Funding for Lucky Chow has been provided by... (electronic music) (upbeat music) - The mandarins are really grea.

- Being an avid traveler, I've know for a long time that it really is small world after all.

Globalism and technology are making us ever more connected and our cultures more intertwin.

In the world of food, American chains have gone global, and Asian chains are finding their place in the United States.

Everyone is finding inspiration everywhere, and trends are born out of traditions.

From dumplings to desserts, maybe authenticity isn't so important after all.

(exciting music) The soup dumpling was created right here in Shanghai.

(speaks in foreign language), which translates to little buns in a basket, has been around for generations.

Jamie from UnTour Food Tours, spends her days and nights scouring China's hidden food scene.

Today she's taking me to get the best (speaks foreign language) Shanghai has to offer and to teach me a thing or two about its history between bites of delicious, soupy dumplings.

- (speaks in foreign language).

- (speaks in foreign language).

- (speaks in foreign language).

- What should we order?

- Alright so I think we should , they have a mixed steamer basket that has three different types.

And then it's hairy crab season, so we have to get the hairy cra.

- [Danielle] Oh yeah for sure.

- So right over here is where they make everything fresh.

So you can see they're rolling out the dough, they're making the wrappers, and then they have the different fillings here.

- [Danielle] How do you get the soup into the dumpling?

- So it's about gelatin.

So they take pork skin and pork bones, and they cook them in a low simmer in a broth.

It's like when you make chicken broth with chicken fat and chicken bones and you put it in your fridge, comes out with that thick layer of gelatin on top.

- It's like the collagen.

Yup exactly.

- Okay.

- So that's what this is, and then they mince that up with the pork.

When they steam it, it melts and it becomes a liquid.

So there's no syringes, no ice cubes, it's all about gelatin.

(upbeat pop music) - How do you think that the soup dumpling became so much a part of global pop culture?

- When people eat them they're memorable, they have the interesting texture of biting into them and slurping out this hot liquid and then having a dumpling after that.

The fact they're different from most things that people have tried before, makes them memorable and then also they're pretty Instagrammable.

Wow, (speaks in foreign languag.

- Wow how intricate this is.

- Yeah.

The ones that have a lot of yellow in them are the (speaks in foreign language), so those are the crab roe with pork.

Over here you have the (speaks in foreign language), which is the salted duck egg yo, and the four that you don't really see much color coming out of, that's the plain pork.

(thrilling music) - So you're supposed to eat these as soon as they come out right?

- Right yes.

- Okay.

- So spoons.

- So let's get to slurping.

(slurping loudly) I did the slurp.

I have to say this is really not first date food.

- No, you do not wanna wear a white shirt when you're eating (speaks foreign language).

Here we go, pure crab.

So these don't hold their shape.

- These are huge!

- Yeah.

- There's so much lore behind a simple dumpling.

- There's so much lore behind all Chinese.

- What is the history of the soup dumpling?

- (speaks foreign language) were invented in the late 1800s in a suburb of Shanghai called Nanxiang.

The original restaurant is still there.

So you can go up to Guyi Garden and it's right next door.

There is some legend that it was actually invented before by Nanjing or Suzhou, but they don't call those (speaks foreign language), those are (speaks foreign langu.

But now that the roads are all so close and the train gets you there so fast, they've all kind of sort of became the same dish.

- But it's really a Shanghainese food right?

A lot of people think of it as Taiwanese because of Din Tai Fung.

- Yeah and you do not want to tl a Shanghainese person that.

That will not go down well.

(upbeat pop music) - Well you've been here for 10 years, you lead culinary tours.

Do you find that more and more people are asking you about (speaks foreign language)?

- In Shanghai, everyone definitely wants to try (speaks foreign language.

Everyone wants to know how they get the soup inside.

The nifty trick.

I think that's also what makes it popular, is just the physics of it.

How does it work?

It's number one on everyone's list.

- (speaks foreign language) is really the food that my grandmother's grandmother grew up eating.

