Awkwafina: The Unlikely Cook (2026) s01e01 Episode Script

1
[upbeat music playing]
All right, let's christen this guy.
So we're gonna cook a ramen.
If ever this gets out,
Asian-Americans are gonna be like,
"We don't eat that shit."
But this is, like, my version
of an Asian-American ramen.
[upbeat music continues]
This is kind of sus.
I don't know what a lot of people
would feel about that.
Um, it's an entire container dedicated
to the Spam.
Out of 365 days a year,
I'm not cooking 362.
Oh. Oh, my God. Oh, my God.
I've never seen an egg squirt before.
I'm actually imploding inside.
Full neocortex right now.
I'm just gonna put
a splash of this in here.
Oh, God.
Asian America's gonna fucking kill me.
Food is so important to being Asian.
You can't think about an Asian identity
without food kind of being this, like,
thread that threads it all together.
But, yeah, no, I need
to learn how to cook more.
I don't even know how to…
steam an egg.
This is hilarious 'cause
if my grandma knew that I was making this,
she'd be very disappointed.
Grandma, hi. Nice to see ya.
What are you doing? Where are you?
Do you wanna see what I just made?
- Like what?
- [chuckles]
I made ramen with Spam.
- Oh, my God.
- [laughs]
You're so cheap.
Oh, my God. It looks like a shit.
[both laughing]
[Awkwafina] Oh, man. My grandma's
a firecracker. She's about to turn 93.
She raised me after my mom died
when I was four, and she's my best friend.
I will tell my grandma, like, everything.
You know, you should… you should eat.
I'm such a hungry bitch.
[both laugh]
You just… You called yourself
"a hungry bitch" on a…
I am truly at a time in my life
where I want to
feel connected more to my family.
But I think that it starts with cooking.
[traffic bustling]
- I'm Awkwafina…
- Hey!
- …also known as Nora Lum…
- [laughing]
…and given what you've just seen,
you may be surprised to hear…
- There's a rib on fire!
- …I come from Chinese restaurant royalty.
My great-grandpa opened
one of New York City's
first ever Chinese-American
restaurants, Lum's.
And my grandma continued that tradition
with one of her own,
the restaurant I grew up in.
The restaurant was 20 years of her life,
and it's hard work.
[Awkwafina] After they closed,
I've lost touch with that story.
Lum's was kinda my family's
attempt at belonging.
So call me crazy,
you wouldn't be the first or last,
but I've set myself
the challenge of bringing Lum's back.
I might reopen Lum's.
- You gonna open a restaurant?
- Yeah.
- [laughing]
- [Awkwafina chuckling] Yeah.
But there's a problem.
I can't cook. Like, at all.
- [clattering]
- Oh, my God!
So, I'm traveling the country…
- That is so cool!
- Awesome!
…from our biggest cities
to the most beautiful islands…
I love being back here.
- [dings]
- [sizzles]
…to learn the skills…
I'm making a sausage!
I love giving ducks Brazilians.
- [bangs]
- [person 1] Got it!
…from Asian-American pioneers
who are moving food culture forward…
- You ever had Chinese food like this?
- [Awkwafina] Never.
We're the torch bearers.
I am salivating right now. It's so good.
…and figure out what my version of Lum's
might become.
I am about to open up
a Chinese restaurant in New York City.
What am I doing?
[upbeat music playing]
We are on the road.
We are going to
the Culinary Institute of America.
They called it the CIA.
No, we're not going
to the CIA of Washington.
I don't know what they teach,
so… [stammers] …I'm clearly
very nervous about this experience.
This could be just me losing my thumb.
I need my thumb.
You know…
But, you know…
I think that this experience might,
uh, change my life.
Time to find my inner Ratatouille.
I'm hoping the Harvard
of cooking schools can help.
Oh, wow. It's like a castle.
That is super intimidating.
Is everything edible?
Uh, just… That was a joke.
Oh, look at the… look at the chefs.
The chefs are so cute.
I feel like I'm in-in, um,
an independent movie
about a-a really workaholic chef
that makes no time for her personal life.
This is the last time I'm gonna leave
as a human and come back a chef.
God, the fucking door!
Oh, here we go.
Whoa.
