The F Word (2017) s05e04 Episode Script
Season 5, Episode 4
This programme contains strong language.
Welcome to the F Word.
I'm searching for our best local restaurants.
Britain's local restaurants serve amazing food from all over the world.
Each week, I'm choosing two of the very best to compete in the F Word kitchen.
You can't let this boy beat you, come on! So far, Salvo's from Leeds have been crowned the F Word's Best Local Italian restaurant.
Lasan from Birmingham took the Indian title.
The sensation is absolutely amazing.
And French went to Bouchon Bistro from Hexham near Newcastle.
Well done, really well done! Really well done! Tonight it's the nation's favourite food, Chinese.
Chop Chop from Edinburgh are competing against Sweet Mandarin from Manchester.
I go in search of a mouth-watering Chinese delicacy, mitten crab.
I'm amazed at the size of them.
And, as my top two Chinese restaurants go head to head, I ask for some beauty tips.
How do I get rid of those, shall I have Botox? No! If I had lots of wrinkles like you, I would be single! The F word's here And the F word's bad Curse my mother and I curse my dad But I love my mother and I love my dad Wanna have all that they never had.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Right, welcome to the F Word, how are we? Right, welcome to the F Word, how are we? I'm fine.
The secret success behind Chop Chop in Edinburgh, what is it? It's love, passion and the feeling.
It's love, passion and the feeling.
Fantastic.
And the biggest success in terms of dishes, what is the most renowned? My dumplings.
How old were you when you made your first dumpling? Five.
Very young.
Five.
Very young.
Wow, that's amazing.
Sweet Mandarin, welcome, good to see you both.
The secret success between Sweet Mandarin is what? Three sisters, three generations.
Very rare.
Who is the most talented cook? Lisa.
And the best sister in the world.
Go, Lisa, go.
The fascinating thing about you is the twins, who is the oldest? I am, by two minutes.
I am, by two minutes.
She's the boss.
Here is the good news, first all-female kitchen.
I know.
We have a secret word.
Which is what? Woman biter? Better! Better! Oh, better! I love working with girls in the kitchen, do you know why? You are so disciplined, you only need to be told once.
We'll find out if women are better at the end, yes? 'Chop Chop from Edinburgh and Sweet Mandarin from Manchester, 'will be fighting it out tonight for the Chinese gong.
'This is how they got here.
' Earlier this year, I asked you to log on to the F Word website and nominate your favourite local restaurants.
The response has been absolutely phenomenal.
You told us about nearly 5,000 different places you love to eat all over the country.
I can see from your favourite restaurants that you love Chinese food.
To help me judge your Chinese nominations, I have asked the F Word's maitre d', Jean Baptiste, to join me, along with foodie, Janet Street-Porter.
Each week we are whittling down your nominations to pick the best two to battle it out in the F Word kitchen.
Between all three of us, we are traveling across the country really putting these nominated restaurants under severe scrutiny.
From Cambridge to Coventry, Edinburgh to Birmingham, Manchester to Leeds.
If I lived in this area, I would come to this Chinese restaurant definitely.
We sampled Chinese delicacies.
Hot and spicy chilli frog legs.
That our equivalent to spicy chicken wings.
Nice.
Jean Baptiste was entertained, but not very impressed.
There is magicians.
That would be magic.
There is a pop singer, it is more like a comedy show than anything else.
But two restaurants stood out above the rest.
Chop Chop in Edinburgh was hugely popular.
Over 100 of you nominated this restaurant.
I love this restaurant, I wouldn't keep coming back if I didn't.
Hello, how are you? Nice to see you.
Nice to see you.
Good to see you, too.
So husband and wife? Good to see you, too.
So husband and wife? No, this is my son! What? Serious.
Jian Wang is the head chef.
When she arrived in Scotland from Changchun in China, she barely spoke English.
Four years ago she opened Chop Chop with her husband, Roy.
If you're cooking food, you have a feeling for, because I grew up for this food, I have a feeling for it.
Jian's specialty is her delicious dumplings.
She has 30 varieties on the menu, but they all share one special ingredient.
When you are cooking you put all your happiness into your food.
Who would like to select a card? Jian's son Yin is the restaurant manager and he brings his own brand of magic to Chop Chop.
Five of hearts, yes? We are more than mother and son, we are buddies.
It is a bond.
There is a link, when we talk about dumplings there is something in there.
For me it had to be the dumplings.
They are fucking delicious.
Jesus Christ.
What an amazing little find, my God.
When they dumplings arrived, absolutely fucking amazing.
The nice thing is she's passionate, I could hear her in the dining room, screaming.
Hand-made dumplings, very, very rare, especially in Edinburgh.
If I win, definitely, I would be very happy.
There is only two restaurants going through to cook in The F Word Restaurant to cook for 50 diners.
And Chop Chop is one of them, congratulations.
Wow, can I hug you? Wow, can I hug you? Congratulations.
Wow, can I hug you? Congratulations.
I'm so happy.
Those dumplings were delicious, really good indeed.
I'm very happy for Chop Chop to go through and cook in The F Word Restaurant for 50 diners.
Why? Because she's amazing.
What a find.
So Chop Chop from Edinburgh is through.
You have nominated an exceptional opponent to take them on.
The F Word viewers raved about Sweet Mandarin.
An exciting Chinese restaurant in the bustling streets of Manchester.
Run by identical twin sisters.
Jean Baptiste went for lunch.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
How are you? Is it Lisa? Good afternoon.
How are you? Is it Lisa? It's Helen.
Oh, hi.
Jean Baptiste nice to meet you.
Lisa and Helen Tse were born and bred here, right in the city.
They are the third generation of women in their family to run Chinese restaurants.
My grandmother was one of the first Chinese women to open a Chinese restaurant in the UK.
Which is quite amazing, really.
In the kitchen, Lisa, the head chef, cooks up recipes passed down to her from her grandmother.
We serve modern Chinese cuisine, but we also serve my mum's dish and my gram's dish.
A lot of these recipes, we've been cooking all our lives.
We have grown up with these recipes, in the family home.
We are just rolling it out on a bigger scale.
Sweet Mandarin's clay-pot chicken is a best seller with a wonderful history.
This is my mother's home-cooked recipe, that we have been serving for generations.
It comes with chicken which is double-cooked in a clay pot with Chinese vegetables and Chinese sausage.
Bon appetit! It is very good, you get straight away you get all the flavour coming into your mouth.
If we won the competition, it would just be amazing.
It would be such an honor to win.
Hello, how are you? Jean Baptiste was so impressed that I knew we had found our second contender.
I think this is really what will bring this place all together, the fact it is a family-run business, the fact we can see the passion behind and all the drive, to provide such a good experience for the customers.
Hi, Helen, it is Gordon Ramsay from the F Word.
Oh, hi, Gordon.
You have had a visit from the Frenchman, Jean Baptiste.
He had an amazing lunch.
That is good to hear.
This is a tough category for us, there are thousands of Chinese restaurants across the country.
My problem is only two can go through to cook in the F Word dining room.
You will have to leave Manchester and come to London, you are one of them.
Oh, my goodness, let me go and tell Lisa.
Congratulations, I look forward to seeing you in London.
We got through.
We got through, whoo! I just hope now they can pull it off and push the boat out in the F Word dining room.
We can do it, we can do it.
We can do it, we can do it! So, from your nominations, these are my two favourite Chinese restaurants, and the girls have come out on top.
Will the diners prefer the dumplings from Edinburgh's Chop Chop, or will Sweet Mandarin from Manchester manage to sweep to victory? Who will be crowned the F Word's Best Local Chinese Restaurant? There can only be one winner.
This needs to be the best service of your lives, make it count.
There can only be one winner this evening.
I'm here to help, if you need anything, open up and shout.
(ALL) Yes, Chef.
OK, enough talking, let's make some squid.
Next on the menu, as the brigades battle to serve up the best squid, Sweet Mandarin are keeping the lid on their ingredients.
What was in there? The lid on their ingredients.
What was in there? I can't tell you the secret.
And I attempt to cook mitten crab, Chinese-style.
It is like chopping with a paddle of stainless steel.
We're back in London at the F Word Restaurant.
Tonight, we're going Chinese.
From hundreds of nominations, we found the F Word's best two local Chinese restaurants.
Sweet Mandarin in Manchester, and Chop Chop in Edinburgh.
Sweet Mandarin, here we go, four covers away table nine, four squid, four chicken, four fritters.
Yes, Chef.
Thank you.
Chop Chop, four covers table six, please, two squid, two dumplings, two fritters.
Yes, chef.
The restaurant with the highest number of diners paying for food tonight will be crowned the F Word Best Local Chinese Restaurant.
Here's my favourite recipe for squid.
Crispy salt and pepper squid with a cucumber salad.
Squid, when cooked properly, can be absolutely delicious.
First off, start prepping the squid.
Szechuan pepper, salt, Chinese five spice.
Grind.
Seasoning, into a bowl, corn flour.
Squid, score.
It helps to tenderize the squid.
Cut.
Tentacles, half.
That goes straight into the seasoning.
Shake off excess.
Now we're ready to cook.
