Table Manners with Jessie and Lennie Ware - S13 Ep 16: Nigel Ng
Episode Date: June 8, 2022HAIYAA! Lennie’s infamous microwave rice is put up to the test this week. Comedian Nigel NG aka Uncle Roger turned up to Clapham in his orange polo shirt, ready to try mum’s food and talk ric...e fuck bois, nieces, nephews, Jamie Oliver and making people cackle through lockdown. We laughed a LOT and chatted all about dating a vegan, how to do karaoke, the best sparkling sake and we think maybe Uncle Roger should become Father Roger we loved him so much. Did Lennie’s rice pass the test? Tune in to find out. We will be back next week with the start of our live series recorded from our Table Manners tour. See you then! X Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
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Hello and welcome to Tate and Manus. I'm Jessie Ware and I haven't done the cooking tonight, I'm sorry.
Actually, I did do the beans.
Darling, when did you last cook?
You know what? It's just that I have so many children now that it's a problem.
You don't look half done.
That's a bit mean, isn't it?
No, your husband is fortitude itself.
bit me isn't it no your husband is fortitude itself yes and I help him be able to be a very hands-on father so it goes two ways mother thank you very much um but yeah I have very noisy
children so oh and I do about 10,000 jobs much like you so you're just much better than me and
you're in semi-retirement so I apologize apologise. In the next series, I will...
Pick up since I've passed six.
In the next series, I promise...
It's fine, darling.
...to do more.
No, I don't mind doing...
It's fine, darling.
Anything that helps you, you know that.
Where do you want this help to take me?
I want you to have a Saturday night show, darling.
Jessie's Takeaway.
Oh, God.
It's all about food.
Push Ant and Dec out, yeah?
All right. Rennie's Takeaway. jesse's takeaway oh god it's all about food shantan deck out yeah all right his takeaway
um anyway i had a lovely lady come up to me in gail's bakery the other day and cry on my shoulder
to say thank you so much for doing this podcast i thought she was talking about the pregnancy
podcast but then i saw that she tagged me in a post it was actually because you have helped her so much mom good so today i don't know how this
is gonna go but i think you've really cocked up on the menu today no i didn't there's an irony in
that no you didn't know the irony until you saw the irony i've seen the rice thing ages ago on
instagram ages and ages ago i've seen it which rice the one where
she strains it in a colander colander yeah colander colander colander a colander wow um yes
so so and him guffawing with laughter so i thought I could do my microwave rice and we'll tell him it's
microwavy like nigella and see if we can pass it off as something special you know what I don't
know that he's going to be so offended or actually think it's he likes a microwave so I don't know
maybe he won't mind I always think my rice smells very nice when you come in. You can smell the onioniness in the rice.
But he's supposed to be the king of egg fried rice.
He's a comedian called Nigel Ng.
And he also plays a character called Uncle Roger, who was birthed, I believe, in the pandemic, where he's on YouTube.
And he watches videos of people cooking and doing things wrong.
And makes comments on them.
He's Malaysian.
I think he's lived in the UK for a bit.
I don't think he lives here anymore.
But he's like an internet sensation.
He's incredibly funny.
He has it in for Jamie Oliver.
I don't know if he's going to bring the orange T-shirt to be Uncle Roger at all
or we just get Nigel. I was going to wear an orange. I don't know how Uncle's going to bring the orange T-shirt to be Uncle Roger at all. Or we just get Nigel. Oh, I was going to wear an orange.
I don't know how Uncle Roger would feel about that.
Maybe he'd be very happy about that.
He hates a potato, which I kind of agree with.
Well, then I'd have rice.
I'd have rice any day of the week.
Well, I've done them the perfect meal.
It might be.
I know he's going to criticize me.
But actually, strangely, it's an Otolenghi recipe.
So I'll blame your term.
Well, you've done the microwave rice, trusty fave.
And then the recipe that you've done, I'm slightly...
You don't really do Asian cooking.
No, I don't.
And Ottolenghi is not Asian.
No.
So you haven't gone to the, you know, the original sauce.
