"Ol' Buddy" Noodles from Nanning (老友面)

Laoyou - "Ol' Buddy" - Noodles! A classic from Nanning (capital of the Guangxi Autonomous Region), its mix of garlic, fermented chilis, fermented black beans, and sour bamboo shoots is a combination of flavors that just... works.
0:00 - The Ol Buddy Flavor Profile
0:48 - Origin of Ol Buddy Noodles
1:49 - How to find pickled bamboo?
2:32 - How to find fermented chili?
2:53 - How to find douchi, Chinese fermented black beans?
3:07 - High level overview
3:42 - Prep & Toast Bamboo Shoots
4:04 - Mince Together Garlic & Douchi
4:13 - Which noodles to use?
4:45 - Boil Noodles to 80% done
5:00 - Marinate Meat (if using)
5:36 - Prep Sauce
5:55 - Make the Soup
6:55 - Other variations?
INGREDIENTS:
* Sour bamboo shoot (酸笋) 40g
* Garlic, 3 cloves, minced
* Douchi, a.k.a. Chinese fermented black beans (豆豉), ½ tbsp
* Hunan chopped chilis (剁椒) or Guizhou ‘pickled chili’ (糟辣椒), preferably, ½ tbsp
* Fresh noodles (生面), 100g or rice noodles, 100g, or dried noodles, ~70g or one pack of instant noodles
* Meat (optional): Pork (瘦肉), 40g; pig liver (猪肝), 40g
* Marinade for pork (use the same amounts for the liver): 1/8 tsp salt, ¼ tsp sugar, ½ tsp cornstarch (生粉), 1/8 tsp soy sauce (生抽), ¼ tsp liaojiu a.k.a. Shaoxing wine (料酒/绍酒), ~1/2 tsp oil
* Sauce: Soy sauce, (生抽), 1 tbsp; Rice vinegar, (米醋), 1 tbsp; Oyster sauce, (蚝油), 1 tsp; Sugar, ¼ tsp; Salt, 1/8 tsp; Chicken bouillon powder (鸡粉), 1/8 tsp
* Stock, 600mL
* Sliced scallions, to top
SOURCING:
SOUR BAMBOO
For sour bamboo shoots, we used this sort of product in the video: www.amazon.com/Pickled-Pepper... or www.sayweee.com/en/product/Ba...
THAT SAID, after doing a bit of a deeper dive, it appears that both Thai and Vietnamese versions of sour bamboo shoots ARE available internationally. The Vietnamese sort would be absolutely ideal:
www.sayweee.com/en/product/As...
But the Thai ones would also work well:
www.amazon.com/Cock-Brand-Pic...
CHOPPED PICKLED CHILIS
Can’t seem to find these on Amazon today :/ Woks of Life has a discussion on the brands that you’d likely be able to find at Chinese supermarkets in the West here: thewoksoflife.com/duo-jiao-ch...
If you’re in the USA, Weee! carries them, of course: www.sayweee.com/en/product/Ch...
Weee! even carries the Guizhou pickled pepper: www.sayweee.com/en/product/La...
Any basic fermented chopped chili would hit the same notes, though.
DOUCHI, FERMENTED BLACK SOYBEANS
Easy enough.
www.amazon.com/Chinese-Douchi...
www.sayweee.com/en/product/Ya...
PROCESS
First, squeeze and slice up your bamboo shoots, then toast them for ~2 minutes over a medium high flame in a dry wok. If you’re planning on making this regularly, you can make a big batch and keep a jar of toasted bamboo shoots handy.
Mince up the garlic and the douchi. Measure out the chopped chilis.
Boil your noodles of choice to about 80% done.
Slice and marinate the pork. If pork liver’s inconvenient for you to buy, double the pork quantity (and marinade quantity too, obviously).
Mix the sauce.
To make the soup: quickly fry the pork in ~1/2 tbsp of lard over a medium high flame until done, ~1 minute. Remove and set aside, and shut off the heat. Then, go in with another ~1/2 tbsp of lard, and fry the garlic, douchi, and chili sauce. Quick mix, then add the bamboo shoots. Another quick mix, then add the prepared sauce & fry for ~15 seconds. Add in the stock, bring up to a boil.
Once boiling, add in the cooked pork together with the uncooked liver. After ~15 seconds, add in the (mostly cooked) noodles. Boil together for ~30 seconds, then move to a bowl. Top with sliced scallions.
______________
Quick note that I forgot to credit the footage of the Thai steamed fish at 0:11 in-video! This was from Mark Wiens and Pailin's Thai steamed fish collab. Nice video, check it out: • Thai Steamed Fish With...
And check out our Patreon if you'd like to support the project!
/ chinesecookingdemystified
Outro Music: คิดถึงคุณจัง by ธานินทร์ อินทรเทพ
Found via My Analog Journal (great channel): • Live Stream: Favourite...

