US vs UK Chinese Takeout | Food Wars

US vs UK Chinese Takeout | Food Wars | Insider Food

Рет қаралды 554,705

Күн бұрын

We wanted to explore the differences between Chinese takeout in the US and in the UK.
00:00 - Intro
00:08 - Exclusives
22:42 - Plate Wars
26:20 - Packaging
27:50 - Portion Sizes
30:20 - Ingredients
31:45 - Culture And History
35:51 - Credits
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US vs UK Chinese Takeout | Food Wars | Insider Food

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@NosteralGaming 4 ай бұрын

I feel like the “exclusives” are very subjective. Since most restaurants are independent, the menus vary wildly depending on location.

@skytho5799 4 ай бұрын

no sh**

@lemme_c_ur_buns9102 4 ай бұрын

I doubt we could get the shrimp toast thing in the states.

@ad3z10 4 ай бұрын

For the UK at least, 90% of Chinese takeaways will have basically identical menu's with maybe a few small bits of variation. Everything Harry showed is something you'd be able to pick up any any of those typical takeaways.

@anastasiarene6617 4 ай бұрын

@@lemme_c_ur_buns9102 Come to New York, I've never been to a chinese takeout here that didn't have shrimp toast. It's also pretty easy to make at home.

@lemme_c_ur_buns9102 4 ай бұрын

@@anastasiarene6617 yeah im in Cali, and I've never seen that, I wonder if their are any other major differences just between new york and cali chinese food.

@alorachan 4 ай бұрын

It's fascinating to see the US food being so different from where I'm at in the US. There's definitely regional American tastes, but also people from different parts of China moved to different parts of the US, so some parts of the US may get more Hunanese, or more Cantonese, or more Szechuan, or what not, meaning each parts of the US will get a different variant. For example, here in central Texas (where I've lived 28 years), I've never seen that curd soup, but instead the three most popular on menus here are egg drop, hot and sour, and wanton soup. Also while it could just come down to the restaurants itself, I've never actually seen shrimp as a meat option in an eggroll, thought that was really interesting. You could do a whole video featuring common Chinese-American foods from around the US itself.

@sneer0101 4 ай бұрын

This is exactly the same as the UK

@TonyEvers-bucksin6 4 ай бұрын

Yea, I'm surprised by some of the choices here. One of the most common things is simply protein with either broccoli or mixed vegetables that's stir fried in a Chinese brown sauce. Also Chop Suey definitely is served in a sauce, not pale white like what was shown.

@ginny3219 4 ай бұрын

@TonyEvers-bucksin6 our chop sued is browner sauce and our chow main is pretty clear/ whitish sauce with a lot of vegetables .our noodles are low mein and Mei funare really thin noodles and chow fun are thick noodles. Im near Philadelphia, which has a " Chinatown " that's huge.

@ginny3219 4 ай бұрын

We have shrimp,vegetables or pork egg rolls and like 3 different kinds of spring rolls. I live near Philadelphia, pa

@harperoconnor5285 3 ай бұрын

I agree. I'm from Colorado, lived in Washington State for a decade, and am now in the US southwest, and I've never seen those prawn crackers anywhere but an Asian grocery store.

@localzuk 4 ай бұрын

I think Harry’s dishes are fairly typical of a UK Chinese takeaway. But, that doesn’t mean they’re the best you can get. There’s some fantastic places which do their own thing and don’t use the same general menu as the rest. There’s one such place near me, and its food is head and shoulders above the normal Chinese places.

@MichaelOcherz 4 ай бұрын

Yeah this. It's what people will mostly understand by Chinese takeaway, which is basically gloop built to satisfy the country's tastes in the 1960s which hasn't really evolved since; but we definitely have a lot of 'better' Chinese restaurants, especially in larger cities!

@ad3z10 4 ай бұрын

Yep, I enjoy my local Chinese for when I want sweet gloop but it's basically a completely different cuisine to the excellent food I'd get as a takeaway from a proper Chinese restaurant.

@localzuk 4 ай бұрын

@@ad3z10 I think you have to see it in the context of the show - its a show about fast food. So, this is about "fast food" type Chinese. And actually, my local Chinese place is often faster than most pizza places here, so it is fast food in a literal sense.

@deathpyre42 4 ай бұрын

@@MichaelOcherz It depends, at least on the West Coast some of the places can be traced back to the 1800s thanks to the demand for railroads and the hype around the gold rush(even though the majority of them ended up being forced into other businesses).

@sneer0101 4 ай бұрын

@@ad3z10Point missed completely

@anonymoushey2710 4 ай бұрын

Speaking as a Northerner from the UK, most of this is similar to what we’d expect, but a lot is slightly different too. Sweet chilli sauce as an example. And the sweet and sour sauce is normally a neon red colour. Love the video

@qmaru14 4 ай бұрын

The colour tends to fade the longer it has been out thus turning more of a orange colour. Can't explain the science, but you just add some red food colouring to get it back.

@Kratos-005 4 ай бұрын

Yeah, never seen that colour sweet and sour sauce before. It is normally a reddish, pinkish colour and thick and sticky consistency normally in the UK to dip your chicken balls in.

