- 1 year ago
The Food Truck NZ - S03E06 - Return To China
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00:00Chef Michael van der Elzen is taking to the streets of New Zealand for a tiki tour of
00:07taste buds.
00:08His goal, to transform some of the world's most popular fat-filled dishes into healthy
00:13gourmet truck food.
00:17This time on the food truck, it's the truck versus 1.3 billion people as Michael takes
00:26on Chinese food.
00:27If that's not enough flavour, then I'm doing something seriously wrong.
00:31But can he get the Chinese to take on him?
00:33I don't like this.
00:34No?
00:35No.
00:36Can I give you another one?
00:37No.
00:38Will Michael's new take on Chinese deliver the taste and value Kiwis of all kinds expect?
00:44Find out on the food truck.
00:52Chinese food is the world's most ubiquitous takeaways.
00:5630% of Kiwis eat Chinese regularly and thanks to our immigrants we enjoy a far greater variety
01:02than ever.
01:03It's fast, simple and tasty, but it's not as easy as it looks.
01:07Just ask Michael.
01:08The last time I did Chinese, it just didn't work.
01:13We turned up on the day and we sold nada.
01:16What do you think of that?
01:17It's different.
01:18It was a terrible, terrible day.
01:22I've never felt that low in my entire chefing career.
01:26Cheer up, Michael.
01:27An old Chinese proverb says, defeat isn't bitter if you don't swallow it, which probably
01:32sounds better in Mandarin.
01:33But that's it.
01:34Those days are over.
01:35I'm moving on.
01:36And this time I'm not going to fail.
01:41He may be confident, but Michael has only days to nail Chinese cuisine before he plans
01:46to test his efforts at one of the biggest Chinese cultural events in the Southern Hemisphere.
01:51No pressure then.
01:52The Lantern Festival is going to be a tough crowd.
01:54There couldn't be more Chinese.
01:55So if I don't get it right, there's going to be nowhere for this little chef to hide.
02:01Another old Chinese proverb says, before success comes research.
02:05So to get his head back in the game, Michael's sampling some of Auckland's finest Chinese.
02:09You've got a truckload of rice fried in too much oil.
02:13OK, so it's not all fine, but Barilla Dumplings holds promise.
02:17Sounds like Italian, tastes like Chinese.
02:20Hopefully.
02:21They're juicy little buggers.
02:22And there's 20 dumplings here for $10.
02:25But while it represents great value, there's not a lot of greenery going on.
02:29So you don't always get the veggies, and sometimes you don't really get the meat.
02:33Look at that.
02:35That's all the meat that's in there.
02:37Well, at least it's meat.
02:39I don't even know what meat it is.
02:40Pork, maybe?
02:41There's no shortage of meat at Shaolin Kung Fu Noodles.
02:45Are they handmade noodles?
02:47Yeah, yeah, yeah.
02:48Handmade.
02:49Could this be where the kung fu comes in?
02:51Or is it the kick of the chilli?
02:53That's hot, man.
02:54Fire up.
02:55A little bit of meat, a lot of noodles, and a couple of veggies, all in this spicy broth.
03:01I love the fact that they've made their own noodles, but is it something I can serve out
03:05of my food truck?
03:06Probably not.
03:07You know, I've munched my way through a lot of Chinese, and while some of them was quite
03:12good, my overwhelming impression was, my Chinese needs more veggies, but I want to use Chinese
03:18vegetables cooked in a Chinese way.
03:21That's what I need to find out.
03:26Like all good quests for knowledge, Michael's odyssey begins at the crack of dawn with a
03:31trip to Pukekohe, Auckland's veggie bowl, for a crash course in Chinese greens from
03:36a man who really knows his choy from his choysa.
03:39Good morning.
03:40Morning, Mike.
03:41How are you?
03:42Very well, very well.
03:43What a beautiful morning.
03:44Yes, it is.
03:45Great spring morning.
03:46I should get up early more often.
03:47Alan Fong operates a 300 hectare block established by his father in the 1940s.
03:52He supplies many of Auckland's Asian restaurants and supermarkets with his hand-picked produce.
