I Should Have Known

Dumplings - Spotlight on Asia Month

Season 4 Episode 24

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0:00 | 20:54

Dig in to this mouth-watering episode continuing our Spotlight on Asia theme! This week, Quizmaster Andi whipped up four delicious (?) servings of dumplings from around Asia. But one of them is completely fake! Do you think you can find the made-up dish? Join hosts Tanner and Sups in taste-testing and guessing! 

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Tanner

it's kind of like a reverse

Sups

Yeah. Creative. to the point that it could also be made up. Yes,

Andi

I'll definitely try

Sups

it. Yeah. But I just don't know if it exists. here.

Tanner

The Alien

Andi

dumplings? aw,

Sups

man. I don't want

Tanner

want this. Send it

Sups

this.

Andi

it

Tanner

nothing

Sups

jumps out as like,

Tanner

no way. I don't believe

Andi

that, except that

Tanner

I hate this This is,

Sups

It's the worst part of eating dumplings,

Andi

Hello, and welcome to this episode of I should have known the trivia game show that can't be trusted each week. One of our quiz masters will present you with four facts about a topic, but one of them is a lie We're putting a spotlight on the continent of Asia for this month. So we're celebrating many. Countries and cultures of Asia today. I'm your quiz master. I'm Andy and I'm going to be presenting you with a find the fake episode on Dumplings, so I hope you're hungry. So I'll present you with four dumplings from around Asia. Except, one of these dumplings I have invented. It does not exist. So join our other hosts, Supes and Tanner, in figuring out which one is my fake.

Tanner

it's pretty impressive to make up a whole food.

Sups

Did you eat any dumplings in the last few days, Tanner?

Tanner

No, no,

Sups

check if she fed you something. and,I was like, that's the one Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Tanner

test it out

Andi

So for our PQQ, we'll start with What is the name of the Cantonese serving style featuring many small dishes, particularly dumplings?

Tanner

The Many small dishes thing. leads me to think that it's dimm sum,

Sups

right?

Andi

Yes. So dim sum. Yes. Dim sum is not a dish. It is a serving style. Originally Cantonese, which is southern China, but it is popular throughout the region. And yeah, typically you order. Many different little dishes and almost always some kind of dumpling is involved. Mm-Hmm. and they come in like the little steam, bamboo, steam basket. So that's kind of like the iconic Yeah. Chinese dumplings, I love dumplings. Me too. I don't think I've ever met a dumpling. I didn't like I.

Tanner

very curious to hear how you made one. up.

Andi

I did. Let's find out. All right. So, let's get started.. Dumpling number one, a mandu, the fish dumplings of Korea. Mm.

Tanner

Fish dumplings of Korea. It is. Mandu is the Korean word for dumpling.

Andi

is Mandu is Korean for dumpling, and A is the general word for fish. Oh. So that's it.

Sups

Okay. I mean, Mandu. Yes. I've had,

Andi

chicken man. Mm. Yeah.

Tanner

But What's interesting to me is putting fish in,

Sups

I mean, I know in Vietnam, they do fish dumplings. Okay.

Tanner

Right.

Sups

So,

Andi

fish dumplings.

Sups

fish is pretty common.

Tanner

Mm-Hmm. You can get

Sups

get

Andi

Dough filled with fish. What makes almond dough special is that The wrapping

Sups

is fish.

Andi

So it's not in dough. they take white fish and pound it very thin. And then fill it with beef, mushroom, cucumber filling. And then wrap the fish around that filling. Cut it into crescent shape using kitchen scissors, of course. Because this is very Korean to use kitchen scissors. And then they are steamed.

Tanner

Whoa.

Sups

very creative to

Tanner

Yeah. it's kind of like a reverse

Sups

Yeah. Creative. to the point that it could also be made up.

Andi

So it's Korean? Mm I even wrote it in my notes Hangul. Of course you did.