@user-yv2cz8oj1k Ай бұрын

Sweet and sour sauce is fantastically easy to make at home, it's equal parts of ketchup, sugar, and oil, warmed slowly until it combines together, if you want to elevate it then add a few pineapple chunks and some of the juice to it.

@adamsielski 12 сағат бұрын

Everything northern is always better. 🫶

@matthewolszewski3286 4 ай бұрын

Speaking as a resident of the US west coast, I never realized how different east coast Chinese food is.

@themarcusismael13 3 ай бұрын

It’s so bizarre, I was expecting so many dishes that weren’t there and also not at all any inclusion of dim sum? They have Cantonese Chinese restaurants on the east coast too so it sounds like they just didn’t do their homework or put in the effort to go to places that offered more stereotypical American Chinese dishes.

@DrGlynnWix 11 күн бұрын

I would say Northeast because this stuff wasn't common in Georgia/Alabama when I was growing up at least (I haven't lived in the States in 10 years, so maybe some stuff has changed...).

@Sampdelu 11 күн бұрын

That shocked me as well, having lived in the Midwest and NE they are pretty much the same. A lot of what she said seems so foreign to me. Even something as simple as sweet and sour chicken, never heard of it coming pre-sauced

@asiamichelle4729 10 күн бұрын

I think it's just the place she picked lol

@nickguerrero9154 5 күн бұрын

@@asiamichelle4729 yea she goes to a spot that charges 25$ for a plate. You have to go to the places that have dinner combos for 12$ and they're stacked

@JayROwen 4 ай бұрын

The UK has spare ribs! I order them every time! A starter if ribs with rice, followed by the main which for me is either sweet and sour pork, beef in black bean or oyster sauce, or a prawn dish.

@0xf1337 4 ай бұрын

Yeah there's usually multiple types of spare rib as well but I've never seen a boneless one.

@gingerninja5449 4 ай бұрын

We have loads of stuff they said were exclusive to the US

@0xf1337 4 ай бұрын

@@gingerninja5449 It's got to be that Cantonese people used to mainly be in pockets of the US, not everywhere.

@adamwyatt9748 4 ай бұрын

Salt and pepper ribs mmm

@xoALSox 4 ай бұрын

Singapore noodles Special fried rice sweet and sour prawn balls Seaweed Crispy shredded beef Sichuan chicken Boooooom

@mercgurl80 4 ай бұрын

Something to note, as an American who lived on both the West Coast and East Coast, is the way the noodles are referred to. What is called lo mein on the East Coast-the soft wheat noodles-is called chow mein on the West Coast, similar to the UK. Chow mein on the East Coast refers to the crispy noodles, like the pan fried noodles or the (shudder) La Choy noodles you find in supermarkets. Same thing goes for chow fun (wide noodles) on the West Coast vs. lo fun on the East Coast.

@robertryan6782 4 ай бұрын

'Something to note, as an American who lived on both the West Coast and East Coast, is the way the noodles are referred to. What is called lo mein on the East Coast-the soft wheat noodles-is called chow mein on the West Coast, similar to the UK. Chow mein on the East Coast refers to the crispy noodles, like the pan fried noodles or the (shudder) La Choy noodles you find in supermarkets. Same thing goes for chow fun (wide noodles) on the West Coast vs. lo fun on the East Coast.' - At least you are an American who doesn't call Pasta, Noodles (well, hopefully).

@simplypotet5561 4 ай бұрын

why did you quote the entire comment@@robertryan6782

@mmm3ike 4 ай бұрын

A lot of Chinese restaurants have two menus. There is the regular menu and another menu for Chinese customers. The regular menus are the “normal” safer items and the other one are the most exotic items. If you are not Chinese and want a traditional Chinese restaurant experience go with a friend with a Chinese background that speaks some form of Chinese. Also go to a Chinese restaurant where the staff actually speaks Chinese. You will have a wonderful experience.

@Becausing 4 ай бұрын

Yes! And if you can order from a banquet menu(usually requires 5+ people) you can get some incredible dishes that really show off the breadth of Chinese food and the skill of the chef.

@Abzify1 4 ай бұрын

This is about chinese takeout rather than takeaway. You'll find chinese restaurants are more varied and traditional whereas takeouts that are only takeouts are pretty much the same menus but with various quality depending on who's made it. You might find that the odd ones will have extra things though that are special to that chef.

@starryknight-sc9xe 4 ай бұрын

I would say the " regular " is the exotic one and the " exotic " is the normal one.

@hannahk1306 4 ай бұрын

My mum and I went to an amazing Chinese restaurant in Southampton that was clearly aimed at Chinese students wanting a taste of home. We were the only obviously non-Chinese people in there and the restaurant staff were convinced that we couldn't possibly know how to use chopsticks (they actually tried to take them off us) and brought us forks which we didn't touch. They then spent the whole time watching us eat with our chopsticks (which was a little off-putting)! The other great Chinese restaurant I've been to is in Milton Keynes, when we went for mum's friend's funeral (separate to the wake). Both her and her husband are from Hong Kong and ran their own Chinese takeaway (he still runs it). So they had a lot of overseas relatives over for the funeral that needed feeding and invited a few other people as well. He ordered a load of dishes for everyone that were just brought out to the tables and some of which aren't on their regular menu. We had loads of lovely dishes like whole fish and this crispy tofu which I'd never have thought to order.

