I Tried China’s Best Street Food

0:00 For years, China's food scene has been somewhat hidden from the world,

0:04 locked away behind borders, language, and limited exposure online.

0:07 But beneath that surface lies one of the oldest,

0:10 most authentic, diverse street food cultures on the planet.

0:13 So today, I'm trying as many of the greatest street foods as I can across China.

0:17 And of course, guided by local experts,

0:19 we're going to be seeing Chinese food like outsiders almost never do.

0:23 And we're starting things off in Xi'an, which,

0:25 if you've never heard of it, listen up!

0:28 Not only were noodles literally invented here—and yes,

0:30 they still slap a thousand years later—but because of the incredible

0:34 diversity of cuisine I think people don't know about: breads, meats, sandwiches.

0:37 They might look simple, but let's not judge a book by its cover because,

0:41 like our first bite, they tend to surprise.

0:43 In Xi'an, you're almost never gonna see locals lining up;

0:46 it's not really a thing unless it's really, really, really good.

0:48 And there's a line.

0:49 We have a maxed-out bao.

0:51 Look at the size of this thing!

0:53 I mean, this is a big boy.

0:54 And also, it only costs two RMB.

0:56 For two of them, it maybe costs, like, 50 cents.

0:59 Insane!!

0:59 You can charge five dollars a pop for this in America.

1:01 Now, I would have gone for the pork normally,

1:03 but what I find interesting is they have

1:05 an eggplant version that everybody seems to be getting.

1:07 That looks and sounds tremendous.

1:09 It's not something I've ever seen in the West, so why not try that?

1:12 Here we go.

1:12 Cheers!

1:13 Cheers!

1:14 Oh, yeah.

1:15 Rich, juicy.

1:16 Just like you.

1:17 Okay, I'm rich.

1:18 You're juicy!

1:19 Wow, this is so good.

1:21 Is that zucchini?

1:22 You live here, I don't know!

1:23 I'm blown away every time I order something that is not meat.

1:27 My first thought is,

1:27 "I wish I had meat," but it's so rich and flavorful being just eggplant.

1:31 And I love this texture.

1:32 It almost has the texture of fat.

1:34 It's seasoned perfectly.

1:35 The salt levels are, like, perfect.

1:37 Like, exactly where I want them to be.

1:38 It's a little spicy.

1:39 This is, like, one of the best bao I've ever had, and there's no meat in it.

1:42 I can't believe it.

1:42 I'm gonna be honest: despite it being so unassuming, it was so good.

1:46 Kind of like our guide, Allen.

1:47 Look at him.

1:48 Come on, he's cute!

1:48 He's also a Xi'an local who actually has been

1:50 using my burger bun recipe in his restaurant for years.

1:52 Xièxie, Allen.

1:53 Allen, we love you.

1:54 Next up, we have breakfast: jidan youtiao.

1:56 Basically, a freshly fried egg-stuffed cruller.

1:59 There's no way this is not gonna blow our mind.

2:03 So good!

2:04 Like, looking at this, I'm like,

2:05 "How much flavor can really be in there?" That looks like fried dough;

2:07 there's not much on it, just an egg.

2:09 This is delicious.

2:10 That's why we have it every day in the morning.

2:11 This really is a perfect breakfast food.

2:13 I mean, this bread, it's crispy and soft like a donut,

2:16 but the inside is almost like a really well-hydrated ciabatta.

2:20 It's very unique.

2:21 I've never had anything like this before.

2:23 It's unbelievable.

2:23 It is fried absolutely perfectly.

2:25 There's moisture in it; it's not greasy.

2:26 It's salted nicely; the salt levels are good.

2:29 Whatever they season this egg with is nice.

2:30 And that's the reason why they've been open for a really long time.

2:33 Maybe more than 20, 30 years, I guess.

2:35 If it's 30 years, it's older than me!

2:37 Unbelievable.

2:37 Basically perfect.

2:38 I don't think I could outdo this.

2:39 On to the next.

2:40 We now have another classic breakfast.

2:43 It's called liji jiamo.

2:45 Kind of like a soft steamed bun...

2:46 pork loin...

