- Oh my God.
Who made this?
- Fresh pineapples belong in tacos.
- 10 out of 10.
- [Tom] Thank you. - 10 out of 10.
(clapping)
(chime)
- [Remy] I'm ready to eat some tacos.
- Today we're gonna be trying each other's
vegan tacos.
Hi guys, I'm Karima.
I run Sunday Kitchen, which are Lebanese cooking workshops.
I run them with my beautiful mum.
- Hi, my name is Will Mahusay,
and I'm the chef and the owner of the Filipino restaurant,
Sydney Cebu Lechon.
- Hi, my name's Remy Hii.
I'm an actor and also a chef.
I actually learned to cook in hotel rooms
around the world when I was working on some jobs.
Did take some time to go to an Indian cooking school
in London where I learned the foundations
of flavor profiles and how to cook with whole spices.
Just unlocked a world of opportunities.
- Hi guys.
I am Olivia.
I am a recipe developer.
I have a passion
for creating recipes that are healthy, nutritious,
and of course delicious for people who are at home.
- I love tacos.
A perfect taco's got some kind of smokiness.
It's gotta be a little bit of heat.
- I think simplicity,
a few elements done really well.
- I want it to be diverse.
Flavor bomb.
Create a party in my mouth.
- Colorful, like a quinceanera, like a fiesta.
- So we're gonna try each other's tacos.
Rate them out of 10.
- The highest score wins the coveted Buzzfeed Taco Award.
- [Tom] Woohoo. - Right?
- [Tom] Yeah, that's right. That's great.
- We got a Buzzfeed taco.
Yeah, there's a Buzzfeed taco.
Yeah, we'll get to it.
- Let's do this.
(smacks lips)
- Today I am cooking portobello mushroom tacos.
They are going to be an absolute winner
because of the beautiful orange marinade
and the smoky flavor that will come out of the mushrooms.
So first we're gonna make our flower tortillas.
I'm going to start with some plain flour,
warm water, got some oil, salt,
and I'm just gonna give it a mix.
Make sure all of that flour and water has come together.
So just gonna give it a light knead.
I'm going to bring it into a nice clean ball.
Leave that to rest for about 15, 20 minutes.
So now we're gonna start
with marinating the portobello mushrooms.
We're going to chop the stems off,
cut them in half.
So portobello mushrooms are a great sort of meat substitute.
I'm gonna add some freshly squeezed orange juice,
freshly squeezed lime juice, add some crush garlic.
Got some paprika here, some cumin, and I've got some chili.
Not too much, I think I killed them last time.
A stir.
Just be careful, gently fold through the marinade.
And that's it.
And now we're making the guacamole.
So I've got two smashed avocados in a bowl.
I'm gonna add some salt.
I'm then gonna add some cracked pepper.
Juice of a lime here.
And I've got some lime zest, so that adds just extra tang.
And I'm just gonna give them a mix.
And that's it.
Okay, that's ready to be put aside.
Now we're going to make a pineapple salsa
just for a bit of freshness and crunch.
So I've just got some pineapple, freshly diced.
some orange capsicum,
fresh coriander, fresh chilies.
These aren't too hot.
I've got some lime juice, freshly squeezed.
Some olive oil.
Season with some salt.
This is gonna add a beautiful crunch.
So we're ready to roll out our tortillas.
They shouldn't be too thin.
Probably go for like a two millimeter thickness.
Now I'm going to fry my handmade flour tortillas.
Flip them when they are starting to char on each side.
Ready to grill our mushrooms.
I'm gonna grill them on a nice high heat
so they get a beautiful char.
Just a couple of minutes on each side.
So we're ready to plate.
I'm going to add my guacamole,
my chard mushrooms,
the salsa,
and just finish it off with a sprinkle of paprika.
(fiesta music)
Mm very good.
Fresh.
The mushrooms are really, really tender.
- Okay, I love that I'm looking
at a tortilla with some nice char spots.