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Hey guys, a few notes: 1. After posting this to Patreon, it came to our attention that the Thai and Vietnamese versions of sour bamboo shoots seem to be very available in the west - basically just as available as the packaged bamboo shoots we used in the video. If you’re USA based and have access to Weee!, they carry the Vietnamese style of the product which would be perfect (link is in the description). The Thai style that’s available is generally pre-sliced into very thin sheets, which isn’t super ideal but would totally work ok. 2. The packaged bamboo shoots we used in the video aren’t even *really* fermented as far as we know - they’re simply packaged in brine together with pickled yeshanjiao chilis, and pick up a good bit of that flavor. Thus why the aforementioned Thai/Vietnamese versions would work better. 3. Japanese pickled bamboo shoots (i.e. menma) would likely be a bit of a reach, however. We didn’t try them out, and they might be a decent enough experiment, but AFAIK they’ve got a pretty distinctive taste that I’m not sure would work here. 4. If using the Thai or Vietnamese sour bamboo shoots, our recommendation would be to cut the rice vinegar by half at first - i.e. use ½ tbsp instead of the full tablespoon in the sauce. We upped the rice vinegar quantity to 1 tbsp because of the fact that we were using that package bamboo shoot. Then, at the end, taste your soup - the soup should be a *little* sour. Add more to taste. 5. There’s two traditional choices re meat at noodle shops in Nanning - pork, or a combination of pork/liver/intestine. We really liked the pork liver in here, so we wanted to include it… but didn’t really feel like dealing with prepping intenstine, which can be sorta painful. I’m pretty sure fresh pork intestine is pretty difficult to source in the west anyhow. So yeah - don’t feel bad for going the all-pork route, definitely a traditional option too. 6. This is a very easy flavor profile to veganize. Skip the lard and pork, obviously. Swap the oyster sauce for vegetarian oyster sauce; swap the 1/8 tsp chicken powder for ~1/16 tsp MSG. Use mushroom or vegetarian stock. That’s all for now. We’re on our way back home from travelling in western Hunan, so we’ll probably be a bit less responsive than usual in the comment today :)

[@saultopaul3981]

Love y'all !! Thanks so much !! Have you done a Yang rou mein? I'll look

[@888SpinR]

Any chance we could ferment canned bamboo shoots into a usable ingredient?

[@nvdawahyaify]

Where can one get that huge rounded cleaver that you use?

[@lpshy9337]

@@nvdawahyaify Yes Indeed one can never have enough knives in the kitchen.

[@vloomn]

@@nvdawahyaify I saw a few knives that look like that on aliexpress, just not sure what's the exact product. I do know their normal Chinese chef knife is a shi ba zi zuo though.

[@hoddtoward]

The storyboard cards need to become a permanent addition to the channel.

[@radioactivated]

The expert drawings of Chris, Steph, and the viewer are also a nice touch

[@hoddtoward]

@@radioactivated Indeed, but the dog was missing!

[@GhostCharacter]

I agree, they made me smile so much! Chris and Steph should use this style any time a recipe has folklore!