2:47 fried egg, lettuce, chili oil, some sort of sauce.

2:50 This whole thing is less than one dollar.

2:52 As big as your face.

2:54 literally.

2:54 Cheers!

2:55 Cheers!

2:57 The seasoning's great!

2:58 God, they know how to season here.

3:00 The meat's cooked nicely.

3:01 It's not too fatty.

3:02 I like that they did pork loin instead of bacon because you do get, obviously,

3:05 the fat cap for some richness,

3:07 but the meat itself is actually nice and unctuous.

3:09 It's got a good tenderness to it.

3:11 Having lean meat in here—lean protein—gives it

3:13 a chew and just adds a density to it.

3:15 The flavor is great.

3:16 I can taste the pork.

3:17 The fried egg is cooked perfectly.

3:19 Allen, what do you think?

3:20 What do I think?

3:21 Yeah, I don't...

3:22 my brain's stopped.

3:24 Now I really want to dig in.

3:25 For Xi'anese people, I'm really proud we have this kind of breakfast.

3:28 There's a lot of carbs in this city.

3:30 This is maybe the only chance we can have some, like, lettuce.

3:34 Not to diss Austin—and I love Austin,

3:37 I live there— this is better than most breakfast tacos, if I'm being honest.

3:40 Now listen here, brother: I know those are fighting words,

3:43 but I'm gonna be honest, I've never had street food like this before.

3:45 And to be honest, it's been a while since

3:47 I've seen a pork sandwich that I've wanted to...

3:49 well, you'll see.

3:50 Oh!

3:50 BLEEP that smells good.

3:51 It tastes good as well.

3:52 It's like slowly braised pork.

3:54 Super fatty.

3:55 She's chopping it up fresh,

3:56 puts it in there with a little bit of the juice from the braise,

3:59 and then of course, the fresh chilies and onions.

4:02 The smell is sensual.

4:04 Cheers I'm taking my pants off.

4:13 That is absurd.

4:14 The fact that this is just something you just stroll

4:16 along the street and it's like, "I guess I'll have,

4:18 like, one of the best, crispiest,

4:20 fattiest little pork bites I've ever had." God, this is so good!

4:23 There is a green chili and also

4:25 the onion gives it a natural flavor and fragrance.

4:27 The exterior is so crispy, so crunchy,

4:29 so flaky like a croissant, but not buttery like a croissant,

4:33 which I think is good because it would be way too rich if it was,

4:36 because the inside is so salty and fatty and porky.

4:39 The fresh pepper kind of freshens it up a little bit.

4:41 It's not spicy at all.

4:42 I might even opt for double the amount

4:44 of pepper just cause I like the flavor of it.

4:46 How can you make this better?

4:47 Maybe something like acidic?

4:48 More meat.

4:49 Yeah, more meat.

4:50 The best part would be, in a hurry, you can just grab one and go.

4:53 On to the next.

4:54 This is insane!

4:55 But just when I thought the pork couldn't get any better...

4:58 Xun Rou Da Bing.

5:00 When I was young, I had them pretty much every lunch.

5:02 So, it's got barbecued pork, which she chopped up.

5:04 But what is this exterior?

5:05 Pretty much like a deep-fried tortilla and wrapped all the meat inside.

5:09 And the meat is smoked pork, green onion.

5:11 It smells super smoky.

5:12 I'm just going to go in.

5:13 You should put the whole one in your mouth.

5:15 The whole one?

5:16 Yeah, of course.

5:17 Okay.

5:18 Don't look at me like that...

5:19 I'm in love.

5:21 Oh, it's smoky.

5:22 Lightly smoked, lightly sweet, fatty yet meaty.

5:24 This is the perfect blend of pork.

5:26 They basically cook and smoke the whole shoulder, the fat and everything.

5:29 But then they chop it up in a way where you get a good,

5:32 like, 50/50 of very lean meat and pure fat.

5:34 So it all comes together.

5:35 Little bites of nice chewy lean meat and then bursts of fat.

5:39 And it's smoky and it's slightly sweet.

5:41 Makes you so satisfied, right?

5:43 Beyond satisfying.

5:44 That is unbelievable!

5:46 It's good.