However, Ottolenghi is a fantastic cook
knows how to use miso very well
well I put miso in I thought
that's alright and grated
ginger and it's got lime
sounds very nice and it's got
lots of garlic
what could go wrong soy sauce
mirin so what's it called mum
I haven't got a clue darling
have a look i think it said
something about chicken with miso ginger and lime lovely and chili i just don't know what
uncle roger's gonna think about this and then i've done some beans with sesame oil flaked almonds
and garlic brown sugar i didn't have i thought because you had lime in the chicken i thought i wanted to
yeah well no i put tangerine zest but it was very sad soft thing and to be fair nothing came out
because you're greater as shite so i did that and then i added because i didn't think it had a
maybe you should have bought me a macro bloody macro bloody yeah I got it um anyway I put some red wine vinegar in it and it's kind of
zhuzhed it up maybe too much anyway so they're they're being served and then for pud what have
you done well I'm sure it's not up to what you really want me to do darling but I've made a
pavlova,
which probably was in the oven slightly too long
because I was in Marks and Spencer's getting some flowers
after my drains had been unblocked.
Oh, lovely.
And then, so I've done pavlova with rhubarb on
because it's quite tart and it goes well with things that are sweet.
Nigel Ng, coming up on Table Manners.
I'm excited.
Good.
Nigel has just
walked through the door
and has already complained
about one of our guests
on the podcast.
Jamie Dimitri,
a fellow comedian.
Sorry, Jamie.
You're very funny.
What pissed you off
about Jamie's episode?
No, no.
Just the guacamole. What? Really? Last meal? Guacam Jamie's episode? No no Just the guacamole Really?
Last meal?
Guacamole?
Why are you so offended
By guacamole?
I just don't like
I think avocado
Is very overrated
I kind of agree with you
Yeah
It's just slimy goo
That doesn't taste like anything
And it's so trendy
The same way
Oat milk is trendy
I gave it a shot
No I'm over it
Yeah
People don't tell you That it tastes like oats That's the problem With oat milk is trendy I gave it a shot because I'm no I'm over it yeah people don't tell you
that it tastes like oats
that's the problem
with oat milk
like they
I asked Joshua Wiseman
he's a big YouTuber
yeah
right
I filmed a video
with him in Houston
right
so we're talking about coffee
what do you put in your coffee
I said oh I just like
the regular whole milk
whole milk
homogenized if you can
I live in Highgate
so there's this fancy little grocery store
you get it in glass bottles.
Oh yeah, lovely.
So like milk and coffee in a flat white,
it's creamy, it's good.
It's like drinking a blanket, right?
Yes.
And then Joshua was like,
yeah, you can try oatmeal,
texture's good too.
And fair enough,
the texture is decent,
but then it tastes like oats.
Your whole coffee tastes like oats.
Like a porridge in your coffee.
Yeah, exactly.
Like, it's proper.
Look, I understand trying to save the planet, respect.
But all these people that are kind of saying that they ask for the oat milk
because they say they prefer it, lies.
It's so much more delicious, whole milk.
I've done every fad.
I've gone back.
Do you remember when everyone was doing almond milk? Oh, yeah yeah and it would go all bitty at the top you gave your
children that darling poor children soy milk you gave them now they're on condensed mom now
hey condensed milk is doable in some cultures delicious and soy milk we make them differently
in asia too i think we let it be thicker and we have sugar in it.
We don't put it in coffee.
We just have it by itself.
You can go to a restaurant and get soy milk.
Where are you from exactly?
Malaysia.
We've been there.
We have?
We went to Penang.
Penang, foodie island.
That's the best food there.
The best food.
What was that?
Steamboat.
Oh my gosh With the fish
On different
All different
Malaysia's got phenomenal food
I went to
The best
It's got everything
Indian, Chinese
Everything
Tell me how
Is it the Perhentian Islands
Perhentian
Yeah yeah yeah
They like
And then we went to
This other place
Where I had this
Beautiful blue rice
Oh nasi kerabu
Yes yes
It was
All of it
Was just And I was 19 And I basically Was spoiled Is that a blackbird I had this beautiful blue rice. Oh, nasi kerabu, yes. It was, all of it was just,
and I was 19 and I basically was spoiled.
Is that a blackbird?
Or is it my robin?
My mum thinks that that's her dad.
I think that's my dad or my mum.
That robin.
I'm telling you, Jessie,
it's been there for two days trying to tell me something.
Would you want to go and ask them?
Because Gaga, we're recording.
Beautiful house, by the way.