[@samengsberg875]

Agreed. It's a wonderful way for shortcutting things the second time around and getting the jist of the recipe

[@fryingpancakes8445]

Exactly. It just works!

[@huiyang4231]

I can't believe you just made my hometown's signature dish. Respect. And yes, this dish is the classic cold remedy for the people in Nanning.

[@erdene2476]

to be fair its a chinese cooking channel with hundreds of videos. Looks delicious tho

[@CPrs3394]

Tomato and egg is conspicuously missing from that list of classic flavour combos

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

shh...

[@danibot3000]

mwuahaha

[@lpshy9337]

Yes and Tomato Egg and noodles

[@HO1ySh33t]

To be fair, tomato flavor works with a lot of things. It belongs to "makes everything taste better" category.

[@jjhill001]

So is cocaine and peanut butter.

[@rintfosk6850]

Personally I would make a large jar of this Ol' buddy sauce. About the same recipe: - veggies: heavy amount of sour bamboo shoot, chopped mixture of chillies, garlics and fermented black beans. - seasoning: dark vinegar, light soy sauce, salt, sugar, MSG and optionally, 黄皮酱 aka Wampi sauce, a jam made from the regional grown berries - Dry-pan-fry the bamboo shoots to evaporate the waters and condense its flavour, put it aside after done. - Add quite large amount of vegetable oil, about half size of your chillies-garlic-blackbeean mixture, perferably those light flavour oil like corolla or sunflower oil, heat it up until just start smoking, pour the mixture in and let it fry for 30 seconds to fully extract the aromas. - Add the prepared bamboo shoots - Add decent amount of light soy sauce from the edge of the pan/wok, the amount should be about 1/2 of the aroma mixture - Add dark chinese vinegar, sugar, salt, and MSG to your taste. It should taste mildly sour with some fragrance of the vinegar, but still leads by the soy sauce flavour. (optional) - If you have wampi sauce, pour half of the jar into the pan - The sauce should be heavily seasoned as its usage is to be diluted in noodle soup base or other dish's flavour. - Let the whole thing cooking under low heat for couple miuntes, pour into a jar, seal after cooled, and it is done. - The sauce can be safely stored for one to two months in the fridge since it is so heavily salted and have oil on the top to prevent direct contact to air. - It is vegan by itself but the taste is marvelous, its application also works wonders accompanied by meats. = An Example of How to use the sauce Ol' Buddy Noodle - Heat up the pan with some oil in - Add the sauce mixture and let it heat up - Add meat, pork slice/pork mince/etc - Add hot water or stock and let the whole thing cook for 2-3 miuntes, then add noodle in - taste the soup, if it is a bit bland then add some soy sauce. - Pour the whole thing into a bowl and chop very decent amount of spring onions on it, Enjoy!

[@zhuo2623]

黄皮酱！！蘸饺子超级好吃的

[@katxfish]

That cleaver never ceases to shock me everytime it appears

[@amilyester]

Fight or flight moment

[@michaeloconnell145]

Omg I accidentally made something just like this last week after watching your rice noodles video. Used black bean paste and chili shoots instead. Funnily enough I had a cold and it got better the next day haha

[@Keyblade071]

I love trying out your recipes at home, the only chinese food around where I live is the stereotypical american style takeout, and I love watching your videos to expand my food horozons

[@LunaticReason]

Same except I’m Chinese Canadian but pretty westernized so this helps me get closer to my culinary routes.

[@suzannes5888]

Then just order your groceries online to be delivered. Items are super inexpensive and deliveries over $35 are free.... As Chris showed, items are available at Weee... Including fresh items like Asian herbs, fruits and veggies. That's what I do.

[@lpshy9337]

@@suzannes5888 Is Weee any good though?

