ZDFbesseresser: The tricks of the Asian restaurants
Star chef Nelson Müller and food expert Sebastian Lege show you what's in your food, how it's made and where to buy the best products.
The food industry has conquered restaurants. Behind the offerings of many Asian restaurants are pre-made products. Sebastian Lege uncovers the tricks.
Spring rolls are an elaborate specialty. But research shows: In ten out of ten inexpensive Asian restaurants, spring rolls are the same length and the same weight. Too often, industrially produced food from the Far East is sold at a high price in local restaurants.
The noodle box is a box office hit at Asian snack bars. Noodles, vegetables and tender meat are often available for less than ten euros in the city center and at the train station. The boxes are the quick and popular takeaway meal par excellence.
Product developer Sebastian Lege examined the contents of ten pasta boxes. The result: the meat is cut down. It has a soft consistency all of its own. This is a trick of the food industry. Cheap pork is tough and riddled with tendons. Sebastian Lege shows how this becomes the tender meat base for the perfect noodle box.
In an average Asian snack bar, there are over 100 different dishes on the menu. Sebastian Lege invites guests and wants to cook 100 different dishes in the kitchen alone. The trick: Vegetables come prepared in a frozen bag, straight from China. The sauces are also bought ready-made in XXL canisters. That saves working time and staff. A surprising number of Asian restaurants work this way.
Another classic is the half crispy duck. It looks like the noble dish Peking duck. Sebastian Lege shows in his workshop how duck is really prepared for the Asian snack. This trick comes at the expense of animal welfare and kitchen tradition.
Broadcasting on 14th of April 2023 at 09.00pm on ZDFinfo
Music: POPVIRUS Library