5:47 Ooh, and the onion's a little spicy too, which I like.

5:48 Simple but good...

5:49 Classic example of a street food.

5:51 And it's made quickly.

5:52 I love it.

5:52 On to the next!

5:53 I'm going to be honest,

5:55 Xi'an by far has been one of my most favorite places to eat in the world.

5:59 But we can't leave Xi'an without one iconic dish,

6:02 which also inspired a recipe that I released in the second channel.

6:05 It is Biang Biang noodles.

6:07 I named this my favorite noodle on our noodle tour across Asia.

6:11 But now we're having it streetside and in the birthplace of noodles.

6:14 This shop is legit.

6:16 To operate a Biang Biang noodle shop, you need to have this official seal

6:20 in order to even prove your credibility to serve.

6:22 Also, look at how this dude is tossing the noodles in the pot.

6:25 We got some potential.

6:26 We have two different kinds, and we're enjoying it right here on the street.

6:29 One that is the short noodle,

6:30 where they basically are tearing the noodles and you have little pieces of it.

6:33 And then one that is the whole long noodle.

6:35 And it looks like the toppings are slightly different.

6:37 This has like a chili oil, sesame, garlic chives, and braised pork.

6:40 This one's similar, but it's slightly different.

6:42 It's got a different chili powder with almost like a green onion.

6:44 And then it has like a stir-fried egg and tomatoes.

6:47 Very traditional.

6:48 That's what you're gonna say?

6:49 Yeah.

6:50 I'm eating, like, one of the best noodle dishes of my life and he's like,

6:53 "Very traditional." "Very good." This is incredible!

6:55 Flavor is genuinely perfect.

6:57 Balanced, seasoned absolutely perfectly.

6:59 The texture of the noodle is ridiculous.

7:01 It's so chewy, but it's also, like, perfectly cooked too.

7:04 And the meat is tender.

7:05 It's porky.

7:06 It's rich.

7:07 God...

7:07 Okay, on to the next one.

7:08 It's wider than your belt.

7:10 It's wider than my belt.

7:11 You'll notice that I took my belt off and my pants stay on.

7:13 That's 'cause I've gained some weight since I got here.

7:17 Wow!

7:17 These are a lot more saucy.

7:18 When I first saw the tomato, I thought it was like,

7:20 "Ah, I don't need a marinara sauce.

7:22 Thanks, though." And what I realized was

7:23 I was a fucking idiot for thinking that.

7:25 All it is is a dispersion for the chili oil.

7:27 It just creates its own sauce.

7:29 This looks really spicy; hardly spicy at all.

7:31 This is more balanced than this because it has the acidity from the tomato.

7:35 They're both perfectly evenly good.

7:37 I would pick this one first because I love the experience of the big noodle.

7:40 If this was being produced in America, this would be considered,

7:42 like, one of the best restaurants in the state.

7:43 How about we open a restaurant like this when you're back?

7:46 You want to do it?

7:46 Yeah, sure.

7:47 Okay.

7:48 Okay, deal.

7:49 Done.

7:49 America, be ready.

7:50 Yeah, in Texas, actually, that's a legally binding contract.

7:54 Street food in Xi'an feels like almost a cheat code.

7:57 Every single thing just banged at the highest level.

7:59 But now we turn the flavor all the way up in Chengdu,

8:02 a city who's famous for a particular spice that's

8:05 beloved and maybe even slightly feared for its tingling,

8:09 numbing qualities: the Sichuan peppercorn.

8:11 And our food writer guide, Harry Li,

8:13 is starting me off strong in Chengdu with a twist on crispy roast duck.

8:16 If you like Peking duck...

8:17 Kind of hard to imagine anything better, if I'm being honest.

8:20 But this duck is dunked in boiling chili oil.

8:22 Could this be better than what we had in Xi'an?

8:25 So, it's a whole meal.

8:26 Basically, you can order one portion.

8:27 It's a family-style meal.

8:29 You can sit down with three, four, five people and just go to town on this.

8:32 For example, if you're a housewife and you don't want to cook today,

8:34 you just order one portion and take it home.

8:36 The whole family is all set.