But do you see it becoming more and more popular amongst pop culture?

- I think so.

I mean I think tastes across the world are diversifying and people want more Asian cuisine and want to sample authentic Asian cuisine, and (speaks foreign language) is definitely that.

- I think we should finish eating this before it gets cold.

Thank you so much for this tour.

- Any excuse to eat (speaks foreign language) (laughs).

- [Danielle] (speaks foreign language) came to the US as soup dumplings, and the arrival of the Din Tai Fung franchise in America in 2000 has made them even more ubiquitous.

Culinary exchange goes both ways though.

When Turner Sparks moved to China as a 22 year old, the last thing on his mind was starting a Mister Softee conglomerate so successful, that the Chinese government would take it for itself.

He and Michael Kaplan of the Lost In America podcast, are meeting up with me to talk ice cream, China, and culture shock.

How did you get to China driving a Mister Softee truck?

- I did not.

- His dream growing up.

There's a whole ocean between here and there, so I did not drive.

No, no, I went there to teach english, while I was there, my roommate from college, his grandfather started, Mister Softee in the 1950's.

So we had the idea to open it there.

(quirky music) And like many American kids, I grew up knowing about the ice cream truck.

I had Mister Softee for 10 years in Suzhou, and a little bit in Shanghai in China.

I was also doing comedy at the time, and that was going a lot better.

And so I decided I wanted to do that full time.

To be a real American, we had to have a podcast.

- He called me up and said he needed help reacclimating to America and I've been here the whole time.

So he thought I was the perfect guy for the job.

- It's like coming out of prison and you don't know what Twitter is.

- Yeah or anything.

- That's my number one fear about going to prison.

- It's Twitter.

Kaplan was supposed to be, yeah, he was supposed to be my guide to America.

It turns out he's more lost than I am.

- Little did he know that I don't know what the hell, I'm lost in probably every country I live in.

But especially America.

- So Kaplan and I started the Lost In America podcast about coming back to America after being gone for 12 years, and not understanding my own country.

(rock music) - When I was growing up as a youngster of Asia, everyday there would be a similar version of a Mister Softee truck.

Ding, ding, ding but, they were serving tofu.

I'd run out but I just can't imagine having Mister Softee.

- Kids would run out and chase the truck of tofu?

- Yes, yes but it's all soybean.

Because most Chinese didn't really grow up with milk-based desserts.

- Yeah it's funny you mention that, 'cause old Chinese people would always ask me (speaks foreign language) ding dong, ding dong (foreign language)?

(Danielle laughs) Like where is the ding dong, ding dong truck?

They would always call it ding dong, ding dong, but I never knew why.

- Can we check it out?

- Let's check it out.

(bluesy music) - How does it feel to be back on a Mister Softee truck?

- It feels awesome.

- What are we gonna be making today?

Okay, so, today we are going to be making the flavors that we used to have on our trucks in China.

We're gonna start with a Green Tea Blast.

Kaplan, honest opinion.

- Good.

- Hey, hey, hey.

We're gonna make a Red Bean and Rice Cake.

We'll see if we have a Kiwi Sundae we can make, we have a ton of stuff.

- Have these flavors ever been in the US before?

- Absolutely not.

- [Danielle] Let's try to give these away, and see what New Yorkers think.

- Okay sounds good.

Should we put Mister Softee shirts on?

- Yes, let's do it.

- Sketchy uniform.

(punk rock music) - Mister Softee.

- Mister Softee.

Do you guys wanna try Chinese flavors, of Mister Softee ice cream?

- [Danielle] Wanna try?

- This is green tea with red bean on top.

- This is very good.

- Thank you.

- They actually tasted very goo.

- In China we focus on the after taste, not the taste.

- In America it's the free tast.

- [Turner] Yeah, it's very different.

- Would you like to try some Mister Softee's?

- Would you guys like some Chinese Mister Softee ice cream?

- No, alright.

- Would you like to try some Mister Softee's?

Gave them my nicest smile and everything.

