- [Serena] 85°C Bakery and Cafe
has been called the Starbucks of Taiwan.
And people go crazy over it.
- It's hella moist, like, hella moist.
- [Serena] It has more than one thousand locations
around the world, and every time a new one opens,
lines can get as long as four hours with people
looking to grab some Taiwanese snacks.
The bakery serves treats like egg tarts, sweet bread,
taro cakes and cheesy hot dog buns
alongside everyone's favorite, boba tea.
85 Degrees took off during the boba tea phase
and now it's a bona fide Taiwanese phenomenon.
I've heard a lot about it but I've never been.
So I invited fans Hudson Yang from ABC's Fresh off the Boat
and his father Jeff to show me the ropes at the 85 Degrees
in Torrance, California, a significantly-Asian suburb
outside of L.A.
- He's strategizing over what to eat first,
it's just like... (laughs)
- What's your favorite?
Let's start with that.
- [Hudson] Egg tarts, are like, everyone loves them.
They're really flaky.
- [Jeff] It's like an egg custard in the middle--
- [Hudson] Yeah. - [Jeff] Right?
Mm. - Mm!
- It's a good version of an egg tart,
you see this everywhere.
- Yeah.
But these are super light.
You could eat 20 of them,
and I think Hudson may have at one point.
(Serena and Jeff laugh)
- Hudson, when did you first try one of these?
I mean, was it at home, was it out?
- This was back in New York.
I had one of this when I was four or five.
I grew up with that stuff, so I know the stuff very well
and, well, I love it. (all laugh)
- I grew up in Knoxville, Tennessee, where really were not
a ton of Chinese people.
My parents are immigrants.
- So what did you guys do
when you needed your fix of Chinese food?
(Serena laughs)
Was there anywhere to go?
- So we would drive to Atlanta, like six hours or whatever,
to pick out, go to the grocery stores there
to get stuff that we need.
And there was like one authentic Chinese restaurant
that we would go to.
Then we went to Chinese American places
like buffets and stuff--
- Oh yeah.
- Not even to, as much to eat,
but as a place to gather and hang out.
- There may be sort of nominal disdain for Chinese American
cuisine, but if you don't have a church around
then you gather around the Chinese restaurant.
(Serena and Jeff laugh).
- It's like--
- [Serena] Yeah.
- The social gathering hall for Chinese folk.
I mean, he's lucky 'cause he's never lived
or spent large amounts of time anywhere
where there wasn't Chinese food--
- I mean there's Chinese food everywhere nowadays.
- Within like an hour's distance.
(Serena and Jeff laugh)
- Yeah, there really is.
- You can go where like, the middle of Mexico
and there'll be Chinese food.
- And since being on the show have you felt
the need to learn more about Taiwanese culture?
- I mean honestly, before the show
I did know a lot about it.
Sometimes there are food that I do need to learn about
that I find on the show.
I did learn how they always use every single part of the--
- Of the chicken, or--
- Of the animals.
- Yeah, I saw that episode.
I liked it. (laughs)
(plate slams, chicken squishes)
- Using every part of the chicken
like a meat wizard. (in Chinese)
- There's not a single part of the chicken
that I feel like Taiwanese would not use in some fashion.
- [Serena] Yeah. - Except maybe the feathers.
- The feathers and the beak, that's about it (Serena laughs)
- Oh yeah, boba tea is like--
- Also super Taiwanese,
if you visit Taiwan-- - But everybody has it now.
I got mine with lychee and mango jelly and boba.
- Taiwanese have this fascination with textures,
that's why you have so many more sort of glutinous
and creamy and crunchy things
all happening in the same bites.
The idea of boba tea, of putting actual food in your drink,
if you will, sort of substantial things
that you have to chew and swallow while you're drinking,
that's something that came out
of Taiwanese culture really easily.
- Next up let's go to the marble taro bread.
- It actually has a fairly subtle flavor
and that's the kind of thing that Taiwanese tend to
reflexively inject into anything. (Jeff and Serena laugh)
- Yeah, it's not super sweet.
It's really creamy, the very starchiness
from a root vegetable is in there.
- So much for my paleo diet (all laugh).
- No, this is not paleo.
- [Jeff] No! (laughs)
- Why do you end up coming here in particular?
Why is this better?
- They actually do very authentic stuff
but they also do some twists on the authentic
Taiwanese versions-- - Normalities.
- Of the foods. Yeah.
So for instance this here, this pineapple bread,
it's an incredibly Taiwanese thing.
And it's called pineapple bread
because it looks like a pineapple.
There's no pineapple flavor in it.
In addition to having the sort of standard bor lor bao,
or pineapple bread, they also have things like
pineapple bread danishes and croissants
and so on and so forth
so they-- - It's just inspired--
- Yeah, exactly. - By the flavors
that you would find in a traditional Taiwanese bakery.
Thank you so much for bringing me to 85 Degrees.
This was such a treat.
- Thank you for free food!
(All laugh)
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click here to watch more Cult Following.