8:38 I'm the housewife!

8:40 Let's go for it!

8:41 Okay.

8:42 This is absolutely incredible.

8:44 There's so many different things in here.

8:45 There's vegetables, there's cauliflower,

8:47 there's bok choy, there's jelly noodles.

8:49 There's even little tofu skin in here.

8:51 And it kind of almost has like a hot pot flavor.

8:53 If you've had hot pot before,

8:54 you kind of get that almost like a mala spice, right?

8:56 Like, it's so simple, yet so good.

8:57 You get a million experiences in one!

8:59 This is like everything in one pot with rice.

9:01 I don't need anything else.

9:02 I could stop eating this and go home.

9:03 In comparison to, like, something like a Peking duck meal where you have, like,

9:06 all these components—you have duck,

9:08 you have the pancakes and the sauce and da-da-da—this is, to me, way better.

9:11 More exciting, more flavor.

9:12 And this guy's doing it every day like it's no big deal.

9:14 I would come back to China just for this.

9:16 One of the best family-style meals out there...

9:18 by far.

9:19 I feel like I'm family here.

9:20 Welcome to the family.

9:21 Yes.

9:22 God!

9:22 It's hard to say that we're moving on, but I'm gonna enjoy this for now.

9:25 Let me be clear about something here: this was $7.25 for a whole duck hot pot.

9:29 This was one of the better meals that I've had so far.

9:32 But I have a feeling we're just getting started!

9:35 Because next up is a legend in Chengdu:

9:37 Grandma Yen's Guokui, a famous baked pancake that looks simple,

9:40 but it's cut in half and stuffed with a Sichuan chili oil-doused filling...

9:44 of your choice.

9:45 We had the beef and, most classic and unique to me, a starch jelly.

9:49 You can't knock it 'til you try it.

9:51 Mm!

9:51 I thought it was gonna be too much starch.

9:54 Not at all.

9:54 That is a great texture.

9:55 Super crispy on the outside, and it's not very gelatinous.

9:58 It's like a very soft noodle.

10:00 Little bit of chew, and then all that Sichuan oil just kind of, like,

10:03 coating your palate.

10:04 Super tasty!

10:05 If the oil's doing this, that's a good sign.

10:07 I'm learning, I'm learning.

10:08 Okay, this is the beef one.

10:10 This beef is, like, with some vegetables.

10:13 This is gonna go straight to the gains factory here.

10:16 Mmm!

10:17 It's very steaky.

10:18 Almost like sliced steak.

10:19 Oh, yeah, because they are braised.

10:21 But it's not chewy at all.

10:22 The meat is nice and tender.

10:23 It's beefy, but, like, I love this oil.

10:25 I like this one a little bit better than

10:27 the noodle because there's more flavor from the meat.

10:29 The meat plus that oil creates such a perfect flavor.

10:31 And it's not too spicy, but the crisp,

10:33 the crunch of the exterior of this is so, so, so good!

10:36 And I'm a fan.

10:37 Moving on.

10:38 We wrap up Chengdu here with a dish that could potentially

10:40 be the greatest bite in all of China, possibly my life.

10:43 Supposedly, it hits all...

10:44 all five tastes, but it's an old-school recipe and technique,

10:47 and at risk of going extinct.

10:49 Supposedly, this is one of the last places

10:51 in the world that makes noodles like this.

10:53 What we have in here is called Tian Shui Mian—the sweet water noodle.

10:58 The most traditional kind— of noodle in Chengdu.

11:01 And you can see the noodle is quite different.

11:03 They're, like, almost as thick as my pinky.

11:05 The smell, the aroma from this...

11:07 you can't really describe it.

11:09 It's just, like, toasted.

11:10 It's roasty.

11:11 It's sweet, it's spicy.

11:13 It's very complicated.

11:14 Shall we take a bite?

11:16 Mm!

11:16 Oh, the chew!

11:17 This is an important dish.

11:18 This is one of the few dishes that we have had that is

11:21 almost more about the noodle that you're eating than it is about anything else.

11:24 This is not coming out of a box.

11:26 These are clearly being made fresh by hand.

11:28 And they have such a presence when you bite them because they're so big.