(loud laughing) - Kaplan looks like he's got a scheme going.

My typical employee's would be working, a little faster than you two, I'm just gonna say that.

Danielle your shirt's on backwards.

- Didn't you have an employee that once stole your truck?

- I did so.

- I haven't done, I haven't driven off yet.

- Exactly, you're better than our worst possible employee of all time.

- Set the bar low.

(pop music) - Try it and let us know what you think.

It's a flavor from China.

- That's really good, that's better than what you get here.

- Oh yeah, not your average Mister Softee, huh.

- Definitely.

- This is the green tea and red beans.

- [Danielle] Do you usually have beans with your ice cream?

- No.

- No?

- How successful was the truck in China?

- It was way too successful.

We got so popular that the local Chinese government copied our business then took our permits away and now they do it.

- Are you serious, did you sue them?

- No, you can't sue them.

Mister Softee China products, get some ice cream.

red bean and rice cake ice crea.

- I love rice cake.

(group laughs loudly) - Okay, it's red bean.

- Bean?

- Red bean, yeah, it's our favorite topping of Asian desserts.

- Beans?

- Yeah, it's good for you.

- It's sweet.

- Sweet red beans.

- [Turner] I was in the truck, did people like it?

- People loved it but it was really hard, to get people to try something for free.

They're are like, what's wrong with you?

You're giving me free ice cream from China?

- See, so in China it would be the opposite.

If you said free ice cream, you'd have a line of a hundred people immediately.

- Especially if you said from America, right.

- Yes.

So that's it, that's our podcas.

What we just said that's it.

- [Men] I think this is a billion dollar idea.

- We should get on this immediately.

- Mister Softee China in New York.

- So what would they say at Chi?

- (speaks foreign language) I don't know.

- (speaks foreign language) (laughs).

Alright.

- (speaks foreign language) to the billion dollar idea, Mister Softee in America.

- You might have to wait to see Chinese Mister Softee on the streets of New York.

But Asian desserts have taken off all over America.

Pichet Ong made his name in the dessert game working with Jean-Georges Vongerichten at restaurants like Spice Market and he's famos for incorporating Asian ingredients into his exquisite and innovative pastries.

Today, Pichet and I are going on a Pan Asian dessert adventure right here in New York City.

Our first stop, Bing Box, Scotland's innovative take on Korean (speaks foreign language).

- Here's the matcha, enjoy.

- Matcha and red bean, waffle.

When I was in Korea, I saw variations of shaved ice like this, just literally everywhere.

(pop music) Everybody's Instagramming this.

We have to take a picture before we eat it.

- Which we forgot to do.

(Danielle laughs) And you know social media has really contributed in the success of Asian desserts traveling worldwide, in general.

(pop music) - I mean, you're the dessert maestro.

What gives you inspiration for Asian desserts?

- I was born in Thailand and I grew up in Singapore and I grew up eating dessert at any time.

And in a way Thailand, this would be seen as a beverage of sorts.

- Really?

- It's not necessarily a dessert because it's palate-cleansing.

(pop music) - [Danielle] What inspired you to bring this concept to New York?

- My business partner and I actually were in Korea for a business trip and we had the traditional Korean (speaks foreign language).

But the offering is more milk based.

Doesn't really have lots, a lot of flavors so we started thinking, can we bring the whole entire concept into the US, infuse the flavor into the snow itself.

People come in here and they pay so much time and character to taking care of the pictures, that we had to make sure that every box that we present, there's an entertainment factor involved.

- While Bing Box improved upon a classic dessert, our next stop is keeping an old Taiwanese tradition alive.

A treat that I grew up eating on the streets of Taipei.

I feel like I just walked into a Taiwan dessert shop.

This shaved ice is bigger than my head, I think.

But it's really just ice with condensed milk, sugar, and it does have quite extravagant toppings on it.

- [Pichet] But this is a really good way to experience things that we miss about Asia.

- But I just can't believe that this type of dessert would thrive in New York because what is this?

