- Tucker's taste buds are gonna explode
when they taste this sandwich.
- [Rachel] I don't think I've ever been more excited
for something I've made, ever.
- That is unbelievable.
- This would be like the last meal
I would eat before I died.
- Hey, what's up everybody?
It's your girl Merle.
- Hi, I'm Rachel.
- And today we are gonna be making two vegan sandwiches
at two different price points.
- One of us is gonna be making a $4 sandwich
and the other person will be making a $24 sandwich.
- And then at the end, we will have our friend Tucker
come in and see which one of the sandwiches
is the best value for its price.
- Yaysh. Okay.
So we are gonna flip a nickel today
because we don't have a quarter.
- You didn't need to tell them that.
- And see-
Okay, so heads will be expensive.
Tails will be cheap.
- Okay.
- Y'all ready for this?
- Yes.
(suspenseful orchestral music)
(dramatic music)
(suspenseful orchestral music)
(Rachel gasps)
- I got expensive.
Heads! - Yay!
Can't wait to be the cheap one again.
We know how well that bodes for me, but you know what?
I won't let that hold my back.
- You've won it cheap before.
- Once.
- You know what?
I also have to say, I am so excited to make sandwiches
because I freaking love sandwiches so much.
Like I don't think you guys understand.
I almost made an entire Instagram
dedicated to vegan sandwiches.
(Merle laughs)
And I just, I love sandwiches.
They're my love language.
- Wow.
- Okay, you ready for this?
- Yeah, I'm ready.
- Oh. - Whoo, okay.
Yeah!
So my plan of attack for the $4 vegan sandwich
is to make a vegan banh mi.
I love banh mi.
Like it is one of my favorite,
if not my favorite sandwich in the world.
Banh mi traditionally is a Vietnamese sandwich.
I get it all the time from this place
called Mendocino Farms with Rachel,
whenever we're doing like a little park picnic.
Nobody asked me, but I'm just telling you
how much I love banh mi.
So today instead of meat,
we're gonna be using tofu because it's cheap.
I'm using extra firm tofu,
and I'm gonna be cutting one third of a block.
And then I'm gonna cut this into three,
like half inch planks.
So let's make our marinade.
We're going to be adding together some soy sauce,
some rice vinegar, maple syrup,
some ginger and garlic and some oil.
Now we're just gonna mix that all up.
That's a horrible sound.
It's the opposite of ASMR.
(spoon scraping)
How to become more stressed.
Then we're gonna plop our little tofu planks
into this delicious bath.
It sounds disgusting.
Ay carumba. Okay.
We wanna make sure that the marinade is evenly covering
these little plankies as best it can.
And while these are marinating, we're gonna go ahead
and make our mushroom pate.
For our mushroom pate, we are going to set our pan
to a medium high heat, and we're gonna add in
neutral oil, some onion.
We're just gonna saute our adorably diced onions
until they are translucent, so about a minute or so.
We're gonna add our mushrooms in now,
and we are going to let them cook down
until they've released most of their liquid.
That'll give them an opportunity
to start to kind of brown up and get a little bit
of the golden brown color that we are looking for.
Of course, as you know, I'm working on a budget here,
but it can be really nice to add walnuts into the mix here.
So if you've got walnuts at home and you wanna kick it up
to the next level, you can toss them in there.
They'll be a nice addition to this.
Okay, so our mushrooms have lost
quite a bit of their liquid, and we're gonna go ahead
and add in some ginger, garlic, Worcester sauce
and good old soy sauce.
The Worcester sauce that we're using is vegan.
So I don't want to see any of you tip, tap typing away
in the comments telling me Worcester sauce isn't vegan.
'Cause this one is, okay?
And mix that up.
These are looking splendid.
All right, so I'm just going to put my mushrooms
in the food processor and we're gonna blend that up
until it is nice and smooth,
to the consistency of a traditional pate.
All right, this is looking pretty pate,
if I do say so myself.
We're gonna just take out the pate
and add it to our little ramekin here.
And now we're gonna fry up our tofu
and to achieve a nice crisp on the outside of our tofu,
we're gonna be using corn starch.
So I'm gonna just take one of my little tofu planks
and coat it a little bit first.
Now I'm gonna add some oil to my pan.
I'm gonna let that heat up a little bit.
Now I'm gonna add my tofu in and I'm just gonna go ahead
and do the same to the rest of them.
Let's take a looky loo at this first one.
Oh yeah.
Rachel doesn't know what's coming.
Let's just put it that way.
Now all that's left to do is to assemble our sandwich.
I'm gonna start by smothering one half
of this with my mushroom pate
and we're gonna use every last drop of this
because it's tasty.
Then on the other side, I'm gonna spread
some vegan chipotle mayo.
Ooh yeah.
Tucker, his taste buds are gonna be singing.