03:57What have we got here?
03:58These are pak choys and flowering choy sums and some mustards and Chinese broccoli.
04:04During the Ming dynasty, imperial herbalists studied bok choy for its medicinal properties.
04:10It's rich in vitamins A and C. 1.3 billion Chinese, can't be wrong.
04:15People love bok choy.
04:17And you'd be absolutely right because that is the number one selling Asian veg in New
04:20Zealand.
04:21This is called Cantonese bok choy or baby white bok choy.
04:25Great for stir-frying.
04:26So that's bok choy, that's pak choy?
04:28Well, they're both pak choys, but one's a green stem and one's a white stem, OK?
04:34Pak or bok, the difference here is texture.
04:37Asians traditionally like to feel their food with their mouth, you know, so texture's really
04:42important.
04:43These are flowering choy sums, we call it, and choy is vegetable and sum means heart,
04:49so literally the centre stem is what we prize most, you know.
04:54So it's a great blanching vegetable.
04:56Blanch and serve.
04:57That's right, pretty much, and just a sauce on top.
04:58So this is actually real fast food.
05:00Yeah.
05:01Two minutes in a boiling water.
05:02Yes.
05:03Out onto a plate, drizzle soy or oyster, done.
05:06Absolutely.
05:07I've got to use this.
05:10Looks like Michael has discovered the original Chinese fast food, and he wants to make it
05:14even faster.
05:15So which one of these would you actually eat raw?
05:17I don't eat any of them raw.
05:18Don't you?
05:19You know Chinese cook everything, huh?
05:20Even our lettuce.
05:21Are you ready?
05:22I mean, I'm Kiwi, I still have salads, but I'm talking about traditionally Chinese just
05:27cook everything.
05:28Now if I was to create a vegetable dish with a combination of Asian vegetables, would that
05:34be something that you would buy out of the back of the food truck?
05:37Traditionally, we're actually one vegetable, one meat.
05:40So we very rarely do a medley like most Kiwis do, in fact, in their stir-fries.
05:46After pilfering Alan's plot...
05:47I can use those.
05:48Those are beautiful.
05:49Michael takes away a clutch of freshly picked greens to kick-start his assault on the Chinese
05:54vegetable.
05:55Thank you for the product.
05:56Yeah, any time.
05:57I'll make sure I put it to good use.
05:58Okay.
05:59If he can just work out what to do with them.
06:01I came out here today because I wanted to get a whole variety of vegetables and put
06:05them all into one dish, but unfortunately Alan's telling me that I've got to use one.
06:10That's really throwing me.
06:18Chef Michael van der Elzen is taking on the world's most popular food.
06:22Look at that.
06:24That's all the meat that's in there.
06:26In just a few days, he hopes to atone for previous failures by taking his Chinese to
06:31the Chinese at the Auckland Lantern Festival, New Zealand's biggest Chinese New Year celebration.
06:38But first, Michael needs a dummy run, so he's taking the food truck to Auckland's Chinatown,
06:43which is not really a town, but a road.
06:45Today I want to use some of Alan's beautiful vegetables.
06:48He's given me a whole basket of these great greens, so I just want to put a little spin
06:53on them and just serve them as simply as I can.
06:56Dominion Road is crawling with Chinese food lovers of every stripe.
07:00He is hoping they like vegetables.
07:02So I want to try and make my own gluten-free handmade dumplings.
07:06These could be steamed like your traditional dumpling, but I could also fry them and turn
07:09them into a wonton.
07:10So, universal.
07:11Won-dings.
07:12Dump-dings.
07:13Surely it's either a won-ling or a dump-ton.
07:17Won-lings.
07:18Let's go with won-ling.
07:19Won-lings.
07:20Michael's wonton dumpling, or won-ling mix, begins with rice flour and tapioca flour.
07:25I took this recipe from the internet, because it looked quite good, actually, in the photos.
07:30Internet?
07:31Hope you remembered to clear history.
07:32I haven't even added all the water, and it's like, right into it, it just snaps instantly.
