squid.
09:27Particularly when you can get a whole squid.
09:29After cleaning and deboning the squid
09:31he makes 45 degree cuts to tenderise it.
09:33You have to open up
09:35the inside of the tube
09:37so that the heat can penetrate much faster.
09:39If you don't cut it, you just drop it into
09:41say a fryer or a hot wok
09:43it'll curl up and it'll just go tough.
09:45Squid picks up any flavours really quickly.
09:47So what I'm going to do
09:49is I want to marinate it in some
09:51yellow miso.
09:53I've never had it in my entire life.
09:55This will be the first.
09:57Hopefully they're going to eat it and go, wow, that's great!
09:59Then he whips up a fruity
10:01That's a great cucumber.
10:03tangy, zesty mix of cucumber, garlic shoots,
10:05chilli, red onion and carrot.
10:07We're packing loads of vegetables into these noodles.
10:09And a vinaigrette of mandarins,
10:11honey, rice vinegar,
10:13soy sauce and Shaoxing sauce.
10:17That's actually really good.
10:19Drop a squid in.
10:21Super hot.
10:23After wok frying the squid, he gives the noodles a fry,
10:25mixes them with veggies and vinaigrette,
10:27adds the cooked squid
10:29That does look fantastic.
10:31and serves.
10:33Miso roasted squid
10:35with mandarin noodles.
10:41OK, you're not full of compliments yet.
10:43You're starting to worry me a little bit.
10:45You're tasting the mandarin,
10:47a little bit of sesame seed.
10:49You like the squid?
10:51It's good?
10:55Would you buy this from me?
10:57Eight dollars?
11:01Today free, tomorrow eight dollars.
11:03Good? You buy it?
11:05Good. Do you think that's healthy?
11:07The idea of today
11:09is it's all about the feedback.
11:11And I just
11:13haven't had any yet.
11:15And that doesn't give me a lot of confidence.
11:17Michael's final excursion
11:19is his own version of the notorious
11:21yet delicious sweet and sour pork.
11:23Michael has decided to use chicken
11:25as his base meat, creating a simple
11:27marinade of ginger, honey
11:29and soy, putting it in the oven
11:31to bake for 20 minutes.
11:33We all love sweet and sour, but it is
11:35so bad because all it is
11:37is sugar and deep fried
11:39battered pork.
11:41Michael uses fresh tomatoes
11:43for a nutritious way to get that familiar red colour.
11:45Now we need our sour.
11:47Sour will come from vinegar.
11:49I'm going to use rice vinegar.
11:51Normal sweet and sour has a lot of sugar in it.
11:53So I'm going to substitute the sugar for honey.
11:55That is sweet and sour.
11:57After cooking the skewers,
11:59he slices the chicken, serves
12:01and then adds a special, crunchable
12:03magical ingredient.
12:05Sweet and sour pork, as we know it,
12:07has that crunchy batter around the outside.
12:09I've got some water crackers.
12:11This is my crunch.
12:13Sprinkle over the top.
12:15Do you want to try
12:17some of my sweet and sour chicken?
12:21You have to try the chicken underneath.
12:23Hot.
12:25Try the chicken.
12:27That was a pineapple.
12:29Good, huh?
12:31Good.
12:33Is there anything you don't like about that?
12:35I like to do that.
12:37I'm running out of words to say.
12:39How much would you pay for that?
12:41$10? $5?
12:43Pleasure.
12:49I don't think I got much out of today.
12:51I thought I put up some great dishes,
12:53but they didn't really give me
12:55any good feedback.
12:57Whether they were being polite or
12:59whether it was the language barrier.
13:01Really, I feel like I'm in the same place
13:03I was when I first started here this morning.
13:05I did get one or two things out of it.
13:07The sweet and sour dishes,
13:09I think I can work with that.
13:11I definitely want to work a noodle dish,
13:13but man, I've still got so much
13:15I need to do.
13:17I'm going to sleep on it, and hopefully
13:19when I wake up tomorrow morning,
13:21I've got three dishes locked in that I can work with.
13:23Yet again,
13:25I am worried.
