A foodie who flew from Canada to the UK to try a variety of takeaways has given his verdict on Chinese food.
Yani MacuteThis February, the 32-year-old spent a month in the city of Leeds while staying at his cousin’s house.
He said one of his goals while exploring the UK was to buy British-Chinese takeaway, as he had seen people raving about it on TikTok.
Yani spent $44 on a meal that included chicken dumplings, Cantonese-style sweet and sour chicken, sesame shrimp toast, chicken chow mein, fried rice, French fries and curry sauce.
In a TikTok of himself eating the food, Yani explains that what he was most excited about was trying the shrimp toast, as it wasn’t something he saw in North America.
Yani Macute, 32, spent a month in the city of Leeds this February while staying at his cousin’s house. She said one of her goals was to buy British-Chinese takeaways.
Yani spent $44 on a meal that included chicken dumplings, Cantonese-style sweet and sour chicken, sesame shrimp toast, chicken chow mein, fried rice, French fries and curry sauce.
He explains in a follow-up clip what the article contains, telling his followers: ‘There are chopped shrimp inside the fried toast with sesame on top. It is delicious dipped in curry sauce.
Upon tasting the chicken chow mein, Yani describes the sauce as “thick” and “almost like honey.”
Many viewers commented on the curry sauce in Yani’s clip, considering it an unusual accompaniment.
However, in another Tiktok he defends the seasoning and tells his fans: ‘For all you curry sauce haters, it’s not like an Indian curry, it’s like a Katsu curry, Japanese Katsu curry.
“It’s a little sweet but it also has curry, but it’s nothing like Indian curry.”
After eating his first Chinese takeaway in the UK, Yani traveled to the Philippines, but when he returned to England, he participated in the second round.
He reflects in a TikTok: “I went on a trip for a month and tell me why this is the first thing I wanted to eat when I got back to the UK.”
In an attempt to mix things up a bit, he opted for a few different dishes from the first time, and his meal consisted of prawn crackers, chips, chicken in orange sauce, crispy chilli beef, prawn toast, chow chicken mein, pork in sweet sauce. and chili sauce, fried rice and curry sauce.
Prawn crackers in the UK are much bigger than in Canada, says Yani
Many viewers commented on the curry sauce in Yani’s clip, considering it an unusual accompaniment.
Some of the differences he notices, as he eats, is that the shrimp crackers are “a lot bigger” than what he’s used to.
He also reveals that in Canada, the chicken and orange sauce come premixed, but the food he orders in the UK comes with both products presented in separate packaging.
The color of the sauce is another difference: it’s “bright yellow” in the UK, while in a picture Yani shows of the dish in Canada, it’s more of a golden brown color.
Tasting a piece of chicken dipped in the yellow “citrus” sauce, Yani describes it as tasting like meat dipped in orange juice.
Meanwhile, he gives the crispy chilli beef a thumbs up, noting that it’s still crispy despite being covered in a mixture of sauces.
Finally, he dips a triangular prawn toast into a jar of curry sauce, a satisfied expression on his face as he bites into it.
Overall, Yani says UK dishes are “quite similar” to Canadian Chinese takeaway, but UK Chinese food tastes different and you get more treats like prawn crackers and chips.
Explaining how he carried out his food challenge, the freelance photographer, originally from the Philippines but now living in Toronto, said: “My mission when I arrived in the UK was to try British Chinese takeaway.
‘As soon as I arrived, I set out to get one.
‘Before ordering it, I went online to do some research on what to order; I wanted to live the full experience.
“I would definitely get it again, although I think the Chinese from Canada are better.”
Commenting on some of the biggest differences he noticed, he said: ‘I noticed that some of the dishes are called the same in Canada but presented differently.
“A Canadian Chinese tends to be saltier; the flavor is very different.”
Yani said that while Canadian Chinese takeaway was superior to British Chinese food, there were two British dishes he particularly liked.
He said: ‘I loved the prawn toast with sesame seeds and dipping it in the curry sauce.
“I came back to the UK recently and tried crispy beef – it’s definitely one of my favourites.”