Sups

Have you had them, have you ever seen

Tanner

No. I don't remember ever having them.

Andi

We lived in Korea for two years,

Tanner

yes. for our two years in Korea, I ate a lot of food. and I don't remember all of it. It's like a structured dumpling. Because, for me, It's that. I just imagined a little bit that,

Sups

Because for me is that. when you talk about dumpling, I always imagined the dough is always with like flour yeah. yeah.

Tanner

wheat flour, corn flour, or something

Sups

Yeah, yeah, But to have like the fish and then it's cut into a crescent

Tanner

Weird.

Andi

Why do they do that?

Tanner

they do that?

Andi

Because it's delicious? I don't know.

Sups

don't know. I mean, all I can say that it sounds very fishy to me. I would try it. You would try it? I I would try it. Yes, Yes,

Andi

I'll definitely try

Sups

it. Yeah. But I just don't know if it exists. here. That's the part that I'm not

Andi

convinced.

Tanner

Honestly, I wonder if

Sups

you can even do that. Yeah. Okay. Can you make a... because The texture of white fish. you pound it, you pound it, you pound it. But for it to be the outer layer to hold And you said there's mushroom, there is beef, there is cucumber, carrots, vegetables, whatever. So your filling is very heavy. and this pounded fish, the weight of it, Physics wise, me.

Andi

you steam it or boil it

Sups

Yeah, whatever. Yeah, exactly. So even if you put a little bit of flour to give it, like, that additional weight. Very skeptical. Okay. Maybe this will be the most people will Nyonya

Tanner

1 plus

Sups

Bakchang.

Andi

skeptical. Let's see the next one. Alright. Dumpling number two. The Nyonya Bakchang, which are the blue dumplings of Malaysia.

Tanner

Blue

Sups

Where's the gyoza

Tanner

Yeah,

Sups

the mod ones

Andi

We weren't gonna do easy ones. Come on. So Bong is. A kind of Chinese dumpling in China, it's typically called Tsum Tsui. So it's this kind of

Sups

So it's a kind of this,

Andi

but it's common throughout Asia. typically tetrahedral rice dumplings wrapped in bamboo leaves. So

Sups

you take

Andi

mushy rice, so rice that has been like oversaturated, like, gelatinous almost and you fill that. And then you wrap it really tight in bamboo leaves and steam them in the leaves. So when you open it up, it's kind of like gimbap. It's kind of like sushi where it's like, you know, the rice is all stuck together and then there's a filling

Sups

inside.

Tanner

You said it's tetrahedral. so

Andi

it's...

Tanner

It's like a

Andi

pyramid. Yeah. Okay, cool. Yeah. Usually. These are common all throughout Southern Asia, Southeast Asia, so different cultures They'll use different leaves, they'll use different shapes, different fillings, but this is

Tanner

a style. So that's

Andi

Yes.

Tanner

And these are blue

Andi

These are blue bakchang. Yes. So, Nyonar cuisine refers to

Sups

the

Andi

Peranakan people of Southeast Asia. So I said Malaysia, but actually it covers the entire Malay peninsula. So includes Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia. So it's, Not only Malaysia. And so this is a specific ethnic group

Sups

in this

Tanner

region.

Andi

And they fill this dumpling with pork, winter melon,

Tanner

and

Sups

and

Andi

peanuts.

Tanner

peanuts. The So

Sups

None of which

Andi

The blue comes from blue butterfly pea

Sups

flowers.

Andi

So these are like a bright blue. So like, these dumplings are Like truly blue. And this blue butterfly pea flower. a natural edible flour that is used throughout cooking. And when you boil them in water, they make an edible dye that is bright blue, like ocean blue, And so then, they take the rice and they soak it in this blue liquid, and then that's how the rice is blue.

Tanner

Oh wow, that's very specific and creative.

Sups

know. which one's more fake. The second one.