- Ooh. That looks surprisingly meaty.
- I love the presentation.
It's very rustic.
Smells really smoky.
- Now that is a tortilla cooked with love and heat.
- She's juicy.
- It's so citrusy.
- Very smokey.
Oh, spicy.
- I just got a really good hit of lime, which I love.
Freshness on top.
And I really like the pineapple.
It's like little bursts of juicy goodness.
It's so delicious.
- This is incredible.
Bringing it back to simplicity.
This is a perfectly balanced taco.
I wish you could try it with me.
- The mushrooms has a very nutty, smoky flavor.
I do enjoy things that are spicy
and this definitely has a strong kick to it.
- This is homemade because of those char marks.
You don't get that with store bought ones.
Yeah, I'm very impressed that they made their own.
- Let's talk presentation, immaculate.
Love the colors.
You can tell that every ingredient
has been cooked with care.
It's like a song in my mouth and it's just singing.
I gotta give it nine outta 10.
(chime)
- A different take on a taco.
It's still very delicious.
I would rate it a seven and a half out of 10.
(chime)
- I really like it.
'Cuz I always like to add veggies to things,
I would probably just add some like,
some salad leaves.
But that would be my only critique.
A seven and a half out of 10. (chime)
- Today I'm gonna be serving up
my southeast Asian inspired taco.
There's no cooking involved.
Really easy to put together and you're gonna love it.
Grab yourself a mixing bowl
and I've got about two heap or three heap tablespoon
of vegan mayo right here.
Half an avocado.
Mash it and turn it into a cream.
Give that a good whirl.
Give that a good mix.
Put that aside.
So now we're gonna put our simple salsa together.
I've got two tablespoons of chopped cherry tomatoes.
Chopped cucumber.
We probably have about half a cup right here.
So I've got a bit of salt here, just a pinch.
And give it a good mix.
So that's done.
We're ready to go.
Put this aside.
I grab this tofu from our local supermarket,
diced it up into thinly slice,
dressed it with a sweet chili sauce,
and there you go.
So now we're gonna assemble our taco.
So we're gonna start with our mixed green leaf salad.
So we're just gonna layer it
with this nice tofu that we've thinly sliced earlier.
Grab our salsa mix.
Drizzle that on top.
There you go.
We're gonna do the creamy guacamole that we did earlier.
Don't be afraid.
So the last and final step, our thinly sliced red onions.
And look at that.
Who's not gonna fall in love with that?
That is beautiful.
And that is the winning taco right there.
Wow.
(taco crunches)
Oh this is freaking delicious and crispy.
Yee haw.
(fingers knocking on table)
(fingers snapping)
- Crispy tacos.
Look, I don't care what anyone says,
I love a crispy taco.
- The salad leaves.
This one has salad leaves.
I like it.
- I'm loving the freshness.
I like the fact that they've used tofu.
I would've never thought to use tofu in a taco.
- I'm gonna go ahead and squeeze some of that on there.
- All right, time to tuck in.
(tacos crunching)
- Mm, it's that crunch.
- Yum, I really like the flavor on the tofu.
I think it's sweet chili
- Bright, forward, citrus flavors.
It's the textures in there that are really
really selling it to me.
- I would've loved if the taco was toasted.
- I love a hard shell for something different.
I love corn chips,
so this is pretty much
a big corn chip to hold all the goodness.
- Quick to put together, which is nice.
I like that.
I just feel like there needs to be a warm element in here.
Nothing is sort of cooked in this.
- Thank you, Buzzfeed approved tissues.
There's almost like a sweet chili thing in the tofu
which is obviously taking me to Asia.
And I've always thought of like Mexican cooking and
Asian cooking as kind of like very, very close cousins.
This particular flavor combination is, it's so different.
I'm loving it.
I'm gonna give that eight outta 10.
(chime)
- With the tomatoes and the guac, it's quite soft on top.
So something a little bit more crunchy.
