- Check it out guys, it's Trevor James.
We just got into Colombo, Sri Lanka,
and I am so pumped 'cause today we are gonna be going
through a full on Sri Lankan street food adventure,
check it out. (playful music)
Get ready for Sri Lankan street food
like you've never seen, 'cause today we're going in deep
for some amazing, and spice packed Sri Lankan street food
that's gonna blow your taste buds.
And we're finishing up with the world famous,
and one and only Ministry of Crab.
Consistently bragged as one of the best 50 restaurants
in the world, so make sure to watch all the way
until the end, 'cause you're gonna love the insane
head butter, and juice packed Sri Lankan mud crab
from Heaven, let's eat.
This is it, guys.
We are in the core of Colombo, and we are going
for a full on street food adventure today.
This is just pure magic.
(distant chattering)
- how are you?
- Hi.
(speaking foreign language)
How are you? - Where you from?
- Canada. - Canada?
Sri Lanka. - Sri Lanka?
- Yeah, nice country.
- Very good, thank you.
- Okay bye. - Thank you, awesome.
This is it, guys.
Wow, pure magic here in Colombo,
and we have so much food to eat today,
and we are so deep right now guys.
I think we found a little tuk-tuk tea.
(speaking foreign language)
Wow,
this is amazing.
Little tea in a tuk-tuk.
(speaking foreign language)
(laughs) this is great.
(speaking foreign language)
This is amazing, right out of the tuk-tuk.
We've got tea, and it's milk tea,
so it's gonna be frothy, and smooth,
and then we've got samosa as well.
(Trevor laughing) (distant chattering)
(speaking foreign language)
Oh,
this is awesome,
and so many people here are lined up for this tea.
Oh, samosa.
It's beef?
- Fish. - Fish?
Oh, fish samosa.
(speaking foreign language)
Oh, thank you, thank you.
Mm, mm.
Wow,
that was tasty, wow.
Tasty samosa, that's awesome.
It's spicy, and smooth, and it's got a light curry flavor.
Peppery, crispy, and soft.
(Man laughing)
Oh, you can see he's just pouring cup after cup here.
The locals are loving it.
(speaking foreign language)
And just look at this area guys,
this is a worker's area, people are working hard here.
You can see they're moving all the textiles
in and out, and it's so busy here,
this is so good to be in Colombo.
And I'm just trying to pay now,
but there's such a huge lineup.
That is awesome, so sweet, so frothy,
tasty.
(speaking foreign language) (lighthearted music)
There's just so many cups, thank you.
Very tasty, thank you so much.
And that just amazing, deep in the core of Colombo.
And this is just a truly magical city guys.
Feel the energy, we are deep in core of Colombo,
and we've got more food comin' up, let's check it out.
And after that perfect start to the adventure,
and before going to curry Heaven with juicy lamb brain,
and extreme spicy beef curry
with a friendly vendor known as Dadly Uncle
followed by some insane crab delight.
We're going full on for the perfect
mid afternoon snack, hoppers.
Here we go, we're goin' for tons of delicious curry.
We are on the hunt for delicious street food all day,
and oh, right here, traditional Sri Lankan
street food, Hoppers.
Hi.
- What you want?
- Oh, hoppers? - Yes.
Sri Lankan hoppers?
- Sri Lanka hoppers.
- So it's a rice flour batter with coconut?
- Coconut. - Coconut,
and rice flour, fermented batter,
oh this is beautiful.
And you eat with curry,
and look at that, we're making them in the pots
just right here.
Whoa, look at that.
Whoa, beautiful, an egg?
- Egg. - Oh.
And there it goes,
isn't that awesome?
You can see he puts an egg in some,
he puts palm sugar in others.
And you're gonna, and you can dip that right in the curry.
You can see this thick palm sugar,
and all the batter that he's got in here
is mixed with coconut milk as well.
This is coconut, coconut, awesome.
Wow, so this is the jaggery.
- Yeah, jaggery, jaggery.
- This is the jaggery. - Very nice.
- Very sweet?
- Very sweet.
(speaking foreign language)
- And then there's also the plain
- Plain, yeah. - With coconut,
the, yeah, the normal one.
- Normal one.
- Okay, okay, thank you.
Oh, the sambal? - Sambal.
- The sambal, so spicy.
- You like spicy? - I like spicy.
- You'll like this. - Okay, thank you.
So, this is spicy sambal on top of the hopper.
Fermented rice flour batter with a bit of coconut milk
mixed in, and then we've got a plumped, stuffed hopper
which is stuffed with jaggery,
so it's gonna be sweet.
We've got sweet, and spicy,
and I just eat like this?
- Just like this. - Just like this.
- You eat the sweet, and-- - eat the sweet?
- The best for you to eat over here.
- Spicy first?
- Spicy.
(speaking foreign language)
- Okay.
Mm,
mm. - Very spicy.
- Oh, oh it's spicy.
- Spicy enough.
