it yeah, you better look at yourself in the mirror, man. go: just slow down. don t rush. eric: slow down, right? go: yeah, slow down a little bit. anthony: man, those, those peppercorns are awesome. eric: ah. i need towels. holy cow. whoa. [ anthony laughs ] eric: they re all looking at me from the kitchen. they are like, this guy s gonna survive or what? i recently discovered that pistachios are a good source of protein. that s why they re my go-to snack while i get back in shape.
if you dig deep, like, down to the sediment down there, the river bed, man. it s spicy. you feel enlightened yet? look how the colors changed in the broth. xiao: that was you kind of expected it? eric: yes. it is exactly what i expected it. [ laughs ] seven: more beers, guys? anthony: yeah. definitely. eric: i cannot think anymore. so i m gonna eat and drink. anthony: but the baijiu comes out and everything is fine again, for me, anyway. i m not so sure about eric. anthony: you re out of it, man. it s all good, though. it s all good. eric: okay. anthony: don t say okay. the evening s just beginning. xiao: everything you just had was appetizer. anthony: it s all good, though. it s all good. eric: he s the devil. look at him.
like or the even hotter facing heaven chili provide the la, pure heat. so, if you imagine, like, isla, she wolf of the ss, tormenting you with nipple clamps as the la, the ma, provided by the pleasantly deranging peppercorns, would be like the naughty nurse with the ice cubes. [ singing ] anthony: what s your uh, what s your feeling on msg? eric: i don t mind msg. anthony: yeah, i think it s good stuff. eric: i do not react to it. anthony: right. no, no. me too. nobody does. it s a it s a lie, man. eric: well, you find a lot of natural msg in tomatoes. anthony: in breast milk. in parmesan. eric: yeah, in a lot of products. anthony: yeah. you know what causes chinese restaurant syndrome? racism. [ eric laughs ] anthony: ooh, i have a headache. it must have been the chinese guy.
chen: almost every city in sichuan has a kind of representative dishes and in this area they re very famous for its intestine. pig intestine. anthony: oh yeah? it s not bad. eric: uh-huh. anthony: so, if you were on a beach eric: okay. anthony: you re hanging out, you re drinking a nice bottle of chilled rosé, having some fois gras snacks and some saucisson as one does eric: yeah. we all do that. anthony: who would you rather see in a speedo? wolf blitzer, dr. sanjay gupta, or anderson cooper? eric: ooh. that s a tough one. anthony: no. no, actually that s an easy there s an easy answer. eric: none of them. anthony: really? eric: in a speedo? you know what is a speedo? it s those bathing suits anthony: well, no. it s a banana hammock. it s a it s a eric: like, like a small, very narrow bathing suit.
to a charred, smoking little stump. sichuan province, located in the southwest of china. over a thousand miles from beijing. a region so fertile and lush that it s been referred to as china s breadbasket. and its capitol, chengdu. despite its ever-growing skyline, it hasn t lost its deep culinary roots and traditions. man: heart. anthony: and i figured if i m going back to sichuan i should bring a friend. someone unused to the, how shall i say, level of heat commonly found in the food here. someone who s never been to china before and is unused to its ways. i m talking, of course, about chef eric ripert, of such three-star michelin restaurants as new york s le bernardin. so, welcome to china, eric.