[Synth Music Playing]
[KF Seetoh] So, how long has Shin Yeh been around?
[Joan speaking] It's been around for 35 years or so.
It was open because the owner wanted to kind of create a nice place for families
to come and have Taiwanese food, you know......
In the beginning — in the 70s — you would either eat at home, right?
Or you would eat, like, street food.
[KF Seetoh] You know, this looks simple, like an omelet.
It's got preserved radish in there.
It gives it a salty, umami flavor.
But if you watch the chef put this together in a wok,
it's all craft. He shapes this with just chopsticks. It's never more, nothing....
And he rocks the wok, controls the fire....
And uh....
I don't believe any Mommy can do that. This is not really.... (laughs) .... comfort food
[KF Seetoh] .....But, you know, they're taking this to another level. [Joan] Well, yeah, yeah, right, of course.
[KF Seetoh] Of course, back in the day, when you do dishes like this, is very humble, is very simple.
[Joan] Yeah, well, my parents made that for us when, you know, we were kids in the States....
....and, um.... you know, that's kind of one of the dishes, like, you're saying....
My mom could make.... Obviously she couldn't make all of these dishes, but....
[KF Seetoh] I understand their intent was to take this humble, simple, traditional heritage food....
....family heritage food to another level, and they've done so.
How many outlets do they have now?
[Joan] They have 17 in Taiwan....
And seven in Taipei.
And that's just for the Taiwanese food. They also have, um....
....like, a Japanese-style buffet which we love as well.
[KF Seetoh] And you know, they serve this.... They serve all these dishes with this.....
....humble — really humble — staple. It's rice congee with sweet potato or taro.
And why did they have taro back in the day?
I think what happened during the war, or hardship days....
It was difficult to get rice so they added [...], which is a sweet taro in there, and, uh.....
Oh, it's nice.
[Joan] Yeah, they give you, like, a big pot of it and....
and uh....
And it's good to go with all the savory dishes that we order.
[KF Seetoh] So, you can't really come to Taiwan and not leave this place without having meals like this, and.....
and if you like it done in comfort,
you got to do a meal here at Shin Yeh.
They take these comfort heritage dishes to another level.
[Joan] Yeah, if you want a taste of what locals come to eat, and
what locals — where locals bring their families to eat, then... Shin Yeh is definitely good place.
[KF Seetoh] You heard it right here. [Joan chuckles]
[KF Seetoh] So, this is a classic Chinese kitchen.
Um.
How do you recognize a Chinese kitchen when you walk into one?
It's the roar of the wok.
Every wok is going *RAAAARRRRRRR*
because fire and the wok is very important.
A typical Chinese kitchen has a few sections.
There's a deep fryer in rows — that section.
There's a steamed section. And there is a wok — a stir fry section.
These three to four components make up the techniques that's introduced in Chinese cuisine.
And one of the most difficult — I understand — the most difficult sections in a Chinese kitchen.....
You don't get to touch this department unless you've got, like, five to ten years of experience in the kitchen....
This is the steam section.
It's not as easy as you think.
Learning the art of steaming, um.....
To steam a really nice fish. For example, this — like, a trout or a barramundi....
You got to understand the fish, you got to understand the texture,
you got to understand just how fresh the fish is,
so you know - just how much and how long to introduce steam-time into it.
Deep-fried Department. So, they fry all kinds of stuff.
Chicken. They are frying fish cakes right now.
The main section is the wok section.
[Upbeat Taiwanese Music]
[KF Seetoh] Well, look. They are frying a simple pickled daikon omelette.
Isn't as simple as it looks!
Oh, look at that! That's not easy to do at all!
Lift the omelet up, let some oil in.
So he fries it inside. So, it's sort of a layering inside.
It's airy.
[Upbeat Taiwanese Music playing]
And that is why you don't get to be a chef in this department — the wok section,
until you've got at least five to ten years of experience behind you.
It's just one omelet, this one dish.
Let's see more other dishes now.
This is a very old-fashioned Chinese dish. It's called three-cup chicken,
meaning one portion of wine, one portion of sesame oil, one portion of soy sauce....
And you're going to burn all that over high fire.
Just extract the flavors.
[...] from all the oils and soy.
Our chicken and they've got basil, and there's garlic and ginger in there....
[Upbeat Taiwanese Music playing]
So, chef says when you do that,
you will extract flavors of the garlic and the ginger *before* you pan fire.
So, they say — a single portion of soy sauce.
A single portion of wine.
There's more soy sauce.
These kinds of dishes are the kind of stuff Mom would cook at home.
It bring your family together, because it's so comforting, it's so warm.
Over a bowl of rice. Except Mom doesn't use this kind of equipment back home.
She uses a simpler stove, but the ingredients, the techniques, the approach — is all the same love.
So, what Chef is doing right now is just reducing all those flavors....
And once it's dry and lightly sauce-y enough,
that's when all the flavors come together.
Chef will be introducing the basil.
And a little bit of chili, just to give it a little kick....
And that — just sweet aroma of basil.
So, I was just telling Chef, sometimes people use lemongrass instead of basil.....
And he's said it's not as popular, but there are some Chinese kitchens that do this. Whoooooo!
So, it's got to go for one more round of cooking.
So, this is a little iron pot.
Traditionally people use clay pot, but he use a steel pot,
So I think the fire distribution is so much better.
And it's safer, it doesn't crack so often.
So he wants to just sear it quickly in this hot pot.
He covers it.
Whew!
If ever there was Smell-evision, you'd be crying by now.
[Upbeat Taiwanese Music playing]
Very simple green dish.
It's taro leaves, fried very simply with garlic, a little bit of a flavoring or chicken powder.
But really what brings this out is how they bring....
...the fire into the dish.
So, fire is a big act in the whole recipe.
You can't get this with your little Mickey Mouse woks at home.
[Upbeat Taiwanese Music playing]
The thing about this — it looks soggy, but it really isn't, if you do it....
If you don't have that kind of fire, these vegetables will just go mushy.
And it's not nice. You gotta have some softness, some kind of crunch in there,
and those garlic — it just permeates throughout this whole dish.
It is a very comforting little plate of greens to have.
So, this is the Gua Bao. It's a steamed white bun,
And it's got soy braised belly pork.
And out comes the bun.
It's a chili peanut.
[speaking Taiwanese]
That's, uh, salted vegetables with a bit of chili in there.
Just imagine the flavors. You have the chili sauce,
the peanut, and the salted braised vegetables with hint of chili, bit of cilantro....
.....and then the main act. A piece of belly pork.
Wrap. Wrap.
[speaking Taiwanese]
So, this is how they serve it here. They don't let, uh....
.....an iota of flavor escape. So, they wrap them up,
....serve you like this, so when you open it — Whoop!
There you go.
Wow, wow, wow, wow, wow.....
Can you just imagine biting into this?!
The salted vegetables, the chili sauce, the nuts, the fat....
Pork, gummy, sweet buns — all coming together....!
[Upbeat Taiwanese Music playing]