Hot pan, vegetable oil.
Fry.
Cucumber salad, cucumber, carrots, peel, slice ribbons, chilli, rice wine vinegar, toasted sesame oil, salt, pepper, sugar, coriander.
Crispy salt and pepper squid, done.
The idea behind this squid came from where? Really it's from a Twitter event.
A Twitter event? Lisa is a major Twitter-er.
Lisa is a major Twitter-er.
Oh really? And we do these Tweet-up events every month.
How many friends has she got Twittering? How many friends has she got Twittering? 6,000-odd.
Really? We asked them, what would you like to try this evening, give you something different.
And the most popular dish was salt and pepper squid.
Fantastic.
Sweet Mandarin opened in Manchester's Northern Quarter five years ago, and serves a wide range of home-cooked Chinese food from many regions.
It's run by three sisters, two of them twins, Helen and Lisa.
Lisa is definitely the boss, what she says, goes.
Someone's got to be the boss.
'They are the third generation of women in a Chinese cooking dynasty, 'established by their grandmother, Lily Kwok.
' I've been eating their food for 30-odd years, I used to go to her mother's and the grandmother's.
'These entrepreneurial twins use old family recipes 'passed down through generations.
' A lot of these recipes we've been cooking all our lives, and we've grown up with these recipes.
Sweet Mandarin's F Word starter is salt and pepper squid.
They blanch the squid, then fry it with shredded cabbage, carrots, parsley and then serve it in newspaper, like traditional Chinese street food.
When did you learn to cook? Who taught you? When did you learn to cook? Who taught you? I've been cooking since age 11.
What kind of cooking did you do at 11? What kind of cooking did you do at 11? Mainly the curries.
Weekends, school holidays, you were involved in the restaurant? Every day, actually.
After school, get out of my school uniform, get into my work clothes and help out with the business.
What was your first dish that you mastered and put your stamp of approval on? Probably fried rice.
OK, Chop Chop.
Where did this recipe come from? From myself.
From my feeling, I would say that.
Chop Chop in Edinburgh is off the beaten track, but customers are very happy to go out of their way to eat here.
Because my food has lots of character, my food makes lots of friends.
'Despite the recession, business was up last year by a third.
' I'm the winner already.
I have lots of customers, that is the big winner, don't you think so? 'Jian comes from Changchun in China, where dumplings are king.
'When she arrived in Edinburgh 12 years ago, 'to study at the university, she couldn't find them anywhere.
'She made it her mission to introduce the Scots 'to authentic north-eastern Chinese dumplings.
' I love the dumplings.
The dumplings are fantastic.
The dumplings are tremendous.
'Husband Roy is also her business partner.
' She has a philosophy that if you have a bad mood, you can't bring it into the kitchen because it will go into the food.
Chop Chop's F Word starter is spicy garlic squid.
Jian fries garlic, spring onions, Chinese peppers and chilli, and adds the squid at the last minute so the delicate flavour isn't overpowered.
Is this an authentic Chinese dish? Yes.
Would you ever go on Twitter for your recipe? Would you ever go on Twitter for your recipe? Pardon? Twitter? Would you go on Twitter? Twitter? Would you go on Twitter? What is a Twitter? I don't know what is Twitter.
Do you text? You mean the mobile phone to text, no, I don't know how to do that.
Do you have a mobile phone? Yes, I only know how to answer and phone.
That's all you need.
Trust me.
Simple is better.
Absolutely.
Keep cooking.
Chop chop! Chinese cookery is full of fantastic ingredients, you just need to know where to find them.
This is Lake Yangcheng, north west of Shanghai, a place that Chinese foodies flock to every year to get their hands on mitten crab.
They're prized by Chinese chefs all over the world because they have an intense, rich flavour, that's much sweeter than ordinary crab meat.
I'm keen to try them and cook them for the first time.
But I won't have to travel 6,000 miles to do it.
Mitten crabs are one of the most expensive and sought after delicacies in China, but very few people know they're available here in the River Thames.
Mitten crabs in their millions are taking over the Thames.
They hitched a ride on the slow boats from China in the '30s and with few natural predators, their population has exploded.
It's hard to believe that we're on the Thames and there's the most amazing delicacy sat right underneath us now.
I'm going to cook mitten crabs in an authentic Chinese way.
To get my hands on some, I'm meeting fisherman Dave Pearce.
How are you sir? All right? Excellent.
He lays eel nets on the Thames, and at this time of year, they're often full of mitten crabs.
You're fishing for eels.
You don't even want the crabs.
No, they just come up.
One eel what we want, a load of stuff that you want.
Is that an average size? That's a good one.
We measure them across there.
That is as big as they get.
It's quite a ferocious looking thing.
Aren't they! Someone said if you put them on their back and they can get back up, they're in good condition.
Try them on the back, he's got back up, so he's a good 'un.
'Because Dave is licensed to lay nets on the Thames, we can keep 'these crabs as a by-catch.
' That, my son, is a very good catch.
'To clean away river nasties, the crabs will be rinsed for two days 'under cold running water.
' The bucket's full of delicacies.
We could open a Chinese restaurant afloat! We'll get a barge and have one out here.
Chinatown is where you might expect Dave to sell London's finest crab meat, but he's not allowed to.
The authorities don't encourage commercial fishing for mitten crab, they're worried people will deliberately create new colonies.
I think that's a shame because eating mitten crab is a good way of keeping the numbers down.
And instead of importing foreign mitten crab, Chinatown could be buying British.
The Chinese love these things and they're prepared to pay silly money for them, I can't wait to taste them for the first time.
I've come to the Royal China Club to meet head chef, Tony Chung.
Tony, how are you? I'm fine.
And you? Yeah, good to see you.
Mitten crabs, have you tasted the English crab before? No, never, first time.
Little bugger, they're lively.
Holy crap! 'To cook them, they're steamed in the traditional way.
' Chinese style is small leg first And then you roll out the meat.
Yeah, roll out the meat.
Wow.
Ready? Yeah.
Very meaty.
That is delicious.
Very soft.
'The mitten crab meat is sweeter and more intense 'than other crab meat I've tasted.
' The taste is incredible, really good.
'To do this amazing new find justice, I'm going to try one of Tony's signature dishes.
'A mitten crab stir fry with tofu.
'I'll be cooking the authentic Chinese way, using nothing more 'than a wok and a Chinese cleaver.
' It's like trying to chop with a paddle of stainless steel.
It doubles up as a spatula to scoop up ingredients.
Look at you! 'Chopping shallots, spring onions 'and ginger in a particular way is crucial in a dish like this.
'Chinese cooking is as much about texture as it is about flavour.
'The tofu is cut in the hand to stop it disintegrating.
' Yeah, why not in your hand? 'The most challenging part of the stir fry is the wok station.
'The gas is operated with your knee.
' So, down, and off.
' Not so easy when you're over six foot tall.
' It's like you were dancing.
'Crab and ginger are fried off first.
'The wok is cleaned before the tofu is boiled and cleaned again, 'then the dish is stir fried.
'I'm struggling to get the hang of it, but Tony makes it look easy.
' It smells delicious, mine doesn't smell as nice as yours, it looks like a fucking omelette.
Damn, that is so hard to do.
'This mitten crab dish is delicious, and full of flavour.
'He's done the unthinkable, and made tofu taste good.
' Bloody hell, my God, that's delicious.
It's amazing that this exotic delicacy is right on our doorstep.
Let's hope we see this delicious British-caught mitten crab on our Chinese restaurant menus soon.
Right, Sweet Mandarin.
Table five and then table two.
Yes, chef.
What was it about Sweet Mandarin that made you choose that? The Mandarin is where our grandfather on my dad's side used to work, the sweet aspect was Twins, cooking together.
In Manchester, we have a phrase, "sweet, innit", so we wanted to dedicate it to Manchester.
United or City supporter? United, of course, it's red! If you come to Sweet Mandarin, we've got red sofas, red neon, If you lose tonight, you'll have red faces! No.
Last table.
Excellent.
I really enjoyed the starter, I enjoyed the contrast between the squid and crispy batter.
I'm not a fan of squid, but it was cooked really well, the texture was great, I wasn't chewing from one side to the other.
But I just found it a bit bland.
Good to see you.
Roy, how are you? Nice to see you.
Welcome.
What's the secret behind the food? I don't want to sound corny, but she likes to make people happy.
She's discovered a talent for food, and that's how to make the most people happy in the shortest amount of time.
You had Sweet Mandarin's squid as a starter.
What did you think of it? I found it very bland.
It was called salt or pepper, but I didn't taste much of either.
I think squid does need quite a lot of flavoring.
Are you paying for it? No, I'm not.
No.
The spicy squid with garlic, it was really tasty, the squid was cooked delicately nicely done.
It was really nice.
The squid was cooked perfectly.
It was tender, not rubbery.
Good evening.
Welcome to the F Word.
May, how are you? Fine, thank you.
Nervous out here? Very.
Watching the family cook.
How does it make you feel? Proud that they're up there.
I'm hoping they're doing very well.
How often do you eat at Sweet Mandarin? Special occasions.