Then we will place our beautifully fried tofu planks
on there, add some cucumber slices.
Those cucumbers are gonna add a nice refreshing crunch.
Then I've got some cabbage slaw here that I whipped up
and it's just cabbage with lime juice and salt.
It looks so pretty.
We'll add some jalapeno.
Some like it hot.
I don't know if Tucker does,
so I'm not gonna go totally wild.
Then I've got some quick pickled daikon and carrot here
and then some quick pickled red onions,
a wonderful addition to any sandwich,
honestly, if you ask me.
All right here we go.
(groans) Over she goes.
Oh my goodness. (crowd cheers)
What a gorgeous ensemble.
Paparazzi, get up in there in that sandwich.
It's so beautiful.
Look at all the colors.
Representative of all the flavors.
Tucker's taste buds are gonna explode
when they taste the sandwich.
Gaewski, wherever you are out there,
just, just...
Just, okay? Just.
Now it's time for Rachel to try to make
her bougie (beep) sandwich.
Good luck to you, Rach.
- Okay, so it is my turn to make a sandwich.
I have $24 to make this sandwich, which is crazy.
So I'm actually pulling some inspiration here
from a sandwich I used to have in college.
It was this Italian panini called the imports mix.
And it had like prosciutto and soppressata
and olive tapenade.
So yeah, I haven't had this sandwich is so long.
So I'm gonna get started by making a pesto.
First, I'm gonna add some basil to a food processor.
And then this is the special ingredient
that's gonna rack up the cash.
This is truffle oil that I'm using instead of olive oil.
I've never had truffle oil pesto.
It sounds bougie as (beep).
You know, we're going for it, guys.
Gonna do some pine nuts, also expensive,
a little bit of garlic, a little bit of lemon juice,
pinch of salt, and just a little bit of water.
I can always add some more after if I need more.
Let's blend her up. (food processor whirring)
Alrighty.
Woo, that is funky. That truffle smell.
All right, so this looks delicious.
It smells expensive.
So now keeping in line with my Italian theme,
I'm gonna make a roasted red pepper spread.
So I'm gonna add some roasted red pepper,
and then I'm gonna do some walnuts.
Somebody couldn't afford walnuts,
but we've got them right here
and then we're gonna add a little bit of olive oil,
some lemon juice, garlic, a little bit of cumin
for some like earthiness, a little bit of paprika
and then just a little bit of salt.
(food processor whirring)
Okay. Look at this gorgeous color.
Oh my goodness. This is so beautiful.
So now I'm gonna make an olive tapenade
because you know we need another spread.
I'm gonna add some of these green olives.
They're called Castelvetrano olives.
Amazing Italian, if you've ever heard it.
Now we're gonna add some kalamata olives,
some artichokes, too, some parsley,
a little bit of olive oil,
some garlic and some lemon juice.
We don't want it to be totally smooth.
We still want it to have some texture.
Yeah, this looks freaking amazing.
Okay, it is time to assemble our sandwich.
I am so excited. Look at this freaking spread.
We're gonna start off with the roasted red pepper sauce.
This looks so beautiful on here.
Now on this side, I'm gonna add my truffle oil pesto.
That truffle oil is potent, but in a very good way.
So this prosciutto and carpaccio was made in Italy.
So this actually is an imports mix
and I'm gonna go heavy on the meats,
which is how I like to play it.
Oh my God. This looks like prosciutto.
We're gonna do some carpaccio.
And this is where things are gonna start to add up
a little bit, you know, but we are going all out here.
This looks like actual deli meat and that's not all,
because we also have some soppressata.
I cut into very thin slices.
So I'm just gonna add that on as well.
Oh baby.
All right, now I have some Miyoko's cashew mozzarella,
also pretty pricey, but very worth it.
So we're gonna add this on like so,
and then I'm gonna add some provolone cheese
because one type of cheese is not enough.
Oh my God.
I think this is like my favorite thing I've ever made.
Now we're gonna add some of our olive tapenade.
Oh my God!
This would be like the last meal I would eat before I died.
Now we're gonna do some arugula on top
and we're gonna put the little hat back on.
Wow. Holy (beeps).
This looks so good. Okay.
I'm gonna spray my pan with some olive oil.
Bring it over here. Ready?
(groans) Without breaking the bread.
We don't wanna break the bread.
There we go.
I did, in fact, crack the bread a little bit.
I think you're actually supposed
to just let it sit on there.
You're not supposed to actually try to like murder it,
but guys, we are experiencing this journey together.
Now I'm going to very carefully flip this over.
Okay, and we're gonna press this side down and it's okay
if it's a little bit messy and there's red pepper sauce
flying out the side because it's rustic.
It's supposed to be a little messy.
All right, now I'm gonna attempt to melt the cheese
a little bit more.
It's hard to melt vegan cheese, but we're gonna try.
Did the vegan cheese melt perfectly?