Kidney beans?

Taro and a taro-like (speaks foreign language).

- I mean for sure it's all about textures and you have the soft tofu.

- And then here's grass jelly which is like really herbally taste like medicine?

The flavors, the texture, none of this is cured for an American palate.

When I was growing up in Taiwan, there would be like this rickshw that would come everyday.

And I knew that was time for me to get my (speaks foreign language), or my grass jelly or my (speaks foreign language), which is this tofu, freshly made tofu curd milk.

- And this is the kind of thing I grew up eating for breakfast with some (speaks foreign language).

I think that's what we grow up with.

- So are you gonna be incorporating, you think, these types of ingredients in your desserts moving forward?

- I love the dumplings.

I love these different flavored dumplings.

They're colorful and they taste great.

(pop music) - [Danielle] Growing up in New York's Chinatown, Eddie Zheng made a career for himself in fine dining and dreamed of opening his own restaurant.

His plans shifted when he was traveling in Japan with his wife and he was inspird by the (speaks foreign language) shops there.

Not only did he and his wife decide to open their own shops, serving the delicious shaved ice desserts here in New York, but they did it right down the street from where Eddie grew up.

- Hi.

- Hey guys.

- Hi.

- Oh wow.

- So this is the (speaks foreign language) with some whipped cream and lime zest and this is the strawberry with condensed milk and some roasted strawberries.

- This looks so beautiful, doesn't even look real.

- The idea of the dessert looking almost like a toy or jewelry, like they're works of art.

- This is incredible.

I mean we're kind of on a shaved ice quest.

We've been to Korean shaved ice, Taiwanese shaved ice but this just seems like the original version.

- The (speaks foreign language) from Japan they're really take pride in the water.

A lot of taste is harvest actually natural - [Men] spring water.

- From the mountain.

- That is absolutely true.

- And over here I can see that you use filtered.

- [Eddie] Yeah, we used filtered water.

- [Pichat] New York's finest.

- [Danielle] How can you tell?

- I can tell, I have good talen.

(Danielle laughs) (pop music) - [Danielle] Well, this place definitely feels like walking into Japan.

Now you just feel the minimalism and the refinement, attention to detail, seasonality of the food.

- I also love how the menu has a very selective offering.

So everyone is a winner.

You can never go wrong.

- Yeah, I mean that, yeah.

- Which is I think a very Japanese concept.

- Yeah, we try to keep it as minimal and do everything to the best of its ability.

- Well, I think it's so great we've met a lot of young entrepreneurs that are bringing their own spin and localizing Chinatown in a way through food.

So thank you for sharing this with us.

- Thank you very much, yeah.

- Thank you.

Thank you guys for coming.

- I really enjoyed this.

- After all those Asian-inspired desserts, I'm heading across the East River to see how a Brooklyn brew master is using Asian flavors to spice up one of America's favorite refreshments, craft beer.

Garrett Oliver travels the world, looking for inspiration and interesting ingredients and he's taking us inside Brooklyn Brewery to show us how he puts them to use.

Wow, so here we are at the iconic Brooklyn Brewery.

I'm so impressed because you really started brewing here before Brooklyn became Brooklyn.

- We are the OGs of the area.

I mean, we kind of got Williamsg jump started and helped to make it into a community so that's pretty cool.

This actually used to be one of the great brewing centers of the world, then if you actually, if you look at these bottles here (speaks foreign language).

Back in the old days, 100 years ago, this area would've been completely German-speaking.

- Really?

- You would not of heard English on the street.

- Well what is it about Brooklyn and brewing crafts or artisinal spirits here?

- I think it's the mixture of cultures.

I mean, there's a thing that special about New York, is we always had everybody.

Everybody was always here.

- [Garrett] The beer that we're balling today has a Japanese background and that's Sorachi Ace.

- [Danielle] I love it.

It's my favorite.

- So it was a hop that was originally grown by Sapporo in the 1970s, but it tasted like lemongrass and lemon robina and dill.