It's a whole hall dedicated
to Anthony Bourdain.
Oh, here it is. Okay, all right.
[instructor] All right, everyone.
- Line up, please.
- [students] Yes, Chef.
Let's gather around the table nicely.
- Oh.
- Oh. I'm sorry.
Why don't you go to the other side?
- It's fine.
- I came through the wrong way. Sorry.
Hello, everyone. Please welcome Nora.
- Hi, Nora.
- Welcome to Cantonese Cuisine 101.
You guys will have recipes
for sweet-and-sour pork.
[students] Yes, Chef.
[Awkwafina] The good news is,
we're making a dish I love to eat.
The bad news is, I've gotta cook it.
I'm told sweet-and-sour pork involves
wok-fried peppers, onions
and pineapple chunks
combined with deep-fried pork
and a sweet, tangy sauce
made with fresh pineapple juice,
honey and soy.
This should be both entertaining
and harrowing to watch.
You're welcome.
Okay, guys. Let's go.
Break down the bell pepper, onion.
- Yes?
- [students] Yes, Chef.
[Awkwafina] Yes, Chef. Goodbye, thumbs.
- Nora, may I please help you?
- Hi.
- Yes.
- Never hold ingredients like that.
That's how you get cut.
- Oh.
- Yeah.
So, always thumb should be in behind.
- And then knuckle.
- Okay.
- You wanna try?
- Yeah. With the onion?
- Yeah.
- Okay.
[instructor] Yes.
Perfect. You're doing perfect.
Thank you, Chef.
Oh, wow. That's nice.
God, I'm so scared of knives, dude.
This is why I'm not…
But, uh, you make me calm
about it, Chef. Thank you.
With this mise en place,
we're gonna go wok station.
- The wok station?
- Yeah, wok station.
[Awkwafina] Oh, my God.
I've been known to set a soup on fire.
Which is impressive,
as it's a dish that's mainly water.
[instructor] Okay, now to show you
the quick stir-fry technique.
- From there…
- Oh. Oh, my God. I…
- Just a little bit of water.
- Yeah.
- And it already catch fire.
- [gasps]
[instructor chuckles]
- Now, the smoke is called "wok hei."
- Yeah.
Wok hei is one of
the cornerstones of Cantonese cooking.
Oh, my God!
The trick is to keep everything moving
while flames fill the wok,
rapidly cooking
and caramelizing all the ingredients.
No. No. No.
Can you guys do that?
Let's see how you do.
- Okay. So let's try.
- Okay.
- Oh, wow. What-What's happening? Chef?
- Oh. Oh. Oh, Lord.
Actually, kind of… Chef?
- Hi, Ch… Thank you.
- I'm sorry.
Oh, yeah. It's burnt. Yeah, can you sm…
- Smell it. Burned oil.
- Is it done?
- Okay. Oh, gosh.
- [coughs]
I'm sorry.
- Sorry, I didn't mean to… Oh.
- [coughs]
Sorry, it's not…
[instructor] So reset the pan
and start again.
- Okay.
- So let's try. Wipe it out
and then start…
- [clattering]
- Ah!
- Shit.
- Nora, I turn my back for two seconds.
- [instructor] Easy, easy.
- It's actually working now.
- All right.
- Ah, Jesus.
- [instructor] Slowly, slowly.
- Okay. All right.
- Okay. So now the vegetables?
- [instructor] Yeah.
The vegetables?
Okay, just put 'em in by hand?
- [student] Yeah.
- [Awkwafina] Okay. Oh, dear God.
Okay, take the wok ladle.
- The wok ladle?
- The ladle. And toss.
Pull a little quicker. Pull. Pull.
Yes. Start the jumping, right?
- Oh.
- And then use the ladle to push it back.
Yes. Now you have nice wok hei. Beautiful.
- And you see a little bit of flame.
- Yeah.
That's good. That's good.
You're getting there, yeah.
[Awkwafina] The wok is
a crazy piece of equipment.
I remember, you know,
growing up in my grandma's restaurant,
that there were
three of them lined up like that.
And it was, like, the sound of everything.
So, to actually be manning it today,
it felt pretty cool.
I definitely felt like
I knew how to do something
that my grandma would understand too.
I think you're having fun now.
