On this episode of Mind Massage, David Nguyen takes us on a sound journey using some of his favorite items such as a knife, shrimp, an onion and more!
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MusicTranscript
00:00 (blender whirring)
00:02 Shh.
00:03 (spoon clinking)
00:07 Hi, my name is David Nguyen,
00:09 and welcome to my mind massage.
00:11 I'm going to take you through a sound journey
00:18 using one of my favorite recipes.
00:21 (spoon scraping)
00:28 (spoon clinking)
00:30 So today we'll be making shrimp aqua chile.
00:32 It's one of my favorite bites,
00:34 and I've learned this from one of my chef friends,
00:39 and I've fell in love with it ever since.
00:41 First I'm gonna start just massaging these limes,
00:47 just so that they can get extra juicy.
00:50 Just real quick.
00:58 And then after that,
00:59 take a knife,
01:02 cut 'em in half.
01:07 Also I've never cooked sitting, so this is new.
01:15 All right.
01:20 There you go.
01:23 I'll probably use about four limes.
01:26 (spoon clinking)
01:29 Here I have my peeled and clean shrimp.
01:33 I'm gonna take it out of the container.
01:37 Take your limes.
01:50 (limes slurping)
01:54 (limes slurping)
01:57 And then you're gonna need a generous amount of lime juice
02:03 to get that acid to really cook out the shrimp.
02:08 I'm Vietnamese American,
02:16 and I know this dish is from a Mexican background,
02:22 but I grew up in a Hispanic neighborhood
02:27 and grew up around a lot of Hispanic friends,
02:33 and I love Mexican flavors, and I love Mexican food,
02:38 and that's why I fell in love with this dish.
02:44 And then I'm just gonna get this glove.
02:52 Make sure the shrimp is submerged in lime juice
02:57 to let all that acid just cook the shrimp.
02:59 And then next I'm gonna hit it
03:13 with a little bit of kosher salt.
03:15 (salt sizzling)
03:18 And then you can be generous with it
03:23 because it's gonna balance out the acidity from the lime.
03:28 (limes clinking)
03:31 Next I'm gonna add a light sprinkle of white pepper,
03:35 and that's gonna bring a little bit of heat to the dish.
03:41 (pepper grinding)
03:44 Give it one more mix.
03:47 And I don't know if you guys can see it,
03:51 but the shrimp is already starting to cook
03:53 and turning pink.
03:56 And then once it's opaque, it's ready.
04:02 So now I'm just gonna set this aside
04:04 and work on the rest of the ingredients.
04:09 Next I'm gonna prepare my cucumber
04:14 because when you're having agua chile,
04:17 you gotta have cucumber to add a little freshness.
04:20 Keep the cucumber skin
04:24 because that's gonna add a nice touch of green
04:27 to your agua chile.
04:30 (cucumber slicing)
04:35 (slicing continues)
04:38 Okay, next I'm just gonna take out the core
04:46 because we only want the flesh of the cucumber.
04:51 And then be extra careful if you're using a sharp knife.
04:55 Now, cut it into bite-sized pieces.
05:00 And then I'm gonna keep it pretty thick
05:03 because I like that extra crunch.
05:06 (cutting continues)
05:10 And then I'm gonna hit it with a little bit of kosher salt
05:20 and then get that seasoned up
05:24 because you want to season every step of the way.
05:27 And then I'm gonna set my cucumbers aside.
05:32 Save your cucumber skins
05:34 because that's gonna go into the agua chile.
05:38 I'm gonna chop up everything
05:40 so that once I hit the mortar and pestle,
05:43 it'll be easier to grind and turn into a paste.
05:47 (grinding)
06:01 Here I have some serranos.
06:03 And if you hear me pronouncing words with a Hispanic accent
06:10 that's because I grew up with a lot of Hispanic friends.
06:14 And by doing so, they're gonna make sure
06:18 you say a couple of things properly.
06:20 Like serrano, jalapeno, y cilantro,
06:28 which are all ingredients for this dish.
06:32 Next is my jalapeno.
06:38 Just listen to the sound of the knife
06:49 gliding through the jalapeno.
06:52 That's how you know how sharp it is.
06:55 And that's how you know what I'm doing right now
06:57 is super dangerous because this mic is in the way.
07:01 Okay, so I have my cucumber skin, my serrano, my jalapeno.
07:08 Next, I'm just gonna use about a quarter of this onion.
07:13 I thought it would be cool peeling an onion on camera,
07:22 but we're short on time.
07:25 (knife clanging)
07:28 Whoa.
07:35 And if you're wondering why I'm chopping all the ingredients
07:46 is because all of this is gonna go into a mortar and pestle
07:50 to help it grind.
07:56 More easily.
07:57 I thought about using a blender for this segment,
08:00 but I don't think that would sound good for an ASMR video.
08:04 So.
08:05 One question that I get asked a lot
08:14 is when I started cooking professionally,
08:17 and I started about 12 years ago,
08:24 I started by going to culinary school.