But otherwise there's really not much to critique.
I think it's really good flavor.
An eight out of 10. (chime)
- I think I'm gonna have to give this a six outta 10.
(chime)
- This is my breakfast or any time taco.
I was living in Los Angeles
and just eating all the Mexican food that I could
and stumbled upon this one amazing place called HomeState,
which is this beautiful breakfast taco joint.
And I just took all of their flavors,
all of their secrets, back home.
And this is something that I've been cooking
at home ever since then.
First, we're gonna start off with the base of our taco.
Just waiting for those, waiting for those onions to cook.
You cannot rush perfection.
Where's our music at?
Where's my TikTok dance at?
- [Woman] Hey.
(fiesta music)
- [Woman] Yeah, yeah, yeah.
- Doing the onion dance.
In with our garlic.
That doesn't need to be in there for too long.
In with our spices.
Cumin, your paprika, your coriander,
whatever fun things you've put in there.
Then we're gonna go in with our tin of black beans.
That natural liquid in there
is going to sort of emulsify.
Let that simmer away.
You want it to reduce down a little bit
and it's only gonna take between five and 10 minutes.
It's time to get in there and mash 'em.
We can just do that straight in the pan.
I prefer a little bit of a rough mash.
Nice pinch of salt, fresh cracked pepper.
Give that a good stir.
Let's go into some oil and our onions.
Capsicum.
I like to season as we go.
We're gonna go in with our ground spice mixture.
And the smell coming off these guys is incredible.
And now a very simple pico de gallo.
All we're doing is combining some diced tomato,
some diced jalapeno, some diced onion, coriander,
and the juice of one whole lime.
That is a holy trinity of flavor.
A little bit of salt.
Beautiful.
Now it's time to assemble our taco.
We're gonna start off with our refried black bean mash.
Top that off with some of our vegetables.
And ah, some of these jammy caramelized onions.
Homemade pico de gallo.
And that is just gonna be so fresh, tangy.
Topping with some of our pickled red onions and radishes.
Top that with a little bit of avocado
and garnish with a sprigg of coriander
and a fresh bit of lime.
Let's squeeze some of that lime on there.
You can also add your favorite hot sauce,
but today, I'm just going in.
I'm too hungry.
Ain't nobody got time for that.
(classical music playing)
Mm. Okay, That's so good.
I can hear my mom in the back of my head saying,
"Don't talk with your mouth full, Remy."
- Oh, it smells so good.
It smells really fresh.
A lot acidity happening here.
I can see it and I can smell it.
It really looks like pulled beef
- Beans, refried beans,
which is always a good thing.
Looks good.
I like the different elements.
- Could have been a little more generous with the avocado.
I've got one tiny little sliver.
- Give it a squeeze.
See that? Nice and secure.
Cheers.
(clinking sound)
Clink.
- All right, I'm going in.
(chewing sounds)
- So much flavor.
- The beans have been done well.
Nice and velvety.
Very soft.
- I'm a big fan of pickles, so that's really delicious.
- It's fresh and has a savory flavor to it as well.
It's got a pretty good umami to it.
- The contrast of the pickled radish
with the salsa and the beans
gives it like a bit of a complex flavor.
I really like that.
- My only critique with this one
would be if they left a little bit more
texture with the beans.
If they didn't mash it so much that it's like a puree.
I think a lot of it is a similar texture.
I'm going to give that one an eight and a half out of 10.
(chime)
- Easy, simple, winning taco.
Do you know what I would add?
Just something a little bit crunchy.
A solid eight.
(chime)
- One of the best tacos I've ever had.
Damn.
Nine out of 10. (chime)
- Today, I'm going to be making my sticky Asian tofu tacos.
Now hold on, don't get ahead of yourselves.
Tofu, yes can get a bad rap.
It can be bland, it can be boring.
But today I'm gonna show you how to make it super delicious.
So we're gonna get started with our sauce.
We've got some soy sauce,
Rice wine vinegar.
