Hey guys, a few notes: 1. Didn't mean to sound harsh or anything when he added the coconut milk, but I know that's sort of how it sounded on camera. Basically, we were just a bit surprised with the quantity, as Cantonese soups usually aren't very rich (we were expecting something closer to the quantity of evaporated milk that's in a shrimp Tom Yam). With rice noodles, it still ended up tasty. 2. Apologies for the audio in this one. I did my best, but the whole thing was pretty spontaneous - at first, we weren't sure if this scattered iPhone footage would even be able to form into a video (we've got a couple random times of Dawei cooking that never really made it into a video). That said, we felt that it was pretty interesting nonetheless, so we decided to charge forward. Hopefully the hardsubs helped with the intelligibility. 3. From the exercise, I think you can actually see the basic logic of a Cantonese homecooked meal pretty well. Not sure what to make? Make a quick soup, make a quick stir fry. Go incredibly heavy on vegetables. That's all for now. Hope you enjoyed it, back with a proper recipe video next week :)

@sephinarose420

3 ай бұрын

This was a great video! Thank you for sharing!

@__nobody__

3 ай бұрын

Re 1: I honestly didn't feel it sounded harsh, more confused/amused. Perfectly fine if you're surprised, which happens with spontaneous stuff like this! ^^ And more generally, what lots of others are also writing: Please more like this, every once in a while! There's a ton of knowledge in here (like toasting the bean sprouts), that just… happens, low effort. You don't get that in scripted ones unless you specifically plan for each and every one of those details (which is incredibly high-effort). The step-by-step is important to get a map of the basics, to allow your brain to chunk stuff efficiently, but once you have that you can get a ton out of something as information dense as this one!

@erlenmeyerm6349

3 ай бұрын

It's interesting to see that a Cantonese template of a meal is a stir fry and soup. I thought how I would approach this challenge as a Korean, and I think it would be a few banchan and soup! I wonder how other cultures would interpret this

@DCSantaClara

3 ай бұрын

While I love the elevated production videos, it's also fun to break the format and call audibles from time to time, like when Chris went to the wet markets. When cooking Cantonese at home, you're often left with a lot of improvisation, which can offer some surprises. Heck, most Chinese American takeout staples are mommy-made-ups. So maybe your dad came up with a new Tom Khantonese soup!

@xerofelix7090

3 ай бұрын

It's all good! And it's fun seeing people reacting to their parents! It was harmless and kinda cute banter, so all's good! What's a family without a few good laughs and fun teaching experiences? Right? 😆🤗

5:30 I recognize the look on Steph's face when the activity was supposed to be a collaboration but turns into asian mom/dad fully taking over and not following the plan 😂

@penguinpingu3807

3 ай бұрын

Reminds me of my grandma, when I was cooking bitter gourd. The fondest memory I have with her. Don't worry she is alive, just rarely see her now.

@DarwinsTable

3 ай бұрын

@@penguinpingu3807 Find the time and excuses to visit her, man. My grandma spent her last years living with me and I still regret not taking care of her more than I did. It's been almost 10 years and I still think of her every now and then.

"24 Yuan? That IS good value." I love it.

@TheTrueLeafless

3 ай бұрын

That is a 100% chinese dad energy

@nathant2309

2 ай бұрын

Lol

I love the daughter giving commentary on her dad, like "and adjusting the amount of coconut mil-... nope. Never mind. He's just throwing it all in." 🤣

Your dad is a natural KZreadr...learned something new too - dry frying fresh bean sprouts and dry frying garlic! Thank you for the tip

This was so cute! Dawei is a real treat, and Steph getting sidelined in her own kitchen is very funny.