[@enkh-erdenebatbold1177]

@@LunaticReason the genius of this comment is underrated

[@musicianfriendly2005]

@@lpshy9337 YESS.. LOVE IT

[@fabiankusche2565]

really love how many of your channels recipes are already vegan by nature, or are simple to modify. big thanks for this amazing insight into authentic chinise cuisine

[@taylorbarringer]

The credit music made me feel like I just got done watching an 80’s sitcom. Nice vibe

[@nenben8759]

2:16 You can find fresh bamboo shoots Occasionally at big asian supermarkets Like Hong Kong City Mall in Houston Or MT Supermarket in Austin But not like 99 ranch

[@Jodabomb24]

I've seen them at T&T in Toronto!

[@MattygFTW]

I can’t express how much I love your presentation! Your history, thoroughness with explaining all ingredients and substitutions, and the general expertise and charisma of your tone is so loved! Thank you!

[@benimadali8499]

Watching these videos, I realize how lucky I am to be based in San Francisco and the Bay Area in general where almost all of the "impossible" to source ingredients are all at my local markets.

[@jem5636]

Lucky. I'm on the opposite end of the scale... I'm pretty sure there's only two or three ethnic food stores in my whole state... If I can't get it online I'm pretty much doomed.

[@Smashboy44]

You’re channel is legendary. The flexibility is so relaxing. You offer so many different routes to each of your recipes. Makes it feel like you want the viewers to just enjoy the process and food

[@behringerm]

About pork intestines and their availability in the USA: it is widely available in the southern US. If you ask the butcher in your grocery store, subheading can obtain some for you or direct you to the store in town that carries “chitlins”. You would have to show us how to prep them though

[@spuriousgeorg]

And due to the Great Migration, I've found chiterlings in just about every grocery store I've been to in majority black neighborhoods even in the Northeast and the Midwest. And ANY local butcher can get them for you if you ask.

[@wy4553]

I always love seeing the cute doggy at the end of your videos :D Your channel has introduced me to so many different Chinese dishes, thank you!

[@rawn0ld]

The new format is absolutely perfect! Love the artwork and the summary at the start! Keep it up guys!

[@blu4get]

lmao if you have a stand of bamboo growing just over the fence in your back yard, you can get fresh bamboo shoots every spring, even if you’re not in china. but if you let them get too big before you go out and kick them over, they’re too tough to eat. my dog likes to pull them up. it’s very cute edit: this is not a categorical recommendation to eat random plants from your yard :'3 we knew that these particular bamboo shoots were fine, but definitely if you're not sure, don't eat it asdfghjkl

[@emilypole7781]

people should be careful with this - lots of bamboo varieties, especially the kind you find in gardens in the UK (not sure about elsewhere) are super poisonous

[@joshvon8495]

Im loving all these videos! Always happy to see a notification from You guys!

[@mithrandirstormcrow4952]

Oh hey! A classic from my hometown! I have my own recipe that I'm using, but will give this a try as well! This flavour combination I actually didn't like when I was younger. Really love it now.

[@ChelseySmithHandle]

Thank you for this!!! My wife is from Nanning and every time we visit there, these are on the top of my list of things to eat. I will definitely be attempting to make this.

[@mugensamurai]

He's right. I did this with supermarket dried spaghetti noodles and it still tasted good. Ordered everything on amazon for fun too.

[@spuriousgeorg]

Fun trick: add some baking soda to the boiling water and regular dried pasta turns into a decent approximation of alkaline noodles

[@blyan4g]

Your pronunciation of douchi has improved so much since you first began! That tongue curl is perfect!

[@doodoobuttah]

I love this! My dad is from Nanning and he's an amazing cook, but the dish isn't for everyone lol my dad made this for me, my gf, and my friend while we were hanging out at home. My friend loved it and scarfed it down but my gf disliked the bamboo taste. Worked for me cuz I got a convenient second bowl lol

[@BrynC100]

The animations and storyboard cards are the best addition to the channel since the pup started showing up more

[@birdsdaword]

Thank you so much for putting the recipe on the left! I've been following you for a long time I've made some of your dishes I live in the San Francisco Bay area so I can get quite a few of those things. Thank you very much!