Two very passionate sisters and it shows in their cooking.
How much does it mean to them to win tonight? A lot.
They have made a very bold move by serving the squid in a newspaper cone.
It is how Chinese used to serve up their food a long time ago so why not go back to basics? I love the idea.
You had the squid from Chop Chop, how was it? It was nice, but the smokiness of the garlic came out and overpowered the squid.
What a shame.
The most important question, are you going to pay for it? Yes, I am going to pay for it.
Very gracious.
Enjoy the main courses, see you later.
Both cooking squid, but completely two different ways.
Chop Chop's first, it doesn't look fantastic, but the smell is amazing.
Really nice balance of flavour, the squid is incredibly tender, really good.
The flavours are very clean.
More importantly, it's a very simple way of doing squid.
Sweet Mandarin, they've gone for a bit of an English take, almost like fish and chips, however, it's all about the flavour.
Amazing crunch to it.
The squid is a lot thicker and therefore more chewy, nice and crisp on the outside, but it's chewy and dense in the center.
I think diners will choose the clean-cut flavours of Chop Chop.
I don't know how well I've done, I don't know how well I've done, but I'm happy myself.
I think if we win the first course, I'd be smiling.
Inside and outside.
The diners have decided and the results are in.
JP, thank you.
Let's start off first with Sweet Mandarin.
OK, the number of customers that are happy to pay out of 25 for your salt and pepper squid is 17 out of 25.
Really good start.
So eight? One of the main reasons is the guests couldn't taste the salt and pepper.
So not enough seasoning.
Chop Chop, the number of customers that are happy to pay for your squid out of 25 is 21 out of 25.
Well, done, really well done.
Thank you.
Amazing.
Great start.
21 out of 25.
Very good.
17, pull it back for the main course, clear down, let's start on the main course.
Next on the menu, the pressure is on as the teams cook their own main course for the F Word diners.
Will Sweet Mandarin manage to fight back? Don't be down, you can pull this back.
Janet Street-Porter is ruffling feathers up in the Yorkshire Dales.
Is her bum looking cleaner? And I regret looking into Chinese medicine.
How do I get rid of those, should I have Botox? If I had a lot of wrinkles like you, I would be single, nobody want me any more.
Right, now both restaurants are cooking the main courses.
First up, Chop Chop.
Chop Chop in Edinburgh received over 100 of your nominations.
It's the neatest taste of China outside China, I suspect.
It's a great place to bring friends and the service is excellent.
Head chef, Jian Wang is the Queen of Chinese dumplings.
I would say nine out of ten customers order the dumplings.
Jian's authentic recipes are so delicious that her amazing dumplings sell in their millions in a major supermarket across Scotland.
Once you've tasted it, it's never forgotten.
Will Jian's pork and coriander dumplings with lamb and aubergine strips be a hit with my diners? For the dumplings, Jian first mixes minced pork, vegetable oil, soy sauce, sesame oil and a splash of water.
Then, spring onion, coriander and ginger.
Don't peel the skin, just eat it - beautiful.
Jian mixes flour and water, kneads and divides the dough then rolls and flattens into discs.
Very thin.
She fills, folds and boils them.
Next, Jian peels and slices aubergine then deep fries for five minutes until meltingly tender.
Then she adds ginger, spring onion, coriander and soy sauce.
Because I just put in the soy sauce, I don't need to put any salt.
Roughly chopped garlic goes in last.
Garlic, if you eat plenty of garlic, it can stop flu.
Next, she fries chopped lamb and cumin seeds.
Fried lamb, garlic aubergine and pork dumplings.
Pork and coriander dumplings, lamb with cumin seeds, aubergine and garlic, served.
The most important thing about making dumplings, what is it? It is important to get everything, if you are missing one part, one part will go wrong.
You sound like my kind of chef, everything is important.
Yes, definitely.
You can't say which is better than which.
Tell me about your trip to China.
Every year I go back to China.
I want to try a new dish, try a new one, if it is suitable for here.
Every time I put on weight! Every single day I put on weight.
You look great for 32.
I'm not 32, I'm 50! You're 50? You lock great for 48.
Thank you.
Same age as me.
Oh, thank you.
I'm not 48, I'm 42.
I'm older than you.
You don't look it.
You haven't got any wrinkles, no spots, how do I get rid of those? What do you recommend? This is for you natural, this is for your style.
If you don't have that, I don't recognise you as Gordon Ramsay.
Shall I have Botox? Again(?) No, just like that, I like it.
You like it? Yes, it's very good.
How do you say? More mature.
If I had a lot of wrinkles like you, I'd be single! Nobody want me any more! OK.
In your previous career, you were a lawyer? Yes.
Why did you give that up? Restaurants do need lawyers sometimes.
It's very important.
No axes to grind in turning your back on that career? No axes to grind in turning your back on that career? Not at all.
What is the most stressful, being a lawyer or being a chef? About the same, really.
Lisa, fascinating Helen studied as a lawyer, you did a business degree - you gave that up to become a chef.
Fantastic.
Why did you give up the business degree to become a chef? It's always been my dream to open a restaurant.
When we went on a family trip to Hong Kong, that is when we decided to work as a team and start this venture called Sweet Mandarin.
Here's what Sweet Mandarin are cooking tonight.
Sweet Mandarin is a culinary jewel in Manchester's Northern Quarter.
It's just quality food, we come here all time.
It is like home cooking to me.
Twins, Lisa and Helen, come from a long line of female Chinese restaurateurs.
Food connects them to their family and heritage.
Food is in your blood, you can't get away from it.
Their grandmother, Lily, came to Manchester in the '50s, and set up a successful Chinese restaurant.
The way they cook is just the way their grandmother used to cook.
If my grandma could do it in those days, we can definitely get through the trials and tribulations in our days.
We can definitely get through the trials and tribulations in our days.
Their chicken curry, it is just one of a kind.
Will this family recipe leave such a lasting impression on my F Word diners? First, Lisa marinades the chicken strips in sugar, salt, potato starch and water.
She then blanches the chicken.
The water softens the chicken.
She stir-fries ginger and onion To stop me crying, I usually put them in the freezer, so they don't react when I cut.
So they don't react when I cut.
.
.
adds spring onion, shiitake mushrooms, Chinese cabbage and Chinese sausage It's a bit like a salami.
It's been hung up and dried.
.
.
then adds chicken stock and the blanched chicken.
She seasons with sugar, salt, oyster sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce and Shaoxing wine.
A bit like your sherry.
The mix is thickened with potato starch and placed in a hot clay pot.
When it comes in the clay pot, all the flavours infuse in the Chinese sausage, the mushrooms, the vegetables, the ginger, you can soak it all in all the gravy.
Finally, Lisa garnishes with blanched bok choy.
DING DING Clay Pot Chicken, served.
The inspiration behind the clay pot, where did it come from? My mother, Mable.
When she first came over, she hated England, she couldn't speak the language, she felt like an alien, and also she was quite distant from her mother.
What my grandmother did was to make this dish for her and it really bonded mother and daughter.
Right, made her feel less homesick.
Lisa - at the weekends, you run a cookery school? I do.
We teach Dim Sum, we teach soups.
The favourite soup, what is it? Chicken and sweetcorn, and wonton soup.
They cook for a couple of hours? They cook for three hours, they do some prep, we talk about food, and then they cook and they eat the food that they've cooked.
That lamb looks plain but it tastes delicious.
Yes.
Cumin.
So, do you have any men in your kitchen? Eryes.
You do.
How many? Dishwasher.
Dishwasher? Yes.
(WOMEN LAUGH) Sorry.
Is that your theory, let the ladies cook and the men wash up? Yes, dishwasher.
The pork dumplings were fantastic, the texture was spot on and the pork was cooked to perfection.
The pork and coriander dumplings were a bit disappointing.
The aubergine was really quite greasy the oil was still dripping off it.
I had the Clay Pot Chicken - it was lovely.
The sauce was quite syrupy and the ginger worked very well.
The spicy sausage was particularly good.
The chicken was well cooked but my rice was watery and stodgy at the bottom.
Good flavours and the vegetables are cooked the right amount of time.
I will pay for the Clay Pot Chicken.
Right Chop Chop.
The dumplings look fantastic.
Touch of the sauce .
.
Wow.
AubergineMmm.
Because they are so thick, they become too soggy.
The lamb, presentation-wise doesn't look very appetizing.
A little bit dry.
Right, Sweet Mandarin.
Authentic Chinese sausage, on top.
Sauce A lot more delicate, subtle flavour, slightly sweet.
In terms of the broth and the cooking liquor, delicious.
The flavour that stands out is from the dumpling.
But if I had to choose one, it'd be the chicken clay pot.
I feel confident that we've done well.
I think the diners will be happy with it.
I'm happy with the quality, so hopefully the diners will be.
I done my best, I put everything I can I couldn't do any more.
OK, Jian, a very ambitious main course there.
A nice sample of three of your specialties from Chop Chop.
How well do you think you did out of 50 customers? 40 to 45.
40 to 45, that's nice.
Very good.
Jan, how many do you think will pay out of 50? 50? I like that confidence.