13:29Chef Michael van der Elzen
13:31has spent the last few days
13:33attempting to translate Chinese
13:35takeaway food to healthy food.
13:37In a couple of hours, Michael
13:39and assistant Maddie will sell the results
13:41to thousands of hungry festival goers
13:43at an Auckland Chinese New Year celebration.
13:45With time against him,
13:47Michael's hit the kitchen early
13:49to nut out his troublesome menu.
13:51This menu's just been driving me nuts,
13:53but I've finally come up with what I want to do.
13:55I've decided to go back to more
13:57of a classic sweet and sour,
13:59so I'm going to use pork instead of the chicken.
14:01I'm going to run with a cold noodle dish,
14:03run it with like a citrus dressing,
14:05maybe some beautiful barbecued squid in there,
14:07make it really flavoursome.
14:09For my third dish, I want to push the boat out.
14:11I want to do a European take
14:13on a Chinese dumpling.
14:15So I'm going to make tortellinis
14:17using an egg pastry,
14:19and I'm going to put chicken and tofu inside it.
14:21I'm going to put some pureed, miso-roasted eggplant
14:23onto the bottom.
14:25Oh, we love it.
14:27Put my tortellinis on top of that,
14:29and I'm going to mass fry some Asian green veggies.
14:31Lots of colour, lots of vibrance, really crisp.
14:33Some beautiful master stock over the top,
14:35and some crispy leeks just to finish it off
14:37and just give it a really good texture.
14:39It's going to be a sensational dish.
14:41I just hope they're going to go for it,
14:43because if they don't, I've got a truckload
14:45of tortellinis to make, and it'll all be wasted.
14:47So as per normal, I have overcommitted.
14:49Here we go, game day.
14:55I don't know what I'm getting myself into today.
14:57I don't know how many other food stores there's going to be.
14:59I don't know what they're selling.
15:01I don't even know where I'm going to be parking.
15:03All I know is there's going to be 20,000 people there.
15:05I've got a truckload of Chinese in the back
15:07that I've got to sell today.
15:09Here we are.
15:11Biggest day on the Chinese calendar.
15:13We're supposed to be surrounded by fantastic
15:15Asian fast food, and where are we?
15:17Right next to the kettle corn.
15:19Unbelievable.
15:21To get up to speed,
15:23the boys run through the food trucks
15:25to other menu items.
15:27One is sweet and sour pork skewers
15:29with smashed up rice crackers
15:31as a nod to the usual deep fried batter.
15:33The other is a ready-to-serve
15:35cold squid noodle dish
15:37with an Asian-inspired pesto
15:39as the garnish.
15:43Now he's committed,
15:45Michael's off to do some market research
15:47to help him with his price fixing.
15:49Six of those for $5?
15:51They look good.
15:53Crispy pork looks lovely.
15:55It's vegetarian crispy pork.
15:57Vegetarian? Approximately how many
15:59crispy pork did you sell?
16:01Let me think.
16:03Probably nearly 200.
16:05200?
16:07But Michael's excitement is short-lived
16:09when he discovers a great wall of China.
16:1150 stalls
16:13just around the corner.
16:15There's a lot of food places here,
16:17and that's where everyone's walking in,
16:19and they're all funneling down around the corner,
16:21and we're last in line.
16:23And there is a lot of
16:25very cheap food here,
16:27making me a little bit nervous
16:29about how much we can charge.
16:35Michael soon makes up his mind
16:37and decides to charge $4
16:39for two sweet and sour pork skewers,
16:41$6 for a heap of
16:43squid noodle salad,
16:45and $8 for a serving of chicken
16:47and tofu dumplings.
16:49What's the most expensive dish here?
16:51Will it sell? Let's find out.
16:57We're ready for the main attraction,
16:59which is the lunch rush.
17:01We're going to bring it on.
17:03Who's the customer?
17:05Sometimes.
17:07Hello, sir. Are you hungry?
17:09Later.
17:11Make sure you come back and see me.
17:13Hungry, sir?
17:15Pork?
17:17Squid?
17:21Hungry, ma'am?
17:23Can we entice you into anything?
17:25Hungry, sir?
17:27Sweet and sour pork.
