- We're back for part two of our Worth It Taiwan series.
Today, we're doing soup.
- Taiwan style.
It's amazing 'cause it's so hot in Taiwan,
and yet they love their soup here.
- It's eaten for breakfast, lunch and dinner,
so many great dishes to try.
But before we get there,
Steven where are we?
- We are here at the Jingzaijiao Tile-paved Salt Fields.
Is that right Inga?
- Jingzaijiao.
- Historically one of the earliest salt-producing areas
of Taiwan.
Ocean water comes in, the sun evaporates it,
and you're left with salt.
Speaking of salty liquids.
- Sweat?
- No. - Oh.
- We're doing soup.
- Today on Worth It
we're going to be trying three Taiwanese soups
at three drastically different price points
to find out which one is the most worth it at its price.
- It's so windy.
- The typhoon just passed.
- So we're heading a little bit north of the city of Tainan
to where, Inga?
- We're going to Chiayi to have some fish soup
at Lin Cong Ming Yu Tang.
- Lin is my last name, and cong ming is smart,
so we're just going to, like, the smart version of me
fish place. - Oh wow.
That'll be a extra special treat.
(jazzy music)
- Taiwan is very hot.
- Yes.
- Soup is a very hot food.
Why do Taiwanese people love soup so much?
(Grace speaks in foreign language)
- What kind of fish is in the soup?
(Grace speaks in foreign language)
Why is the fish fried and then added afterwards?
(Grace speaks in foreign language)
I noticed that customers can come back with their bowls
and get more broth.
(Grace speaks in foreign language)
(bell dings)
- Ooh!
- Oh...
- Yay...
(Steven speaks in foreign language)
- What's the plate for?
- For the fish bone.
- Oh, fish bones. - Oh...
- Is this your beer?
- Yes, it's my fish beer.
- Cheers, Steven.
(bottles clink)
(trumpet music)
- Look at that logo.
Fish soup beer, I am blown away.
- Cheers in Mandarin is...
(Steven speaks in foreign language)
Is that right?
(Andrew speaks in foreign language)
- Okay, that was very unexpected.
Wow, again.
- Wow, a thousand times.
- This is very refreshing.
- It is.
- Give me one word.
- Wow.
- So this is the marquis piece right here.
I'm just gonna bite into this.
(Andrew groans in satisfaction)
This is like a dish that dares you
to want something else.
You want vegetables?
Boom, we got it.
You want tofu?
Forget about it.
You want pork?
We got it right here.
You want fish? Boom.
Fry it? We can do it.
- Yeah, when she was listing the ingredients,
it was just like the NBA All-Star Game.
And here we have the tofu!
Next up, cabbage!
- Y'all ready for this?
(Steven laughs)
(Grace speaking in foreign language)
- Turkey rice.
- I love how this soup, with all of this stuff,
they were like,
"Nah, you still need some turkey rice."
- That's right.
If there's one thing we learned here in Taiwan,
you cannot leave a restaurant hungry.
They will assault you with food.
In the most lovingly way possible.
- Yeah.
(upbeat music)
Mm, it's just jerky meat and fat on a bowl of rice.
It's great.
If you weren't an adventurous eater,
this would seem like a scary bowl of food,
but it all just kind of blends into this big soft hug.
I don't know.
It tastes nice.
It's a kind taste.
- That's exactly how you say it in Mandarin though.
- Really? - Good eat, right?
Good taste.
(Inga speaks in foreign language)
- Means good eat, good taste, yeah.
- Let's spread the kindness.
(Andrew slaps hand on table)
- Once I finish this meal,
it will be so long until I get to eat this again.
And that makes me sad.
- I know, this whole trip is actually just--
- It's sad. - The worst.
(Inga speaks in foreign language)
- That soup was incredible.
In the rainbow of soup to stew,
this was somewhere in the middle in like the--
- Stoup? - Stoup
section. - There it is!
- Yeah. So before we get to our next soup,
we decided to get some treats
at the Garden Night Market in Tainan.
- [Steven] This is my favorite treat at Night Market.
It is a peanut roll with ice cream and cilantro.
- [Andrew] What?
Cilantro in a dessert?
I guess it makes sense,
we put mint in desserts,
and that's just
another green leaf. - Oh, I didn't even
think of that.
Cheers? - Cheers.
- Huh?
Huh? - Oh.
I like dessert cilantro.
So our next soup is actually going to be hot pot.
- Hot pot fact!
- Archeologists have found pots from two thousand years ago
that may have been used to make an early iteration
of hot pot.
These were found in the Anhui province of China.
- Wow, old hot pot.
Dude, hot pot for me,
every Thanksgiving in the Lin family,
we always, always, always eat hot pot.
- It would make sense that soup was one
of the oldest things humans ate.
- Yeah just water, throw some stuff in there and eat it.
- Tomorrow, hot pot.
Inga where are we going?
- We are going to A Yu Niu Rou Sha Sha Guo
to eat some beef soup.
- That's what I'm talking about.
Beef soup.
Get that hot pot, throw some beef in there,
throw some soup in there, throw some veggies in there.
Whatever you want, we're gonna eat it.