Tanner

I

Sups

one of the good things is that

Andi

bakchang, yes,

Sups

know what is bakchang, and she used the right keywords for that region. Bamboo, this weird shape, this natural food dyes, they do that to a lot of Dishes there. But the contents of the food It's just the pork that is creating a little bit problem for

Tanner

Oh really? There is a very large Muslim population in that part of the world, And

Andi

they wouldn't eat

Tanner

pork. But there's a lot of populations in

Sups

that part of the world, you know? There's a ton of people, but, But the major religion is, Islam.

Tanner

Um,

Sups

That's interesting. Unless there is like a variant. Yeah. Which makes sense.

Tanner

it sounds like the claim to fame here is that it's blue, and it's rice, and it's a weird shape,

Andi

I thought the blue is the interesting part. Because it's one of those colors where if you saw it in food, you'd be like, that has to be food dye. Yeah,

Tanner

absolutely.

Sups

They do a lot of natural dye stuff.

Tanner

As, the Asian

Andi

representative would

Sups

fancy as it sounds to other, you know,

Tanner

Would you eat them?

Sups

100%. 100%. But back to this

Andi

Nyonya Bakchang. So, Nyonya refers to the cuisine of these people.

Sups

Oh, okay. which is interesting. Then I take my words back for the Pork Element, because this is a specific group of people,

Andi

Yeah.

Tanner

of people. It's not the

Sups

country. Okay.

Tanner

whole group. it's more believable.

Andi

I think it sounds pretty

Sups

believable, like,

Tanner

There's Nothing that jumps out at me as like, no way. they can't do that. Like, you can't

Sups

make it

Tanner

Like, maybe this flower really exists and it's that color and then you can cook with it. Sure, I don't have

Andi

experience eating this cuisine. This one I feel like if you saw a picture of it and had to be like, is this naturally made or not? That would be hard. That would be hard,

Tanner

So I'm inclined to believe it.

Sups

Or the picture doesn't exist. There's a possibility.

Tanner

maybe she

Andi

made it up.

Tanner

maybe she saw so many different colors of dumplings, She's like, oh, there's a sepia one, so it's black or like made with whatever,

Sups

and it's bright red.

Tanner

and then

Andi

she's like, why is there no blue one?

Tanner

But to have it, the whole thing is

Sups

this color and it's crazy blue. Mm hmm. Okay. Well we

Andi

are.

Tanner

there.

Sups

Alright, so.

Andi

there's pretty much a dumpling I've never met that I didn't like. This one, maybe might change that.

Tanner

Okay.

Andi

dumpling

Sups

number three,

Andi

the Ariake dumplings, the alien dumplings of Japan.

Tanner

The Alien

Andi

dumplings? Yes. So, Ariake is a sea in

Tanner

in

Sups

the south.

Andi

Japan, in southwest Japan.

Tanner

Okay.

Andi

And in this sea, there are these little eel like fish that are called

Sups

warasubo.

Andi

And they are little eels. They don't really have eyes. They are mostly just mouth. And they have sharp pointed teeth. And they look exactly like in the movie Alien, with the thing that pops out of that guy's chest. They look...

Tanner

Exactly like that.

Andi

Where they're like just teeth and a mouth. So they're considered like a delicacy in this region. They're usually grilled or dried or even put into sake to flavor.

Tanner

they're usually

Sups

like a tequila worm?

Andi

Yeah. the Saga government made us special occasion with a restaurant called Dumpling Kingdom. In Japan. And they created a steamed dumpling. It's a typical dough steamed dumpling. Where they put the warasubo heads sticking out.

Sups

Oh

Tanner

Oh no.

Andi

So they're sticking out, up, out of the

Tanner

dumpling. Mm-Hmm.

Andi

they were a limited time But people say that if you go to the Saga region, you could probably find them again. Local restaurants making them.

Tanner

So that's why they call it the Alien

Andi

one can movie Alien. Yeah. They look exactly like the thing that pops outta that guy's chest in the movie Alien.