@SohanDsouza 4 ай бұрын

Not my experience in Boston and Chicago, at least. It's been either restaurants with entirely American Chinese menus, or restaurants with authentic/regional Chinese menus that include a limited number of popular American Chinese mainstays for the conservative of palate.

@sarahgreefable 4 ай бұрын

Also good to note in the UK the food generally comes in plastic containers which we reuse and fill a cupboard with and never recycle! Great for using later for meal prep in the freezer

@veeeks2938 4 ай бұрын

Yeah I do that too, mostly for portioning lentil soup to be frozen for later. I use those ice cream tubs from Carte Dior for that too lol.

@sarahgreefable 4 ай бұрын

@@veeeks2938 looove a lentil soup!!!

@Beccam423 4 ай бұрын

Wow so resourceful. Such a win

@bransonjallim2620 4 ай бұрын

As a Guyanese American I found it so bizarre that Americans don’t reuse there Chinese take out containers they throw it away.

@beardoodle9835 4 ай бұрын

We do that here in the US, too 😂. I haven't bought food storage containers in YEARS, because we keep our take-out containers! Hey, reduce, reuse, recycle, right? 😊

@jacobnewmanlim2470 4 ай бұрын

Here in China, we have 干煸土豆丝 which is basically wok fried chips as the UK ones. So it’s actually a legit Chinese dish

@BnFGProductions 4 ай бұрын

Part of the reason that chips are part of a lot of UK takeaways is because lots of immigrants took over chippys, so they serve a double purpose really

@OfficialSnyd 20 күн бұрын

I didn't know this! Neat!

@MT-gb9kt 4 ай бұрын

I highly recommend the book Chop Suey Nation by Ann Hui. The author goes on a cross country tour to learn about the history of Canadian Chinese food and interviews families who own restaurants in small towns. A couple fun tidbits: Chinese buffets in Canada may have originated in Quebec and chow mein in Newfoundland tends to be a cabbage based dish since the specific noodles weren’t widely available decades ago.

@jessicazaytsoff1494 4 ай бұрын

Good recommend on the book! It's one of my faves.

@vee5315 4 ай бұрын

From just this episode I would say Canada has the best Chinese food. (Well best out of UK,Canada USA)

@art0925 4 ай бұрын

Canada has like the best options for Chinese food. You can get really authentic ChInese, Hongkongers, Taiwanese and even Malay/ Singapore style Chinese food, and also the take out chop suey in smaller cities.

@sh33pboi 4 ай бұрын

Something that might be worth mentioning is that the UK doesn't usually do fortune cookies. Not sure how popular they actually are in America but they seem to be common in all of their tv shows.

@Becausing 4 ай бұрын

They are pretty ubiquitous! It would be notable/unusual for a restaurant to _not_ include them with an order.

@jgt2598 4 ай бұрын

Yeah, near universal here. Of course, they were invented by Chinese Americans in California so that makes sense.

@anomisybby6198 4 ай бұрын

Every Chinese restaurant gives u fortune cookies

@bvbxiong5791 4 ай бұрын

what's weird is that i've never gotten a cookie with a bad fortune. knock on wood.

@TVandManga 4 ай бұрын

I hadn't had fortune cookies until I went to the US on holiday.

@broosewee 4 ай бұрын

This was a weird episode but surely a difficult one to make considering the numerous variations of chinese take out in both countries. It was very interesting to see as a big fan of this type of food. Kudos to the production team!

@annamariejones2837 4 ай бұрын

It could be because of the "getting a Chinese" thing from tiktok. Ppl were judging the uk's version

@Brad84L 4 ай бұрын

we basically have all of those things, with very few differences. Not the greatest topic for a comparison video.

@interestsarefree 4 ай бұрын

As someone who has had Peking duck in Peking (AKA Beijing); the pancakes, cucumber, scallions and hoisin are the actual way it's eaten. Good job, Harry! Fun fact: "Singapore" rice noodles was invented in Hong Kong

@michaelkay6495 4 ай бұрын

They have Peking duck in the US as well, but it’s usually at fancier restaurants, not takeaways

@nighttimedaytime1192 4 ай бұрын

i'd love if i was served an actual joint of duck done like that instead of shredded up crap... never eaten a piece of poultry like that in my life !

@sneer0101 4 ай бұрын

@@nighttimedaytime1192 Loads of places do it where you shred it up yourself

@atlnla4112 4 ай бұрын

You can get it in most supermarkets all over China. Cheap or expensive it’s basically the same.

@fenix849 4 ай бұрын

Pretty sure singapore noodles atleast here in oz is a thinner egg noodle rather than any rice noodle.

@TheIndi815 3 ай бұрын

Love your channel and absolutely adore the inclusion of the history of the culture and history at the end! It's one of my favorite topics :)

@nighttimedaytime1192 4 ай бұрын

I'd like to see more takeout comparison eps like Indian takeaway for example

@nikesh. 4 ай бұрын

@0xf1337 4 ай бұрын

Now that won't be close to a fair fight.

@king.ozzymandias 4 ай бұрын

Unfair. Americans dont have any proper food like that

@kartiksharma-bg6kk 4 ай бұрын

Indian food would be intresting.....people would get to know there are things other than BUTTER CHICKEN and NAAN.