08:28 And from culinary school,
08:30 I applied to work at Club 33 at Disneyland.
08:35 I'm not sure if you guys know where that is
08:39 because it's super secretive.
08:40 And after that, I went on to working at the French Laundry
08:46 out in Napa Valley.
08:51 But yeah, I started cooking about 12 years ago.
08:54 Okay, next step, I'm just gonna check up on my shrimp,
09:02 give it another toss.
09:04 And then the lime juice that is sitting in the bowl,
09:12 we're gonna use it for the aqua chile.
09:20 And now I have my mortar and pestle.
09:25 Here is the chopped serrano jalapeno, cilantro,
09:31 and onions from earlier.
09:34 I'm just gonna add it little by little.
09:36 And then just grind that into a paste.
09:49 Usually at home, I would just throw everything
09:51 in a blender and then it's quick and instant,
09:53 but you know, today, for this mind massage,
09:57 we're switching it up.
09:59 How does that sound?
10:05 Next is something that you probably don't see
10:15 used in aqua chile, and that is soy sauce.
10:20 I use white soy sauce.
10:21 It adds a kick of umami, like,
10:25 I don't know how to describe it,
10:27 but it's just, it's amazing.
10:29 But listen.
10:30 First, I'm gonna peel off this.
10:35 Okay, it got a little...
10:42 (lid pops)
10:45 Ooh.
10:46 And that liquid is gonna...
10:56 help turn everything into a paste consistency.
11:11 I'm gonna finish up with some cilantro.
11:40 And you just wanna keep grinding
11:42 and work that cilantro in.
11:44 I don't know why, but gloves are so hard to put on
11:55 when your hands are wet.
11:56 It's always annoying in the kitchen.
12:01 Okay, now take that lime juice
12:03 that was marinating in your shrimp.
12:09 Give it another mix.
12:11 Add it to your aqua chile.
12:15 Make sure you get every last drop.
12:23 And I mean every last drop.
12:29 And then we're back to the grind.
12:34 'Cause every day is a grind.
12:38 (food grinding)
12:41 When you're cooking, always taste your food.
12:46 And here's how to taste in the kitchen.
12:49 You spoon, oh, I mean,
12:52 food spoon, you spoon.
12:54 Food spoon for the food,
12:57 and the spoon that is for you stays with you
13:00 so you don't grasp in the amine.
13:08 It's terrible, I don't want you guys to try it.
13:09 Well, you guys can't even try it, but.
13:11 More salt.
13:15 And with this, I'm looking for a nice acidic kick,
13:23 but also that soy sauce that I added in earlier
13:27 gives it the savory umami touch
13:29 that it's hard to describe.
13:33 So one more time.
13:36 Food spoon.
13:38 My spoon.
13:39 You know it's good when you get a little jiggle.
13:47 You wanna dance a little bit, you know?
13:49 So once you're happy with your aqua chile,
13:53 you're gonna add it back to the shrimp.
13:55 Oh!
14:00 I got it.
14:05 Call my mom.
14:07 I'm doing it.
14:09 I'm just kidding.
14:09 Okay, now take a spoon.
14:13 This is a whole new spoon.
14:15 I'm gonna make sure I get every last bit of that
14:20 mixed from the mortar and pestle.
14:35 In with your cucumber.
14:36 Okay, give that a mix.
14:44 Next, I'm gonna garnish with some cilantro leaves.
14:54 You can just throw 'em all around.
14:58 You don't gotta...
14:59 You don't gotta take your time with it.
15:04 Mm.
15:05 And listen, if by now you're still wondering
15:08 where are the onions, please be patient.
15:11 They're coming.
15:12 Trust the process.
15:14 This is pickled onions in a little bit of champagne vinegar
15:19 and beet juice that I juiced this morning
15:23 and reduced it down and just mixed that too
15:25 and then just to give it some color.
15:28 It's a deep red color.
15:30 I'll show you guys.
15:33 Give me a quick second.
15:35 Ooh.
15:36 I know it looks like blood, but I promise it's not.
15:42 All right, this might get messy.
15:46 But remember when I said the beet juice
15:52 gives the onions a deep red color?
15:57 I know you've seen pickled onions before.
16:02 They're probably mushy.
16:03 They're probably purple, pale purple,
16:05 but I'm gonna put you on today.
16:08 This is pickled onions with beet juice.
16:13 Notice the color.
16:15 Notice how vibrant, how red it is.
16:17 And that's just gonna make the dish pop.
16:22 So I'm gonna just sprinkle on a couple of onions,
16:29 just all around.
16:34 Like my mouth is elevating, so I can't really talk,
16:41 but shrimp, agua chile.
16:44 I'm David Nguyen, and thank you so much,
16:55 so much for coming to my mind massage.
16:57 (plastic crinkling)
17:00 The shrimp, the cucumber, the pickled onion.
17:11 Cheers, guys, thank you so much for having me.
17:21 (crunching)
17:24 (whooshing)
17:27 (crunching)
17:29 (electronic beeping)