Tanner

Gotcha.

Andi

Yeah.

Sups

I mean, let's put first thing on the

Andi

Not

Sups

I'm not going to eat this

Tanner

Ha ha ha I would

Andi

try it. You would try?

Sups

it? Okay. I would've

Tanner

one. Oh, I would

Sups

delicious.

Andi

I would try and they would taste bad, but they look

Sups

horrifying. Yeah.

Tanner

I know eel is

Andi

a common food in Japan. But Well it's not technically an eel, It's a fish. It just looks like an eel. It

Tanner

doesn't have fis. Yeah.

Sups

So

Andi

it's eel like. It's eel like.

Tanner

Gross.

Sups

no eyes.

Tanner

Oh God. It gets worse and worse. this is not our

Sups

Halloween episode. You don't have to freak us out. I have a general philosophy in life. If I hear something that's weird for me Yeah. But then you go like two levels above. Mm-Hmm. right? And like so bizarre that it's possible. And then you drop the word Japan. I'm always inclined to believe it because

Andi

Nine

Tanner

out of 10

Sups

will be true. You know,

Tanner

times, it will be true.

Sups

And especially, like, I think only in Japan, a place like, Dumpling Kingdom, would

Andi

you know what I'm saying?

Sups

I would not eat it, but

Andi

it, but I can see why they would.

Sups

do

Tanner

Well, I think two things, is like, people who wouldn't eat it, it's interesting

Sups

because a

Tanner

of people say, I don't need anything with a face,

Andi

is a face, it's

Sups

this have a face?

Tanner

it's just a mouth. And teeth.

Sups

It's just

Andi

are not my teeth.

Tanner

Yeah.

Sups

I mean,

Tanner

The other thing is like

Andi

Is it just

Tanner

eel?

Andi

Oh, it? gets served with sauce. Okay. Good. Coated in sauce and

Sups

I'll eat. it. Yeah. But like, they're sticking out like,

Tanner

You can't avoid

Sups

I can't imagine

Andi

I think you get

Sups

yes, But this was like, too, bizarre.

Andi

Yeah, even for Japan,

Tanner

have one

Andi

We have one more now.

Tanner

though.

Sups

All three of them so far are ridiculous.

Andi

Alright, last dumpling. dumpling number four, Pista Solo, the

Tanner

ghost dumplings of Kazakhstan. and Central Asia.

Sups

And

Tanner

these dumplings

Andi

So these dumplings come from Central Asia and the Turkic cultures there. The ghost thing is kind of... Maybe taking some liberties a little bit. The unusual thing about these dumplings is that they're made with super saturated dough and filled with heavily spiced beef or lamb and then steamed They get served along with a plain broth, like a soup. And what you're supposed to do is take the dumplings and drop them into the soup where they dissolve. And then, like, there's the dough floating in it and then the meat and the spices. And then you

Sups

eat the soup. You're supposed to deconstruct it.

Tanner

it. okay.

Sups

Yeah,

Andi

they, like, they're also called sometimes twice cooked dumplings because they get

Tanner

Hmm. So they're ghosts because you killed

Andi

Because they disappear.

Tanner

okay.

Sups

Yeah, sure. Yeah,

Andi

I mean, that's basically it. Like,

Tanner

Hmm. they're dissolving dumplings.

Andi

they're disappearing dumplings. It's typically beef or lamb,

Tanner

The Traditionally

Andi

even,

Tanner

Yeah,

Sups

I was gonna

Andi

um, and it's like, it's heavily spiced.

Tanner

Mm-Hmm...So it's supposed to make this Mm-Hmm.

Andi

to Kazakhstan Uzbekistan. We had a

Tanner

Kazakhstan and Did not have these. We had horse

Andi

Nope.

Tanner

I don't

Sups

And

Tanner

she's eating these dishes.

Andi

I will say because I knew this would come up because we were in Kazakhstan

Sups

recently. It's from the north.