@0xf1337 4 ай бұрын

@@kartiksharma-bg6kk I know butter chicken and chicken tikka masala are a bit of a meme on Indian social media but you don't really see the latter much anymore and anyone picking the former usually gets ribbed for it. British 'curry houses' don't really exist now to the extent they did in the 70s/80s/90s.

@williebauld1007 4 ай бұрын

Harry, omelettes are an option in every Chinese takeaway in the UK You guys have to do an Indian takeaway episode 👌👍

@lexruptor 4 ай бұрын

*takeout A takeaway is a moral value or lesson "taken away" from a story or narrative. Takeout is fast food to go.

@terestar1 4 ай бұрын

@@lexruptorIn the UK, we refer to takeout food as a takeaway.

@williebauld1007 4 ай бұрын

@@lexruptor I’m from the UK mate

@SteveODonnell 4 ай бұрын

@@lexruptorI've never heard takeaway food referred to as takeout in the UK. I say that as someone who has lived in Southern England, Glasgow and Aberdeen. Always takeaway. Takeout is just an American term.

@Stovaa 4 ай бұрын

Bro if I get a chinese it takes 20 to 30 minutes for them to cook it, how is that fast food?

@vince7912 21 күн бұрын

Love that you included the segment about MSG. It adds so much flavour to dishes and I love cooking with it myself.

@WordAte 4 ай бұрын

In the US, mu shu is served with pancakes. It is safe to eat tails on shrimp. It is delicious and adds to the textures. In standard no-frills US Chinese takeaway, the white folded boxes are very common. The other options are also more common now. Rice almost always comes in the white boxes.

@deathpyre42 4 ай бұрын

The white folding boxes are a holdover from the old oyster shacks that largely went out of business when a lot of the US' coastal oyster fisheries collapsed, so they got bought out by Chinese takeout shops who kept using the white boxes because they were convenient.

@beardoodle9835 4 ай бұрын

Mu shu is one of my most favorite orders! I wonder if she just overlooked the pancakes and hoisin sauce? And yeah, I always eat the shrimp tails. When we order salt and pepper shrimp from our favorite local place, it comes super crispy pan-fried with the heads and tails still on, with the dry-fried chiles all over it, and you just crunch the whole thing. It's soooo delicious! 😋

@betsyduane3461 4 ай бұрын

Most Americans eat the standard Americanized Chinese food that has been around since the 50's. Pork fried rice, won ton soup, egg rolls, sesame chicken, beef and broccoli, white rice, egg foo young, chop suey, chicken chow mein.

@Stuey2008 4 ай бұрын

In Ireland, the main and most popular exclusive item is the 'Spice Bag' which is crispy shredded chicken, chips, peppers and onions tossed in multiple spicy seasonings and served with curry sauce!

@futureskeletons66669 4 ай бұрын

And the curry sauce is Japanese.

@jeremymerry7967 4 ай бұрын

that sounds amazing!

@dizzygunner 4 ай бұрын

@@futureskeletons66669 Japanese katsu curry, and British chip shop curry, are basically the same thing, because the Brits introduced curry to japan.

@lexruptor 4 ай бұрын

*potatoes Chips are like Lays, Doritos, Takis, Ruffles, Cheetos.

@cheesybellend6842 4 ай бұрын

It’s just salt and a pepper chicken and salt and pepper chips , that’s all a spice bag is

@bjdreviews 4 ай бұрын

We also have regional Chinese food in the US that's pretty neat. In Michigan we have boneless almond chicken or war su gai. In Virginia in the Tidewater region there's yock-a-mein which is heavily influenced by the African American community in the area. New Orleans has ya-ka-mein, but that's a different thing too. I love finding regional Chinese American food when I can.

@sneer0101 4 ай бұрын

Yeah the UK does too

@KennyChesty 4 ай бұрын

Was going to say that. Here in Chicago it isn't uncommon to see dim sum available but I don't see that often on menus outside the city. But I'd say generally, the US Chinese takeouts are closer to what is normally eaten in China especially if you live in a city with a high Chinese population like Chicago. And we have a lot of asian fusion places. Chinese/Japanese or Indian/Thai for example.

@calihapamama 4 ай бұрын

Yup, and Chow Mein in Chinese restaurants on the West Coast of the US is a completely different creature than the East Coast.

@babecat2000 4 ай бұрын

St.louis has St.Paul sandwich. St.Louis has an intreasting chinese food take.

@bjdreviews 4 ай бұрын

Good call! I only lived in St. Louis for about 5 months for work and I totally forgot about that one! @@babecat2000

@kazoohero93 27 күн бұрын

Feel like this video would have been better if the American actually ate more Chinese food in their life. Half the stuff it seemed like she was tasting for the first time / seemingly had no idea what half the things were…

@RedAmalgam2000 4 ай бұрын

Idk where she's based but here on the east coast, pork fried rice and vegetable fried rice are standard

@NicoleM_radiantbaby 4 ай бұрын

Whenever I'm sick, I love getting a big quart of wonton soup delivered. Always so comforting!

