(chewing noises)
- It doesn't even taste Vietnamese, you know?
- Oooh.
- Bro.
(all laughing)
- I knew it.
- Hi guys, my name is Yen.
I'm a food blogger here in San Francisco, California.
Today, I'm gonna be trying three different Vietnamese dishes
from three different guys.
And based on which one I liked the most,
I'm gonna go on a date with him,
and yeah, it's just purely based on his dish.
I don't know what he looks like, so I hope he looks good.
So, I'm actually from Vietnam.
I have a banh mi tattoo.
I know a lot about Vietnamese cuisine.
I've cooked a lot of Vietnamese dishes,
so they're gonna have to bring their A game.
- Yo, I'm Terry.
- Hi, my name is Vinh-Khoi.
- Hi, I'm Johnny.
- I don't know, man.
I spilled my Tupperware all over my car this morning.
- I'm confident, you know,
I've watched a few season Master Chef, so like,
I know what's up.
(chuckles)
(calm hip hop music)
- I like a lot of fried stuff, like I'm a fatty.
So, like I made banh khot.
Basically, like mini versions of banh xeo,
like the Vietnamese fried crepe thing,
except they like come in little circles, right?
Like finger picking food, like you can just grab one,
and like stuff one in your face.
I tried making in two variations.
The first one being circular balls,
which banh khot usually it comes in.
The other variation I also tried making it
into heart shapes.
Adding a little love to it, I messed up the batch though.
As you can see from here, they're all dried and shriveled.
(mischievous music)
- So, it smells good because of the fish sauce too.
- You put fish sauce in there, or is that cham?
- That is fish sauce.
- It's, it's ummm, banh khot.
- Let's go!
- Let's go, she speaks Viet!
- It looks like banh khot cause usually banh khot is like
tapioca, deep fried tapioca thing with shrimp on top.
But it looks, it looks a little strange.
(giggling)
- Bruh.
- W-what is?
(laughing)
- What is it Terry?
- It's my heart.
- Oh, it smells good.
(crunching sounds)
Hmm, that's the batter of the banh khot.
Some dude really putting an effort to make it a heart shape
it's kinda messed up, but-
- Bro, that is my best heart shape.
- I'm gonna try it now.
Mmmm, actually, not bad.
This person have a good understanding of Vietnamese food,
because not a lot of people know this dish.
It's not mainstream like pho or banh mi.
- She called me special.
- Wow.
- Called me special.
- The only thing is,
it's not crispy, and the batter might be
a little bit too heavy, so it was a bit chewy.
- That's my style dude.
- And banh khot is supposed to be crispy,
I think it's good though.
I think he puts an effort.
- Damn, putting in hat effort Terry.
- This, this dish is not a common dish to make.
And it's also not the easiest either.
You have to get the batter, right,
and then you have to have this little tray
with holes in them.
So he has to stuff, I think, or unless he used, like a,
how did he make this?
- How did you make that?
- The pan dude.
- Oooh.
- He doesn't take any shortcuts it seems.
Unless he bought the fish sauce.
- Did you buy the fish sauce?
- No, I made.
- I think he's a, he's potentially a good guy.
- Who...you...from scratch?
- What, you actually made your own fish sauce?
- Yeah.
I did not expect to see banh khot here.
(romantic music)
- So I made a dish that's very close to my hometown
called ram bap.
Essentially corn spring rolls.
It's very specific to the province I'm from, Quang Ngai.
- Wow.
- Yeah, Quang Ngai.
That's a- that's some pronunciation (laughs)
- We got butter lettuce.
We got cucumbers, we got mints.
And then we got some cilantro.
- Is that a salad?
And then the dipping sauce is soy sauce,
fermented tofu, Thai chili peppers, and then lime juice.
Hopefully she doesn't think this is gentrified food, so.
- Ooooo, egg rolls, okay.
Did he plate this?
Wow, he, he did a very nice job plating it.
Mmm.
Soy sauce, but I do have a question,
Why is it not fish sauce?
Vietnamese egg rolls, we don't use soy sauce.
That's a problem.
- Ouch, she tossed my soy sauce a problem.
(crunching sounds)
- What is that face?
Wait, what is that face she's making?
- Corn?
- Why is their corn in my egg rolls?
(laughing)
- Bro.
- It doesn't even taste Vietnamese.
(gasping)
- Bro.
(laughing)
- I knew it.
- You know, it's like one of those frozen egg rolls
from the American store.
- Yo, this guy was like, this dish is from my homeland.
- It doesn't taste bad but it's not Vietnamese.
We don't put corn in our egg rolls, this guy Vietnamese?
- Vinh's more Vietnamese than the two of us combined.
- I'm so confused.
- We cooked the dishes, but she's cooking you, bro.
- I don't think he's a real Vietnamese guy.
- He said it's local to his hometown.
What region of Vietnam put corns in their egg rolls?
- Bro (laughs)
- Yeah, Central Vietnamese from Quang Ngai.
- Given what I know that you said it's a region
and given that each of these looks different,
he did make these himself.
So I take back that it's more the frozen section.
- Honestly, I thought you were gonna get roasted.
- Yeah, I thought I was gonna get roasted like, this.