07:38That'll teach him for trawling the internet.
07:40Michael abandons his attempt at homemade dough and moves on to his first filling.
07:44Okay, so I just want to steam the bok choy really quickly.
07:47While that's steaming, I'll make the rest of the filling.
07:49So I've got a little bit of lean pork mince.
07:51To this, I want to add a little bit of mandarin.
07:53Mandarin.
07:54Chinese.
07:55Mandarin.
07:56Chinese.
07:57Language.
07:58Mandarin.
07:59Any more of this, and we could lose our free trade deal with China.
08:01To this, a touch of tamari soy sauce, and a touch of sesame seed oil.
08:05Two minutes for the bok choy.
08:06Plugs in some ice cold water, because I want that to stop cooking almost instantly.
08:10Yeah, so let that chill out in there for a little while.
08:13Chill out.
08:14Get it?
08:15Ah!
08:16Ah!
08:17Goes into our blender with our pork and our mandarin.
08:21And that is all I'm adding to that.
08:23Smells glorious.
08:25For his next dumpling, Mike takes a moment to shave an enormous turnip.
08:29And just cook those until they're about halfway cooked.
08:32Okay, so I'm just going to add a little bit of soy to my turnip, and a little bit of fresh
08:36ginger.
08:37The pak choy is combined with the sautéed turnip in the blender.
08:42And that's it there.
08:43Ready to go.
08:44For my pak choy, follow the same principle.
08:47Firm tofu, some fresh garlic, some Sichuan pepper.
08:51Not only does it give you just a little bit of spice, it actually numbs your mouth.
08:56This is the first time Michael has used it.
08:58Let's just keep it simple.
09:00After the failure of Michael's dodgy internet recipe, he's decided to use shop-bought dumpling
09:05pastry.
09:06So you kind of want to pleat your dumpling all the way around.
09:10And I think I've arrived at dumpling central.
09:13Michael's next dish is simpler and more traditional.
09:16Choy sum with oyster sauce has to be one of the most popular combos.
09:20But I want to try and serve my choy sum in a way that you can walk around eating it.
09:23Kind of like potato chips and tomato sauce.
09:25Choy sum, oyster sauce.
09:27And unlike the oyster sauce we know and love, Michael's oyster sauce will actually contain
09:32oysters.
09:33The oyster sauces that you buy in the supermarkets, it's just oyster extract.
09:37It's just oyster flavouring.
09:39So why can't we make a true oyster sauce using fresh New Zealand oysters?
09:45To this, when I blend it, I'm going to add one tablespoon of tamari soy sauce and a quarter
09:49of a teaspoon of dark soy.
09:51That's going to give me my rich colour.
09:53It's creamy and it's got that natural salt to it.
09:56So it's all natural.
09:57It's great.
09:58Time to see if the ordinary man or woman in the street agrees.
10:03Hello, how are you?
10:04Hi, yes, I'm fine, thank you.
10:05Do you like choy sum?
10:06I think so.
10:07You think so?
10:08You've never tried it?
10:09I think so.
10:10OK, I'll give you some.
10:11Yeah, I'm Japanese.
10:12That doesn't really matter.
10:13The Japanese are great rivals of the Chinese, so if Michael can get this woman to like his
10:20choy sum, it must be good.
10:22So this is my choy sum.
10:23So you take this and you dip it into this sauce.
10:27That's a kind of a sauce.
10:30Can you tell me?
10:31Ah, oyster.
10:32Oyster?
10:33Oyster sauce.
10:34Do you like it?
10:35Yeah, nice.
10:36Ah, nice.
10:37Mmm.
10:38So that's my oyster sauce that I made.
10:39Mmm.
10:40That's the oyster sauce that you buy?
10:41Ah.
10:42Which one do you like better?
10:43In the shop.
10:44Mmm, of course this one.
10:45You like that one better?
10:46Yeah, this one's nice.
10:47Good.
10:48I like this one.
10:49What, what do you like about it?
10:50Not too sweet, not too salty.
10:51OK.
10:52The choy sum with real oyster sauce is a real hit, but what about the dumplings?