@DimesDCP 4 ай бұрын

In most American Chinese Takeout, they have a nearly identical menu everywhere. But the quality is absolutely not all the same. Once you find that one spot that gets you General Tsos or a spicy (usually chili oil added) orange chicken after being delivered - you know you found the one.

@Rattrap007 4 ай бұрын

Yup. Very similar menus, but different quality. One place i occasionally go to is the only one nearby with Mein Fun noodles (rice noodles). But to me the big selling point is egg rolls. Lots are small like the frozen ones you get at grocery store. I like a lot thicker one full of cabbage and stuff. Found one place with great egg rolls. I will stop by when nearby and just get 3 to go. Had a place we went to since i was a kid but they retired. They had huge egg rolls like that. To me the biggest importance is Egg Rolls and fried rice. If those two are great, then I am good.

@KalEL224 4 ай бұрын

Umm bro no lol. You must have only been in one region if you think it’s all the same. WTF?

@CavemanSynthesizer 4 ай бұрын

I love Kung-Pao chicken. I used to go to a spot that had a subtle light flour coating on their chicken and I've yet to find another place that does this. It was sooo good. Similarly, back home in Colorado I used to get almond chicken as a kid. I don't recall much about it, excepting that it had almonds and (I think) shredded cabbage. I've yet to see it anywhere else.

@Rattrap007 4 ай бұрын

@@KalEL224 depends on where you live. A huge city like LA, NYC, or Chicago yes you have massive variety. I live in the midwest in a town/area of about 200,000+ people in a 20 mile radius. Several chinese places. Most menus will have the same items like mongolian beef, sweet and sour chicken, combination fried rice, etc. Every one has the big stuff like that. A few have items others do not like Mein Fun or Mushu. Some have crispy duck, others do not. It depends on the place. But the menus will still usually be 90-95% the same items. Now QUALITY is where they differ. Some have great food, others you are better off at Panda Express. There is a buffet place that has frog legs and salt and pepper squid. But the quality is usually meh on most stuff and occasionally gets bad inspections. No place i know else has the squid or frog legs dishes, but they do. It is rare to find a place that has unusual items like that. Maybe in a big city you get lots of places with odd items or more authentic dishes but other places it is all just the standards.

@GenXBecks 4 ай бұрын

Where are the wings? Is that East Coast? No Chinese take away is complete with out them. Also, very New England, but I miss lobster sauce, which shockingly has no lobster.

@acelovesit 4 ай бұрын

These history facts are amazing, more of these plesee. Fascinating!

@alicew349 4 ай бұрын

"The colour will vary" as he shows the brown sweet and sour sauce - it's usually always a red!

@JayROwen 4 ай бұрын

I've had sweet and sour sauce of all colours. The best ones are when it's glowing like nuclear radiation!

@ViolentMoth 4 ай бұрын

@@JayROwenYes!! And it turns into congealed jelly as it cools down 😂

@OfficialSnyd 20 күн бұрын

@@ViolentMoth I zap it in the microwave when eating leftovers for it to go back to it's normal consistency x

@salomonrael8117 4 ай бұрын

I think whats cool about U.S style is that it's very heavily inspired by other cultures that immigrated to the U.S in the 60s/70s, such as Taiwanese immigrants. I also think it's very cool that every restaurant/city in the U.S has they're own staple dishes

@emmysharples9708 4 ай бұрын

It's kind of the same with the "English Chinese" a lot of it os deep fried as most uk Chinese takeaways are in ex fish and chip shops so they had to adapt the cooking not only to the uk palate but to the cooking equipment they had.

@hannahk1306 4 ай бұрын

@@emmysharples9708 Also, a lot of our Chinese takeaways are Cantonese or Hong Kong as that's where the Chinese immigrants to the UK came from. So it's the same as the US, just different regions.

@davidt1645 4 ай бұрын

I would disagree and would say that this is a bit inaccurate. “American Chinese” restaurants and the cuisine were created by Cantonese immigrants from Guangdong and Hong Kong. If anything I would say that American Chinese food takes influence from singaporean and Malaysian culture. Also, immigrants coming from Taiwan in the 60s/70s means that it would only have been 10-20 years since mainland China and Taiwan were separated due to the Chinese civil war so I wouldn’t say that they’re different cultures. Especially since culturally, Taiwanese culture is southern Han Chinese. I would say that immigrants from northern China opening their own restaurants made Chinese food in the US more diverse.

@MJC_227 4 ай бұрын

I think the only thing they didn't cover here, is how chinese takeout is so varied regionally in the USA. Some dishes will be prepared differently in certain regions, while others won't be available at all. Also, some regions won't have duck sauce available at all.

@gabe6475 4 ай бұрын

Plus seafood and overall meat quality varies a crazy amount based on geography

@DeveusBelkan 4 ай бұрын

I know when I was on the East Coast, fried rice always seemed to come with little pieces of pork? that was charred red. But I have never seen that in the midwest. It's only ever seasoned with a sauce or some vegetables unless you specifically order it with a protein. I just wish every place prepared their sweet and sour dishes with pineapple and green peppers as the chicken and sauce alone just isn't as good.

@sassmacfru 4 ай бұрын

My favorite order is called Dragon and Phoenix. It is a combo plate of Szechuan shrimp and general tao’s chicken.

@JimWhitaker 4 ай бұрын

Now you've made me really hungry.. Thanks guys.