You say nothing to me all night and you come back with "50"! Lisa, Helen, the chicken clay pot, how many do you think out of 50 customers are willing to pay? 40? 40? A conservative 40.
Nice.
OK, let's find out.
Right, JB, please.
OK, let's go, Chop Chop first.
The number of customer that are happy to pay out of 50 is .
.
20 out of 50.
I thought that was delicious.
I thought the dumplings were fantastic.
JB, why, please? The lamb was dry, they thought the presentation wasn't very great.
They don't eat the presentation! What about the flavour, the dumplings? Loved the dumplings.
Jian, anything to say? Best I can do.
They are a very tough crowd.
Yes.
Sweet Mandarin, the number of customers happy to pay for your chicken clay pot, out of 50 .
.
42 out of 50, congratulations! 42 out of 50! That is amazing.
That is fantastic, well done.
42 out of 50.
The eight customers that decided not to pay for it, why? Ginger too strong.
Ginger too strong.
Mabel right now will be smiling, well done.
Jian, don't be down, you can pull this back with 25 out of 25 for dessert.
It's OK.
All of you clear down and get ready for dessert.
Well done, really well done.
Right, now it's time to check on Janet Street Farmer.
'I want to serve fantastic meat in the F Word's best local restaurant competition final.
'I've asked Janet Street-Porter to provide rare breed Dexter beef, 'Ix worth poultry and Mangalitsa pork.
' I've got a nice, clean straw now.
'To test if Janet's animals are the quality I expect, 'I've set her the challenge of showing them 'to the judges at the Nidderdale Show.
'Six million of us visit agricultural shows in the UK every year.
They are the ideal place 'to see firsthand where the food on your plate comes from 'and meet the people who produce it.
' 'To make sure she can hold her own in the ring, 'I've asked our animal experts to help Janet' 'get her animals into championship condition.
' Got the A-team here - you all got your props? I've got to get the animals ready for the Nidderdale Show.
'Letting animals run free-range is good for flavour, 'but it's left them covered in cack.
' Looking grubby, aren't they? Grubby?! 'It's time for some grooming tips for show success.
' Get this animal's arse in that soapy water? We've got the shampoo on - it's like cleaning the car.
'There's a real knack to showing animals.
'Christine talks Janet through pigs.
' It does take a little practice till they get an idea of what's required.
'Penny follows up with cattle.
' She's gonna show how you have to hold on tight.
Me showing these in a ring with thousands of people is mad.
'Mad or not, it's the day of the show.
'With the animals loaded and on their way, 'it's sink or swim for a very nervous Janet.
' I'm completely stressed out, I've been up since 6:30am.
I feel sick.
I'm really worried I'm gonna lose control of the pig.
And if that fucking cow stamps on me it will get a kick up the back side, no matter how many people are watching.
I took some pictures last year of a duck with a quiff.
Against that, my chickens stand fuck-all chance! 'It's time for Janet's first shot at the prizes.
'Penny leads the adult Dexter around the ring, 'with Janet leading its calf.
The judge is looking for 'a straight back, strong legs, a healthy udder and a balanced walk.
' Well handled.
'Janet's red Dexter gets a rosette for fourth place 'an incredible result for Janet's first attempt in the show ring 'and a sign that the Dexter herd is in top condition.
' I can't believe it, look.
That's proving that loud mouth women win.
'Next, Janet checks if her Ix worth hen is up to scratch.
' Nothing! Look, couldn't you have just shaped up and done a bit better? You've let me down.
Frankly, I'm a bit annoyed with you.
We put a lot of care and attention into you, and what have you done? You're not catwalk material, are you? See, she's got the message.
'There's nothing for the Ix worth hen.
'Knowing Janet, she will be pretty hacked off by that 'and desperate to do better with her Mangalitsas.
' Hi guys, how are you doing? How are you? I'm in a state.
What are you in a state for? What are you in a state for? Controlling these pigs, they are so frisky.
You're gonna have to walk them out there and let's see what sort of pig man you are.
And let's see what sort of pig man you are.
Pig person.
Pig person, then.
Ah, caught you out! 'Janet's off to a good start.
'The trick with showing a pig is to keep it moving and get the animal 'between her and the judge so he can assess its quality.
' Oh no! Oh, my word.
Janet, well done.
Oh, fantastic.
'Janet's beloved Mangalitsa brings home the bacon 'and scoops a rosette for third.
'Two rosettes from a first showing can prove I can expect 'top-notch meat for the competition final.
' It's a triumph! 'Next on the menu, we'll be crowning the F Word's Best Local Chinese Restaurant.
' I want all these diners happy with these fritters, OK? 'Can Jian keep Chop Chop in the game?' 'She could pull it back on the dessert, you know that? 'She could pull it back on the dessert, you know that? It would mean everything.
I would be very proud of her.
Welcome back to the F Word.
Time for dessert.
Banana fritters and vanilla ice-cream.
Banana fritters, hot, crispy, delicious, easy to make and a great indulgence.
First off, the batter.
100 grams of rice flour, 100 grams of cornflour.
Sesame seeds, Chinese five spice.
Salt, two tablespoons of caster sugar.
250ml of water.
Mix until smooth, chill.
Pan, vegetable oil, bananas, chop.
Coat.
Now to check the oil is hot enough, drop a touch into the oil and that should sizzle.
Perfect.
Fry.
Make sure they are cooked to a nice golden brown.
That crunch of the sesame seed gives it a nice texture.
Drain.
Vanilla ice-cream.
Icing sugar.
Banana fritters with sesame seeds, done.
Chop Chop, and Sweet Mandarin, I want all the diners happy with these fritters.
Let's send them home happy.
What would it mean for you to win? What would it mean? The world.
It's like winning the lottery.
Absolutely.
Sweet Mandarin went into dessert with a significant lead, but had they done enough to win the title of the Best Local Chinese Restaurant? For Sweet Mandarin, winning tonight will make the twins' customers and family very proud.
If we won the competition it would just be amazing, it would be such an honor to win.
And Chop Chop from Edinburgh will need to fight till the very end if they're to be in with a chance.
If we won it would just be fantastic.
It would be really great, and I will be very proud of my mother.
I will be extremely happy for her happiness.
It is so nice to see you still smiling.
Roy is a lucky man.
Yeah, tell him! I will.
So your son's name is Yin.
Is he looking for a girlfriend called Yang?! Yin Yang, no! No, he's not? They are ready.
Last two tables.
Last two tables.
Yes, Chef.
Look at the mess of those fryers, what have you done? We are twins.
We are twins.
I know you're twins.
That is what is scaring me, I have twins.
I have twins, yeah.
Thank God, one boy and one girl.
What are they like? A nightmare.
It's like having Helen and Lisa at home, seven days a week.
Thank God you can cook for a living.
It is fascinating because I thought Jian would drop her head.
However, she is bouncing back, strong.
It seems to be Lisa and Helen has got the difficulty with the banana fritter.
The batter was really nice, light, crispy, really enjoyed it.
Really flavorsome.
Lovely crunchy batter, really soft inside, dreamy ice-cream, lovely.
It was light, crispy, enough sweetness, the ice-cream was smooth.
I wouldn't normally choose to eat that but the flavours worked well together.
Jian, how do you think you did out of 25? I don't know, I did my best.
Lisa, Helen, out of 25, guess how well do you think you did.
15-20? 15-20? We're going to find out.
JB, results please for the desserts.
Thank you.
So let's go first, to Chop Chop, the number of guests happy to pay for your dessert out of 25 is .
.
21 out of 25, that's fantastic! .
.
21 out of 25, that's fantastic! Thank you.
That is really good.
Oh, wonderful, yeah! You're gonna keep it on your menu? I should put it on my menu.
I didn't know I'm that good.
That means in total, that's 62 out of 100.
Really well done.
Now Sweet Mandarin, you were ahead going into dessert, you think that there is 15 out of 25 that are paying for your dessert.
The actual number of customers paying for your dessert out of 25 is .
.
23 out of 25.
Congratulations.
Absolutely fantastic.
That means you have got 82 out of 100.
Clearly tonight's winner.
Top of the leader board.
Well done.
Do yourselves a favour, get yourselves a nice glass of wine.
Well done, congratulations.
Big round of applause.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE What a night, what a night! Fantastic! I'm very proud of her.
Yes, very proud.
I know my son never disappointing, very good.
I'm not so sure about you, OK.
(LAUGHS) No, he's very good.
He cannot show, if he show anything, I will kill him.
We feel miserable.
We feel miserable.
We feel great.
(LAUGHING) That's crazy, man.
That's crazy.
That's crazy, man.
That's crazy.
Really chuffed.
We're bringing this home to Manchester.
Sweet Mandarin have swept into first place on the leader board.
Will their score be good enough to earn them a place in the semi-final? Next week, a culinary treat.
Proper, authentic Thai cooking.
Will your favourite be joining me in the F Word kitchen? Table three, oi! Table three! I feel like I've met the female Gordon Ramsay from Bangkok.
The diners have eaten some fantastic food.
If you want to cook the recipes then visit the F Word website.
Thank you.
Goodnight.
sync and correct by dr.
jackson
Welcome to the F Word.