17:29Sweet and sour pork.
17:31Sweet and sour pork.
17:33Sweet and sour pork.
17:35Hungry, sir?
17:37Sweet and sour pork.
17:39After a lack of rush from the lunch rush,
17:41Michael has his first customer.
17:51How's that? 30 seconds?
17:53Let us know what you think.
17:55I don't like food that's always just prepared
17:57out there just to show off.
17:59I like food that's been prepared by real chefs.
18:05I'm feeding so many pigs, but see?
18:07It's really good. It's really nice.
18:09It's really juicy.
18:11The squid noodle salad is a hit,
18:13but how will people feel about sweet and sour pork
18:15minus the deep fryer?
18:17Thank you. Pleasure.
18:21It's got popcorn on top of it.
18:23That is smashed rice because the batter
18:25around sweet and sour pork is a rice batter,
18:27so by putting the crackling rice
18:29on top, you're getting that crunch
18:31of the batter with zero fat.
18:35I'm healthier faster.
18:37Not you.
18:39Do you like that?
18:41Do you enjoy it?
18:43What do you think of that?
18:45It's different.
18:47After an hour, Michael's only made 11 sales,
18:49so much for a free trade agreement
18:51with China.
18:53I think there's three things against us.
18:55One is we're at the end of the line,
18:57and everyone that's coming down here,
18:59they've already got food in their hands,
19:01or they're full.
19:03There's two out there.
19:05Maybe I've gone too far outside Chinese cuisine.
19:07Three is price.
19:09I think for $8, we're aiming too high,
19:11and the meal doesn't look
19:13substantial enough for $8.
19:15So Michael turns the tables
19:17on China, slashing prices
19:19to sell more product.
19:21Man, if we can't sell them for that,
19:23I'll stop cooking.
19:25Hungry, ladies, gentlemen?
19:27Some noodles?
19:29Hungry?
19:31You want some of this?
19:33This is much better than that.
19:35That's sugar. There's no sugar.
19:37Sadly, the boys are failing to engage customers,
19:39and Michael's left begging.
19:41You got money?
19:43Here you go. Pork chopsticks.
19:45$4.00. $2.00.
19:47I'm not going to do this all day long.
19:49But he soon notices a classic sales technique
19:51being employed by his nearest competitor.
19:53The old popcorn guy next to us,
19:55he keeps on taking all our customers
19:57by giving them free popcorn.
19:59This is going to be my sales recipe.
20:01To the stars.
20:03You sure?
20:05I can't even give it away.
20:09It's very good.
20:11So it's the chicken and tofu dumpling.
20:13It's good.
20:15I love the sauce.
20:17For $6.00, you get three of those dumplings.
20:19It comes from that truck right there.
20:21So you can go and have a sweet and sour.
20:23$2.00. I would love to,
20:25but you know what? We're really full.
20:27While people loved the chicken and tofu dumplings,
20:29Michael hasn't sold a single poultry portion.
20:33I'm actually quite gutted, really.
20:35I really am.
20:37The promised lunch rush is over,
20:39and we haven't even sold one total any yet.
20:41I really thought
20:43that the product we had here
20:45would fly out the door.
20:47It's done the complete opposite.
20:49It's crawled.
20:51Come on, Matty.
20:53Let's make us feel better.
20:55It's gutting
20:57because the people
20:59who have brought food
21:01and tried the food have come back and gone,
21:03that's fantastic. I love that.
21:05I think we've cooked the best food
21:07up till date,
21:09and I think it's been a complete failure.
21:11Michael made Chinese food
21:13that was fast, affordable,
21:15tasty, and healthy.
21:17Only problem was,
21:19hardly anyone bought it.
21:21Drive away, with probably 70% of the food
21:23still in the back of the truck.
21:25It just shows how hard it is.
21:27You can't just come to any festival
21:29and expect to sell food.
21:35Here you go, sir.
21:37There's another set of chopsticks. Enjoy.
21:39Pleasure.
21:41Enjoy.
21:43Extra special one for you.
21:45Take care. Pleasure.
21:47There's 40 people pretty happy with what we've done.
21:49At least all the food has gone to a good cause.
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