And nobody wanted these flavors than a Japanese lager.

In the early 2000s, an American hop brewer decided, hey, we would like to grow that.

And it started to grow in Yakima, Washington.

I actually brought the first Sorachi Ace, commercial Sorachi Ace, to Japan and we brewed with it at Kiuchi Brewery, right outside of Tokyo.

- How did the Japanese react to the taste of the Sorachi Ace?

- They really liked it.

In fact, Kiuchi, who makes the Hitachino beers, is still brewing with Sorachi Ace today.

- You think people consider it as Japanese beer?

- I wouldn't consider it a Japanese beer.

I think they considered that fusion of the Japanese hop with a Belgian beer style, making it American beer.

- I think I just saw some kegs going to Hong Kong.

- Yeah, we constantly have stuff that's going back and forth.

Whenever I'm somewhere, I'm always looking at what can I bring at home?

Because with craft beer being so huge these days, everybody kinda sees all the same stuff.

They know all the same ingredients.

But what if I know 10 or 15 or 20 ingredients that the other guys haven't seen?

That's the secret weapon.

- [Danielle] Not only does Brooklyn Brewery ship its fusion beers, back to Asia but it's collaborated with a Korean brewer to create Jeju Brewing Company on Jeju Island, the famous Asian vacation destination.

- [Garrett] Well, when I first heard the name Jeju Island, it literally sounds like something from a novel.

- Right, right (laughs).

- It's like somebody made this up and we wanna go there and not just say, okay, here's American beer, but also dig in and create something which is Korean-American in Korea, Chinese-American in China, and Japanese-American in Japan.

But not just America.

- Which is, that just, that's so authentic because that's how we live these days.

- Well, exactly.

- Right, we're all global citizens.

I can't wait to taste this one.

- [Group] Sorachi Ace.

- This goes back to 2008, 2009 we first did Sorachi Ace.

It's based on the Belgian farmhouse style and we have done a second fermentation in the bottle like champagne, which is why the cork and the wire cage.

So the beer has a very light texture.

- So what is the ideal food to eat with this?

- I think sashimi but it's also the place near here called Kings County Imperial that does really pretty authentic Szechuan food.

And they serve huge amounts of this on draft.

- Beer goes so well with Asian food, period.

But what's next?

- Oh I mean, what's next?

We'd only just got started so I think the exploration of wild fermentation, whether it's (speaks foreign language) or it's in (speaks foreign language) if we can get the, these fermentations going and then transfer the fermentations, the things we're doing here, we can create beers that have a blend of like Brooklyn and Korean terroir, Brooklyn and Japanese terroir.

- I've really loved how you're breaking down cultures, breaking down boundaries, really breaking them together and creating what is truly authentic.

Because our world is fusion so.

- Well, yeah, I kind of feel like America is so big in the world.

It's like, oh, we send you McDonald's or we send y'all this music and whatever else.

It's like, I wanna get something back so I make sure of that.

- Well, I love seeing that Brooklyn Brewery flag in Jeju Island.

- You and me both.

- Alright, thank you so much, Garrett.

- Thank you.

- Yeah.

- Great to have you here.

Cheers.

- Yeah, cheers.

(pop music) When cultures collide, innovatin can be a happy accident, which is another way of saying, mistake.

That's the story behind the extra large (speaks foreign language) or the XL XLB, a drunken dumpling in New York's East Village.

To help me taste test New York's most viral dumpling, I've brought along David Fung of the Fung Brothers, whose YouTube videos on Asian-American life and culture have two million subscribers.

Hey.

- Hey, Danielle.

- What's up?

- Good to see you.

- Welcome to New York.

- Thank you.

What are we checkin' out today?

- Drunken dumpling.

They have this giant XLB that you actually eat with a straw.

- Okay, right, I, you know what?

I've seen it before but I haven't had it.

Haven't had it yet so I'm excited to try it.