I'm searching for our best local restaurants.
Britain's local restaurants serve amazing food from all over the world.
Each week, I'm choosing two of the very best to compete in the F Word kitchen.
You can't let this boy beat you, come on! So far, Salvo's from Leeds have been crowned the F Word's Best Local Italian restaurant.
Lasan from Birmingham took the Indian title.
The sensation is absolutely amazing.
And French went to Bouchon Bistro from Hexham near Newcastle.
Well done, really well done! Really well done! Tonight it's the nation's favourite food, Chinese.
Chop Chop from Edinburgh are competing against Sweet Mandarin from Manchester.
I go in search of a mouth-watering Chinese delicacy, mitten crab.
I'm amazed at the size of them.
And, as my top two Chinese restaurants go head to head, I ask for some beauty tips.
How do I get rid of those, shall I have Botox? No! If I had lots of wrinkles like you, I would be single! The F word's here And the F word's bad Curse my mother and I curse my dad But I love my mother and I love my dad Wanna have all that they never had.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE Right, welcome to the F Word, how are we? Right, welcome to the F Word, how are we? I'm fine.
The secret success behind Chop Chop in Edinburgh, what is it? It's love, passion and the feeling.
It's love, passion and the feeling.
Fantastic.
And the biggest success in terms of dishes, what is the most renowned? My dumplings.
How old were you when you made your first dumpling? Five.
Very young.
Five.
Very young.
Wow, that's amazing.
Sweet Mandarin, welcome, good to see you both.
The secret success between Sweet Mandarin is what? Three sisters, three generations.
Very rare.
Who is the most talented cook? Lisa.
And the best sister in the world.
Go, Lisa, go.
The fascinating thing about you is the twins, who is the oldest? I am, by two minutes.
I am, by two minutes.
She's the boss.
Here is the good news, first all-female kitchen.
I know.
We have a secret word.
Which is what? Woman biter? Better! Better! Oh, better! I love working with girls in the kitchen, do you know why? You are so disciplined, you only need to be told once.
We'll find out if women are better at the end, yes? 'Chop Chop from Edinburgh and Sweet Mandarin from Manchester, 'will be fighting it out tonight for the Chinese gong.
'This is how they got here.
' Earlier this year, I asked you to log on to the F Word website and nominate your favourite local restaurants.
The response has been absolutely phenomenal.
You told us about nearly 5,000 different places you love to eat all over the country.
I can see from your favourite restaurants that you love Chinese food.
To help me judge your Chinese nominations, I have asked the F Word's maitre d', Jean Baptiste, to join me, along with foodie, Janet Street-Porter.
Each week we are whittling down your nominations to pick the best two to battle it out in the F Word kitchen.
Between all three of us, we are traveling across the country really putting these nominated restaurants under severe scrutiny.
From Cambridge to Coventry, Edinburgh to Birmingham, Manchester to Leeds.
If I lived in this area, I would come to this Chinese restaurant definitely.
We sampled Chinese delicacies.
Hot and spicy chilli frog legs.
That our equivalent to spicy chicken wings.
Nice.
Jean Baptiste was entertained, but not very impressed.
There is magicians.
That would be magic.
There is a pop singer, it is more like a comedy show than anything else.
But two restaurants stood out above the rest.
Chop Chop in Edinburgh was hugely popular.
Over 100 of you nominated this restaurant.
I love this restaurant, I wouldn't keep coming back if I didn't.
Hello, how are you? Nice to see you.
Nice to see you.
Good to see you, too.
So husband and wife? Good to see you, too.
So husband and wife? No, this is my son! What? Serious.
Jian Wang is the head chef.
When she arrived in Scotland from Changchun in China, she barely spoke English.
Four years ago she opened Chop Chop with her husband, Roy.
If you're cooking food, you have a feeling for, because I grew up for this food, I have a feeling for it.
Jian's specialty is her delicious dumplings.
She has 30 varieties on the menu, but they all share one special ingredient.
When you are cooking you put all your happiness into your food.
Who would like to select a card? Jian's son Yin is the restaurant manager and he brings his own brand of magic to Chop Chop.
Five of hearts, yes? We are more than mother and son, we are buddies.
It is a bond.
There is a link, when we talk about dumplings there is something in there.
For me it had to be the dumplings.
They are fucking delicious.
Jesus Christ.
What an amazing little find, my God.
When they dumplings arrived, absolutely fucking amazing.
The nice thing is she's passionate, I could hear her in the dining room, screaming.
Hand-made dumplings, very, very rare, especially in Edinburgh.
If I win, definitely, I would be very happy.
There is only two restaurants going through to cook in The F Word Restaurant to cook for 50 diners.
And Chop Chop is one of them, congratulations.
Wow, can I hug you? Wow, can I hug you? Congratulations.
Wow, can I hug you? Congratulations.
I'm so happy.
Those dumplings were delicious, really good indeed.
I'm very happy for Chop Chop to go through and cook in The F Word Restaurant for 50 diners.
Why? Because she's amazing.
What a find.
So Chop Chop from Edinburgh is through.
You have nominated an exceptional opponent to take them on.
The F Word viewers raved about Sweet Mandarin.
An exciting Chinese restaurant in the bustling streets of Manchester.
Run by identical twin sisters.
Jean Baptiste went for lunch.
Good afternoon.
Good afternoon.
How are you? Is it Lisa? Good afternoon.
How are you? Is it Lisa? It's Helen.
Oh, hi.
Jean Baptiste nice to meet you.
Lisa and Helen Tse were born and bred here, right in the city.
They are the third generation of women in their family to run Chinese restaurants.
My grandmother was one of the first Chinese women to open a Chinese restaurant in the UK.
Which is quite amazing, really.
In the kitchen, Lisa, the head chef, cooks up recipes passed down to her from her grandmother.
We serve modern Chinese cuisine, but we also serve my mum's dish and my gram's dish.
A lot of these recipes, we've been cooking all our lives.
We have grown up with these recipes, in the family home.
We are just rolling it out on a bigger scale.
Sweet Mandarin's clay-pot chicken is a best seller with a wonderful history.
This is my mother's home-cooked recipe, that we have been serving for generations.
It comes with chicken which is double-cooked in a clay pot with Chinese vegetables and Chinese sausage.
Bon appetit! It is very good, you get straight away you get all the flavour coming into your mouth.
If we won the competition, it would just be amazing.
It would be such an honor to win.
Hello, how are you? Jean Baptiste was so impressed that I knew we had found our second contender.
I think this is really what will bring this place all together, the fact it is a family-run business, the fact we can see the passion behind and all the drive, to provide such a good experience for the customers.
Hi, Helen, it is Gordon Ramsay from the F Word.
Oh, hi, Gordon.
You have had a visit from the Frenchman, Jean Baptiste.
He had an amazing lunch.
That is good to hear.
This is a tough category for us, there are thousands of Chinese restaurants across the country.
My problem is only two can go through to cook in the F Word dining room.
You will have to leave Manchester and come to London, you are one of them.
Oh, my goodness, let me go and tell Lisa.
Congratulations, I look forward to seeing you in London.
We got through.
We got through, whoo! I just hope now they can pull it off and push the boat out in the F Word dining room.
We can do it, we can do it.
We can do it, we can do it! So, from your nominations, these are my two favourite Chinese restaurants, and the girls have come out on top.
Will the diners prefer the dumplings from Edinburgh's Chop Chop, or will Sweet Mandarin from Manchester manage to sweep to victory? Who will be crowned the F Word's Best Local Chinese Restaurant? There can only be one winner.
This needs to be the best service of your lives, make it count.
There can only be one winner this evening.
I'm here to help, if you need anything, open up and shout.
(ALL) Yes, Chef.
OK, enough talking, let's make some squid.
Next on the menu, as the brigades battle to serve up the best squid, Sweet Mandarin are keeping the lid on their ingredients.
What was in there? The lid on their ingredients.
What was in there? I can't tell you the secret.
And I attempt to cook mitten crab, Chinese-style.
It is like chopping with a paddle of stainless steel.
We're back in London at the F Word Restaurant.
Tonight, we're going Chinese.
From hundreds of nominations, we found the F Word's best two local Chinese restaurants.
Sweet Mandarin in Manchester, and Chop Chop in Edinburgh.
Sweet Mandarin, here we go, four covers away table nine, four squid, four chicken, four fritters.
Yes, Chef.
Thank you.
Chop Chop, four covers table six, please, two squid, two dumplings, two fritters.
Yes, chef.
The restaurant with the highest number of diners paying for food tonight will be crowned the F Word Best Local Chinese Restaurant.
Here's my favourite recipe for squid.
Crispy salt and pepper squid with a cucumber salad.
Squid, when cooked properly, can be absolutely delicious.
First off, start prepping the squid.
Szechuan pepper, salt, Chinese five spice.
Grind.
Seasoning, into a bowl, corn flour.
Squid, score.
It helps to tenderize the squid.
Cut.
Tentacles, half.
That goes straight into the seasoning.
Shake off excess.
Now we're ready to cook.
Hot pan, vegetable oil.
Fry.