I am. Yeah, I'm not scared of it anymore.
Time to kick this up a notch
with some classic sweet-and-sour sauce.
This recipe calls for soy sauce,
honey, pineapple juice, ketchup,
rice wine vinegar, ginger and star anise.
- Oh, wow. That's really delicious.
- [student] Yeah, see?
- Ladle it in?
- Yep, you're a pro now.
I don't need… I don't think I need
to guide you anymore.
[Awkwafina] And then drop the four
most beautiful words in any language:
deep-fried breaded pork.
Oh, God. I put it in the egg wash first.
I put it in the egg wash first.
Okay. All good.
Oh, I did the egg thing first again.
- [student] Ready?
- Yeah.
Pop 'em in.
[Awkwafina] Okay. So, obviously,
don't throw them in, right?
No, please don't.
And not too close together.
Sprinkle some over here.
[Awkwafina] How do you know they're done?
Pork, you want to get it
to 145 degrees internal temperature.
Nice.
These sweet baby pork angels
get deep-fried for just a couple minutes…
That wouldn't be golden brown yet, right?
- Just a little bit longer.
- Little bit more, right?
…until crispy on the outside,
juicy on the inside.
Golden brown, right?
Look, Grandma, I finally did something
- of note.
- [student] Grandma would be proud.
So, now let's mix it up.
- Yep.
- Literally never cooked something
that looked more delicious than that.
And you're gonna use your spoon.
Yep, there you go.
- God. Half and half, you said?
- Yeah.
Yep, scoop it out.
Okay, try to get inside the middle of…
[Awkwafina] I'm gonna
try to get the middle this time.
Yep. There you go. Oh.
- Wow, Nora.
- Look at that.
Man, I feel really good actually.
That was a lot, dude.
Okay, so my plating needs work.
But I know that the real test
is all in the tasting.
So, let me try maybe this piece over here.
Mmm. Beautiful, yeah.
Seasoning was very nice.
The sauce was a little shy.
- Mm-hmm.
- So maybe a little more…
I was looking for a little more
sweet-and-sour velvety sauce.
- I see.
- Yeah. And then how about vegetables?
Mmm. Perfectly cooked.
- Wow.
- It's not crunchy, but it's not soggy.
I think you're a good learner.
- Your attitude is positive.
- Aw.
It's like, uh, you're very new
to this kind of environment,
and it was my pleasure to see you
really enjoying the cooking.
- Thank you, Chef.
- Yeah.
- I love you.
- [chuckles] Okay, maybe.
[Awkwafina] I had a lot of fears
before this.
Like, fire, hot oil, knives,
um, just, like, raw foods.
Like, I-I didn't know
how to handle any of it.
I'm impressed with myself.
And I-I even feel
a little bit more confident in cooking.
Riding high on what I'm choosing
to interpret as a success,
I'm heading back
to New York to meet my dad, Wally…
and visit the spot
where my family's restaurant story began.
- [Wally] Look what they did with Lum's.
- Wow. They really did tear it down, huh?
[Wally] Where that awning starts to
where this garage is was Lum's.
Oh, man.
That's kinda sad.
What was Flushing like back in the day?
When I was a kid, the great thing was
everyone knew Lum's Restaurant.
They would come here.
And also, the Mets used to come over here.
They used to get their meals
before they would go to a game.
So, it was a lot of fun.
[Awkwafina] Um, I found this picture.
- That's cool, right?
- Yeah. Can you imagine that right there?
- [Awkwafina] Yeah.
- Yeah. It's kinda cool.
[Awkwafina] My great-grandpa Jimmy
and his brothers
founded Lum's in Flushing in 1952.
The menu laid down the DNA
of Chinese-American food.
Barbecue spare ribs, beef with broccoli
and orange chicken.
Its success allowed them to bring the rest
of our family over from China to Queens.
Fast forward 70 years,
and they're still all here.
My grandfather came here,
he struggled, he did whatever he did.
And he wanted the whole family to come.
And that's why we're here.
All my cousins are in this area.
All the relatives, they all worked there.
Um, and, you know, we all settled here.
And the reason why you're here.
- Yeah.
- It's not a-a shrine,
but every time you pass it,
you sorta wanna say, you know,
"Thank God." You know?