@ivw685 3 ай бұрын

I get fries and gravy from my local Chinese carryout spot, and they are top tier. Not a part of my usual order, but when the craving hits for salty/savory/crunchy/saucy, french fries and gravy hit the spot. Might be a regional US thing.

@yugioht42 4 ай бұрын

Cornstarch slurry equals that gloopy texture. Standard if you can’t cook it out. But if you can it’s velvety and thick.

@Manic3DF 4 ай бұрын

Also, egg roll (USA) and pancake roll (UK) are the same thing and on this video, so many dishes are missing. We have egg foo Yung, we have Yeung chow fried rice, we have spare ribs...etc They have Chinese curry sauce in the states too...I had chicken curry from a Chinese take-out when visiting Florida and it was almost the exact same as the chinese curry sauce in the UK but was significantly more spicy.

@petersullivan2837 4 ай бұрын

There was a place I used to use in the UK where the egg roll was as thick as a rolling pin! Found one similar restaurant here in Canada, but is a long way away near my granddaughters University

@DustyJones1997BGCL 4 ай бұрын

What's really awesome about this is that Chinese takeout can be anything from any country. Every country is different in how they do it which is really surprising. This is amazing but overall Chinese takeout is so good 😋🤤😛

@bzneeez 3 ай бұрын

In the Washington DC area we order French fries at the carry out joints , mostly with cheeseSteaks, wings? burgers etc, but we dip our fries in mumbo sauce and it’s always hitting

@yoboibillybob902 4 ай бұрын

your videos are amazing also the food makes me hungry

@lmo7724 4 ай бұрын

For Peking duck, use the spring onion as a mop to spread the hoisin over the pancake (learned that tip from a fancy, Chinese restaurant in San Francisco)

@mrsmunchin 14 күн бұрын

Uk here, that’s how I’ve always done it too 😊

@judyarlene 4 ай бұрын

I was already thinking of getting Chinese for dinner tonight and now it's definitely happening!

@kandipiatkowski8589 4 ай бұрын

I love hot and sour soup. I started ordering it when some other options started upsetting my stomach. Crab Rangoon is my favorite tho!!!!

@aljones75 14 күн бұрын

Hot and sour soup is the best, usually full after it because it’s so packed with meat then take a break before the main 😂

@grahamroberts2050 4 ай бұрын

This is such a sad indictment of Chinese places in the UK. There’s so much better than this to be had if you can be bothered to look

@jaimemurphy2208 4 ай бұрын

The US stuff doesn't exactly pop either here. Both still look tasty tho.

@acelovesit 4 ай бұрын

I don't know. Every Chinese take away up North has identical menus, all very much the same.

@lylukk 4 ай бұрын

this is the basic stuff you're going to get from a takeaway though. a proper restaurant will be different but thats not what the average brit is ordering on a saturday night

@VeeTuTonic 4 ай бұрын

@@acelovesitnot necessarily, I live in Newcastle and there’s more traditional places I go to. Having said that they tend to have two menus, one that’s westernised and one that has more genuine cuisine.

@dav_poy 4 ай бұрын

What's sad about it? This is an authentic depiction of real food eaten by millions of people every week.

@Maikeru-os4ti 4 ай бұрын

Orange Chicken is one of my signature Chinese takeout order dishes but i’ve actually had Lemon Chicken before at a local Chinese restaurant in the town i grew up in it’s basically the sane thing as orange chicken except the sauce/glaze is replaced with lemon instead of orange and it was a more tart/tangy with the addition of sweetness to it it wasn’t terrible at all just different if your used to eating orange chicken

@orientalmoons 4 ай бұрын

I am firmly in the Brit camp of dipping food into sauce not pouring sauce everywhere. Especially for crispy foods. I don't know anyone who does the pouring thing. I do like to order a couple of different dishes, I usually go for 'chicken' satay and maybe veg chow mein (but I'm up for other noodle dishes or maybe rice, my local does Singapore udon which is so inauthentic for Chinese food yet very tasty), plus hot and sour or sweetcorn soup. My local Chinese takeaway is a vegan one which is handy since I'm vegetarian. They have some slightly more interesting and possibly more authentic dishes in the specials section. One of the best is aubergine dragon, which is a whole aubergine (eggplant) cooked until soft with spicy sauce, I think maybe doubanjiang, and various vegetables.

@redeye1016 4 ай бұрын

Same - I’m British and I’ve never poured the sauce over the plate in my life

@RicoSoprano_ 6 күн бұрын

That’s not some thing only done in there. As an American I don’t like my sauce poured on my food either.

@Manic3DF 4 ай бұрын

I might blow your mind here, but the orange sauce used on that dish for the American side will taste identical to our English Chinese sweet and sour sauce, as the actual main ingredient in our sweet and sour sauce is orange dilute/squash. Traditionally sweet and sour sauce uses pineapple juice, but that's significantly more expensive, so isn't used. Source: I used to work in an english chinese take-away.

@davidz2690 2 ай бұрын

But you get pieces of pineapple in sweet and sour chicken here in the uk so it’s probably pineapple juice too no?

