Pad Thai Taste Test Tour With A Thai Chef

- We are meeting with an old friend of mine who is now a successful restaurateur here in Los Angeles. Kris has alerted us to some of the best pad

thai

spots in the city. - Pad Thai

tour

. - Yes, we are on the pad

thai

tour

. (upbeat music) Their food is very different than standard American Thai food. So what's different about it? What have you done differently? - The only goal I really have with food is to make it as delicious as possible. 90% of the time that is equivalent to doing it the more traditional way. It has been reduced to the essence.

There are certain things about the process that I will do differently because I believe they result in a better final product. - Is there a specific order in which spices are combined that can alter the intensity rather than simply having too much of something? - Normally I don't try to get too technical with our food and what we do, but I would divide pad thai into four or five things. Technique, that is, how the ingredients are worked in the wok. The condiment. The quality of the noodles, whether they are too soft or chewy. The fourth thing is how amplified it is.

It's supposed to have this trifecta of sour, something salty, something sweet, but where everything is in balance. - Now I'm hungry. I'm really hungry. Can we follow you to the kitchen? - Yes. - Let's do it. - We are going to make the most basic, elemental and no-frills pad thai. - Guess who prepares the basic one? -Steven. - This guy. Oh yeah. - Let's add the noodles and then add, this is basically tofu and sweet radish. This is essentially a basic pad thai. Now let's do one that is not so basic. It's a little more decadent. - What should we call this one? - So I came up with Mandy Moore for the basic.

And I think for this one we can get closer to Britney. - Do you want to go try this? - Yeah! Let's try some Mandy. - If I'm just ordering pad thai to get a feel for the restaurant, that's how I want it. - Pad Thai has always been like this, a Chinese restaurant serves it because people demand it a lot. But then I order it and it's super soft and moist. - You can't have wet pad thai, that doesn't look good. If it's a little smoky and the noodles are cooked but still somewhat chewy, then I've done my job. - Colin, when you eat food, it makes it look appetizing and very unappetizing. (laughs) I don't know how you do it. - It's like that thing about dancing as if no one is watching or whatever, it's like eating as if no one is watching.

So with Britney, you want to get a little bit of the eggy part, get some shrimp. - But that Britney. - That's exaggerated. - I like both, but I think I like Mandy. - Today I feel Steven. - It's kind of like Steven today. A little basic. - This is our kho my yang bull pig. That basically means I have roast pork neck. - Wow, that's cute. - I brought out this beer because the other component of this dish is essentially the drink that accompanies it. - Health! - So we'll go see other Thai restaurants that Kris likes.

I think what we should do at every restaurant is get their pad thai and then also get a special item from their menu that is something similar that you think is really amazing at that location. - Let's go to Lacha Somtom, the papaya salad place. - So we headed to Thai Town, one of my favorite places in Los Angeles. Kris had just informed me that he gets dizzy very easily. - So this is going to be fun. - We had Mandy and Britney at your place, so we're looking for Lady Gaga at the next place. - I'm pretty sure we'll be able to find Lady Gaga today. -Let's go deeper, she's fine. - That's pretty good, my God. - It's very different from your pad thai. - Yes, I like Kris' noodles better. - I can see that.

The meat is super crispy. I like that better. - Now Chris, does this make you want to call the paparazzi? Or are you madly in love? - I think we should try the other one first. - And then judge? - By the way, we've only been here for about five minutes. Watch this. We need to emphasize that over and over again. Colin is a monster on a sailboat. - This is the crab pad thai. Oh man, that crab omelet. - Wow, there are so many different flavors. Let's go together. - I'm in love with the crab. - Papaya salad coming soon. - That?

That's not what I expected. I go with all my fingers. They are basically French fries. - An atmosphere of onion rings, but less heavy. - This is a version with marinated raw blue crab. Basically, you just suck the meat and juice out of it. - I eat crabs all the time, I have never eaten raw crab. It's a totally different experience. - Generally, if you have cooked crab, you should select it and eat it. This is like talking to me. I feel like an animal eating this and it feels so good. - The crab omelet was Beyoncé.

She's super iconic and she gives me more of that comfortable feeling than a super crazy feeling. - I think we found our Gaga and our Beyonce. - I'm not asleep yet, I'm just getting sleepy. Oh man, they catch me sleeping in every video. - We are here at the last stop, this is Pailin. We will eat pad thai and khao soi, which are curried noodles. - Oh, yes, this looks promising. Who is Freddie? - I mean, Ciara. He's got the moves. -For me she is a Mariah, she is full of style but she also knows the basics very well. - I didn't know that pad thai could have so many different styles. - Should we try those noodles?

I've been eyeing this guy since the beginning. - This is my favorite thing. - Yes, this is very good. Doesn't that sound like something you'd eat on a cold winter night? - Are you eating on your lap? - Maybe. - I'm going to explode right now. - Yes, I said we had to try the northern sausage and I already ordered it. Hopefully it'll be out in a second. - Oh! I think my stomach just made room. - That's a crazy sausage. - It's a great way to end the day, right here. - Thank you Chris, for inviting us.

Thai food is more than pad thai. I already knew that, but now it has been reinforced. - My mind has expanded and I know what the preferred options are and what to get. - I think now I'm realizing that I was very ignorant about Thai food and everything related to it. Kris just took me to school today. Peace.