Yeah.
This is how I got here.
[Awkwafina] When I get to Flushing,
I get so excited
because I know I'm gonna eat.
It's so crazy, 'cause if you look around,
this looks like
it could be like any Asian city.
- [Wally] You getting hungry?
- Yeah.
[Wally] Let's go to the New World Mall.
[house music playing]
[Awkwafina] Wow,
so he's pulling the noodles?
- [Wally] Lamian.
- That's cool.
Ah, I love the smells.
I love these, dude. So good.
[Wally] Yeah.
[Awkwafina] New World Mall is one of
America's largest Asian food courts.
Serving every thing
from hand-pulled noodles from Lanzhou
to egg puffs from Hong Kong.
Don't be fooled
by my low cooking standards.
My dad and I have sky-high eating ones.
And this place
definitely gets our approval.
- [Wally] All right?
- Let's get these.
[Wally speaks Mandarin]
Oh, this looks good. Just like old times.
Yeah. Remember we used to come here
all the time?
I know.
I'm realizing, Lum's, at the time,
there was
no Chinese restaurants in Flushing.
They were really the only one.
They would do a-a lobster roll.
But they tamed it down
for the average American palate.
- Right, right, right.
- They would deep-fry it in batter.
- Oh.
- So it catered to the customers
- that came in.
- It begs the question
of Asian-Ameri…
Like, Chinese-American food,
and, like, kinda where…
How that's evolved.
If you want Chinese-American food,
you have to go into Manhattan.
Okay. Yeah.
[police siren blares in distance]
We are in, uh, Chinatown,
which is one of
my favorite places in the world.
In the world.
This is a place where, like, I think a lot
of Asian-American kids,
if you weren't from the city,
you would come here for special occasions.
You know, I came here
for funeral dinners and banquets.
I had my Sweet 16…
I don't know
if the restaurant is still here.
But that was pretty fire, dude.
I'm not gonna lie.
Oh, man. These shirts have been up
literally since I was a kid.
These shirts, "Daddy's Little Meatball,"
"Mommy's Little Meatball"
and then, the most classic one,
"Fuck You You Fuckin' Fuck."
But the neighborhood I remember
is changing fast.
In the past few years,
so many of the original,
family-owned businesses, like Lum's,
have disappeared.
A restaurant attempting to buck that trend
is Potluck Club.
[upbeat music playing]
Set up by childhood friends,
Cory and Zhan are writing the next chapter
for Chinese-American food
at one of the hottest spots in the city,
with lines down the block,
and the Michelin Guide including them
every year since 2023.
- Hey.
- Welcome to Potluck Club.
- I love it. This is awesome.
- This is our love letter to Chinatown.
- Grab a seat?
- [Awkwafina] Yeah.
- And the star of the show.
- [Awkwafina] Oh, my God.
This right here, is why you came.
Salt and pepper chicken and biscuits.
- It looks like prop food.
- [Cory] That's my favorite dish
because that's the epitome
of what this restaurant is about.
One of
the most Southern American items, right?
But Zhan twisted it up
with Cantonese flavors.
Oh, my God. This looks so good.
Look at the scallion in there.
[Zhan] So this is our chili plum jam.
I'm gonna add a little dollop
- of that right there.
- [Awkwafina] Thank you so much.
- Do it. Do it. Do it.
- I don't do a good Food Network bite.
Okay, ready?
Mm-hmm. That is so good, dude.
Aw, thanks.
- You ever had Chinese food like this?
- [Awkwafina] No. Never.
It's such a cool twist on dishes that
I used to… definitely used to grow up on.
This is so cool.
You know, we built this space
to represent our culture and represent us.
Our grandparents and our parents,
they came from smaller villages in China.
- Mm-hmm.
- So just in this one lifetime,
- it's such a big jump.
- Mm-hmm.
I don't want our culture and our roots
to disappear with that.
Listen, hey,
if we don't build things like this
that celebrate our culture,
but a little bit more elevated
for the time,
the erasure of Chinatown will come
even quicker than we want, you know?
Well, yeah, I mean,
if Chinatown were to go,
which would be horrible, what do
you think would replace Chinatown?
- You know, it's so crazy.