_This is true love._ *Fresh ant eggs with fresh winged bean* . Your father is adaptable, looking for fresh ingredients and trusting your opinion based on your experience. This is truly one of the best videos you have posted to date. He's being creative based on his own experience in the moment. Dry roasting the garlic, oil at the end, adjusting with water for viscosity, tasting every step of the way, adding fat fresh herbs and MSG to finish. A lifetime of knowledge expressed in this video. What more could anyone want? This video is priceless. So much FUN! Please consider posting more like this-even an entire other series with your father. 8:43 You know it's exceptional when he's impressed with his execution.

@DCSantaClara

3 ай бұрын

Just for SEO purposes, I feel ike "red ant eggs" needs to be in the title.

@Plankton975

3 ай бұрын

Hard agree. Fascinating video.

honestly this is significantly more approachable than a lot of your videos . the "not measuring , but this is why i'm doing why im doing" is so useful cuz that type of thinking can be applied in the future instead of having to look at a recipe . also.. Dawei is the man lmao dude is so cool

@abydosianchulac2

3 ай бұрын

It's more reflective of how a lot of people cook, but it usually takes a while to gain a familiarity with the style and what you want from the outcome before you can run on improvisation. The more structured videos and recipes really help with ingraining those instincts for proportions and ways to balance flavor.

@erlenmeyerm6349

3 ай бұрын

They have to give you measurements in order for others to recreate what they're cooking, but you can also use them as guidelines, and eventually develop your own instincts on creating dishes that are personalized to your tastes

@brandon3872

3 ай бұрын

I used to follow recipes exactly to the letter, and found it really difficult. These days I just estimate it and it's so much easier. That's how cooking has been passed down through generations. Sure, it might taste slightly different from time to time, but a good cook tastes as they go along and can adjust the flavour.

While you say this isn't a proper video, I LOVE this format. You make me want to try all of this great food! Thanks.

Ant eggs are a very common ingredient in prehispanic, Mexican cooking as well. They are called escaramoles. They are quite delicious!

Nothing but respect for the guy. It takes a lot of experience to be able to analyze possible ingredients that quick

love the subtle cantonese father 'diu' at 12:00😆😆

I was sitting here thinking "surely 'ant egg' is the name of a mushroom or something -" I had no idea you could harvest their eggs!

@CalebCalixFernandez

3 ай бұрын

Escamoles, a Mexican delicacy, are ant eggs.

@gurugurumawaru7869

3 ай бұрын

Knowing that edible insects on the market are grown in a condition that is more sterile than a normal livestock, also helps with the publicity. They're edible and perfectly delicious. Much tastier than you'd expect. My personal favorites are scorpions, which tasted like shrimp. Which makes sense, knowing that both came from the same family.

@zaraak323i

3 ай бұрын

I wouldn't want to be the one harvesting Fire Ant eggs!

@cckonettaxptor611

3 ай бұрын

​@@gurugurumawaru7869they are both arthropods, but from two major lineages (Mandibulata, which includes crustaceans and insects; and Chelicerata, which includes arachnids like scorpions) that separated like half a billion years ago. However, they are still both "crunchy thing with meat inside". Potato, potato.

@kieran7409

3 ай бұрын

No way they taste like shrimp? Different kind of innards though right? i potentially wrongfully assume scorpions are mushy due to the exoskeleton@@gurugurumawaru7869 I have western prejudice when it comes to insects and balk at the idea of maggots and crickets, but i can imagine eating ant eggs, little balls of protein really. It helps they dont wiggle around so much!

More Dawei is always such a treat to have on the channel. Thank y'all so much for putting this footage together and giving us another episode of this sorta-series. It puts such a wonderful focus on the techniques and the theory as opposed to a single recipe.

Watching your dad cook is a real treat. I appreciate the free styling of just no recipe. Hot lettuce and cucumber is something I don't know if I'll ever try

Haven’t even finished watching and I love Cantonese Dad already. He needs to be a recurrent guest character!!

@erinhowett3630

3 ай бұрын

He’s actually guest starred in several videos! There’s a great one about 1920s street food.