Cucumber salad, cucumber, carrots, peel, slice ribbons, chilli, rice wine vinegar, toasted sesame oil, salt, pepper, sugar, coriander.
Crispy salt and pepper squid, done.
The idea behind this squid came from where? Really it's from a Twitter event.
A Twitter event? Lisa is a major Twitter-er.
Lisa is a major Twitter-er.
Oh really? And we do these Tweet-up events every month.
How many friends has she got Twittering? How many friends has she got Twittering? 6,000-odd.
Really? We asked them, what would you like to try this evening, give you something different.
And the most popular dish was salt and pepper squid.
Fantastic.
Sweet Mandarin opened in Manchester's Northern Quarter five years ago, and serves a wide range of home-cooked Chinese food from many regions.
It's run by three sisters, two of them twins, Helen and Lisa.
Lisa is definitely the boss, what she says, goes.
Someone's got to be the boss.
'They are the third generation of women in a Chinese cooking dynasty, 'established by their grandmother, Lily Kwok.
' I've been eating their food for 30-odd years, I used to go to her mother's and the grandmother's.
'These entrepreneurial twins use old family recipes 'passed down through generations.
' A lot of these recipes we've been cooking all our lives, and we've grown up with these recipes.
Sweet Mandarin's F Word starter is salt and pepper squid.
They blanch the squid, then fry it with shredded cabbage, carrots, parsley and then serve it in newspaper, like traditional Chinese street food.
When did you learn to cook? Who taught you? When did you learn to cook? Who taught you? I've been cooking since age 11.
What kind of cooking did you do at 11? What kind of cooking did you do at 11? Mainly the curries.
Weekends, school holidays, you were involved in the restaurant? Every day, actually.
After school, get out of my school uniform, get into my work clothes and help out with the business.
What was your first dish that you mastered and put your stamp of approval on? Probably fried rice.
OK, Chop Chop.
Where did this recipe come from? From myself.
From my feeling, I would say that.
Chop Chop in Edinburgh is off the beaten track, but customers are very happy to go out of their way to eat here.
Because my food has lots of character, my food makes lots of friends.
'Despite the recession, business was up last year by a third.
' I'm the winner already.
I have lots of customers, that is the big winner, don't you think so? 'Jian comes from Changchun in China, where dumplings are king.
'When she arrived in Edinburgh 12 years ago, 'to study at the university, she couldn't find them anywhere.
'She made it her mission to introduce the Scots 'to authentic north-eastern Chinese dumplings.
' I love the dumplings.
The dumplings are fantastic.
The dumplings are tremendous.
'Husband Roy is also her business partner.
' She has a philosophy that if you have a bad mood, you can't bring it into the kitchen because it will go into the food.
Chop Chop's F Word starter is spicy garlic squid.
Jian fries garlic, spring onions, Chinese peppers and chilli, and adds the squid at the last minute so the delicate flavour isn't overpowered.
Is this an authentic Chinese dish? Yes.
Would you ever go on Twitter for your recipe? Would you ever go on Twitter for your recipe? Pardon? Twitter? Would you go on Twitter? Twitter? Would you go on Twitter? What is a Twitter? I don't know what is Twitter.
Do you text? You mean the mobile phone to text, no, I don't know how to do that.
Do you have a mobile phone? Yes, I only know how to answer and phone.
That's all you need.
Trust me.
Simple is better.
Absolutely.
Keep cooking.
Chop chop! Chinese cookery is full of fantastic ingredients, you just need to know where to find them.
This is Lake Yangcheng, north west of Shanghai, a place that Chinese foodies flock to every year to get their hands on mitten crab.
They're prized by Chinese chefs all over the world because they have an intense, rich flavour, that's much sweeter than ordinary crab meat.
I'm keen to try them and cook them for the first time.
But I won't have to travel 6,000 miles to do it.
Mitten crabs are one of the most expensive and sought after delicacies in China, but very few people know they're available here in the River Thames.
Mitten crabs in their millions are taking over the Thames.
They hitched a ride on the slow boats from China in the '30s and with few natural predators, their population has exploded.
It's hard to believe that we're on the Thames and there's the most amazing delicacy sat right underneath us now.
I'm going to cook mitten crabs in an authentic Chinese way.
To get my hands on some, I'm meeting fisherman Dave Pearce.
How are you sir? All right? Excellent.
He lays eel nets on the Thames, and at this time of year, they're often full of mitten crabs.
You're fishing for eels.
You don't even want the crabs.
No, they just come up.
One eel what we want, a load of stuff that you want.
Is that an average size? That's a good one.
We measure them across there.
That is as big as they get.
It's quite a ferocious looking thing.
Aren't they! Someone said if you put them on their back and they can get back up, they're in good condition.
Try them on the back, he's got back up, so he's a good 'un.
'Because Dave is licensed to lay nets on the Thames, we can keep 'these crabs as a by-catch.
' That, my son, is a very good catch.
'To clean away river nasties, the crabs will be rinsed for two days 'under cold running water.
' The bucket's full of delicacies.
We could open a Chinese restaurant afloat! We'll get a barge and have one out here.
Chinatown is where you might expect Dave to sell London's finest crab meat, but he's not allowed to.
The authorities don't encourage commercial fishing for mitten crab, they're worried people will deliberately create new colonies.
I think that's a shame because eating mitten crab is a good way of keeping the numbers down.
And instead of importing foreign mitten crab, Chinatown could be buying British.
The Chinese love these things and they're prepared to pay silly money for them, I can't wait to taste them for the first time.
I've come to the Royal China Club to meet head chef, Tony Chung.
Tony, how are you? I'm fine.
And you? Yeah, good to see you.
Mitten crabs, have you tasted the English crab before? No, never, first time.
Little bugger, they're lively.
Holy crap! 'To cook them, they're steamed in the traditional way.
' Chinese style is small leg first And then you roll out the meat.
Yeah, roll out the meat.
Wow.
Ready? Yeah.
Very meaty.
That is delicious.
Very soft.
'The mitten crab meat is sweeter and more intense 'than other crab meat I've tasted.
' The taste is incredible, really good.
'To do this amazing new find justice, I'm going to try one of Tony's signature dishes.
'A mitten crab stir fry with tofu.
'I'll be cooking the authentic Chinese way, using nothing more 'than a wok and a Chinese cleaver.
' It's like trying to chop with a paddle of stainless steel.
It doubles up as a spatula to scoop up ingredients.
Look at you! 'Chopping shallots, spring onions 'and ginger in a particular way is crucial in a dish like this.
'Chinese cooking is as much about texture as it is about flavour.
'The tofu is cut in the hand to stop it disintegrating.
' Yeah, why not in your hand? 'The most challenging part of the stir fry is the wok station.
'The gas is operated with your knee.
' So, down, and off.
' Not so easy when you're over six foot tall.
' It's like you were dancing.
'Crab and ginger are fried off first.
'The wok is cleaned before the tofu is boiled and cleaned again, 'then the dish is stir fried.
'I'm struggling to get the hang of it, but Tony makes it look easy.
' It smells delicious, mine doesn't smell as nice as yours, it looks like a fucking omelette.
Damn, that is so hard to do.
'This mitten crab dish is delicious, and full of flavour.
'He's done the unthinkable, and made tofu taste good.
' Bloody hell, my God, that's delicious.
It's amazing that this exotic delicacy is right on our doorstep.
Let's hope we see this delicious British-caught mitten crab on our Chinese restaurant menus soon.
Right, Sweet Mandarin.
Table five and then table two.
Yes, chef.
What was it about Sweet Mandarin that made you choose that? The Mandarin is where our grandfather on my dad's side used to work, the sweet aspect was Twins, cooking together.
In Manchester, we have a phrase, "sweet, innit", so we wanted to dedicate it to Manchester.
United or City supporter? United, of course, it's red! If you come to Sweet Mandarin, we've got red sofas, red neon, If you lose tonight, you'll have red faces! No.
Last table.
Excellent.
I really enjoyed the starter, I enjoyed the contrast between the squid and crispy batter.
I'm not a fan of squid, but it was cooked really well, the texture was great, I wasn't chewing from one side to the other.
But I just found it a bit bland.
Good to see you.
Roy, how are you? Nice to see you.
Welcome.
What's the secret behind the food? I don't want to sound corny, but she likes to make people happy.
She's discovered a talent for food, and that's how to make the most people happy in the shortest amount of time.
You had Sweet Mandarin's squid as a starter.
What did you think of it? I found it very bland.
It was called salt or pepper, but I didn't taste much of either.
I think squid does need quite a lot of flavoring.
Are you paying for it? No, I'm not.
No.
The spicy squid with garlic, it was really tasty, the squid was cooked delicately nicely done.
It was really nice.
The squid was cooked perfectly.
It was tender, not rubbery.
Good evening.
Welcome to the F Word.
May, how are you? Fine, thank you.
Nervous out here? Very.
Watching the family cook.
How does it make you feel? Proud that they're up there.
I'm hoping they're doing very well.
How often do you eat at Sweet Mandarin? Special occasions.
Two very passionate sisters and it shows in their cooking.
How much does it mean to them to win tonight? A lot.