(Steven coughs)
Excuse me.
I choked on a peanut.
Why do you love hot pot so much?
(Mrs Ding speaks in foreign language)
- How often do you get the deliveries?
(Mrs Ding speaks in foreign language)
(Inga speaks in foreign language)
(Mrs Ding speaks in foreign language)
We saw that it arrived by taxi.
Is it always come by taxi?
(Mrs Ding speaks in foreign language)
That's so cool, the meat takes a cab to every meal.
(everybody laughing)
(Mrs Ding speaks in foreign language)
There's also vegetables in the dish already?
(Mrs Ding speaks in foreign language)
For someone who's never had hot pot before,
how do you eat it?
(Mrs Ding speaks in foreign language)
You also have this pork rice.
It's free for all the customers?
(Mrs Ding speaks in foreign language)
(everybody laughing)
(bell dings)
(jazzy music) (Andrew and Steven speak in foreign language)
We've eaten a lot of beef on this show,
but this is some of the prettiest beef I've ever seen.
The color is ridiculous.
Cold-brewed oolong.
This is one of the coolest things.
It's like, tea snow globe.
And it's got the net in the--
- [Steven] No way!
- [Andrew and Steven] Cheers.
- Mm.
- [Andrew] You wanna start with this one?
- [Steven] Let's do it, the shoulder cap.
- Cheers, Steven.
- Whoa.
- [Andrew] One, two,
three. - Wow.
Going in.
One.
Two, oh no!
(Andrew laughs)
- This smells incredible.
- Cheers.
- Oh, that's nice beef.
- We're just getting to eat really nice steak.
- Yeah. - With soup.
- And you get to eat it the second it's done cooking.
- Mm!
- I'm gonna try the same piece of meat this time,
but now dip it.
Shabu, shabu.
Ooh.
- Shabu.
- That rocks. - Can I get in there?
- Yeah. You should absolutely. - All right.
One.
Two.
- Whoa. - Three.
- Like you're baptizing the meat.
(Steven cheers)
- [Andrew] The dip is awesome.
- Okay.
That's doing it right.
- There's two great ways to enjoy beef.
You either cook it very briefly
or you cook it a really long time.
This is the best of both worlds.
The quick cook beef and also the super long cook beef.
- 'Cause the soup is a 10 to 12 hour,
steeped in beef bone soup.
- But enough about beef.
Pork break. - Pork break.
(Andrew and Steven groan in satisfaction)
- At first this did not make sense to me.
But it's because the beef is so precious,
it breaks up the flow,
so I don't just crush my plate of beef all in one bite,
like I want to.
- Well, and also, this bowl of rice is bringing me
more comfort than my body pillow.
- What?
- I've had the same one for over 10 years.
It's hard to sleep without it.
- [Adam] Change pillows
more frequently. - Wow.
- No, I wash it.
- That explains a lot about you.
- It's like a teddy bear.
We all have that, like, item.
- Yeah but now mine is in my parents' attic,
because I stopped sleeping with it after the age of eight.
- Why would you give up something that's so comfortable?
- All right, we're gonna have the broth now.
We've finally reached the soup part of the meal.
Ooh, the smell though.
- Cheers.
- Ooh, that is nice.
It's not so beefy, actually.
It's got like--
- Fruity flavor.
- Yeah. - Like, apples or something.
This is the best way to close out this meal.
- Yeah, this nice gentle landing.
It's like when you have a delicious sauce
and you want a piece of bread to mop it up
to get all of the sauce.
Here, you just drink the sauce.
(patrons talking in background)
- Hot pot.
- That hot pot was so good.
Okay, so we've come to Taichung for our final soup.
But before we have that, we're gonna have some cold drinks.
- That's right.
We're going to Ten Ren,
one of my favorite places in the States, so.
About to be having it here in Taiwan,
where it's actually from.
- So we've got oolong tea, and a black tea boba.
Confession time.
I'm not the biggest fan of boba.
- That's fine.
- I just, eating while drinking, I don't--
- Isn't that what soup is?
- Soup is drinking while eating.
It's completely different, don't get it twisted.
- Cheers.
(glasses clink)
Mm.
- That's what I like.
Unsweetened, nice ice tea.
That's all I want.
Instead of another soup fact,
we're actually gonna have a boba fact.
- [Steven] Boba fact.
- Boba tea was invented in the 1980s in Taichung.
- Oh, some genius out here put boba and milk tea together.
There're controversies around
who actually invented boba milk tea.
There's multiple reports of different people, so.
- Interesting.
We're now on our way to Gubami,
where we're going to see Chef Chen
to try her beef noodle soup.
- [Steven] The iconic dish of Taiwan.
- We've had it a few times off-camera so far,
just for our crew meals and such,
and it's usually a very inexpensive dish.
Five or six US dollars equivalent.
But today's is going to be a little more deluxe.
- It's gonna cost around 30 US dollars,
which is a lot for beef noodle soup.
But it's gonna be really good.
- Gubami is beef noodles in Taiwanese dialect.
- Why do you think Taiwan loves
their beef noodle soup so much?
- It's fast, and also it's luxury.
