GMM 2131: Mexican Thai Food vs. Thai Mexican Food Taste Test

Now when a Thai dish and a Mexican dish love each other very much, something tasty happens. – Let’s talk about that. (upbeat music) Gooooood Mythical Morning. – I love Thai food, and I’m not just talking about corn cobs, y’all. Those salty, spicy, sweet yet sour dishes check all the boxes in my flavor book. – And I love Mexican food, those rich, meaty, spicy dishes fill all the pages of my coloring book. – Ooh, it’s a coloring book. – Yeah! – Well you know what, Rhett? Wouldn’t it be a dream if we could marry those two cuisines? – Well, Link, that’s where the Mythical Kitcheneers come in. If we can dream it, they can do it, and if they can do it, we can taste it. Life is good. It’s time for “Thai Mexican versus Mexican Thai, Which is a Blessing and Which Will Make Us Say ‘Oh God, Why?’” We recently posted a series of matchups where we pitted a Thai dish infused with Mexican elements against a Mexican dish infused with Thai elements, and you voted on which one you thought we would like better. You wanna be a part of this thing? Well you gotta follow us on Facebook and Instagram so you can vote! The Mythical Kitcheneers have crafted these dishes- – I did… – Vote. – A weird… – This is Link’s get out the vote campaign. “Vote. Follow me to my place and cast your ballot.” The Mythical Kitcheneers have crafted these dishes and now it’s time to see how well you know our palates. – All right, now you won last time, Beasties, but today’s anybody’s game, and you’ll get a point for each round that the majority of you guessed correctly, and if you get three or more points, we’ll sing your praises in Good Mythical More. – Literally. – Literally. And if you don’t, the same punishment from last time awaits you, we will post a picture of a tiny loser Tic Tac on Instagram, and you must comment below it, “I’m a tiny little big loser.” – Yes. – You wanna do that? – No, you don’t. Let’s do this. (chill Mexican music) – First up we’ve got al pastor pad see ew. Okay, pad see ew, I see you, too. – I’m gonna eat you in a second. – But how will you compare to these red and green curry enchiladas? – I mean first of all, this might be my two favorite foods on both sides, I love al pastor tacos, and I love enchiladas, and I mean… – Nicole? – [Nicole] Yes? – Tell us what you’ve done, because, this is crazy. – [Nicole] No problem. So right over there you have some marinated pork, pineapple and onions tossed in a beautiful achiote scented sauce, cooked with pad see ew noodles, with a little bit of cebolla and cilantro on the top to give you that taco experience. And then on the other side, you’re gonna have crispy tofu with veggie enchiladas, you got green curry and red curry, and then both are smothered in the divorciada sauce. – So this is… – I can’t get over this, already. – This is sweet, ’cause you got the pineapples and the pork. – It’s basically what you would have on the taco, but put on noodles, right? That’s essentially what’s going on. – Oh, man. I mean, you’re getting that food truck experience, but in more of a sit-down restaurant Thai environment. – I’ve always wanted to just fork that stuff out of a taco and right into my mouth, so. – I could see this coming out of a two AM food truck window on one of those cardboard container things. – Just a conveyor belt into my mouth? – Just wolfing it down. Now, is it spicy? – [Nicole] It’s a little spicy, the food today’s gonna be a little spicy. – Okay. – Okay, red and green curry. – I’ll go with the green. – I’m gonna start with the red. – Crispy tofu, you say? – [Nicole] Crispy tofu I say, and then on top there’s a lime leaf crema, a little bit of queso fresco, and Thai chilies. Don’t say I didn’t warn ya. Little spicy. – Hoo! – That’s nice. – It’s hot. – Lemme get a little bit of the greeny. – The hot tammies are hot. It’s hot. (Nicole giggles) – Where was the hot part? – I thought it was inside. It might be some of the stuff on top. – First of all, that totally works, like… – Oh, yeah. – I wouldn’t necessarily expect the specific curry flavor, okay, I’m getting a little bit of the heat now, to work in the context of a tortilla. But it really does. – [Nicole] It’s kinda magical. – But I don’t think it works as well as this! – No. I mean, this