@Manic3DF 2 ай бұрын

@@davidz2690 If the restaurant you use add pineapple to the dish, it probably has the juice too. They'll just use tinned pineapple that sits in its juice. The 3 I've worked at didn't add pineapple though.

@MiRABEAU5047 2 ай бұрын

The salt and pepper chips sound good! Fries are common in dc carryouts. Wings, fries, mumbo sauce. I looove hot & sour soup. My mom prefers the egg drop soup

@JackTaylor1 4 ай бұрын

Ive never seen a chinese restaurant without foo yung on the menu, i use it to see how well they cook fresh items. Its very popular in west yorkshire

@jaklg7905 4 ай бұрын

Yes! I live in the US and love vegetable egg foo yung with extra water chestnuts. It is my go to Chinese restaurant dish.

@TipsyTofuTravels 4 ай бұрын

Harry’s plate is exactly how I’ve been taught to enjoy Chinese food in the UK. It’s absolutely spot on. Yes the items people order are all subjective, but generally the ones Harry has picked are the most popular! I’m vegetarian so I tend to get: Veggie Singapore chow mein Salt and pepper, black bean or chilli tofu Salt and pepper chips Peanut/satay or curry sauce for the whole plate Vegetable spring rolls Crispy seaweed In America I’ve ordered a veggie orange “chicken” with a mock meat and had some fried rice to go with it! Orange chicken sauce is similar to sweet and sour but less sour (I think)

@1Jetsurf 4 ай бұрын

It's funny because his plate is exactly how I enjoy US take out. He showed just about everything I get at my local Chinese place.

@kdotroy1 4 ай бұрын

You know, most UK chinese restaurants, use a type of fish sauce, whether its in the soy or not. 100% avoid if youre veggie and don't want cross contamination. Also, go fund a proper veggie chinese take away that do not use anything meat related.

@dapprman 4 ай бұрын

@@kdotroy1 Same for Japanese (dashi stock) - also the same in Hong Kong - I advise vegie friends heading over there to describe their diet as being the same as a Buddhist

@TipsyTofuTravels 4 ай бұрын

@@kdotroy1 thanks for the tips I always make sure the sauces and ingredients are listed as vegetarian and if I’m unsure, I check. Also there’s a couple of veggie Chinese style takeaways in my city and I use them quite a lot (so long as I’m not with other meat eaters) but you’re so right to mention it because the ingredients like fish sauce and even chicken stock etc are easily hidden!! :)

@TipsyTofuTravels 4 ай бұрын

@@1Jetsurf oh wow! Maybe not so different after all :D

@maxwiz71 4 ай бұрын

Odd he thinks Egg Foo Young wouldn't catch on in the UK. Every Chinese I've use and both that ive worked for had Foo Young on the menu and it was pretty popular. 🤷‍♂️

@JasonWan88 4 ай бұрын

in UK: Hoi sin has nothing to do with plum sauce :) its just often mistaken as plum sauce and usually the "spring onion" for the peking duck is usually leek. generally young/yeung chow fried rice is house special fried rice

@Becausing 4 ай бұрын

If you’re not getting wor wonton soup, you’re missing out! I think it’s a perfect soup- great broth, nice mix of veg, and always an alarming amount of dumplings.

@paulstables187 4 ай бұрын

Brit here and I also find it super weird that a lot of us pour sauce all over the food. Also I have never met anyone that pours BOTH curry and sweet and sour sauce over the food 🤢

@johnnoon9498 4 ай бұрын

Serial killer behaviour that

@stevenross4223 4 ай бұрын

I'm in the UK (Scotland), and Ive also never seen anyone pour both sauces over everything like that - weird!

@lukeet331 4 ай бұрын

Yeah just curry sauce

@FisHLoC 2 ай бұрын

Midlands England, and we pour curry sauce over most of it but dip the chicken balls in the sweet and sour if we get it. Normally I get what harry has less the sweet and sour chicken.

@OfficialSnyd 20 күн бұрын

I prefer satay sauce over curry sauce personally.

@themoviedealers 4 ай бұрын

You didn't do the forgotten feature where the paper pail unfolds into a plate. I guess you would keep it folded if you weren't eating the whole portion or were making up a separate plate with several foods. Leftovers also keep well in that pail.

@vault9263 4 ай бұрын

That's a myth. The little paper pails were originally developed to carry oysters in. Long before there was anything like a Chinese takeout restaurant. How do you know? You have to reach down into the hot food to unbend the little wire that holds the pail together.

@simoncallister6071 4 ай бұрын

Quite a few have already said it but yes omelette is basically on every UK Chinese menu, however normally its just a basic egg omelette with nothing extra added. Mainly a fussy eater/kids option.

@Mattiker 4 ай бұрын

The scallion pancake is great with Hoisin sauce. Also fries and fried chicken or even burgers are popular to get in the hood.

@rainzerdesu 4 ай бұрын

If I had to sum it up, I feel like UK Chinese takeout is more of like a Chinese takeout combined with a general asian fusion takeout. Like the "aromatic duck" which is basically pretend Peking duck would be from an actual Chinese restaurant here in the US or the grilled satay chicken sticks would be from a Malaysian/Vietnamese place instead of a Chinese takeout

@Jimmyconway77 4 ай бұрын

We have actual Chinese restaurants in the uk

@Jimmyconway77 4 ай бұрын

How would you describe us Chinese takeaway?