10:57I have a dumpling for you to try.
10:59Yeah!
11:00Do you like dumplings?
11:01Yes.
11:02I really like dumplings.
11:03I think it's good.
11:04And I have a dumpling for you to try.
11:06Yeah!
11:07Do you like dumplings?
11:08Yeah, I love dumplings.
11:09Okay, so this is my little...
11:10Mmm, nice.
11:11Yeah, healthy.
11:12Mmm.
11:13Mmm.
11:14Mmm.
11:15Good?
11:16Mmm.
11:17Mmm.
11:18That may be Japanese with your mouth full, for good.
11:23Mmm.
11:24Very nice.
11:25Michael's dinkier dumplings win the hearts and taste buds of an impressive cross-section
11:29of people.
11:30I really like this one.
11:31It looks really healthy and it tastes really healthy.
11:33Good.
11:34They're nice.
11:35They're really good.
11:36But that was the easy battle.
11:39What about those more familiar with Chinese food?
11:41I think inside I have the ginger?
11:45Yes.
11:46Uh, celery.
11:47Almost.
11:48Pak choy.
11:49Pak choy.
11:50Pak choy.
11:51Oh.
11:52So this is pak choy and turnip.
11:53Oh.
11:54The flavour, this is not Chinese.
11:55No?
11:56No Chinese flavour.
12:01Would you buy those?
12:02I think I don't buy this one.
12:03No?
12:04I think Chinese people don't like this.
12:05Why?
12:06Because it's too different?
12:07Yeah, too different.
12:08Oh, come on.
12:09How bad can it be?
12:10What about this guy?
12:11I don't like this.
12:12No?
12:13No.
12:14Very good.
12:15OK.
12:16That's right.
12:17Can I give you another one?
12:18No.
12:19No, you don't want another one?
12:20Yeah.
12:21OK.
12:22No problem.
12:25OK.
12:26Oh, dear.
12:27Now we can't even give them away.
12:28Oh, God, that's kicking the guts, isn't it?
12:29China won.
12:31You're the Kung Fu Panda chef?
12:32Yeah.
12:33He means to say Kung Fu noodles.
12:35Michael's a big fan of this man's noodles.
12:37I love the fact that the man's own noodles.
12:39But will this expert appreciate Michael's dumplings?
12:46It seems the subtleties of Michael's food may be lost in translation.
12:52No, not salty.
12:53But the criticism isn't.
12:58Too much?
12:59Too much.
13:00Too much Sichuan pepper?
13:01Yeah.
13:02Is your tongue numb?
13:03Yeah.
13:04It's weakening.
13:07Not enough salt, too much pepper.
13:09So close, yet so far.
13:12Plenty of people seem to like what I'm doing.
13:14Yet I can't seem to satisfy my Chinese customers.
13:18Problem is, at a lander festival, most of my customers are going to be Chinese.
13:23I've still got so much to do.
13:30Chef Michael van der Elzen is about to confront his bogey cuisine.
13:34I think I've arrived at Dumpling Central.
13:37Last time he tried Chinese, he lost a lot of face.
13:40This time, he's desperate to please his Chinese customers,
13:43so he's applied for a coveted spot at Auckland's Lantern Festival.
13:46Would you buy those?
13:48I don't buy this one.
13:50No?
13:51Now he's gone back to the drawing board with his dumplings.
13:54I want to refine my dumplings.
13:56I want to refine my dumplings.
13:58The feedback I got yesterday, they were a little bit too dry.
14:00There wasn't enough fillings in them.
14:01They weren't plump enough.
14:02So I'm going to add more ingredients to get more flavour.
14:06Michael is staying with his bok choy and turnips,
14:08but adding a medley of Asian mushrooms with garlic.
14:11Got a little shiitake mushroom, got an oyster mushroom,
14:14a little gold needle mushroom.
14:16And then to that, I'm just going to saute the whole lot
14:18and pack a lot more veggies into my dumplings.
14:22To accompany his dumplings,
14:24Michael is forgoing salty sauces in favour of a mellow dressing.