11:31 The first bite: all about the noodle.

11:33 And then as you chew, all these, like, diverse flavors.

11:35 Literally all five tastes: salty, sweet, umami, spicy,

11:38 a little bit of bitterness from the chili too.

11:40 So you're literally getting all the flavors in one.

11:43 And there's no meat in here.

11:44 There's no green onions to crunch on.

11:46 It's all about the noodle.

11:47 This is, like...

11:47 might be one of the best noodle dishes I've ever had.

11:50 Some of these places are really popular,

11:51 but what we're really looking for are the hidden gems.

11:53 What are the gems that people don't know about around the world?

11:56 I mean, look around us.

11:57 There's no, like, tourists walking around here.

11:59 I mean, this is, like, working-class food,

12:00 but they're cooking it at a Michelin level.

12:02 Actually, it's on the Michelin list.

12:04 Oh, it is?

12:05 Yeah.

12:06 Wow!

12:06 Chengdu.

12:07 Incredible flavor.

12:08 Not only was everything that I had delicious,

12:10 but also different than what I had in Xi'an.

12:13 Each city is unique to itself, but if there's one city that has

12:16 the culinary firepower to possibly steal the spotlight,

12:19 it's Shanghai, where people from all over the world perfect

12:22 some of the most iconic street foods ever—like this loaded jianbing.

12:25 This, to me, is the Chinese breakfast of champions.

12:28 It's from the north of China, but our guide, Rachel,

12:31 a prolific local food writer, says this is one of the best.

12:34 This is the luxe version of jianbing.

12:37 If you're going to ever go shell out on a jianbing,

12:40 this is 22 RMB, so maybe like just $3.

12:43 I mean, $3 for this is crazy!

12:45 So this has sausage, fried chicken, jianbing cracker— the youtiao,

12:48 which is the deep-fried cruller— and basically a whole egg and sauce.

12:52 What are the sauces?

12:53 One is a tianmianjiang, so like a sweet fermented bean sauce.

12:56 And then the other one's just a chili sauce.

12:58 So many textures!

12:59 Crunchy, soft, airy...

13:00 God!

13:01 And the seasoning on this is so good.

13:03 You get a hint of sweetness from the tianmianjiang.

13:05 I love that fragrant five-spice coming through, too.

13:07 It just, like, sweetens everything up in a way

13:10 that just goes together so, so perfectly.

13:12 It's so balanced!

13:13 My first concern was, "God,

13:14 there's so much in this!" There's no way this is going to be balanced.

13:17 It's just going to be a fatty, heavy bite.

13:18 But honestly, it's quite light.

13:20 Like, I could finish this and I would feel great.

13:21 This is awesome!

13:22 I wish that I could have this every day for my breakfast.

13:24 You gotta make a video how to make it at home.

13:26 I don't feel confident enough in that.

13:27 I need to work on that one for...

13:29 for a minute, because this is so good.

13:30 The sausage alone is, like, such a great bite, too.

13:33 I love this.

13:34 Jianbing is definitely a breakfast hall of famer, no doubt.

13:37 But next up is a breakfast dish that may be even more famous in Shanghai,

13:40 and I have zero expectations.

13:42 So this is doufuhua or doufunao, which is soft,

13:45 silken tofu, and this is a savory version.

13:47 You can also get it sweet.

13:49 And on top, they season it with light soy sauce,

13:52 scallions, pickled vegetables, and little pieces of dried krill.

13:55 So the best way to enjoy it is the combo.

13:58 You have your youtiao, your fried cruller,

14:00 and then you dip it into your tofu hua.

14:02 Let it soak a little.

14:03 Soak a little.

14:05 Ooh, they're so airy!

14:06 Like, when you bite into them, it, like, squeezes out all the juice.

14:09 It's so light.

14:10 It looked like it was gonna be, like, really strong.

14:12 It's very light tasting, but there's a lot of flavor in it.

14:14 Yeah.

14:15 It's got, like, an earthy pickliness to it that's really nice.

14:17 But you get a little bit of richness from the bread.

14:20 It's a little oily, it's a little fatty, but in a nice way.