They have made a very bold move by serving the squid in a newspaper cone.
It is how Chinese used to serve up their food a long time ago so why not go back to basics? I love the idea.
You had the squid from Chop Chop, how was it? It was nice, but the smokiness of the garlic came out and overpowered the squid.
What a shame.
The most important question, are you going to pay for it? Yes, I am going to pay for it.
Very gracious.
Enjoy the main courses, see you later.
Both cooking squid, but completely two different ways.
Chop Chop's first, it doesn't look fantastic, but the smell is amazing.
Really nice balance of flavour, the squid is incredibly tender, really good.
The flavours are very clean.
More importantly, it's a very simple way of doing squid.
Sweet Mandarin, they've gone for a bit of an English take, almost like fish and chips, however, it's all about the flavour.
Amazing crunch to it.
The squid is a lot thicker and therefore more chewy, nice and crisp on the outside, but it's chewy and dense in the center.
I think diners will choose the clean-cut flavours of Chop Chop.
I don't know how well I've done, I don't know how well I've done, but I'm happy myself.
I think if we win the first course, I'd be smiling.
Inside and outside.
The diners have decided and the results are in.
JP, thank you.
Let's start off first with Sweet Mandarin.
OK, the number of customers that are happy to pay out of 25 for your salt and pepper squid is 17 out of 25.
Really good start.
So eight? One of the main reasons is the guests couldn't taste the salt and pepper.
So not enough seasoning.
Chop Chop, the number of customers that are happy to pay for your squid out of 25 is 21 out of 25.
Well, done, really well done.
Thank you.
Amazing.
Great start.
21 out of 25.
Very good.
17, pull it back for the main course, clear down, let's start on the main course.
Next on the menu, the pressure is on as the teams cook their own main course for the F Word diners.
Will Sweet Mandarin manage to fight back? Don't be down, you can pull this back.
Janet Street-Porter is ruffling feathers up in the Yorkshire Dales.
Is her bum looking cleaner? And I regret looking into Chinese medicine.
How do I get rid of those, should I have Botox? If I had a lot of wrinkles like you, I would be single, nobody want me any more.
Right, now both restaurants are cooking the main courses.
First up, Chop Chop.
Chop Chop in Edinburgh received over 100 of your nominations.
It's the neatest taste of China outside China, I suspect.
It's a great place to bring friends and the service is excellent.
Head chef, Jian Wang is the Queen of Chinese dumplings.
I would say nine out of ten customers order the dumplings.
Jian's authentic recipes are so delicious that her amazing dumplings sell in their millions in a major supermarket across Scotland.
Once you've tasted it, it's never forgotten.
Will Jian's pork and coriander dumplings with lamb and aubergine strips be a hit with my diners? For the dumplings, Jian first mixes minced pork, vegetable oil, soy sauce, sesame oil and a splash of water.
Then, spring onion, coriander and ginger.
Don't peel the skin, just eat it - beautiful.
Jian mixes flour and water, kneads and divides the dough then rolls and flattens into discs.
Very thin.
She fills, folds and boils them.
Next, Jian peels and slices aubergine then deep fries for five minutes until meltingly tender.
Then she adds ginger, spring onion, coriander and soy sauce.
Because I just put in the soy sauce, I don't need to put any salt.
Roughly chopped garlic goes in last.
Garlic, if you eat plenty of garlic, it can stop flu.
Next, she fries chopped lamb and cumin seeds.
Fried lamb, garlic aubergine and pork dumplings.
Pork and coriander dumplings, lamb with cumin seeds, aubergine and garlic, served.
The most important thing about making dumplings, what is it? It is important to get everything, if you are missing one part, one part will go wrong.
You sound like my kind of chef, everything is important.
Yes, definitely.
You can't say which is better than which.
Tell me about your trip to China.
Every year I go back to China.
I want to try a new dish, try a new one, if it is suitable for here.
Every time I put on weight! Every single day I put on weight.
You look great for 32.
I'm not 32, I'm 50! You're 50? You lock great for 48.
Thank you.
Same age as me.
Oh, thank you.
I'm not 48, I'm 42.
I'm older than you.
You don't look it.
You haven't got any wrinkles, no spots, how do I get rid of those? What do you recommend? This is for you natural, this is for your style.
If you don't have that, I don't recognise you as Gordon Ramsay.
Shall I have Botox? Again(?) No, just like that, I like it.
You like it? Yes, it's very good.
How do you say? More mature.
If I had a lot of wrinkles like you, I'd be single! Nobody want me any more! OK.
In your previous career, you were a lawyer? Yes.
Why did you give that up? Restaurants do need lawyers sometimes.
It's very important.
No axes to grind in turning your back on that career? No axes to grind in turning your back on that career? Not at all.
What is the most stressful, being a lawyer or being a chef? About the same, really.
Lisa, fascinating Helen studied as a lawyer, you did a business degree - you gave that up to become a chef.
Fantastic.
Why did you give up the business degree to become a chef? It's always been my dream to open a restaurant.
When we went on a family trip to Hong Kong, that is when we decided to work as a team and start this venture called Sweet Mandarin.
Here's what Sweet Mandarin are cooking tonight.
Sweet Mandarin is a culinary jewel in Manchester's Northern Quarter.
It's just quality food, we come here all time.
It is like home cooking to me.
Twins, Lisa and Helen, come from a long line of female Chinese restaurateurs.
Food connects them to their family and heritage.
Food is in your blood, you can't get away from it.
Their grandmother, Lily, came to Manchester in the '50s, and set up a successful Chinese restaurant.
The way they cook is just the way their grandmother used to cook.
If my grandma could do it in those days, we can definitely get through the trials and tribulations in our days.
We can definitely get through the trials and tribulations in our days.
Their chicken curry, it is just one of a kind.
Will this family recipe leave such a lasting impression on my F Word diners? First, Lisa marinades the chicken strips in sugar, salt, potato starch and water.
She then blanches the chicken.
The water softens the chicken.
She stir-fries ginger and onion To stop me crying, I usually put them in the freezer, so they don't react when I cut.
So they don't react when I cut.
.
.
adds spring onion, shiitake mushrooms, Chinese cabbage and Chinese sausage It's a bit like a salami.
It's been hung up and dried.
.
.
then adds chicken stock and the blanched chicken.
She seasons with sugar, salt, oyster sauce, sesame oil, soy sauce and Shaoxing wine.
A bit like your sherry.
The mix is thickened with potato starch and placed in a hot clay pot.
When it comes in the clay pot, all the flavours infuse in the Chinese sausage, the mushrooms, the vegetables, the ginger, you can soak it all in all the gravy.
Finally, Lisa garnishes with blanched bok choy.
DING DING Clay Pot Chicken, served.
The inspiration behind the clay pot, where did it come from? My mother, Mable.
When she first came over, she hated England, she couldn't speak the language, she felt like an alien, and also she was quite distant from her mother.
What my grandmother did was to make this dish for her and it really bonded mother and daughter.
Right, made her feel less homesick.
Lisa - at the weekends, you run a cookery school? I do.
We teach Dim Sum, we teach soups.
The favourite soup, what is it? Chicken and sweetcorn, and wonton soup.
They cook for a couple of hours? They cook for three hours, they do some prep, we talk about food, and then they cook and they eat the food that they've cooked.
That lamb looks plain but it tastes delicious.
Yes.
Cumin.
So, do you have any men in your kitchen? Eryes.
You do.
How many? Dishwasher.
Dishwasher? Yes.
(WOMEN LAUGH) Sorry.
Is that your theory, let the ladies cook and the men wash up? Yes, dishwasher.
The pork dumplings were fantastic, the texture was spot on and the pork was cooked to perfection.
The pork and coriander dumplings were a bit disappointing.
The aubergine was really quite greasy the oil was still dripping off it.
I had the Clay Pot Chicken - it was lovely.
The sauce was quite syrupy and the ginger worked very well.
The spicy sausage was particularly good.
The chicken was well cooked but my rice was watery and stodgy at the bottom.
Good flavours and the vegetables are cooked the right amount of time.
I will pay for the Clay Pot Chicken.
Right Chop Chop.
The dumplings look fantastic.
Touch of the sauce .
.
Wow.
AubergineMmm.
Because they are so thick, they become too soggy.
The lamb, presentation-wise doesn't look very appetizing.
A little bit dry.
Right, Sweet Mandarin.
Authentic Chinese sausage, on top.
Sauce A lot more delicate, subtle flavour, slightly sweet.
In terms of the broth and the cooking liquor, delicious.
The flavour that stands out is from the dumpling.
But if I had to choose one, it'd be the chicken clay pot.
I feel confident that we've done well.
I think the diners will be happy with it.
I'm happy with the quality, so hopefully the diners will be.
I done my best, I put everything I can I couldn't do any more.
OK, Jian, a very ambitious main course there.
A nice sample of three of your specialties from Chop Chop.
How well do you think you did out of 50 customers? 40 to 45.
40 to 45, that's nice.
Very good.
Jan, how many do you think will pay out of 50? 50? I like that confidence.