actually just feels kinda still like an enchilada. – [Nicole] Mm-hm, totally. – But this is a brand new occasion to celebrate. – [Rhett] This feels like we’ve broken new ground? – Mm-hm. Yeah. So why don’t you break the yellow tongue out? – I kinda wanna just keep eating it, though. – Wait. There’s a lot more to come. – Okay, so we’re going with the al pastor pad see ew. – So good. – [Stevie] 63% of the Mythical Beasts thought that you would like the al pastor pad see ew better. – Yeah. And I mean, you’re just guessing, based on descriptions. We’re actually eating. So it’s not easy for ya. – I’m gonna keep eating. – Especially when these are both so competitive. But ya did it. (chill Mexican music) – All right, next up we’ve got ceviche spring rolls versus chicken larb nachos. Fresh versus indulgent, which snack will we find more appetizing? – I’ve got some questions about larb, but let’s save it until after we’ve dove in. I understand this. – [Rhett] This feels relatively straightforward. – It’s a spring roll, but there’s… Now, ceviche, that’s when stuff’s cooked in like lemon juice in the sun. – [Nicole] Not in the sun. I don’t think in the sun. – Don’t, listen… – You pour lemon juice and you put it in the sun. – Even if you’re desperate, if you’re ever offered a meal that he has prepared. “I left it in the sun for you, it’s fine.” – Well what cooks it if not the sun? – The citric acid in the citrus, man. – How do you see it without the sun? – So it’s basically everything that you would get in a ceviche bowl, which is one of my favorite apps, by the way. And then putting it into a spring roll, and then what’s the sauce? – [Nicole] So that is a clamato that we reduced down into a ketchup-like consistency. – Oh… – Clamato. – [Rhett] I once saw a guy allergic to clams enjoy a clamato until he realized it was clamato. – Then what happened? – Well, I mean… I don’t know, I had to get home. – Peace out. Mm. – You got some mint in there, too. – [Nicole] Yeah, there’s some mint, there’s Thai basil, cilantro, green onion, lots of fresh herbs. – Okay, so you threw some nods to Thai food in there beyond just the form factor. – [Nicole] A little bit, yeah. – Very cold. You know, to have been left out in the sun for a few days. It’s very cold. – That is very refreshing, but I wouldn’t necessarily know that I was eating something that was a new creation. I might just think “This is a pretty snazzy spring roll.” You know what I’m saying? – Yeah. Yeah, I’m not really getting enough of the… – Even with the cilantro and the mint, ’cause sometimes, you know, well, I guess that wouldn’t be in ceviche, but like, I don’t know enough about food to know that it wouldn’t be, so. – I do like it, yeah, but I’m not able to pull it apart and understand it. Now, on that front. – [Nicole] Mm-hm. – What’s larb? – [Nicole] Larb is pretty much ground meat with a bunch of beautiful spices, lots of tangy lime. – Larb’s got a bad name, because it gets close to lard, in English. – It doesn’t sound appetizing, in English. – And so I think that this is bad marketing, I think, you know, I think that you gotta Americanize it a little bit if you wanna get just like the average American on board here, but. – [Link] But I like the fact that there’s some chopped onions. – [Rhett] Gotta get a good nacho to start. – [Nicole] Got the onions, peanuts. – And peanuts. I’m excited about these peanuts. – [Nicole] And then we made a sambal nacho sauce to go along with it. – Mm, mm, mm. – [Rhett] Okay. That’s very nice. – [Stevie] What kind of nacho sauce did you say? – [Nicole] We made a sambal. So sambal oelek, it’s like a spicy paste of peppers and a little bit of acid. – I love this. – This is really, really working. – You had me at peanuts and Velveeta. On nachos? – Yeah, the form factor of larb translates directly into a nacho platter like this. – Yeah. Can you say form factor three more times? But in context. – Form factor three more times, but in context. That was a shortcut. Okay, this is clear. This is really really good because of the form factor in context. (crew laughs) – Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh, guys. – [Stevie] 60% of the Mythical Beasts thought that you would like the chicken larb nachos better. – Nachos, right? – But not for the reason you