[@sumantamaitra]

My fav recipe from you guys in a long time. I will probably make this every weekend.

[@Bloodn0k]

I usually hate stories with my cooking. But you guys make it great. Great work as always.

[@declaroh]

Your videos are so well done and really show your love for Chinese cooking, and also your dog is too cute!

[@erinhowett3630]

Here's a fun fact: the chicken bouillon powder with the sassy chicken on the front that comes in the yellow container doesn't actually contain any animal products.

[@Clawdragoons]

That's good to know, but if you happen to have a brand name or anything of the sort, that might be helpful too!

[@erinhowett3630]

@@Clawdragoons I think it's "Totole- Granulated Chicken Flavor Soup Base Mix"

[@brokenglassshimmerlikestar3407]

This is the dish I miss most about my hometown!! Thanx for the recipe I'll go look for fermented black beans and bamboo shoots

[@FreaknJoshwa]

loved the video!! it's almost a crime that this doesn't have a lot of views!!! Will definitely make this dish for me and my partner, thanks for sharing!!

[@dongshenghan1473]

I am incredibly fortunate that there is a Guangxi rice noodle place at the middle of New Jersey, which is like 40 minutes away from me. I have the chance to eat this (usually too spicy for me) and other classics like 桂林米粉 when I am craving one.

[@onocoffee]

What is this place and where? I'll put that on my list next time I'm up in Jersey (I'm in Maryland).

[@dongshenghan1473]

Noodle's Time 1803 Lincoln Highway Edison, NJ 08817

[@onocoffee]

@@dongshenghan1473 Thanks!

[@timnnorman]

This looks amazing! You need to publish a cookbook for all of us who love written recipes. Lots of pictures from your amazingly produced videos too. Thanks for the inspiration

[@agingerbeard]

Love these videos, you make things so accessible 😃🖒

[@TheLordinquisitor]

I really enjyo the high level overview you did. It is very useful if you are already familiar with the cooking style or the particular dish and just want t a quick reminder.

[@zhuo2623]

OMG I'm so happy to see this!!! Nanning is my hometown and I miss it so much. And this might sound odd, but I'm so happy you didn't use any tomatoes!!!!! For authentic LaoYou style, the sour and umami flavor should come from the fermented bamboo shoot and black beans. I know local some Nanning people don't want to see any tomatoes in their LaoYou noodles because they consider it "lazy" (because it means the shop just did not bother to make/buy good bamboo shoot and just use tomatoes to substitute the flavor).

[@SerreNameless]

I love the storyboard in the beginning, so cute.

[@deliciouscookingvlog8261]

💕love the making of this 😍.Delicious recipe 💕 I definitely love your recipe. Thanks for sharing this nice video. Absolutely Mouthwatering 🤤

[@normanmarino7285]

It looks like you take very good care of your puppy! Thank you for doing So !

[@BearCusine]

Thank you so much for introducing this amazing noodle dish from my hometown! For me, it always seems so difficult to make it at home. But after watching this video, just realized that most of the ingredients can be found on amazon!! I will definitely try it in the future!

[@xero110]

Nice change in format and pacing, I enjoyed the video.

[@ramonching7772]

Easy to make and great tasting. Perfect combination. Perfect buddy.👍👍👍

[@dfgndfghdfghdfgh]

The simple comic way of explaining worked reallllllly well, seriously a great way to do it.

[@elliebee6537]

I have a good friend who almost never gets sick, only once every 2 or 3 years, but whenever he does, he drives about two hours out to the closest authentic Thai place and gets his food as spicy as possible and he swears that by the time he's done eating he feels completely healthy again.

[@adamthethird4753]

Where can I get one of those Amazing Orc-killing class knives?! Edit: I am a huge fan of listing the receipe ingredients along the bottom as you are saying them. Helps a lot for people like me with damaged ears.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Yeah for stuff that’s rapid-fire I think it’s helpful. But! Remember that all our video (within the past ~2 years) have proper (I.e. not automated CCs) for the hard of hearing/those watching in noisy places.