No, it didn't, but that's okay.
This looks so good.
I don't think I've ever been more excited
for something I've made, ever.
So now Tucker's gonna come and taste test and pick a winner.
Okay, Tucker. Welcome.
- Wow.
- We made two different sandwiches
at two different price points.
One was a cheap budget and one had an expensive budget.
You're gonna tell us which sandwich
do you think the best value.
So why don't you go ahead
and first try the sandwich on your left?
- Absolutely.
Oh, it comes with a sauce.
We're just gonna dig in.
Okay, he is spilling everywhere.
Uh-huh. (light whimsical music)
Oh, hello!
That's what we call, in the biz, a sandwich.
Okay, this has gotta be like a little tofu action.
I'm into a tofu as a bun with other stuff on top,
because if I was just like eating tofu straight up,
I'd go mm, maybe no, but this delish.
Oh. (moaning) (women laughing)
- Oh my God. (laughs)
- Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh!
I don't know what I did wrong on the first bite,
but the second bite was like way more flavorful.
That's unbelievable.
- Oh wow. - Unbelievable.
- So there's like this pate on there.
What do you think that pate is made out of?
- That's gotta be a mush. - Wow.
- It's gotta be a mushroom.
- You're truly a savant.
- Ah! - Truly.
- A savant? - You know?
- This one looks expensive, I must say.
Oh. (moaning) (women laughing)
Oh!
This is actually kind of scary to me
because this fully looks and tastes like meat to me.
Well that, legally, that's a meat.
If we look at the law, the law tells us that's a meat.
Oh my gosh. (record scratching)
I'm sorry, there's multiple types of meat on here.
This one is really good, too.
I'm like the worst.
I'm the worst because I'm just like, mm, that's good.
I just can't tell which one's like what price point.
- That's even more interesting, if you can't tell.
- Interesting is one word for it.
(Tucker moans)
- This one on your left is $4 to make the sandwich.
- You're lying.
I'm sorry, sorry. - May I continue?
And that one on your right is $24.
- Whoa! That is unbelievable.
- So based on that knowledge, which sandwich do you think
has the best value for its price?
- When I go to a restaurant,
if I saw something that was $24,
he turns around and I walk out and I go, excuse me,
I can't give you half my net worth for this one sandwich.
(women laughing) You know? Absurd.
In that aspect, I look at this sandwich,
I go yum, yum, I want that in my tum.
If I was like, oh, I am craving like a meat option,
I look at this and I go, okay,
maybe you do have to get that wallet out.
However, all factors considered.
I have to go with this one, and I'm so sorry.
(Merle cheering) (Rachel groaning)
I don't know whose it was, I don't know whose it was.
- It's me, it's me, it's me.
- Oh my God.
- I knew it! - Yay!
- And you know what?
- It's 'cause you didn't say I'm gonna win.
- It's 'cause I didn't say you were gonna win this time.
- Banh mis don't mess around.
- I remember having banh mi at a food truck
at my high school homecoming game.
Was I playing? No, I didn't play sports.
But I got a banh mi, and I'll tell you what.
This one's better.
- Yes! - 100%, and cheaper!
- Way to go, Merle.
- Thank you. - Oh my God.
- I will take that win with pride.
- I'll take this to go.
- Okay, so we are gonna give the people what they want.
(Merle cheers)
And we are gonna try these sandwiches now.
You wanna do the banh mi?
Oh my Lordy. - Oh, wow.
How do you approach this thing?
- Mm.
- Oh. (beeps) - Mm-hmm.
- I did it. - Mm-hmm.
- I think where this wins is like,
there's so many different flavors coming together.
It feels expensive, 'cause it's like a complexity of flavor.
- Mm-hmm, she's got flavor.
- 'Cause it's like, it doesn't have to be cheap and sad.
It can be cheap and delicious.
- There's no PB and J.
Okay, now let's try the imports mix.
- Yeah. - I am dying to try this.
- I'm dying to try your fricking pocket of meats here.
I'm like, what is this?
What's going on here?
- Oh my God.
- Whoo. That's meaty and I like it.
You know what I mean?
This should be in a calzone.
I would slurp that down real quick.
- I don't love your choice of words.
- You don't wanna see me with a calzone, trust me.
- Okay, I gotta say, this is fantastic.
Is it worth $24?
No. - Afraid not.
- But if you are willing to spend half your net worth
on a sandwich, you should make this.
So let us know in the comments below
what you want us to make next for our next challenge.
- And we'll probably do it.
- Hey, that's where I got this idea.
It was in the comments section. So you know, it happens.
- Bye. - Goodbye!
- Buh-bye.
Bye-bye now.
Goodbye.
- All right. (Merle laughs)
- [Merle] I just kneel right into the pastrami
that's down here.
- [Rachel] Oh my God. This sandwich is so good.
(bright jazzy music)