Tanner

We were in the south, We were in the south, of course. yeah. Uh huh,

Andi

How convenient. Where were you? Well, this is like a big thing. Okay, this is like culturally a big thing it's a huge country. yeah. in the plains, in the steppes, not the

Tanner

Okay, So we went to,

Sups

near the

Andi

Kyrgyz border. In Almaty, yeah, so it's

Tanner

in the south. Yeah. So this is from like, the plains. and The steppes, in the

Andi

And it includes other countries of Central Asia too, so like Mongolia,

Sups

Northwest China, Yeah. I mean, the part where I believe, of having a broth with dumpling, that's very common, Right. So, that part is Totally believable.

Tanner

The

Sups

This disappearing

Tanner

part I understand

Sups

because it's like, if it's like, soggy, like you put it down and then it just sort of,

Andi

just sort of,

Sups

Actually, this is the

Tanner

one that I believe the most. Yeah. it's kind of the boringest. I think What's interesting to me is that it's like Exactly what I don't want. I hate it when I'm eating, dumpling soup, and then my dumplings fall apart. And then it's just floating in there, and I don't actually get to bite into it and get the good juice come in. Yeah. So if it's like, oh, it's designed to be like that, like,

Andi

aw,

Sups

man. I don't want

Tanner

want this. Send it

Sups

this. But I would believe this. I mean, everything checks out. There's horse, there's beef, there's lamb, there's a broth.

Tanner

nothing

Sups

jumps out as like,

Tanner

no way. I don't believe

Andi

that, except that

Tanner

I hate this this is,

Sups

it's the worst part of eating dumplings when they break. Yeah, can you think of anything that you had in Kazakhstan?

Andi

that

Sups

like give her inspiration to come

Andi

up

Tanner

with Mm. I could totally see why she would make this. Because she would,

Sups

take

Tanner

the dishes that we did have, you know, like soup and Meat, beef, lamb, whatever.

Sups

And just wrap it in a dumpling and be like

Andi

It

Tanner

falls apart. Yeah. And then call it the ghost. Yeah. Mm. kind of lacking

Sups

in creativity, I would say. I would expect more.

Tanner

from her. Yes,

Andi

Yes, I think the bar is set quite low at this one.

Tanner

one that she made up... Yeah. Yeah. Come on. you can't have something like... Georgian dumplings. King Kali, where like there's a part of the dumpling you're not supposed to eat. you know, like Do something like that. Like

Andi

but I know King Kali.

Tanner

Thinking about this now, maybe my take on this ghost dumpling isn't the best because. I eat

Sups

the handle for King Kali. I like to eat the whole thing. I mean,

Andi

technically you could, but it's raw. it's raw. dough.

Sups

And

Tanner

all dough, yeah, And so, I love that part, that's my favorite part. So if I'm like, No,

Sups

I hate this

Tanner

kind where it falls apart. Maybe other

Sups

are like, Yeah, yeah, yeah, normal. Yeah, So, we've got four dumplings. For very interesting and unique. we have to guess which one Andy made up. But could

Tanner

could you do it, please?

Sups

the four dumplings, please? Serve

Tanner

again.

Andi

Yes, of course. Let's get your tasting menu. So, dumpling number one, Almondoo, the fish dumplings of Korea. number two, Nyonya Bakchang, the blue dumplings of the Malay Peninsula.

Sups

have that back

Andi

Dumpling number three, the Ariake dumplings, the alien dumplings of Japan. And dumpling number four, Pista Solo, the ghost dumplings of Kazakhstan. of those I invented.

Tanner

Wow, You made a really creative dish here. Hmm. So it comes down to, do you think you can make dumplings out of fish? Do you think that you can dye this blue? Why would you eat this eel And was Andy so uncreative

Sups

that she

Tanner

one that falls apart, Depends I'm leaning more towards the Eel

Sups

thing. Eel thing. Okay. Because it's just So gross to me. Yeah. Yeah, and it fits Japan, but

Andi

yeah, something's off about it.