- If you literally look next door
they're building a 15-story condo.
- Wow.
- Six months ago,
we were buying produce from there.
- We were buying rice, coconut milk…
- Whoa.
That, uh, produce warehouse
has been there… older than me.
And it's, like, Chinese-American food
should always have,
like, roots to a specific place, right?
- [Zhan] Yeah.
- But it's… it's always evolving.
- Like your chicken and biscuit, you know.
- Yeah, yeah.
And you know, I have this family history,
and I feel like
I might wanna learn how to…
- Make something from the Lum's, uh, menu.
- And make something from the Lum's menu.
Imagine eating a piece
of your great-grandfather's legacy.
Let's bring that back.
Well, every month we feed seniors,
- the community that raised us.
- Yeah, that's amazing.
And maybe you can make something for them.
They had, like, a lobster egg roll
- that you have a… you take a… y'know?
- Okay. That sounds awesome.
And I like that because that's kinda like
the same sentiment that we're doing here.
- Yeah.
- [Cory] We can try that.
We can figure out how to make it.
- And we'll serve it.
- Can they sue?
- [Zhan] Sue? For bad flavor?
- Can they sue… Yeah. [chuckles]
[Cory] I don't know yet.
They'll let you know immediately.
Listen, you're gonna have to face
the wrath of the elder.
- [chuckles]
- [chuckles] Yeah.
It's so cool to see people, like,
in my generation passing on the torch.
It makes me feel inspired
about whatever connection I'm seeking
with my family's, uh, restaurant
and, kinda, food legacy.
[Cory] We're gonna have you
here on Friday.
So you do two at once?
- Uh, sometimes.
- I don't think I can do that yet.
- I think we'll give you a quick look.
- We can do The Karate Kid training.
To sauté means to jump.
It's all in the wrist.
- [Cory chanting] Nora! Nora!
- [Zhan] Right here.
- Tilt it forward. Tilt like… Yeah.
- Okay. Okay, yeah.
- [both cheer]
- Whoa.
They did invite me to, uh, cook a meal.
Oh, God, I-I mean, Chinese grandmas,
they're very, very harsh.
They'll tear you apart. They'll say
something in Chinese like,
"This is as bad
as the asshole of the lotus flower."
You know what I mean?
So I'm prepared to be ripped to shreds.
200 seniors?
That's a lot of disappointment
I'm not ready for.
But before I face that challenge,
I need some advice
from my favorite senior, my grandma.
After I lost my mom,
I think she really stepped up.
My dad was a, you know, single dad
that was working.
You know, I think that, you know,
I had a lot of babysitters.
When my grandma moved in,
I remember the first day, you know,
she picked me up from the bus,
and it felt… That was like the…
literally the happiest day of my life
because I finally had, like, structure.
You know, never missed a school bus again.
And, uh, that was really nice.
- [Wally] Nora's here.
- Hi, Grandma.
- Hi.
- How are you?
- Hi, Dad. Nice to see you. Hey.
- Morning. [chuckles]
- Come here. Feel my hands.
- [chuckling]
- Favorite girl.
- [Awkwafina] Aw, thank you.
Yeah, you hear that?
Favorite. Favorite girl.
- You know. It's good.
- [both chuckle]
Well, I've come here to tell you
I am going to learn how to cook.
- Shut up.
- [Awkwafina] No, really. No, really!
Will you eat my food?
When you're hungry,
everybody's cooking's delicious.
[chuckles] You know what?
Girl, that's true.
How come you never taught me how to cook?
Because, uh, you've got two good cook.
You don't have to cook.
I know,
but how come you don't wanna teach me?
- You're lazy.
- [chuckles]
'Cause I was doing some research about,
like, Lum's and Chinese restaurants.
- [Grandma] Yeah.
- Um, Chinese-American restaurants.
And right now, all those people
that started restaurants,
their kids are not continuing. 'Cause they
all went to law school and stuff.
- I know.
- [Wally] We were never told,
"This is gonna be yours."
- [Awkwafina] Well, I mean…
- They wanted us to go to college.
- Mm-hmm.
- And not do the restaurant work anymore.
[Awkwafina] Mm-hmm.
'Cause you know what? I think that's why
I'm gonna try to learn how to cook.