thought. They were probably voting against the ceviche thinking I would be like “Ew!” – Yeah. – But I wasn’t, was I? – Once you realized it wasn’t in the sun, you were okay with it. – Yeah. (chill Mexican music) – Now it’s one thing to listen to Trevor Talks Too Much, but it’s a whole new experience to watch it. – Oh, yeah? – If you’re following the show on Spotify and Apple, take some time to follow on YouTube.com/TrevorTalksTooMuch. – Yeah. – All spelled out. That way you can see the facial expressions of the guests while Trevor goes on a tangent. – All right. I’m gonna say these words, and then Nicole, you’re gonna help me out. – I’ll give you a dollar if you get through it without mispronouncing. – Okay, we’ve got pozole tom kha, and… Tom kha. – [Nicole] Tom kha. – Tom kha. – I’d say tom kha. Usually. – That’s what I said. – Uh-huh. – So that’s all the good stuff from pozole, which is hominy, pork, and chilies, cooked in a tom kha soup. – Yeah. Which is like a coconut-based soup, right? I love tom kha. – And it’s got some interesting flavors in there. – Got some parts in there that you can’t fully eat. Usually what happens with tom kha, I get like “Oh, that was like a piece of wood I wasn’t supposed to eat.” – [Nicole] I took them out for you guys. I heard you guys have your sensitivities, so I took ’em out. – Oh, yeah. Well, I might have to do the tasting on this side. – So I’m gonna give it a shot, versus pad thai sopes. That’s sopes. Made with pad thai noodles, and masa. – I don’t think saying it that slow counts. – [Nicole] I think it counts. – All right, which funky fusion- – It’s like meeting a guy named Ronald and saying “Ron…ald?” (crew laughs) How’s Ron gonna feel about that, huh? – Let’s dive into this. Oh, this is chunky. – [Rhett] Whoa, chunky soup. – Is this like literally Chunky soup? – [Nicole] Chunky, yeah. – Like name brand? Now what’s this big chunk I got here, big chunk of pork? – [Nicole] That’s probably pork. – Okay, nice. Mm-hm. – Oh, my. The same flavor profile that makes me love a tom kha soup. ‘Cause I like whatever it is you said it was that makes it taste the way it is. But throwing some pork in there. – It’s that sour flavor that you don’t necessarily expect in a soup. – That’s what I like so much about it, ’cause, there’s nothing else on Earth that has this flavor profile. And I love when I get something that’s like “Oh, that makes my tongue think something a little bit different.” – But it’s so much heartier because of the pork and the hominy, that it kind of evens it all out as an experience for me in a way that, it’s a real turn-on. (Nicole giggles) (crew laughs) Culinarily speaking. – Where does that hit you? What part of the body does that hit you? – Like, deep in the throat. – Oh, deepthroat. (crew laughs) – Yeah, I mean it’s not spicy, it’s sweet and sour. And you know, it’s really good. – I think it’s an improvement on tom kha soup. – [Nicole] I think so, too. – I’m definitely saying that. – [Rhett] Okay, and… – And then we’ve got this whole thing. Pad thai sopes. – [Rhett] How do you suggest we eat this, Nicole? – [Nicole] Pick it up and bite into it. – Oh, there’s peanuts on this, too. Oh. Mm-hm! – I’m enjoying this. – I got a mouthful. – But I’m not as immediately struck with it, and I think the reason is because I’m getting the noodles on top of the corn. – The masa. – [Nicole] It’s carb-heavy, I’m not gonna lie. – And so the carb heaviness of it is making it like, I’m not immediately, like I’m, the soup is calling me back, you know? – It needs more sauce. – Needs more sauce? – ‘Kay, oh, goodness. I never thought I’d be doing this, either. But here I am. – I mean, this is good, this is a revelation. The golden tongue, going into the… – Definitely. I bet you didn’t predict this one. ‘Cause I sure didn’t. – [Stevie] 71% of the Mythical Beasts thought that you would like the pad thai sopes better. – And I get it. I get it. We get it. – We know how you think. – We’re not gonna hold it against you, but we are. – Yeah. (chill Mexican music) I tell you, I’m having fun. It should be illegal to have this much fun. – And you know what? I think what you’ve done, Nicole, is too good for the show. – [Nicole] Aw! I love you guys. – I think you need to have your own channel, where stuff like this happens, and