The Dish

• “Asian Shrimp & Grits”
• Umami Oatmeal with Spam & Mushroom
• Beer Battered Shrimp
• Smokey Garlic Chilli Crisp

Primary Inspiration

Canto Mando is all about sharing Asian heritage & culture in a modern way. I wanted to showcase Asian flavours in a modern way.

Mike, Sheldon & Edward have been trying to level up their cooking (I’ve cooked with them a few times for some videos) so I wanted to show them a dish that uses something familiar such as oatmeal & turning it into something completely opposite; in this case something sweet to savoury.

The boys are all very family oriented & made me think of my family; my grandparents used to make me oatmeal every morning so when I opened the pantry & saw it, it reminded me of them so I wanted to use it to represent that family memory.

Secondary Inspiration

Edward at the time was working on his mom’s chilli oil/sauce. He gave me some to try that day & I was inspired by the flavors to create my own version to pay homage to auntie.

The boys launched their “Yeet Hay” merch where yeet hay means “hot air” in Chinese. It’s a term used to describe foods that cause our internal temperature to rise causing things such as acne, canker sores, sore throat etc. I wanted to create a dish that has “hot air” in a couple ways: the first is by deep frying something, secondly the pouring of the hot oil & sizzle of the chilli crisp, and thirdly is the steam that comes from boiling the spam/mushroom broth used to cook the oatmeal.

Components