♪ Let met tell you about a place south east ♪ ♪ Just 15 minutes from the LA streets ♪ ♪ Hollywood doesn't even know we exist ♪ ♪ Like it's a mystical land filled with immigrants the food♪ - How do you describe the Fung Brothers?

- The Fung Brothers ae basically two biological brothers that grew up.

- So your brother's your brother.

- We're real brother-brothers.

We're just trying to make a lot of jokes about, I think, growing up Asian in a western society.

A lot of people have tried to unpack that issue but not a lot of people have made it funny.

(pop music) Here's a place I've been wanting to try out in New York.

Drunken Dumpling, they're known for these gigantic (speaks foreign language) which just seems so wrong, right?

You're supposed to be able to plump these soup dumplings into your mouth but here you're supposed to eat them with a straw.

So let's go check it out.

You tell me what you think.

- Okay.

(orchestral music) - Li, thank you for having us in the kitchen.

You know I've always wanted to see how this XL XLB is made.

Tell us about your twist.

What is in an XL XLB?

- One day we're just testing ous and my mom actually dropped the regular soup dumpling on the floor and the impact, it was just perfectly fine.

I was, like, wow that's some awesome raw food down there.

you know we gotta do something .

See how big we can trash it int.

So that's where the idea of a giant soup dumpling came from.

- Definitely to see it enter the American lexicon and the spectrum of Chinese.

With XLB is the next one after dim sum in terms of expansion into the Chinese food universe.

'Cause I think a lot of people don't know, it's a Chinese food universe.

It goes so many levels deep.

- I do think that food one of the best place for people to learn about Asian culture.

Now people know the difference between Taiwan and Shanghai because of the food.

- If you really look at China, it's kind of like 100 countries put into one country.

- Literally, and we speak different languages.

- We speak different languages.

We eat different food.

Sometimes we celebrate different holidays.

- The concept of melting pot, in Chinese cuisine, we literally learn a little bit of everything from the west, from the east and that's why, yo bro.

I claim these.

I invented these in New York, okay?

It's no longer Shanghainese.

I own this so from Beijing, I own this.

- Alright man, so we have the (speaks foreign language) and the (speaks foreign language), okay.

That's how you eat your, okay.

- I like to do a little bite on the side.

- First of all, I've seen some crazy methods over the years.

I knew this one girl who pokes it, drains all of the juice onto her plate, and then drinks it off the plate.

It was super weird.

(Danielle laughs) It's the weirdest thing you've ever seen.

- Did you ask her for a second date right after that?

- No.

That was good.

- Yeah, that was really good.

- That was really good, man.

- The extra large have been steamed for almost 20 minutes.

The inside is burning hot.

I don't suggest you use the straw right away but I do suggest use a chopstick to crack the ruffle from the center to the side.

- Okay.

- Alright.

- Yo, that is huge that's almost like those Taiwanese lion's head meatballs?

- Oh yeah.

- Those are, that's like a gigantic piece of.

- Oh my gosh, look at this.

Sorry I just kind of butchered .

- Oh it's all good.

Alright, I'm going in on this.

- Yeah, yeah, go, you go for it.

- Wow, this tastes like a mix between a lion's head meatball and a dumpling.

- Okay, so you saying it's a hy.

- I think it's a hybrid.

I think it's a Beijing version of a Shanghainese dish.

(slurping loudly) - Pretty good.

(Danielle laughs) (pop music) Danielle, thank you so much for inviting me to the Drunken Dumpling.

- Been wanting to have you.

The show would not be complete without an Asian-American figure such as yourself so.

- Thank you, I appreciate it very much.

- [Danielle] Our world is shrinking more and more everyday and because of that our palates just keep expanding.

Nothing ties cultures together more effectively or more intimately than food.

From Shanghai to New York.

Whether you're sitting down to dinner, sharing a tasty snack or offering a toast to new friends, you'll know that it is after all a small, small world.

(pop music) Funding for Lucky Chow has been provided by... (electronic music) To learn more about Lucky Chow visit LuckyRice.com