[@LouiseFlynn95]

This looks so easy! thank you! I'll search for the ingredients this week :P

[@gnome5649]

I made these with douchi and pickled bamboo shoots from my local Asian grocer (K&S in Nashville TN, USA). I could not find pickled chilies so I subbed Sambal. The end result was amazing. My daughter has had a cold for almost a week with a weak appetite, and inhaled two servings of this stuff! Thanks for the recipe! I may never make it to Nanning, but I now have a taste of it a few minutes away in my kitchen.

[@ryankwan1934]

That was, quite frankly, delicious and insanely fast to make. 10/10.

[@TroyCunningham]

Tried this out today with my own homemade chopped chilies. My wife and I loved it!

[@foodyumaroma]

Woow yummiest and delicious looks😍

[@themonger42]

gotta love a good drawing slideshow! great video!

[@moodfornoodz1350]

MY FAVE! My dad makes the best, always get this when im going back home to guangxi.

[@itsjustSev]

The cards made this top tier!

[@ambrospike2]

This looks so good, and it's cool because it's like a vehicle you can add whatever you want to

[@givlivs3347]

謝謝你們介紹南寧美食

[@cliffwoodbury5319]

looks like an amazing dish

[@CmdrShepardsPie]

Love the little stick drawings and animation!

[@gyrosmann]

that overview at the start is great!

[@asexualatheist3504]

Thanks for the recipes and proper pronunciation.

[@Alexander-oh8ry]

Nice drawings explaining the origin

[@cookingwithmimmo]

做得非常好 👍

[@Earthling3996]

Love your cartoons! 😊 I'm definitely going to try making this once I get my hands on those sour bamboo.

[@Earthling3996]

I got my hands on some sour bamboo from Thailand that came in a vacuum packed bag with liquid. It smells SO funky!! I made the soup base and the whole house smells of bamboo funk. XP I made the vegetarian version and it's quite tasty even though it's meatless! Thank you for sharing the recipe!! ^__^

[@starshinesoldier]

Fresh bamboo shots are seasonal here in So Cal. I love it braised with meat or in soup.

[@21seashells]

Love the drawings.

[@marcob1729]

I’ve been doing a quick fry of garlic and douchi before going in with some of the vinegar sauce in order to make some cheap but good instant ramen. Works great!

[@archiekleung]

Nice. Tks.

[@fretless05]

Can you give a hint as to how the "Ol Buddy" MaPo tofu would go? Does one just substitute the four main ingredients in this for the Toban Djan? I'd love to play around with that recipe that I cook often, as well as try new ones.

[@ChineseCookingDemystified]

Sure, just follow the recipe for Mapo Tofu, but make the soup according to this recipe. Thicken in stages ala Mapo Tofu

[@neyosaechao3495]

i love trying these out

[@yayothejowen2541]

The teahouse story was so wholesome

[@sukotsutoCSSR]

I love these videos so much! Can we get a video of essential sauces and mixes we can prep and store in large quantities for future use?

[@alexhoffmann3002]

Just tried it. It was really good; was expecting it to be really sour and spicy but it was actually pretty reasonable. I drank all the soup.

[@josephmarciano2584]

Very clever use of storyboards. Hope you'll work them in where ever appropriate in the future.

[@johnnytsunami420]

It's always super interesting when you can sort of infer the relationship between cultures from the cuisine. Lots of similarities between Cantonese, Taiwanese, Thai and Vietnamese. You can almost paint the migration of people and culture if you lay it out on a map.

[@maximliubavin6936]

Aggressively delicious combination))))

[@shotokanslugger9291]

Your dog is adorable

[@visi9856]

Pickled bamboo shoot, red chilli and Garlic are a classic combo in Assamese cuisine. Basically there is a whole genre of dishes called "Boils" in English where meat is boiled with ginger, garlic and red chilli and finished with pickled bamboo shoots and thickened with rice flour slurry.