You say nothing to me all night and you come back with "50"! Lisa, Helen, the chicken clay pot, how many do you think out of 50 customers are willing to pay? 40? 40? A conservative 40.
Nice.
OK, let's find out.
Right, JB, please.
OK, let's go, Chop Chop first.
The number of customer that are happy to pay out of 50 is .
.
20 out of 50.
I thought that was delicious.
I thought the dumplings were fantastic.
JB, why, please? The lamb was dry, they thought the presentation wasn't very great.
They don't eat the presentation! What about the flavour, the dumplings? Loved the dumplings.
Jian, anything to say? Best I can do.
They are a very tough crowd.
Yes.
Sweet Mandarin, the number of customers happy to pay for your chicken clay pot, out of 50 .
.
42 out of 50, congratulations! 42 out of 50! That is amazing.
That is fantastic, well done.
42 out of 50.
The eight customers that decided not to pay for it, why? Ginger too strong.
Ginger too strong.
Mabel right now will be smiling, well done.
Jian, don't be down, you can pull this back with 25 out of 25 for dessert.
It's OK.
All of you clear down and get ready for dessert.
Well done, really well done.
Right, now it's time to check on Janet Street Farmer.
'I want to serve fantastic meat in the F Word's best local restaurant competition final.
'I've asked Janet Street-Porter to provide rare breed Dexter beef, 'Ix worth poultry and Mangalitsa pork.
' I've got a nice, clean straw now.
'To test if Janet's animals are the quality I expect, 'I've set her the challenge of showing them 'to the judges at the Nidderdale Show.
'Six million of us visit agricultural shows in the UK every year.
They are the ideal place 'to see firsthand where the food on your plate comes from 'and meet the people who produce it.
' 'To make sure she can hold her own in the ring, 'I've asked our animal experts to help Janet' 'get her animals into championship condition.
' Got the A-team here - you all got your props? I've got to get the animals ready for the Nidderdale Show.
'Letting animals run free-range is good for flavour, 'but it's left them covered in cack.
' Looking grubby, aren't they? Grubby?! 'It's time for some grooming tips for show success.
' Get this animal's arse in that soapy water? We've got the shampoo on - it's like cleaning the car.
'There's a real knack to showing animals.
'Christine talks Janet through pigs.
' It does take a little practice till they get an idea of what's required.
'Penny follows up with cattle.
' She's gonna show how you have to hold on tight.
Me showing these in a ring with thousands of people is mad.
'Mad or not, it's the day of the show.
'With the animals loaded and on their way, 'it's sink or swim for a very nervous Janet.
' I'm completely stressed out, I've been up since 6:30am.
I feel sick.
I'm really worried I'm gonna lose control of the pig.
And if that fucking cow stamps on me it will get a kick up the back side, no matter how many people are watching.
I took some pictures last year of a duck with a quiff.
Against that, my chickens stand fuck-all chance! 'It's time for Janet's first shot at the prizes.
'Penny leads the adult Dexter around the ring, 'with Janet leading its calf.
The judge is looking for 'a straight back, strong legs, a healthy udder and a balanced walk.
' Well handled.
'Janet's red Dexter gets a rosette for fourth place 'an incredible result for Janet's first attempt in the show ring 'and a sign that the Dexter herd is in top condition.
' I can't believe it, look.
That's proving that loud mouth women win.
'Next, Janet checks if her Ix worth hen is up to scratch.
' Nothing! Look, couldn't you have just shaped up and done a bit better? You've let me down.
Frankly, I'm a bit annoyed with you.
We put a lot of care and attention into you, and what have you done? You're not catwalk material, are you? See, she's got the message.
'There's nothing for the Ix worth hen.
'Knowing Janet, she will be pretty hacked off by that 'and desperate to do better with her Mangalitsas.
' Hi guys, how are you doing? How are you? I'm in a state.
What are you in a state for? What are you in a state for? Controlling these pigs, they are so frisky.
You're gonna have to walk them out there and let's see what sort of pig man you are.
And let's see what sort of pig man you are.
Pig person.
Pig person, then.
Ah, caught you out! 'Janet's off to a good start.
'The trick with showing a pig is to keep it moving and get the animal 'between her and the judge so he can assess its quality.
' Oh no! Oh, my word.
Janet, well done.
Oh, fantastic.
'Janet's beloved Mangalitsa brings home the bacon 'and scoops a rosette for third.
'Two rosettes from a first showing can prove I can expect 'top-notch meat for the competition final.
' It's a triumph! 'Next on the menu, we'll be crowning the F Word's Best Local Chinese Restaurant.
' I want all these diners happy with these fritters, OK? 'Can Jian keep Chop Chop in the game?' 'She could pull it back on the dessert, you know that? 'She could pull it back on the dessert, you know that? It would mean everything.
I would be very proud of her.
Welcome back to the F Word.
Time for dessert.
Banana fritters and vanilla ice-cream.
Banana fritters, hot, crispy, delicious, easy to make and a great indulgence.
First off, the batter.
100 grams of rice flour, 100 grams of cornflour.
Sesame seeds, Chinese five spice.
Salt, two tablespoons of caster sugar.
250ml of water.
Mix until smooth, chill.
Pan, vegetable oil, bananas, chop.
Coat.
Now to check the oil is hot enough, drop a touch into the oil and that should sizzle.
Perfect.
Fry.
Make sure they are cooked to a nice golden brown.
That crunch of the sesame seed gives it a nice texture.
Drain.
Vanilla ice-cream.
Icing sugar.
Banana fritters with sesame seeds, done.
Chop Chop, and Sweet Mandarin, I want all the diners happy with these fritters.
Let's send them home happy.
What would it mean for you to win? What would it mean? The world.
It's like winning the lottery.
Absolutely.
Sweet Mandarin went into dessert with a significant lead, but had they done enough to win the title of the Best Local Chinese Restaurant? For Sweet Mandarin, winning tonight will make the twins' customers and family very proud.
If we won the competition it would just be amazing, it would be such an honor to win.
And Chop Chop from Edinburgh will need to fight till the very end if they're to be in with a chance.
If we won it would just be fantastic.
It would be really great, and I will be very proud of my mother.
I will be extremely happy for her happiness.
It is so nice to see you still smiling.
Roy is a lucky man.
Yeah, tell him! I will.
So your son's name is Yin.
Is he looking for a girlfriend called Yang?! Yin Yang, no! No, he's not? They are ready.
Last two tables.
Last two tables.
Yes, Chef.
Look at the mess of those fryers, what have you done? We are twins.
We are twins.
I know you're twins.
That is what is scaring me, I have twins.
I have twins, yeah.
Thank God, one boy and one girl.
What are they like? A nightmare.
It's like having Helen and Lisa at home, seven days a week.
Thank God you can cook for a living.
It is fascinating because I thought Jian would drop her head.
However, she is bouncing back, strong.
It seems to be Lisa and Helen has got the difficulty with the banana fritter.
The batter was really nice, light, crispy, really enjoyed it.
Really flavorsome.
Lovely crunchy batter, really soft inside, dreamy ice-cream, lovely.
It was light, crispy, enough sweetness, the ice-cream was smooth.
I wouldn't normally choose to eat that but the flavours worked well together.
Jian, how do you think you did out of 25? I don't know, I did my best.
Lisa, Helen, out of 25, guess how well do you think you did.
15-20? 15-20? We're going to find out.
JB, results please for the desserts.
Thank you.
So let's go first, to Chop Chop, the number of guests happy to pay for your dessert out of 25 is .
.
21 out of 25, that's fantastic! .
.
21 out of 25, that's fantastic! Thank you.
That is really good.
Oh, wonderful, yeah! You're gonna keep it on your menu? I should put it on my menu.
I didn't know I'm that good.
That means in total, that's 62 out of 100.
Really well done.
Now Sweet Mandarin, you were ahead going into dessert, you think that there is 15 out of 25 that are paying for your dessert.
The actual number of customers paying for your dessert out of 25 is .
.
23 out of 25.
Congratulations.
Absolutely fantastic.
That means you have got 82 out of 100.
Clearly tonight's winner.
Top of the leader board.
Well done.
Do yourselves a favour, get yourselves a nice glass of wine.
Well done, congratulations.
Big round of applause.
CHEERING AND APPLAUSE What a night, what a night! Fantastic! I'm very proud of her.
Yes, very proud.
I know my son never disappointing, very good.
I'm not so sure about you, OK.
(LAUGHS) No, he's very good.
He cannot show, if he show anything, I will kill him.
We feel miserable.
We feel miserable.
We feel great.
(LAUGHING) That's crazy, man.
That's crazy.
That's crazy, man.
That's crazy.
Really chuffed.
We're bringing this home to Manchester.
Sweet Mandarin have swept into first place on the leader board.
Will their score be good enough to earn them a place in the semi-final? Next week, a culinary treat.
Proper, authentic Thai cooking.
Will your favourite be joining me in the F Word kitchen? Table three, oi! Table three! I feel like I've met the female Gordon Ramsay from Bangkok.
The diners have eaten some fantastic food.
If you want to cook the recipes then visit the F Word website.
Thank you.
Goodnight.
sync and correct by dr.
jackson