Just a little splash of that.
Wheat soy sauce.
So that's gonna make it sticky and delicious.
Also, a little bit of sugar,
that's gonna help with that as well.
Pinch of white pepper.
Finally chopped garlic and some ginger.
And we're just gonna give
that a really good stir until the sugar dissolves.
Okay, so now it's time to get onto the slaw.
I have finally shredded white cabbage
along with some red cabbage.
The whites of the spring onion.
And then now I'm gonna go in
with some vegan mayo along with our sriracha.
Toss all of that together.
Okay, so now for our tofu,
we want to get rid of all of the moisture,
so what I've done here is just dab it dry
with some paper towel.
Moisture really is the devil
if you're trying to get something crunchy.
So now it's time to, just in a large bowl,
you just wanna crumble it up.
And big pieces and small pieces are really good
cause that's just gonna provide more texture.
Okay, so now all we're gonna add to that tofu
is a heaped tablespoon of some corn flour.
So now it's time to fry up our tofu.
So now that our pan is preheated,
and the oil is nice and hot, we can go in with our tofu.
So just laddle that in there.
You wanna allow it to get a little bit crispy
and browned on the bottom,
so give it at least 30 seconds
before you start to move it around.
Okay, so this tofu is looking good.
Nice and crispy.
Nice and golden brown.
So just set it aside in a separate bowl.
And now we're just gonna give our sauce
a really quick little stir.
Add it to the pan.
Two minutes maximum.
Stir until it's slightly thickens.
And then we'll add our tofu.
Coat every little piece of that tofu
with this delicious sauce.
Okay, I'm happy with that.
Not too saucy.
It's nice and sticky.
Everything's just coated.
So I'm gonna remove that from the pan.
Let's plate up these tacos.
We're just gonna get the cabbage right in the middle.
And then next up, you wanna get a little bit of your tofu.
Pile that on too.
Be generous.
Okay, next up, our pickled cucumbers.
Also the green parts of the spring onions
are really good to top these with as well.
And finally, our toasted sesame seeds.
All right, now it's time to tuck in.
This is a quite the mountain.
I mean, I did say you should make it big,
but this is big.
There's no pretty way to do this,
you just gotta go for it.
- What is this?
This looks amazing.
- Wow. This is very different.
- Yes, yes, yes.
Smells like teriyaki.
I'm guessing it's tofu.
- It's a really cool mashup.
I'm very intrigued.
- Sesame seeds.
The spring onions
and what looks like a kind of a teriyaki situation.
Mexican and Asian.
I don't know what this is gonna taste like
but we're gonna find out.
- Okay, let's do this.
(chewing sounds)
- Oh my god.
Who made this?
- I like what they've done with the tofu.
Soy and honey coating.
I think it's a good fusion.
- That is the most savory taco I've ever had.
Teriyaki sort of feel and flavor.
- Sweet, sticky, salty, savory.
I would pay top dollar for that in any restaurant.
- It's really interesting.
It's something I would definitely be inspired to make
for like a dinner party.
- Very Southeast Asian.
Legit Southeast Asian taco.
I really enjoyed the flavor.
Very generous with the filling.
Personally, I would've preferred a little bit more
acidity component into this.
- You know what I would maybe put on this?
Like fried shallots,
just to have that little bit of crunch.
Other than that, I like it.
I think it's a good taco.
I'm gonna give it an eight.
(chime)
- You know that those like Peking duck pancakes
that you get with the cucumber and the...
Mm.
Amazing.
10 out of 10. (chime)
- It just lacks a tad bit of freshness.
I think, you know what would really work well?
Pickled cucumber.
Seven out of 10. (chime)
- [Tom] The winner of Chefs try each other's vegan tacos
is Remy.
- What? (bell ringing)
No!
What an honor.
No, that's amazing.
I'm incredibly humbled.
Thank you very much for having me.
Bye.
(chefs laughing)
(bright music)