Great vid with your dad. Loved seeing his cooking techniques and style. Also loved learning cantonese at the same time. He expletive wasn't unnecessary as it rhymed..hah

This might be one of the more important videos you've made for the home cook. So much wisdom, all of which is in your videos on the requisite subjects, but in a very real and approachable manner. This could essentially be replicated anywhere in the world. Okay, maybe not. But it's inspiring nevertheless.

I would be VERY interested in trying that soup! It looked fantastic. Also, question about the ant eggs, were they just in water? Or was it like a brine or pickling liquid?

@AKLM24

3 ай бұрын

Just water . In process when ant eggs harvest and rinse with water some sellers may keep in water to prevent it from climb together some don’t, Some ant egg in sell without water that have ant (many ants) it come with acid that ant releases for defending against predator, it have sour taste is desirable for some food

@Dandelion_Stitches

3 ай бұрын

@@AKLM24 Thank you very much!

Also, very cool to see other cultures using ants. chicatana ants are used in Mexico

Well done Team Demystified, that was a great watch. It had never occurred to me to toast beansprouts so thanks for the tip Dad. Hope to see him hogging your kitchen again, he’s a natural.

I nearly blurted out in laughter at the random “dieu” that came out from your father. But I learnt so much! That random trivia about wood ear is great too!

Fun video. Obviously I don’t make every single recipe you guys show off but one of my favorites featured your dad in the sticky fried rice recipe.

Great video. Loved seeing you father cook these foods. Dry frying the bean spouts solves a problem I have had! He's very fun to have on the channel.

Where did your dad learn to cook? I’m always super impressed whenever he’s featured, he’s so organized it’s insane

It always makes me happy to see parents make an appearance in videos like this. Please thank your father for sharing his wisdom! 😊

He's such a natural on camera, this was my favorite of this type of challenge video yet

Strph, your dad is a GEM - I can see where you get your love of food from! Really interesting to see how he pre-fried the beansprouts, definitely going to try that myself

I love these videos with Steph's dad -- he reminds me of some of my favorite cooking channels, where it is someone cooking in their own kitchen, off the cuff. They give basic, rough ideas and instructions, and you see what they're doing, but the experience of their cooking is a magical adventure of its own; it isn't about a recipe, but intuition. That is how I cook these days, unless I'm trying to learn a new region's cuisine. These videos may be "rough" or "less polished" according to some standards, but to mine...they're the biggest chunk of gold in the mine. :) Blessings to you and yours 🥰

Love the spontaneous energy in this fun episode, thank you!

That was a really fun episode! I’d love to see more improvised recipes and Steph’s dad helming the wok in the future!

Two thumbs up, this really complements the more structured content, love seeing some unfiltered home cooking!

More of this format please. I like the dad's style of cooking...spontaneous, no fixed recipe, adjust as you go. I love it!!

Love this type of cooking, this uncle is a very knowledgeable cook as well!

Would love to see more videos of your parents cooking. I understand they won’t be in town all the time but when they are I’d love to see a video.

I love this video format!

Love all the videos with Dawei, really shows he knows his way around food

This was such a good episode, thanks for sharing

Love these videos! Great inspiration to improvise and try new ingredients!

more videos like this please - this is one of my favs so far!

More Dad! This was a very enjoyable video to watch - definitely keep these coming!

The whole sequence of you and your dad shopping was really cute. It gave me a big grin. 😄

I love this

I was a bit thrown by the English subtitles for spoken English at the beginning, but it provided a nice continuity between the English, Cantonese, Thai, and Doggo. Definitely the right choice. And what is the texture of ant eggs when they're cooked? Are they like grubs or more like fish roe?

I really loved this, it was super heart warming and just in general "nice".

Thoroughly enjoyed this!

The commentating while your dad is cooking is so hilarious in a sweet way.

Second time coming back to this video, you guys are like therapy lol. I’ve always loved this channel for that. I was wondering if you guys have any plans to do a Chinese soy sauce guide video? I have absolutely no idea what to look for when I’m at my Chinese grocer. Your black vinegar video was extremely helpful

Wow! This was really fun to watch!! 👏🏻👍🏻😃

I’m glad this challenge is back! I was curious if it would make a return

This is excellent. I love watching technique.