14:29So I'm going to make a black vinegar dressing.
14:32Black vinegar is combined with lemon juice, fresh chilli,
14:35sesame seed oil and something new.
14:38So for the first time, I'm going to use something called maltose,
14:40which is a natural sweetener, kind of like honey or maple syrup.
14:43And that's it. Ready to go.
14:45It's a lovely, if simple, dressing,
14:47but it needs something to dress, like a salad.
14:49Why get a big bowl of steaming dumplings
14:52and not get a little salad on the side?
14:54Michael is taking a familiar Asian fruit...
14:56I've chosen the nasi pear.
14:58..and adding a touch of the Middle East.
15:00So I've chosen a Lebanese cucumber
15:02because it's going to give you that texture, that crunch.
15:04The nasi pear is diced and the cucumber sliced lengthwise.
15:07What that does is gives you big, long ribbons.
15:10The pear and cucumber is simply combined on top of Michael's dumplings
15:14and drizzled with his black vinegar dressing.
15:16If that's not enough flavour,
15:18then I'm doing something seriously wrong that I don't know.
15:21God forbid.
15:23Michael's salad ambitions do not end with his fruity garnish.
15:26I want to do a raw food salad, but put an Asian spin on to it.
15:29The dressing comprises mandarin juice,
15:32squeezed ginger, tamari soy sauce and maltose.
15:35Really light, a little bit fruity,
15:37but just, you know, refreshing with that mandarin juice.
15:40The salad consists of Chinese broccoli,
15:42one-bopped lettuce, tofu noodles,
15:44chive flowers...
15:46Quite beautiful.
15:48..carrot, tamari, roasted almonds, toasted sesame seeds...
15:51Very Chinese.
15:53..and beetroot, which is not very Chinese.
15:55I think this will sell at the Lantern Festival.
15:57But will the Chinese think it's Mei Li?
16:00That's Chinese for beautiful.
16:03The Lantern Festival is one of the biggest events
16:06on Auckland's summer calendar.
16:08A carnival of light, an orgy of culture,
16:10a celebration of new beginnings
16:12and the dragon gives way to the year of the snake.
16:15The stage is set for Michael to finally redeem himself
16:18with the triumphant launch of Food Truck Chinese version 2.0.
16:23I am thirst.
16:25The only problem is I'm also a day early
16:27and the festival doesn't open until tomorrow.
16:30Tomorrow? The festival starts tomorrow?
16:33But Michael's already here.
16:35Michael, please explain.
16:37They went, no, you haven't applied.
16:39There's enough vendors, there's no room for the food truck.
16:42That's because a certain somebody
16:44didn't get his application in to the festival organisers on time.
16:48The thing is, the Lantern Festival is open to the public tonight,
16:51but there's no other food vendors.
16:53So it's just me and the lanterns.
16:55Sounds romantic but also very lonely.
16:58I'm either going to get really busy
17:00because I am the only food vendor here
17:02or I'm going to be really quiet
17:04because there's not going to be any people here.
17:07To improve his chances, Michael has kept his prices very reasonable.
17:11$6. So everything across the board is $6.
17:146, 6, 6.
17:16Hopefully that doesn't bring me any bad luck, actually.
17:20Yes, Michael's going to need all the luck he can get.
17:23That's why he's bought the requisite lucky cat.
17:26This is weird. There's an odd feeling.
17:28And as far as game days go,
17:30where I'm just so used to opening up to massive crowds,
17:33I've got a few people hanging around.
17:35Three days. I haven't opened yet. We'll see.
17:37But the year of the snake is immediately bringing good fortune.
17:40Well, good customer.
17:42Well, two customers. Oh, and they're Chinese.
17:44Can I please get the vegetarian dumplings?
17:46No problems. Great! That's perfect.
17:49It's only the first order, but it's very exciting.
17:51And I'm happy, I must say, to have some orders full stop.
17:54Raw salad.
17:56Here's your dumplings. Thank you.
17:58They look very traditional.
18:00Great. That's a pretty good start.
18:02But does it taste traditional?