14:23 It absorbs the liquid well.

14:24 It's got so much air in it.

14:25 It's more of a vehicle for this to get in your body.

14:28 Also, I love the little krill.

14:29 Just, like, adds a nice little uncomplicated oceanic flavor without it being,

14:33 like, overwhelmingly so.

14:34 This is not too strong.

14:35 So it's usually served warm.

14:36 So in the morning, you want something, like,

14:38 hot and warm and soothing to get your stomach going for the day.

14:41 This next one I know looks a little boring.

14:43 You got to hear me out.

14:44 These are bao and dumplings cooked in a unique

14:46 style that I've always wanted to try.

14:48 So, how do they taste?

14:49 We have the seared bao, which is shengjian bao,

14:51 and then these are pot stickers, essentially called...

14:54 guotie.

14:55 Goutie.

14:55 Guo- Guo- Yes.

14:56 Guotie.

14:57 Guotie.

14:57 Where should we start?

14:59 I think you should start with the...

15:00 shengjian.

15:00 So be careful.

15:01 It's juicy, it's hot.

15:02 It's called shengjian because they're cooked raw.

15:05 Sheng meaning raw, jian meaning pan-seared or fried.

15:09 So inside is like a meatball and a little bit soupy, more like juicy.

15:14 Some places use a leavened dough so that when you cook it and cover it,

15:18 the steam cooks the top while the bottom sizzles in the cast iron.

15:22 Mmm!

15:22 So good.

15:23 The crustiness on the sear is so good.

15:25 It's so crisp and almost bready on the bottom.

15:27 And the top is more like dumpling skin.

15:28 It gets thinner as you go to the top,

15:30 and the actual meat on the inside seasoned really nicely.

15:33 It's kind of like the classic dumpling flavors you would expect.

15:35 It's nice.

15:36 I'm enjoying it.

15:37 Very, very good.

15:37 Also, these are two-biters.

15:38 There's no way you're eating one of these whole unless you're,

15:41 like, in a huge rush.

15:42 This is very filling.

15:42 So these are guotie, aka pot stickers,

15:45 and they're cooked in the same exact way as the shengjianbao.

15:48 Put them into the cast iron, you add the water,

15:50 and then you close them to steam while the bottom sizzles.

15:53 They're also probably filled with the same meat filling.

15:56 Hot, hot, hot, hot, hot.

15:58 Oh, no, no!

16:00 We lost one!

16:01 Honestly, this is totally different.

16:03 It's juicier.

16:03 It feels a little more flavor dense.

16:06 So hot!

16:06 We paid a dollar to fill ourselves up and to burn our mouth.

16:09 You can see how juicy and filled they are.

16:11 Somehow this retained way more juice.

16:13 Similar flavors, similar textures.

16:14 It's all the same stuff in there.

16:16 I actually like these just a little more just because they're

16:18 retaining more of that juice and losing less of the flavor,

16:20 whereas these kind of lost a little bit of it.

16:22 But they're both incredibly delicious.

16:24 The next dish is exactly what this video and Shanghai are all about.

16:27 I've never heard of it.

16:28 It looks simple, and wow, did it impress me.

16:30 Okay, so this place is known for cai fan, which is essentially a rice dish.

16:35 Porky.

16:36 It's cooked in lard, and it's got pork bits, which look a little cured.

16:39 Little bit of mushroom, onion, and what looks like chopped bok choy.

16:43 It actually smells very, like, vegetable-forward, which I'm excited about.

16:46 And they also cook it in this cast iron,

16:48 so it, like, soaks up all the flavor as well.

16:51 Oh, wow.

16:52 It's not too much at all.

16:53 I was thinking, like, "Oh, there's so much pork fat in this.

16:55 This is going to be too rich." But it's very balanced.

16:57 There's so many textures in this.

16:58 I thought I bit into a piece of pork fat.

17:00 It was a mushroom.

17:00 The mushroom was cooked in so much pork fat that when you bite into it,

17:04 it just releases this juicy, deep, porky, salty flavor.

17:06 You have bits of cured pork in there

17:08 that are also salty and contributing porkiness.

17:10 Also, how's the texture of the rice?

