On his ZDF show, he measures spring rolls with a slide rule. In his TV show, kitchen provocateur Sebastian Lege shows the “tricks of Asian restaurants”, how 100 dishes can be prepared in a short time with the wok – and reveals further tricks.
He has already revealed the secret of the golden bears in the ZDF food series “Bessesser” (in the media library), the product developer, jester and provocateur Sebastian Lege. A broad grin never leaves the face of the native of Bremen when he reminds the food industry of “a lot of animals” (pork gelatine) and “few vitamins”.
This time, the tricks of the Asian restaurants and snack bars came into the TV chef’s sights. And, don’t worry, the Germans will be breastfed in the same place a week later.
Lege opens a studio restaurant for a short time, which is of course called “Zum Lachenden Lege”, and serves everything that the German heart desires – from shrimp crepes to spring rolls to noodle boxes and the famous Peking duck.
Ready meals from Asia sold off for multiples
He does all of this in a matter of seconds because he has most of it – like almost all Asian restaurants – already frozen and ready-made in stock.
He knows how to piss you off: Of course, there’s no crab meat in the crab chips, not even the shells. At most a hint, just what is enough for the aroma.
The spring rolls: ridiculous. They are usually delivered directly from the manufacturer in the Far East anyway.
Lege uses calipers to show that ten out of ten have the same length and weight. The cover is thick, the filling is reduced to a minimum.
For a multiple of the purchase price, the ready-made food from Asia is sold off, the guests or snack bar customers always find everything “delicious”. According to Lege, glutamate, the “big seller in Asian cuisine”, makes it possible.
When the whimsical master dismantles the 500 gram noodle box, leaving 64 grams of chicken and 350 grams of noodles, nobody will be amazed.
How Asian restaurants work: “The final trick is strength”
It’s worth paying close attention when the wok entertainer explains the softener tricks used in preparing meat: “The final trick is starch.”
The profit margins he mentions are breathtaking. The “black hole”, as he describes the (not only) common Asian gastronomy, is also exciting because it does not have to prove the origin or processing of the food at the table, in contrast to retail.
It’s just stupid that while Lege swings the ladle and the 20-liter canister with the sweet chilli sauce, your mouth keeps watering.
Somehow the woke wok awakens the desire to go to the Chinese in one. Tricks or not – the main thing is that it tastes good.
This article was written by Hans Czerny