You have a big bowl of noodle soup and meat.
I never really see restaurants can do all three good.
I wanna do things the best,
so when I do noodles, I want to find out the best formula.
We test with different flours
for almost, six months I would say.
We want the noodles to be al dente in the middle,
but also the outside can absorb a little bit the soup.
We use the Japanese wagyu beef shank
and also we have a condiment of smoked bone marrow
and on top of it we have some shabu shabu of the beef shank,
to give two different textures of the meat.
- What is your background in cooking?
Like, where did you come from?
- I learned in Paris and I traveled to States a little bit,
and then I come back.
I started my French restaurant 10 years ago.
Very fine dining, it was my dream restaurant.
But it's in Taichung, it's very weird.
I think Taiwan people, they like something casual.
I want to do something smaller and now I have the bar,
I have noodle shop.
I always just trying to do something I like.
(Chef Chen laughs)
It looks like very refined, but I didn't do it on purpose.
I just trying to make it good, and then it becomes this way.
- [Steven] Mm.
(bell dings)
- Look at this.
That's not soup.
We have tofu skin, cooked in some of the beef stock.
This is the radish with lemon and olive oil.
Zucchini, confit in goose fat.
Some kind of green bean and beef mushroom deliciousness.
- I know there's a lot of delicious stuff in front of us,
I cannot wait for the soup right now,
but I will be patient.
(jazzy music)
- Whoa, whoa, whoa.
Hold on the soup.
(Andrew laughs)
That is damn good.
(Andrew laughs)
- [Andrew And Steven] Green bean.
(jazzy music)
- Oh, I did not think that was gonna taste like that.
- What?
(Andrew laughs)
- It's a smoky, porky, green bean.
Tofu skin.
- That looks super juicy.
And meaty.
Cheers.
- That's the best one.
- No, this is the best one.
- No, no, no, no, no, no. - [Steven] Zucchini.
- Confit in goose fat.
(jazzy music)
Every time I eat something green,
I expect it to taste like a crisp vegetable.
Instead it tastes like a fatty animal.
This is awesome.
- Wow, finally the beef.
(jazzy music)
- Oh!
- I'm ready to eat some beef noodle soup right now.
- Ooh, thank you.
All right. - Smell this thing!
- Oh...
- I can't believe this.
I can't believe this.
- Yeah. - I can't believe this.
- This is a $30 bowl of soup.
- Broth cheers.
(jazzy music)
(Andrew exhales)
- Okay.
- I didn't think a beef taste could be refreshing.
- Yeah, shabu shabu?
- Yeah, let's do the choice cut meat on top.
(jazzy music)
- Wow.
- Very flavorful beef, okay.
- Jeez!
That is good.
I literally just ate a pastrami sandwich in one bite.
- Yeah.
- And the juices of the soup just bursting out.
Inga have some.
Come, come, come.
- This is so good.
(slurping sounds)
- Those are great noodles!
Springy, chewy.
Look at that beef.
Wow.
Holy crap. I didn't think it was going to be that soft.
What? - Yeah.
(crew laughing in the background)
- It's like softer than taffy.
Softer than, it's somewhere...
- You gotta be kidding me!
- Okay, let's add the bone marrow.
This is like buttering already buttered bread.
(slurping sounds)
(Steven exhales)
- Gah, whoa.
Including all the steaks we've eaten,
this beef, best beef taste I've ever tasted.
And the best part?
You get to eat noodles the whole time.
It's like usually a steak,
you're just eating steak.
Pretty fun, but okay.
Noodles the whole time?
(both laugh)
- Yeah, I've had a lot of beef noodles before,
and it's never bad, it's always satisfying and comforting.
But this one is like,
a boy was born in Akron, Ohio,
awarded him the chosen one in an ESPN magazine
when he was 14,
turned out to be a great basketball player.
- Who is this?
- LeBron James.
- Oh, goddammit.
Every time.
- Gubami.
- One of the best soup dishes I've ever had,
one of the best noodle dishes I've ever had,
one of the best beef dishes I've ever had.
- I like what you did there.
- Before we get to our Worth It winners,
Andrew, what was your favorite thing that was not a soup
in this episode?
- The craft beer at Smart Fish.
- [Steven] Oh.
- I never thought I'd see a beer with a fish soup logo.
What was your favorite non-soup thing?
- Beef taxi.
There's not even a escort.
Just beef in the taxi, beef out the taxi.
- Okay Steven, which soup was most worth it to you?
- I thought Smart Fish soup was gonna be my winner
when we at there,
I thought the beef hot pot was gonna be my winner
when we ate there,
but Gubami is my Worth It winner today.
So beefy, just so much thought put into it.
- My Worth It winner goes to Smart Fish.
Fish soup was crazy.
Truly one of the most unique dishes I've ever eaten.
- Inga and Annie?
- Gubami.
- What?
Adam, who's your Worth It winner?
- [Adam] Gubami.
(Andrew sputters)
- I've never been so,
this is a Worth It first. - I win today!
- That's it for Worth It Taiwan soup.
We have one more episode in this miniseries coming up next.
Steven, what is it?
- Chicken!
(upbeat music)