Too much spicy, after you eat this, eat sweet.
- Eat the sweet after? - Yeah.
Your country you don't get any of this?
- [Trevor] No, no, we don't get good sambal in Canada.
- Oh, Canada-- - No, only here.
It's spongy, and soft, and spicy, very nice.
And then this is the jaggery.
- Jaggery is sweet, very sweet.
- Mm.
(speaking foreign language)
Mm, oh, yeah.
Wow, that's so sweet.
So sweet and satisfying,
it's like upgraded honey.
We're gonna keep exploring, thank you, bye bye.
And next up, right before visiting the world famous
Ministry of Crab, consistently ranked in the top 50
restaurants in the world,
we're stopping for a full on Sri Lankan curry feast.
Let's eat.
There is street food everywhere,
and right up here, we just found curry
and barbecue meat heaven.
Hi.
- How are you? - How are you?
- I'm fine, thank you. - Wow,
so what do we have here?
- [Chef] This is the chicken parts.
- Chicken parts? - Chicken parts.
- Oh. - This one's beef.
- Beef? - Beef parts.
Beef parts.
Chicken parts and beef parts?
- [Chef] Chicken parts and beef devil.
- [Trevor] Oh, deviled beef parts?
- Yes. - Oh.
- Cuttlefish. - Cuttlefish.
- Fish egg, fish egg. - Oh, fish egg.
- Fish egg. - Oh, fish egg curry.
- This one, cuttlefish. - Cuttlefish?
Oh, it smells delicious.
- [Chef] Keema,
this called Beef Keema. - Beef Keema?
So, that's a beef onion mix,
and then what else do we have here?
- Prawns. - Oh, prawns.
- Prawns, see. - Oh, it smells delicious.
- [Chef] This one is mutton brain.
- Oh, mutton brain. - Yeah.
- [Trevor] Look at that.
What's this?
- Beef bobeth bobeth. - Beef bobeth?
- Yeah, yeah, bobeth. - Is that like the stomach?
- Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. - Stomach? (laughs)
Beef stomach.
Oh, and a fish curry, oh look at that.
Oh, and this is the soup?
Oh that's the beef bone soup.
Oh, look at that.
Sri Lanka's favorite soup.
Oh, that is colorful.
Oh, and we're just scooping up the curries now.
Oh, this is the mutton brain, oh!
And we're gonna get that with paratha,
that bread, and just scoop it up,
and bask in the flavor.
- [Chef] It looks spicy, spicy.
- [Trevor] Little spicy.
And this is the shrimp.
Shrimp curry, Sri Lankan shrimp curry.
- [Chef] Yes.
- This is just amazing,
just look at the selection
of curries here guys, unbelievable.
This is what I dream of when I think of Sri Lanka,
oh, and a beef part too, please.
Spicy? - Spicy.
- Sri Lankan spicy? - Yes.
- Yeah, (laughs) awesome.
Good taste, yep.
Okay, we're going in.
Amazing, we've got so many different curries here.
Sri Lankan, colorful, spicy curries, look at this.
This is mutton brain masala, look at those big chunks
of mutton brain, and then look at this.
A beautiful shrimp curry,
and then over here we've got a beautiful,
look at that, big mutton curry.
You can smell the onions in there.
And then over here, I asked for something spicy,
and he brought me this beef curry.
And then here, we've got deviled beef parts,
look at those cubes, and then look at this nice
beef bone soup.
First thing we're gonna do is take some
of this beautiful ghee paratha,
and you know we're goin' in for that brain first.
We're just gonna scoop that up,
oh, look at that, first bite of curry in Sri Lanka.
(distant chattering)
Mm,
mm.
Whoa, that is fantastic.
Look at that brain, it's milky,
slightly peppery, creamy.
A little spicy with the curry,
but not overwhelming.
You can just take big chunks of it,
and load it up on that paratha
which is flavored with ghee,
and it's got a slight crisp to it.
Ooh, it just slides down perfectly.
Awesome color, and vibrant flavors here.
Look at that, we're gonna go in for beef curry.
You can just load it up on that paratha.
Oh, this is action, this is flavored.
That's mutton curry right there, oh.
And we're just gonna make sure that
mutton curry, that gravy goes thick over that paratha.
You want your first bite to be full of flavor.
Mm,
that is intensely spicy,
I've never tasted a curry like that.
It is so spicy, yet flavorful at the same time.
You've got a slight onion flavor,
a bit of tomato smoothness, and a bit of peppery-ness,
but also a very strong spice.
Oh.
(speaking foreign language)
Wow.
Your good name?
(speaking foreign language)
Daddy Uncle.
- Daddy Uncle? - Daddy Uncle.
- Thank you, Dadly Uncle, thank you.
See you next time.
(speaking foreign language)
Awesome.
And for our final meal, we're bringing you
into the one and only Ministry of Crab,
and we're having a huge feast with a massive O-M-G
lagoon crab, and a huge plump, Yoda prawn.