I loved watching your Dad cook It's always fun to revisit our roots (so to speak) if only to realize how advanced they actually were. I'd watch more, but I watch all your vids, regardless. All else is secondary.

I really like this format as it does force people to figure things when they are in a foreign country and lacking certain ingredients. I think sometimes some cooking traditions that I won’t name here tend to be overly dogmatic when it comes to not having access to certain ingredients to make their traditional recipes. Not to say we shouldn’t honour them but making do with the best with what you have available is sometimes the only option.

Great little video, I really enjoyed it!

Love this style of video!

so good. i've been waiting for more insect based cuisine to show up on youtube and this makes me happy!

Fun episode to watch. Would love to try those dishes.

Very educational! Thanks

Loved that, fantastic. 😁👍

I would have loved to hear more about how the price compared to his home market, but not that big of a deal. Really fun video and please more these!

This was really so much fun; surprise menu for dad; surprise chef for us.

Such fun! Thank you to your father.

Oh hey, more Dawei cooking is always fun!

S, happy to see your Dad in Th. He’s much a show man😊. Meanwhile He’s serious in his business.

That was fun to watch. I never knew to pre-toast bean sprouts.

Love these videos

Loved this one.

Im thai and i would've never thought to stir fry ant eggs. I've only ever put them in curries. Ill surely give this a try!

Great episode! What surprised me, though, was no chicken bouillion powder, because that seems to be used by everyone in everything these days. That quick soup looked so tasty, and it's the manner it which it's made with whatever is there, that makes me think, lunch!

Spontaneous Cooking Demystified

Love hearing uncle speaking cantonese!!

I love this video!

I love how slice-of-life this was.

Hell yeah keep trucking, y'all have supplanted b a n adamm ragusea as my favorite cooking channel. Much love.

we need more cooking videos with your dad Steph

Loved to see this :)

Very fun episode

A species of ants in Mexico also has its eggs harvested as a delicacy! I can't remember what species it is but I watched a video about it on business Insider in the "so expensive" series.

Love vids with Steph's dad

Heartwarming !

Both dishes looked delicious and I'll have to try the soup if I can find squid as I love coconut milk based soups.

As a European, I would never think about mixing coconut milk with mint to make a soup, but seeing this - it would work so well! Going to try this for sure!

Those dishes look delicious!

Such a great video

This was awesome.

Spontaneous cooking is the best cooking 😊

Thanks for sharing!

This was great!

Looking at how the stuff is being prepped, might Chao & Bao be the wet & dry stir-fry cooking styles respectively, with xiang guo being closest to a sauté (which I guess could be something like a semi-wet or semi-dry kind of stir-frying), akin to the difference between a gulai, kalio, & rendang (similarly so to curry kinds of cooking styles, such as sambar, geng, & keema respectively)?

Very nice! I would like to do this challenge myself! Although I am not a professional as you are😅

This very stuning!

lovely video!

Great video !

I definitely need more Cantonese soups in my life

The goose day shirt is incredible

Very cool video indeed.

Waitasecond. At 5:52 your father tossed bean sprouts in the wok without first, long yau, get the wok piping hot, put in some oil, quick swirl, and out.

@abydosianchulac2

3 ай бұрын

The dry frying seems to be less about cooking/precooking the sprouts and more about purging some water off. Oil would pose a bit of a hazard with all the water coming out of the veg.

Such a delight! Did the tomatoes also get a quick blanch before they were cut? Saw them whole in the wok for a quick second and curious for the reason!

@rbsz6202

3 ай бұрын

Giving tomatoes a blanch or a boil or whatever makes it possible to peal the skins off.

Fun video!

"No recipe this time", she says. Well, maybe not... but I could see what the gentleman did, and that's possibly even better...