you can take full credit for it. – Yup, yup. – [Nicole] We do. – Yeah, we’ll call it Mythical Kitchen. – Yeah. Maybe one day. – We’ve got horchata, hoho, horchata sticky rice. Yeah. That’s a thing that is happening right now. Versus Thai iced tea flan. – Whoa! All right. Which one’s gonna be our happy ending? What’s this fork for? (crew laughs) – I don’t know. I have a spoon. – All right, let’s- – I only have a spoon. – Okay, so what do you recommend? Do you recommend that we not do anything with the cinnamon stick? – [Nicole] Yeah, that’s just for decor. But yeah, just take some of that horchata sticky rice, and then take some mango with chamoy, and then dig in. – What is chamoy? – [Nicole] Chamoy is like a pickled tamarind fruit paste. – Oh, gosh. I’m in trouble. – [Nicole] It’s very common in Mexican cuisine, with the (indistinct). – I taste it. I know what you’re talking about. – Lot of time, there’s like a candy that they shelled it. – [Nicole] Like a candy apple. – Cinnamony, creamy, milky. And then you’ve got that… – I think you gotta go easy on the sauce. And really let the horchataness of the rice come through. – Oh, yeah. – That is tasty. – I really like the… Bland is not the right word, but it’s like the understated… – The riciness of it? – Riciness of the… – You like the riciness? – Mm-hm. It’s spongy. – I gotta say, I got more expectations for the flan, because I love tea-flavored things, like tea-flavored ice cream. Tea-flavored pie. – Let’s dig in here. And we gotta do a dink and a sink before we get through this experience. – Dink. – And sink it. Mm. – Hm. – Mm. Cardamom. – It’s funny how they both have, they live in a place that is like… – Wow. – Not in a typical American dessert, right? So not super sweet, there’s like that sort of purposeful blandness in both things, that sort of is not what we expect. – Allows you to eat more of it. What do you have in this? It’s milky. – [Nicole] So it’s Thai tea, we made our own Thai iced tea with cardamom, star anise, a little bit of cinnamon. We steeped it for about 12 hours, and then we made a classic custard with it. – [Link] Oh, god. – [Nicole] Yeah. – I love the consistency of flan so much. – This is so good. I don’t even like tea things. – I prefer the flan. This feels like, just the way it’s all working together, I feel like- – I slightly prefer- – You have to kinda make a bite out of this, and get it just right, but this is just like the perfectly… It’s all perfectly made. – Well you’ve got the golden tongue. I slightly prefer the horchata sticky rice, but because I’m liking this so much, and I typically don’t like tea stuff, I have to go with this too. – Okay, well I’m not gonna argue with you, because, I’m on team… – It all comes down to this for you, whether you get a jingle in More, or if you gotta embarrass yourself in the comments on our Instagram. – [Stevie] 64% of the Mythical Beasts thought that you would like the horchata sticky rice better. – [Both] Yeah. – I get it, I get it, the familiarity of even the terms horchata and sticky rice being together, it does feel, it sets an expectation, but you didn’t know how good this was gonna turn out. You didn’t know. But you’re still a loser Tic Tac. – Look for this little guy over on our Instagram page. Again, you’ve got to leave the comment, “I’m a tiny little big loser.” Okay? – Thanks for subscribing and clicking that bell. – You know what time it is. – I’m Carey Cucahan, I’m from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, but right now I just hiked to the top of Angel’s Landing in Zion National Park, and it’s time to spin the Wheel of Mythicality. – I was thinking, “That’s not Alabama.” – Nope. I wanna go there. – Zion? – I’ve actually been there, but I didn’t go up to that. (crew laughs) – Okay. – I wanna go up to that. – So “I’ve been there, but not exactly there.” – Yeah, I was below there. – Click the top link to watch us guess which liquids peanuts were soaked in in Good Mythical More. – And to find out where the Wheel of Mythicality’s gonna land. – [Rhett] Hey, we wanna let you know about a brand new podcast hosted by our very own Mythical Kitcheneer Trevor, called Trevor Talks Too Much. Check it out on Spotify or wherever you get your podcasts.

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