18:04Probably it tastes really nice,
18:06cos I've never had vegetarian dumplings before.
18:08I haven't actually tasted anything like it,
18:10yet being Chinese my whole life.
18:12No problem.
18:14Vegetarian dumplings, please.
18:16No problems.
18:18And vegetarian dumplings.
18:20Dumplings, please. No problems.
18:22Apparently, the year of the snake is the year of no problems for Michael.
18:25But how's it going for his customers?
18:27I've got some braunchy things, which I don't know what they're called.
18:31I think they're called chop suey or something.
18:33It's really sensational.
18:35Almost like fish and chips, maybe.
18:37Is that my cat? Lovely, yeah.
18:39We've got one similar, actually.
18:41Is that Chinese or Japanese?
18:43Where's that one from? Brunei.
18:45Yeah, we got ours from Brunei.
18:47That's from Mercury Plaza down the road.
18:49Here you go, to enjoy.
18:51The lucky cat's blessings appear to have brought on business.
18:53No problems.
18:55And despite the small crowds, Michael is actually having to work fast.
18:57Well, the dumplings are going extremely well,
18:59so much so I can't actually cook them fast enough.
19:01It's pretty traditional apart from the fact there's no meat in it,
19:03but I guess for a vegetarian dumpling, it's pretty nice.
19:06It's not as salty as the other dumplings that I've tried before.
19:10It's not greasy like you would normally get in a New Zealand Chinese takeaway.
19:13Is it yummy, Sebastian? Yes.
19:15Yes, very yummy.
19:17Everybody seems to like Michael's food, even if they don't know what it is.
19:20What is this?
19:22Nasi.
19:24The salad, on the other hand, is struggling to make its presence felt.
19:28I'll go with the raw salad, because that's awesome.
19:31I'll go with the dumplings.
19:33The one that I didn't want to sell.
19:35After an initial burst, Michael's customers disappear into the evening.
19:39Where did everyone go?
19:41It's a ghost town.
19:43I just hope it gets dark really quickly.
19:45People want to see the lantern festivals at night time, don't they?
19:48A lantern during the day is a lantern,
19:50a lantern at night time is something magical,
19:53much like this food truck.
19:55Hi.
19:57Want some dumplings?
20:00There's a few more bites.
20:02Hi. Hungry?
20:03But they're not actually interested in Chinese food.
20:05Hello, sir. Some Chinese?
20:07That's a nice truck.
20:09Thank you. Not selling the truck. Selling Chinese.
20:11A little snack.
20:13She thinks that you sell ice cream.
20:15No, ice cream. Sorry, sweets.
20:17Hi. Hungry? Chinese?
20:19Michael is pinning his hopes on nightfall
20:21to bring out the lantern lovers and, hopefully, their appetites.
20:26So now it is officially dark.
20:28The sun has gone down.
20:30And it's amazing because we're actually starting to get a little crowd again.
20:33Don't be shy. Come into my light.
20:35Can we get two lobster dumplings?
20:37No problems.
20:39Cheers, mate. Perfect. Enjoy those, mate.
20:41It's quite novel to have a dip with just a vegetable like that. It's good.
20:44It's come past and heading to KFC.
20:46We'll stop in and have a car with us.
20:48This is really, really nice.
20:50It's a good change from what I normally eat as a student.
20:54As the lanterns begin to light up Albert Park,
20:57Michael's own little lantern festival draws to a polite, almost sombre close.
21:02You know, what I actually enjoyed tonight, I did.
21:05It was almost like it was an entree
21:08and the main course was tomorrow night
21:10when I'm actually inside the festival
21:12serving with all the other food vendors,
21:15which is not going to happen.
21:17Entree or not, this time Michael's sold out.
21:20And in the year of the snake,
21:22he's finally got his Chinese monkey off his back.
21:25And while I feel quite disappointed
21:27that I missed out on the opportunity
21:29to go up against the other food vendors,
21:31it was actually a really nice night
21:33and I was super proud of the food.
21:35I think it was good. I think it was healthy.
21:37It was using the best produce I could get
21:39and it was pretty damn good.
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