Tanner

Yeah.

Sups

I see what you mean.

Andi

Yeah.

Tanner

So for the first two.

Sups

you would

Tanner

them. the first one, the physics of it kind of

Sups

Exactly. doesn't hold up. Yeah. Yeah. I don't know how you can

Tanner

the fish

Sups

fish hold together Mm-Hmm. for a while. Like they Don't stay together, Right.

Andi

So,

Sups

right, Tanner, take your pick. I think it's the eel. Okay. I do not believe the alien one.

Tanner

Okay. number

Sups

with Omandu.

Andi

Okay. Number one, fish. I love how Tanner picked the eel simply because it's the grossest to him. Yeah, definitely. It's not about any, he's not, it's not strategy.

Tanner

No, it's

Andi

gross. I'm looking at it like a menu. I'll take one, two, and four. Thank you. So, you were both wrong.

Sups

Oh, no,

Andi

I don't know if I should be insulted a little

Tanner

It's the fourth

Andi

because yeah Yeah, piece the solo is not a thing. I don't know who would want to eat Busted up dumplings. I'm a hundred percent with Tanner on that where it's like, it's that's literally was my inspiration was like Thinking about how like when you cook soup and

Sups

your dumpling

Andi

dissolve and fall

Sups

apart and it's like just the worst thing and I'm like Like a wonton soup, like

Tanner

Like they're

Andi

Yeah, but they don't fall apart. So that's the that's fine Dude dumplings and soup hundred percent best thing ever Broken? Dissolved dumplings in soup? Nasty as hell. No one wants to eat that.

Tanner

So, the fillings and things comes from Monty. Yes, we did have Monty, we had

Andi

so Monty is a

Tanner

class of

Andi

dumplings from Central Asia, from this region. So that's the, the filling comes from Monty. But what's extra interesting though, I asked quiz about 3000 and it gave me a list of 10 dumplings from around the world and then it gave me sources. So I was like, great. Piece, the solo of Kazakhstan, it listed, so I clicked on the link. The link didn't have any mention of Kazakhstan. It was all Chinese dumplings. So that

Sups

was weird.

Andi

So then I Googled

Sups

Pista solo,

Tanner

the solo.

Andi

it

Tanner

does not exist.

Andi

It's an AI aberration.

Sups

made it up. It

Andi

invented that name.

Tanner

I didn't ask it to invent

Andi

I didn't ask it to invent anything. It just straight up invented this name and picked Kazakhstan.

Tanner

And that

Andi

name means nothing. it's an aberration, AI aberration and, and invented that name. And then I invented the dissolving because who would want to eat

Tanner

up See. dumplings. So, We did

Sups

Yeah.

Tanner

Kazakh. Yeah. Good. See, we, I remember the meat and all the soups.

Sups

questions.

Tanner

we ate

Andi

He ate so much,

Tanner

Come

Sups

on.

Andi

we Did have a lot of

Sups

Yeah, Okay.

Andi

How's that dumpling?

Sups

Yeah, well,

Andi

not fall apart. Nobody wants falling apart dumplings.

Sups

Yeah,

Tanner

Man, I need to

Sups

It followed me to do a better job of documenting. Yes, please! I mean, what's the advantage? What's

Andi

What's the point of you going to all these places if you're not going to eat more dumplings? It's like, I'm like Tanner, I can think of

Sups

separate dumpling dishes

Andi

we had.

Tanner

Oh

Sups

wow,

Andi

should have known. I should have known. I known. I really should have. It's the worst. All right. Thanks for listening to this episode of I Should Have Known. We'll be continuing celebrating Asia next week. Quizmaster Tanner will be doing a find the fake Pokemon,

Sups

So,

Andi

Get ready for that. You gotta catch them all. And as always,

Tanner

Was drunk on horse milk!