- You know.
- Proud of you.
- Thanks, Grandma.
- Yeah.
[Awkwafina] Aw, are you…
Oh, oh, you crying?
Don't cry, Grandma.
Now, don't go and make me cry too.
[emotional music playing]
[clicks tongue]
You look really pretty though.
- [breathes deeply] Thank you.
- [both chuckle]
Where'd you get your shirt from?
You bought it for me.
[Awkwafina chuckles] When?
- I don't remember that.
- [Grandma] I don't remember.
[Awkwafina] This journey's
really important, I think,
especially, in relation to my grandma,
who I think really does love food.
She's… You know, she's getting older,
and also, like, is the keeper
of all these kinda recipes and stuff.
And growing up, my grandma,
she did make American versions of food.
She loved making, like,
a chicken cacciatore. She, you know…
She liked making a steak
with soy sauce, you know.
So, like, I think that
there's a part of her that would be happy
that maybe she would know
that I could cook for myself, you know.
[Grandma] I love you.
[Awkwafina] I love you, Grandma.
This afternoon, I'm gonna brave cooking
for a room full of picky, elderly eaters
who haven't softened with age.
Before that, I'm joining Cory in Chinatown
to shop for ingredients.
- How are ya?
- Our first stop, the lobster shop.
- How are you?
- Sup? This is Steven, the seafood wizard.
- Hey. Nora, nice to meet you.
- Hi, Nora.
[Awkwafina] Oh, man.
Those are gigantic. Whoa.
This is, like,
the entire cast of Little Mermaid.
- I just wanna say. Thank you.
- [Cory, Steven chuckle]
- Cute. It's nice.
- So from your Michelin restaurants
to your trendy restaurants
to your local neighborhood spots,
I have a little bit of everything
for everybody.
I just brought this in
from Maine yesterday.
Live scallops. You ever see that before?
No, I've never seen a live…
No. Whoa. Hi, buddy.
[stammers] He's a squirter.
Oh. Oh, my God. He's so cute.
- Oh, my God. Wait, wait, what? What?
- [Steven] And that's a guy with a…
- [groans]
- Dude, that's so big.
That's a king crab.
- Hi.
- [chuckles]
That is so… I don't think I've ever seen
one of those in person.
That's fire. Time for her to pick lobster.
All right. And over here, we have
a male lobster and a female lobster.
[Awkwafina] These are the healthiest
looking shellfish I've ever seen.
You wanna see all the antennas
are super long
- and healthy.
- Looks healthy. That looks healthy.
- [Steven] Wanna bag 'em up?
- [Awkwafina] Sure.
- Thank you.
- Thank you so much. Have a good one.
[Cory] All right, so now
we're gonna hit the special stand
that we get a lot of our produce from.
This is it. This is it. We love this.
That looks so good.
We're gonna get some cabbage. We'll get
some carrots and stuff for the egg roll.
[Awkwafina] This is old-school. I mean,
every Chinese kid will walk into
one of these
and feel like they're at home.
Normally, at this time,
back in the heyday,
line's out the door.
That's why we're here to support
and why we come here.
Especially in the beginning,
they were kinda surprised
- to see clients like us.
- Mm-hmm.
"Oh, you guys are American-born.
You guys are a lot younger."
- And we also speak Chinese.
- Right.
Hopefully, with our work,
people are starting to come back
and wanna kinda build in our neighborhood.
Thank you.
- [Cory] Bye-bye!
- Bye. Thank you.
- All right.
- [Cory] They're starting to line up.
They come early. They come ready.
- They come hungry.
- [Awkwafina] Nice.
It's gonna be
a bit of a madhouse in there,
but we're gonna go straight
to the kitchen.
- Okay.
- Hi, Linda.
- [Linda] Hello!
- Hi.
[Cory] So we pack a lot of grocery bags.
- Oh, whoa.
- There's meals. There's fruit.
- Cool.
- We're going straight to the kitchen.
Zhanny, we got lobsters.
- We got ingredients.
- [Awkwafina] Hey.
- It's gonna be quick.
- [Awkwafina] All right.
- Because the seniors are hungry.
- Oh, God.
- I'm gonna give you an apron to put on.