Let's eat.
Awesome guys, this is it.
Right up ahead, we are in Downtown Colombo.
Right up ahead is the reason why we flew here,
we are going for the pinnacle of seafood
at Ministry of Crab.
We are gonna have a giant seafood feast,
Sri Lankan style.
Check it out, and this is it, right here guys.
Ministry of Crab, we're goin' in,
we're goin' to Crab Utopia.
Crab Paradise, right up here, and we've been looking forward
to eating this for so long.
And here we are guys, we're gonna get a look at the kitchen.
How they make all these giant crabs,
and we're gonna get the black pepper crab, right?
- Yes. - Awesome,
and this is it right here.
Oh, so these are all the prawns here,
and this is the giant one we've got today.
- [Waitress] So these prawns are actually,
they're from the lakes, not the ocean.
- Okay, lake prawns.
And look at the sizes of the crabs here.
So we've got half kilo, small,
medium, large, excel, kilo crab,
jumbo, colossal,
oh my God, and crabzilla.
And today, we got the oh my God,
we're gonna have giant sized,
huge crab, and we're gonna see how they cook.
Whoa, look at that beautiful, simmering wok.
Garlic chili crab?
Oh, that is gorgeous. (laughs)
Look at that.
Giant crab claws.
- [Chef] Don't make the mistake of what goes in,
left claw, right claw, but no one puts crabs
in olive oil.
- Ooh, look at that beautiful, beautiful crab,
and this is local lagoon crab?
- Yeah, we don't have a,
we have a no freezer policy here.
- No freezer policy?
- We don't buy anything frozen,
we don't use anything frozen,
we don't freeze anything.
- So it's all fresh and live.
How big is this here, Chef?
- [Chef] I think more than one point one kilo.
- One point one kilo?
Wow, look at that claw, this is incredible.
Oh, and these are the crabs here.
Wow, that is giant.
So, this is the O-M-G?
- This is O-M-G. - O-M-G, that is huge.
We are gonna make big prawns,
and the crab right now.
Look at that giant prawn, this is lake prawn?
- Yes. - Wow, that's beautiful.
How much does this one weigh?
- This is 300 grams. - 300 grams,
oh and the flesh is just huge on that.
And we're gonna cook this garlic chili?
- Okay, garlic chili. - Garlic chili?
- Okay. - Awesome.
Look at the size of these claws, bro they're huge.
How old is this crab?
- This is like, seven, eight months?
- Seven, eight months?
Wow.
So it's full of garlic, and we're just putting that,
wow, look at that prawn, that is huge.
That is just amazing, and this kitchen
is just full of woks, so much action going on here,
and you can just smell that bubbling garlic,
and prawn aroma, amazing.
Thank you so much for having us.
Whoa,
thank you.
Another one? - Yeah.
- Wow.
So first thing we're gonna do is put the
Keep Calm and Crab On bib on here.
This is just incredible,
look at the selection we've got here today, guys.
Beautiful, beautiful, giant,
O-M-G black pepper lagoon crab,
look at the size of these claws,
that is so beautiful.
And the flesh is just gonna burst out,
and we're gonna take a taste of that.
And then look at this guys,
this is the signature huge
Yoda prawn at Ministry of Crab.
This is garlic chili Yoda prawn,
just look at the size of that,
that's bigger than my hand.
We've also got six oysters, and first thing we're gonna do
is just crack open this huge O-M-G
(laughs) look at the size of that.
And we can just dip it in that black pepper sauce,
oh wow, you can really smell that black pepper aroma.
You have to get messy when eating this.
(lighthearted music)
Mm,
oh wow.
That is absolutely perfect.
That black pepper sauce, honestly, is one of the best
flavors that will ever enter your mouth.
Oh, look at that.
And here we go guys, next up, look at this.
This is the Yoda prawn.
Oh (laughs), look at that come out there,
that is huge.
That is gonna be one huge burst of flesh, garlic, and chili.
(lighthearted music)
Mm,
mm,
wow,
that is pure perfection right there.
That is so muscular, and springy,
and that's the biggest piece of prawn flesh
you'll ever have enter your mouth.
And just look at his head,
this giant prawn head.
Yoda prawn head, and there's so much,
look inside there, there's so much head,
oh (laughs), look at that head butter,
that's pure head butter,
wow,
look at that.
That is creamy, yellowy goodness, and it's just full.
It's like a pool of head butter in the bottom there.
Mm,
mm, oh, and you can just keep scooping.
That is so creamy, it's like pure creamy prawn essence
full of head butter, look at that.
You can just keep scooping,
you gotta get messy with this,
Oh, wow.
That is one of the best flavors in the world right there.
Totally worth coming to Sri Lanka for to taste this.
That was just one of the best, if not the best crabs
you'll ever eat, absolutely incredible.
I would love to know what you thought
about this video down below.
Thank you so much for watching,
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thanks so much guys.