- I don't know, he's from a mysterious place in Vietnam
that I want to visit now.
I'm more curious about why he used soy sauce
instead of fish sauce.
- Did she notice that I put chao in there,
like the fermented tofu?
- I need to meet this guy.
I've never had this dish, so where in Vietnam is he from?
- Oh, my mind is confused.
- She's like questioning her own identity now.
- [Cameraman] Do you like it though?
- I like it, actually.
I like it, the more I eat, the more I like it.
I think the initial reaction was from, oh,
this is not what I'm used to.
- Yeah she got way nicer at the end.
(calm hip hop music)
- I'm hoping for a banh mi.
I hope one guy will bring me a banh mi
cause that's my favorite Vietnamese cuisine.
- So I made a banh mi brisket sandwich.
So it has some nice juicy brisket here with
pickled vegetables and fresh cilantro on top.
And I also made this Thai basil chimichurri that is
currently melting on my plate here.
(spoon scrapes plate)
- Ooh.
Oh, and there's limes here and a dipping sauce for dipping.
So it's kinda like pho but like in a banh mi.
And she has a, she has a freaking tattoo.
Uhhh, so standards are high.
- [Cameraman] You're gonna like this one.
- Oh, (laughs).
- Banh mi!
Banh mi!
(laughing)
- I like their reaction, bro.
- Okay, wow.
Who is this man?
Oh, it smells so good.
(laughing)
- What's up baby?
- It's a pho banh mi.
He incorporated pho ingredients.
The brisket, it's probably cooked pho broth or something.
- Oh, first sniff.
(chewing sounds)
- What the f-
He didn't make this, right?
He bought this from somewhere.
- I'm restaurant quality, baby.
- This too good.
- It's almost too good to be homemade.
- What she-
Too good to be homemade?
- Ouch!
- But I need more sriracha and hoisin.
(laughs)
- I, I put them in.
- I generally like my food a little bit more flavorful.
- What?
I put so much flavor in.
- He did have something in?
Okay, I'm actually I want to try the, the meat,
- She dissecting it.
- If he did make this, I am very impressed because
the meat is really tender.
It's just, uh, you know, put a little.
- That's a lot.
- Mmm, so much better.
- [Cameraman] Oh, wait!
- Oh, for dipping.
This dude is legit.
- [Johnny] For dipping.
Please do not drink.
For dipping.
(smacks lips)
- What am I drinking?
(laughs)
- Don't drink it.
- This is creative.
- Yes, sir.
- He didn't just make a traditional banh mi
or a bowl of pho.
He was very creative in infusing both of those dishes.
And he actually tried really hard.
I think this dude probably like, you know,
makes straight A's in school and he's like one of those
overachievers that is always trying to stand out.
- What is that?
- Oh, you're a nerd bro.
- That's hella funny.
I'm a bare minimum student.
- His food actually really good.
So I think he's, he's a good candidate.
But one thing about me though,
so I mentioned earlier, that I love banh mi,
but another thing about me is that even as a Vietnamese,
I do not like pho.
(dramatic thud)
- Yes!
- The plot twist.
- Bro.
- The plot twist!
- Directed by M. Night Shyamalan.
- I don't know this going to work out honestly.
- So he has my favorite dish
and also my least favorite dish.
- What are the odds?
- Of all the banh mis you picked them the world,
you chose the one she, she hates the most.
(smooth hip hop music)
- You know what my friends told me?
Pick the worst one because he's going to be the hottest one.
- What the?
- Wonder what the worst one in her opinion is?
- They said,
pick the one that put in the least amount of effort.
But I think all these guys put in effort.
Okay, so this guy,
I think knows his Vietnamese (censor beep).
Like he knows this dish,
which is not very common in America.
- I definitely didn't know that dish.
Do you know that dish?
- Yeah, banh khot, yeah.
- Oh okay.
- And I love this dish.
Like, it's one of my favorite when it's done really well.
This one is egg rolls,
but he said it's from specifically where you know,
a certain region of Vietnam, which I've never been to.
So I'm actually most curious about this guy,
like where are you from?
And this guy, he's just a wild card.
He either knows his Vietnamese food really well
or doesn't know Vietnamese food, but know how to cook.
So he's like, Google, what's the best Vietnamese dishes?
Oh pho and banh mi, let me combine the two.
- That's the second one for sure.
Ah, if I have to pick, right?
He has a straight A's students right here, right?
It's like an overachiever and I love overachiever,
but this guy is like, you know, stay true to my root.
I have, I really have to choose,
I do really like smart kids who are overachievers.
So I'm hoping it's this guy.
He could have just bought this whole thing
from somewhere, right?
I think it's this guy.
I think I'll pick this guy.
(claps)
- Yooooo.
- Let's go.
(cheering)
(laughs)
(slapping thighs)
- Hi.
- My name's Johnny.
- Hi Johnny.
- My name's Vinh-Khoi.
- [Yen] Vinh-Khoi.
- I'm Terry.
- [Yen] Terry.
- I guess you're the straight A student right?
- Yes ma'am.
- You don't look like a straight A student.
- Ah, no, I'm not!
(laughing)
- [Johnny] I'm not a straight A student.
(smooth hip hop music)