[@dillonknight199]

i like your dogs eyebrows oh and the recipe is great too

[@eduardochavacano]

Wow from Nanning one of Chinese most beautiful capital cities. Guanxi is province of endless wonders.

[@katieluv8422]

MD here. We get fresh bamboo here in the Chinese groceries. Limited on the varieties tho. We can actually cut them ourselves as there is wild (technically invasive) bamboo.

[@kospencer1]

bamboo is another ingredient that generates umami, especially when pickled.

[@bestaqua23]

I would love to see a playlist of videos describing naturally gluten-free recipes I have started being interested in Chinese cooking because I'm forced to go gluten free and I prefer to eat things that are supposed to be gluten-free to begin with so if I could know which one of your very fascinated content to relevant to this it will really help thanks very much I appreciate the hard work you do

[@ElSuperNova23]

The thing about "seasoning" in woks is that it isn't the polymerized layer of oil you typically think of, but a layer of iron oxide.

[@noob19087]

Really? Could you elaborate on that? If that's so, then why does seasoning make it less sticky? Is it the same with regular pans, or are woks somehow unique?

[@yayalu8650]

Made a vegetarian version of this and it’s so delicious. Tastes like what you would get from a noodle food cart, homey and flavorful.

[@wendyyang7846]

😭😭😭😭一直看你们的频道，没想到你也是南宁人，要感动哭了😭😭😭😭

[@garettamber9180]

I tried making this and it was so spectacular!!!!!! 😭

[@irlshrek]

mmm this looks good

[@cyruskhalvati]

In the spring time, you can find bamboo chutes growing. Just wait till about the third week of weather above 70 degrees, and the chutes should be anywhere between 5-8 inches. Peal husks, and everything not tender enough to be eaten, pickle the rest to preserve for winter and fall when you cant get bamboo chute fresh in stores.

[@urouroniwa]

I can't remember if I mentioned this before, but dark miso makes a decent substitute for douchi. The darker (more aged) the better, obviously. It's not exactly the same, but it's really not far off. Although miso in North America tends to be the light variety (which is still probably better than nothing), I have definitely seen dark miso on my occasional trips back to Canada and the UK.

[@10lauset]

Cheers.

[@DOC-GREEN]

That knife look badass!

[@nom928]

Man, Asian ingredients are expensive in the US. Not just Chinese imports, but Korean too like jjajang sauce. It's great that you guys are showing authentic recipes, but I need more locally-sourced ingredient alternatives on a budget. I'll probably have to keep sticking to Americanized Chinese recipes in order to not break the bank lol.

[@Crackalacking_Z]

The origin story reminded me of Spaghetti alla Puttanesca ... another classic cupboard recipe with a steamy background situation ;)

[@SaBoTeUr2001]

Didn't realize this was a thing! I had left over Mapo Tofu and left over noodles from beef noodle soup, and thought, what the hell, let's mix them together. Delicious, though missing the bamboo shoots.

[@delyar]

Drawings are super sweet

[@jhen4882]

The packaged bamboo does come w/ a bit of funk :< wish I embraced the fresh stuff more when I was over there but the food is so incredible you find yourself getting caught up in anything.. Many Americans don't know what they're missing w/ real Chinese food it's the sauce to life.

[@kendallreeves7784]

Where did you get that knife

[@sydneyfong]

The synchronicity. Two hours ago I literally made mapo toufu using bamboo shoots, fermented beans (supposed to be 豉醬 but it tastes more like 豆豉 after being in the fridge for a couple more years than it should), and a bit of chilli oil.... I mean, bamboo shoots aren't the kind of stuff I use on a regular basis, probably haven't used it for months.... And then I watched this video, not knowing what 老友面 is...

[@ivanhendricks7053]

Enjoy watching your videos. Btw, where did you get that cleaver!

[@ericbarnett6771]

You mentioned Weee. I just got my first order from them and will be buying those hard to find items from now on.