If you are into Asian food and want to learn more about it. Here is a great place to start, below is the list of 5 best Asian food shows I recommend on Netflix (not in any particular order).
1. Flavourful Origins (Best for Chinese Cuisine)
Let’s start with the one close to my heart. After watching this show, I was interested in learning the history of Thai cuisine and how it was influenced by the Southern Chinese diaspora.
Flavourful Origins landed on my best Asian food shows because it did really well in showcasing the local ingredients in each region in China. Moreover, you will also see how the cuisines in Southern regions of China bordering Myanmar, Vietnam and Laos share a lot of similarities.
Cuisine in these regions resembles one another quite closely. For instance, a variation of the dish Sa Pie that was featured in the Yunnan series can also be found in Northern Thailand – called Sa Jin.
2. Street Food Asia (Best for Asian Street Food)
Street Food Asia made it on the list of best Asian food shows not only because of it’s compelling stories behind each episode but also how it celebrates the faces behind the street food culture in Asia.
Above all, the series started with an episode featuring Bangkok. You can’t top that!
3. The Chef Show (Best for Asian-American)
The best part about The Chef Show is watching Jon Favreau and Chef Roy Choi. Prior to this, the duo worked together on the film chef where Roy worked as a consultant.
Roy started his career as a classically trained chef then pivoted to starting his own Korean-American food struck – Kogi. Kogi is the pioneer of its kind, an Asian-American cuisine that speaks to many second generations in America.
Moreover, the show does really well in highlighting that cooking is a journey. There is also an element of comfort in watching food prepared not in a ‘perfected’ manner, a set in stone recipe, but as a learning process. I personally think that’s the truth in the kitchen, sometimes you get it right and other times wrong and you have to find ways to salvage it.
Above all, the duo struck a wonderful balance between respecting the basics and building upon that whatever dish they were aiming for, there’s always a wiggle room to achieve something delicious. Food is a journey and this docuseries does wonderfully in showing us just that. This is definitely the one to binge on!
4. Jiro Dreams of Sushi (Best for Sushi)
Jiro Dreams of Sushi is a story of one of the world’s greatest sushi chef. He was the owner and founder of the world’s first 3-Michelin star sushi restaurant.
In addition to following Jiro’s continuous strive for perfection, you’d also see a side of him as a complicated father. Moreover, you will get a glimpse into Japanese culture and understand why Japan had become the country with the most Michelin-star restaurants.
5. Chef’s Table (Best For Asian Fine Dining)
It’s probably one of the most popular docuseries out there, pretty visuals and lovely music. If you’re not up to watching all of the episodes (which I highly recommend you do anyways) then below is the list of episodes featuring Asian chefs.
- S1 EP04 Niki Nakayama
- S2 EP06 Gaggan Anand
- S3 EP01 Jeong Kwan
- S3 EP04 Ivan Orkin
- S4 EP03 Bo Songvisava
- S6 EP03 Asma Khan
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