- Okay.
The signature dish at Lum's was
their classic lobster roll.
And today, we're giving it a reboot.
Zhan tells me the key to this dish
is hot and freshly steamed lobster
combined with shredded cabbage,
carrots and bean sprouts.
This mix is seasoned with oyster sauce,
but the real magic happens in the wrapping
of the delicious ingredients
in a dumpling skin,
which goes into the deep fryer
for a couple of minutes
until golden and crispy.
Sounds delicious, right?
Well, you haven't seen me cook it yet.
So we're gonna probably cook these off
for about four minutes.
- Okay.
- While this is going,
I guess we can start looking at
what we're gonna do next.
- Yeah.
- [chattering]
All right. So, if they taught you how to
kinda curl your fingers a little bit…
Okay. Thank you.
Yeah. There you go.
[Awkwafina] You know, it really is
a testament to experience
because I think the hardest thing
about this is the speed
at which they have to
be outputting right now.
It's… That's a lot.
[Zhan] The next step is we're gonna sauté.
- We'll add some oil to this pan.
- All right.
All right, so, next part:
ginger and garlic.
[Awkwafina]
And the trick is to brown these first?
Yeah. More flavor.
Now we're gonna add some cabbage
until they wilt a little bit.
- Sweet.
- There you go.
- [Cory] Okay.
- [Awkwafina] They're starting to wilt.
Yeah. Let's season
with a little bit of oyster sauce.
- Cool.
- Next part: Add this lobster.
- You're putting the lobster in there?
- Yeah.
It's gonna be the mix for everything.
This is how dumpling mixture's made.
So we could add all of that lobster in.
Now, let's practice your sautéing skills.
Jump.
Yeah. All right, there we go.
Yeah. I did it.
- I lo… I love this shit, dude.
- [chuckles]
Now do it for four hours during our…
[chuckles] …during our service.
Oh, my God. I… My wrists.
[Zhan] Let's put this in a bowl,
and let's start wrapping.
[Awkwafina] Uh-oh.
Let's, uh, grab one of these sheets.
[Awkwafina] Those are so big.
It's just a large dumpling wrapper.
Point facing you.
We're gonna take this mixture.
About two scoops. Where the center is.
[Awkwafina] Okay, cool.
After you've done that, let's do
the egg wash on these corners here.
Take the corner on the bottom.
Go over it as much as you can.
And then we're gonna go kinda under this.
[Awkwafina] Oh, tuck in that tip.
[Zhan] And then once you have that,
we're gonna fold it
as over as we can to the middle.
Yeah. Great.
And then same with the other side.
- Press down.
- [Awkwafina] Mm-hmm.
As I'm doing that, I'm gonna roll over,
and then there you go.
- That is awesome.
- Whoa.
I cannot believe I just made an egg…
It's not bad, right?
- It's great. Yeah. Yeah.
- Yeah, high five, dude.
So, wrap as many as you can.
- We gotta get to frying.
- Yes, Chef.
- [Zhan chuckles]
- I gotta hurry up.
Oh, it's so ugly.
All right. Let's go fry these.
All right. Here we go.
[Zhan] It's all in the wrists.
Look at that. Look at that.
[Awkwafina] Ah, whoa, dude.
- The room is full.
- [Awkwafina] Oh, man.
They're starting to eat their meal,
but they're excited about this too.
- So…
- Nice.
Forty years after retirement,
Lum's lobster rolls are back in business.
Time to get the reviews in.
There you go. All right.
- You like it?
- [diner 1] It's good. It's good.
- Really?
- You made them, right?
I made 'em, yeah.
All right, wow.
They're eating. That's good.
So I made this. It's a lobster roll.
[stammers] My great-grandpa had
a Chinese restaurant in Flushing.
It was called Lum's.
Which, uh, which street?
- Northern Boulevard.
- Oh, Northern Boulevard?
- Right across from the…
- On the right.
- That's my family's restaurant.
- That's your great-grandpa's…
Yeah. Yeah. Our restaurant. I'm Nora Lum.
We were there before.
- Uh… You've been there?
- Yeah.
Oh, that's so cool. So you remember?
- Northern Boulevard.
- [diner 1] Northern Boulevard. I know it.