17:11 Because you can see they're like individual beads, right?

17:14 It's cooked so perfectly.

17:15 It's chewy.

17:16 It's perfectly al dente, each individual grain.

17:18 You could count the rice.

17:19 And they don't clump together.

17:20 So that's what makes it really good.

17:22 Out of all the rice dishes I've had, this is one of the most unique.

17:25 A lot of mixed rice dishes become very homogenous as you cook and you toss them.

17:28 It's all kind of one fluid flavor that flows through the whole rice dish

17:31 as the rice gets coated in all the juices and this, that, and the other.

17:34 What's interesting about this, every little flavor in this is totally separate.

17:38 Really unusual and really fun.

17:39 And also super simple, because all of these ingredients are relatively cheap.

17:43 Honestly, this is a top-tier choice for just basic street food.

17:46 Simple and good.

17:47 Moving on...

17:48 Shanghai is like magic.

17:50 Simple dishes made with a shocking level of care

17:52 that you just don't see that much anymore.

17:55 China has continued to surprise me every step as we arrive

17:58 to our final city in search of China's best street food.

18:02 And here we are.

18:03 Chongqing, China.

18:05 People call this place the "cyberpunk city." Sounds cringe until you get there.

18:09 As soon as the sun goes down,

18:11 this place turns into some sort of futuristic nightclub...

18:15 LED...

18:15 light show that I have never seen in my life.

18:18 To be honest, it's almost a little overstimulating, but at the same time,

18:21 I'm so bewildered I might as well just enjoy it, right?

18:24 So it's only fitting that our guide's personality is as big as his native city.

18:27 But would the food here be enough to top Xi'an or Chengdu?

18:30 It's raining outside.

18:31 This is still a street food, so we're sitting inside just to avoid the rain.

18:34 Thank you for being here with me today.

18:35 My pleasure.

18:36 Can you tell me about this dish?

18:38 This is what we call You Cha.

18:39 It's the most tremendous tea in the world.

18:42 It's tea, but it's not drinking tea, it's chewing tea.

18:45 So what we have is on the top is the fried dough sticks, the bottom is the...

18:49 porridge.

18:50 We got the crunchiness.

18:51 We also have the hearty soup at the bottom.

18:54 So we mix them together.

18:55 This is a very retro, nostalgic...

18:57 food.

18:58 This is the food my mom and dad would like.

19:00 I still remember when I, when I was a little kid,

19:02 I would have this before go to school.

19:04 And this is all carbs.

19:06 This whole trip has been all carbohydrates.

19:07 I've been having to try and outrun everything I've been eating,

19:10 and it's been impossible.

19:12 Oh, wow, it's so good!

19:13 It is the pickled vegetable that's making it interesting.

19:17 So smart!

19:18 It's like, creamy, but also, like, just melts in your mouth.

19:20 The congee's perfectly cooked.

19:21 It's not too thin, it's not too thick.

19:23 It's not soupy.

19:24 It's got that, like, unctuousness to it.

19:26 Just a little spicy, but not too spicy at all.

19:28 I love the little flecks of crunch.

19:29 But like you said, the thing that makes this special

19:32 is the little pops of flavor from the pickled vegetable.

19:34 This is one of those things where I think most

19:36 people would look at it from afar and they're like,

19:38 "Well, how good is it really?

19:39 It looks a little boring," but the flavor is insane.

19:41 One of my favorite bites so far, actually.

19:43 I love the simplicity of this.

19:44 But it's not our last item.

19:45 Moving on.

19:46 On the way to our next stop, Ryan taught me a little local language.

19:49 Yeb-a-yang-yang.

19:50 Yeb-a-yang-yang.

19:51 I don't see your passion there.

19:53 Zai Tim Bao.

19:54 Zai Tim Bao.

19:55 Chi Bao Gua.

19:56 Chi Bao Gua.

19:59 That was good.

20:02 Welcome to Chongqing.

20:03 What did I just say?

20:05 That your aunt was hit by lightning

20:08 and—sadly—passed away in the cornfield eating this pie.

20:12 You know.

20:14 I can't tell you how hyped I am for this next spot.