@rainzerdesu 4 ай бұрын

@@Jimmyconway77 US Chinese takeaway is American Chinese style cooking that later evolved to cater to American tastes developed by the Chinese migrant workforce during when Chinese labor built the US Transcontinental Railroad. So you'd have the American Chinese style of dishes like General Tsos, Egg Foo Yung, Chop Suey with usually also dishes developed specifically for the American palate like crab rangoon as well as dishes that are specifically American like fried chicken wings and french fries. Like Beef with Broccoli is a dish that is American Chinese that was an adaptation of the Cantonese Beef with gailan (chinese broccoli) since they wouldn't have gailan in 19th century America So i'm not saying the UK doesn't have actual Chinese restaurants, but specifically Chinese takeout based on the menu/dishes shown in this video seems more like Asian fusion takeout as opposed to Chinese takeout. Like satay is Southeast Asian for example.

@djdjdjdsjsjejne2603 4 ай бұрын

I think the presence of southeast Asian dishes has to do with Asian dispora dynamics. Within Europe Chinese communities are very close to malay, Vietnamese and Indonesian communities. Like we have similar histories and socio economic positions in Europe. Its not strange that our restaurants have some menu items in common as a result

@Qxeenbxlla 4 ай бұрын

@@rainzerdesuI never seen fry’s in a Chinese place , I do see like wings ? Not really fried chicken. Here in England fry’s and curry is like everywhere in every Chinese place . I enjoy both, there’s things I enjoy in England (spare ribs,chicken ball,rice noodles ) and things I prefer in the states. (The meat dishes like gso or orange, lo mein, dimsum) They both got the same kind of Asian influence imo, they definitely put the palate towards the people though , like in England when it comes to Indian or Mexican or anything really , something is suppose to be spicy but it’s not but to a lot of British people it can be. (My spouse is British btw) Also each Chinese place has “authentic “ but it’s like a different version of it , for example dumplings might not be actual Chinese dumplings in America or black bean sauce in England is not the same as authentic Chinese black bean .

@Seanic 4 ай бұрын

she doesn't like multiple meats, it's weird. But what about meatlovers pizza

@FollowSmoke 4 ай бұрын

she doesn't like multiple meats, it's weird. But what about meatlovers pizza

@michaelgrim5990 4 ай бұрын

But what about meatlovers pizza?

@MIKEGETSILLY4 4 ай бұрын

she doesn’t like multiple meats, it’s weird. But what about meatlovers pizza

@azureflame5650 4 ай бұрын

what about meatlovers pizza

@PigeonTheBest-iw2qb 4 ай бұрын

What about meatlovers pizza

@andrewbeehoo2581 4 ай бұрын

Curry sauce from a Chinese takeaway/restaurant is completely different to that from a traditional chip shop, and the chips from a Chinese are also usually cooked in a peanut oil giving them a different flavour

@jenniferflynn4948 4 ай бұрын

US resident: crab Rangoon, crispy fried noodles w/hot mustard, lo mein, & a protein/veg. Generally pepper steak, sweet & sour chicken or general tso chicken.

@boathousejoed1126 4 ай бұрын

You forgot to show how the "pail" breaks down to a plate!😊

@hannahk1306 4 ай бұрын

You can definitely get ribs here in the UK (also how could you possibly have a boneless rib!?) and usually a couple of different flavours of them. I've also seen hot and sour soup on several menus here, but I've never ordered so not sure what's in it. I think our classic soup used to be crab meat and sweetcorn, but nowhere seems to use actual crab meat anymore. You can absolutely get a selection of vegetable dishes as well, you just chose not to order any of them! My grandparents' local Chinese is actually a proper combined chippy and Chinese with two separate menus, but you can order from both menus if people want different things. Packaging wise, I've never seen it come with a broken lid - I'd be pretty annoyed if it did, because then you can re-use it and it also allows heat to escape. Plus, I've always seen sauces in little hard plastic pots, not polystyrene ones. Although, I've never seen anyone just pour the sauce over everything... you're supposed to dip and it's only crispy dishes that have the sauce on the side.

@katashworth41 3 ай бұрын

Boneless rib is just belly pork.

@foxroxy86 20 күн бұрын

In Baltimore, some Chinese places have those large seasoned wedge fries that you can get with the fried wings. Many people cover them in hot sauce, salt/pepper and ketchup.

@ffyrestarr 4 ай бұрын

When i was at uni fish & chip shop and chinese takeaway round corner were right next to each other shared a kitchen and run by same family! Their curry sauce for fish & chips WAS delicious Chinese curry sauce. Most excellent chips too. I recommend battered white fish and sweet & sour sauce served with egg fried rice.

@TSNMLitoFightingGamesPassion 4 ай бұрын

In NYC Fries are ordered with the Chicken wings plenty of times

@eseguerito2629 4 ай бұрын

Any time i go to a Chinese takeout place here in California, there’s always kungpao, sweet & sour pork, and some sort of orange chicken or General Tso’s chicken, lo mein, and of course spring rolls.

@tristanwain3868 4 ай бұрын

I live in philadelphia and its pretty much exactly the same here. i found a lot of what they showed here, especially the American fried rice, odd.