[Awkwafina] Thank you so much. Yeah.
All right. Oh, sorry. Did you get one?
- [diner 2] I'll take it.
- [Awkwafina] There you go.
- [diner 2] Thank you.
- I made that one.
Pretty soon, I find more people
who remember eating these
at my family's restaurant.
Lum's. Their lobster roll was,
like, gigantic.
It was very long, right?
- And, um, maybe this width.
- [Awkwafina] Wow.
But the first bite,
you would taste the lobster.
- Wha…
- So I took one bite, and guess what.
- Big chunk of lobster.
- Hell yeah.
- It was fantastic.
- [Awkwafina] Thank you.
Um, what do you guys remember about Lum's?
- You know, Lum's was the place to go.
- [all] Mmm.
Things like the lobster rolls
and spare ribs and the barbecue beef,
people would come just to have that.
[Awkwafina] Wow.
We went to Lum's all the time
with my grandma.
Jewish Orthodox. Kosher.
And my grandmother always had,
uh, barbecue spare ribs, pork.
- Oh, wow. Yeah.
- Only in the restaurant
'cause she was kosher.
- Wow.
- All right?
Never told her husband, my grandfather.
Aw, that's…
- And I never told my grandfather.
- Wow. [chuckling] That's awesome.
And I never forgot it.
[diner 3] Lum's was very unique.
- It attracted a non-Asian population…
- Yeah.
…because non-Asians like Chinese food too.
- Mm-hmm.
- [chuckling] You know?
Lum's read the room.
Chinese-American restaurants are icons
for, like, immigration
and community and family,
and this was, like, the example of it.
- Mmm. That's so cool.
- And, you know, people… I mean, listen.
People went to college and bought houses,
you know, from the business, right?
Yeah. No, definitely. I mean, I'm here.
- [diner 3 chuckles]
- Yeah. Yeah, that's so cool.
Thank you, guys. It's really cool.
Everyone had, like, times there.
And that's kinda why I wanna connect more
with, um, kinda what that meant.
And your stories are really…
They're really cool.
I felt I was being, like, reunited,
like, with my long-lost family.
I can tell that for every one of them,
Lum's meant something.
They paint a clearer picture of it all.
When I'm able to cook things
that were on Lum's menu,
it's an unbelievably close feeling.
I'm extremely motivated now
to learn more about my family's recipes.
Before this, cooking, for me,
was, you know, a nightmarish hell.
Whereas now, I really did enjoy cooking.
And that meant a lot because
it meant that I have the foundation.
We're putting it on the menu.
We're naming it after her.
- [Zhan] "Nora Rolls"?
- We're putting this on… Yes.
- That's so cool.
- [Zhan] "Nora Rolls"?
- Nora Rolls sounds weird.
- [laughing]
[muttering]
Work in progress. Work in…
- The name is a work in progress.
- Yeah.
My family, uh, and my story
is a very New York story,
but I wanna see how other people
in other places have kind of reconciled
with their Chinese-American identity
and maybe what they're doing now, um,
to kind of, like, pay it forward, I guess.
- Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm.
- Your family would be proud.
- [Zhan] Yeah.
- Thank you. Thank you.
Um…
You know what they say, you can't
get high on your own supply, you know?
[chuckles]
- Welcome to my Chinatown!
- [Awkwafina] Aw.
- Two Asians in Texas, am I right?
- [chuckles]
Let's do it.
- You got this, chef.
- I like when you call me chef.
- I might reopen Lum's.
- What?
You can't just roll out of bed and do it.
We gotta go over prep, training, hiring…
- Oh, God, what table was that?
- …design…
That looks so cool.
You're like a dream weaver.
- …location, atmosphere…
- What the fuck is that?
…seating, guest list, menu…
- Do they bite? [exclaims] Oh, my God.
- [person] No.
That's a lot of stuff.
I'm starting to get scared.
Shit's getting real.
We don't have enough power.
Welcome to the pop-up, baby.
[Awkwafina]
Am I going to have a stroke later
worrying about what my aunt Linda's
gonna say about the duck?
Without a doubt.
- Come on, we're hungry.
- It looks frightening, dude.
Okay, now I'm nerv… Now I feel
the physical signs of nerves.