20:17 Finally, a dancing wok on the street.

20:19 This is what I've been looking for.

20:20 They had choices of meats, veggies, aromatics.

20:23 I loaded up a bowl.

20:24 Hopefully this is the correct thing to do here.

20:26 He snatched the bowl out of my hand.

20:27 I'm going to assume that I'm on the right track here because he started cooking.

20:30 I didn't know it was going to happen.

20:31 You know, it's happening right now in front of us.

20:33 We lost Ryan.

20:34 I'm getting hungry.

20:34 I saw fried rice, so I at least know what that is.

20:36 Except I realized that I don't speak Chinese.

20:38 I'm not 100% what I got,

20:40 but I do know I got twice-cooked pork in there, so I'm excited.

20:43 And also, this is only $2, which is crazy!!

20:44 For all of this.

20:45 He double-checked if I wanted chilies because he noticed that I'm white.

20:48 And I was like, "Don't worry,

20:49 I'm different." I could tell by the motion of this man

20:51 and his wok skills that this was going to be good.

20:53 Oh, yeah, that is so good.

20:55 The flavor is just so deep.

20:57 It's seasoned really nicely.

20:59 The rice is cooked really beautifully, so it's got that perfect chew.

21:01 It's not overcooked.

21:02 And the twice-cooked pork is just so perfectly fatty and just unctuous.

21:05 And he slices it like, kind of, some thick, some thin,

21:07 which normally I would complain about uneven cuts, but I like that.

21:10 I bite into one piece of pork: explosion of juicy fattiness.

21:13 I bite into another one: crispy unctuousness.

21:15 This is a beautiful bowl of fried rice, Ryan.

21:16 You shouldn't have missed this one, dude.

21:18 In China in general, but also in Chongqing,

21:20 you're gonna see a lot of different carts doing

21:22 meat skewers and all sorts of things like that...

21:24 But this place is different.

21:25 When he's grilling his meat skewers, it looks beautiful.

21:28 It looks good.

21:28 It looks nice.

21:29 And then all of a sudden, flamethrower!!

21:35 It's an incredible show.

21:36 Yeah, it's a presentation.

21:37 Look at that!

21:38 These are beef skewers.

21:38 I'm excited to try them.

21:39 Why don't you grab one and let's give it a little taste?

21:43 Oh, it's actually good.

21:44 It's— actually surprisingly good.

21:45 It's really good.

21:46 This was a surprising one because there was so much oil on the plate.

21:49 It's seasoned really well.

21:50 It's got a good spice.

21:51 Got some numbing spice in there.

21:52 It's got a lot of the flavors that I've enjoyed...

21:54 Across Chongqing.

21:55 Joshua mentioned there was a lot of...

21:57 But actually, most of the street food of Chongqing, there's a lot of oil,

22:00 and sometimes you just take it as a ketogenic food.

22:02 Mmm...

22:03 Just avoid carbs.

22:04 That's physically impossible.

22:06 We've done the opposite of avoid carbs today!

22:07 What happens if you eat the carbs?

22:09 Some people, they like it.

22:10 Ketogenic people, they also like it.

22:12 It's for everybody.

22:13 It's diversity.

22:14 Thank you, Ryan.

22:16 My pleasure.

22:17 But that said, I have one more thing to say.

22:19 So our journey ends here in Chongqing, China,

22:21 one of the greatest cities I've ever seen.

22:23 I mean, it's...

22:24 That's surreal.

22:25 But the crazy part is we've barely covered even a fraction of this country.

22:28 There's so many cities and foods and small

22:30 little towns that we didn't even eat at.

22:32 We just got a little taste.

22:33 And yet I had some of the greatest food in my life.

22:36 And it wasn't on a white linen tablecloth.

22:37 It wasn't in a Michelin-starred restaurant.

22:39 I maybe spent a hundred dollars for the whole trip,

22:41 but instead, it was served on the side of a street.

22:43 If you're gonna go somewhere and you have travel plans,

22:45 you might want to consider going to China.

22:46 And if you're gonna go somewhere in China,

22:48 pretty much any street corner will do.

22:49 Subscribe.

22:50 Love you...

22:50 See you next time.