Nice garden. Oh, thank you. I like it a lot. So you live in the UK? You live in London? Yeah, I live in London. because Gaga we're recording beautiful house by the way nice garden
oh thank you
I like it a lot
so you live in the UK
you live in London
yeah I live in London
yeah I live in London
so and how's Highgate
treating you
oh great
I love it
I was lucky enough
to buy a place
it's just a terrace
nothing as fancy as yours
it's so beautiful
yeah but I love it
it's fancy
I love doing up the house
which is your best restaurant now
there used to be
a great Italian in London
nothing
nothing
nothing yeah
that's Kampai
I guess
but I don't
want to blow
it up though
now it's
going to be
too popular
now
you know
but it's
alright
they deserve
the business
I like Kampai
Japanese
yeah
and then
everything else
is so shit
you can curse
on this right
you don't care
of course
oh yeah
you're fine
I don't know
I don't want to
jeopardize your Uber Eats sponsorship.
No, darling.
Oh, baby.
Don't worry about it.
Jesse did that long ago.
Yeah.
Is this a dry house?
It's not for long.
What would you like to drink, Nigel?
What do you like?
Oh, what are you pairing it with food-wise?
Oh, oh, now.
Oh, we're into the little pairing.
Oh, darling, don't get too excited.
If we're doing aperitifs first.
Oh, wow. Oh, my God. Come on, then. Yeah. You did think. Go on. we're doing aperitifs first. Oh, wow.
Come on, then.
You did think...
Go on, what's your aperitif, then?
Aperitif.
If I had my way, I'd do a sparkling sake.
Okay, you don't get it.
You can't get that, darling.
But that is delicious.
Yeah.
Sorry, Nigel.
A Negroni or something bubbly.
You've got a Negroni?
I could do an Aperol Spritz.
What are you guys having?
I'm going to have some champagne.
I'll have it with guys. You have a champagne? That's kind I'm going to have some champagne. I'll have it with you guys.
You have a champagne spritz?
That's kind of an aperitif.
Yeah, I'll have that.
Okay.
Yeah, I don't want to...
Just get the glasses out, darling.
I was just being, like, annoying and demanding.
No, I love it.
No, I love it.
It's fantastic.
I mean, more annoying.
We've got something to talk to you about in a second that I really don't know how you're going to react.
Yeah, we're worried about the food now. I've done something so you can take the mickey out for me she she says she did it so you
could take the mickey out no she didn't realize and then i was like you've done right you've done
your rice and she was like okay yeah but i don't know whether we get into this yet or we have a
drink just so he can really let rip on Lenny.
I've never podcasted while drinking,
so we'll see how this goes.
Oh, it's going to go fabulous for you, Nigel.
And let me just tell you,
the recipe is not mine.
It's Ottolenghi's.
Well, no, the rice is yours, Mum.
The rice recipe is mine.
Why do you make a $30 salad?
It's a $30 salad.
Have you ever annihilated Ottolenghi yet?
No.
Is he stuff on YouTube?
Does he make any recipes?
Oh, no.
He's so nice.
He's very nice.
He's legit.
His recipes are good.
And also, how's Jamie Oliver?
How's your relationship with Jamie Oliver?
Terrible.
He hasn't responded.
I know you had it on.
I know you had it on before, but when was that?
I saw the episode years ago.
He lives in Highgate, I think.
One of his houses is in Highgate.
I don't think he lives there.
Conflict and resolution.
We should have brought Jamie in
and sorted this beef out.
Can you explain to the listeners
who maybe don't know about this beef,
what the beef is about with Jamie Oliver?
It's not really beef.
It's very one-sided.
It started with a green curry.
No, it started with his fried rice.
So the very, very first video.
He appropriated, didn't he?
Uncle Roger.
Search Uncle Roger Jamie Oliver on YouTube
and you will see the start of the beef.
I have a whole YouTube playlist called Jamie Oliver.
I've reviewed him like seven times now or something.
And there is no beef.
I think to me, it's a little bit of fun
and it's
become a meme now where i kind of bring up jamie oliver in every video even if it's not reviewing
him i say oh did she graduate from jamie oliver's cooking school right or and that's like you
cussing someone that's me roasting yeah because he's someone else yeah or i say i think there
was a chef where he was toasting spices the spices he was flipping the spices the spices
fell to the floor i said oh shit don flipping the spices the spices fell to the floor
I said oh shit
don't don't
throw your spices to the floor
now your floor is more flavourful
than all of Jamie Oliver's restaurants
ouch
have you ever cooked
a Jamie Oliver recipe yourself
that's coming up
that's coming up
I'm gonna have like a
someone playing a kidnapper
tying me up
and threatening me
to cook Jamie Oliver's recipes
well the kidnapper
has also threatened you
to review the
red Thai curry
Thai red curry
so it's a very good conceit
my fans like it
so we'll do it
me remaking
Jamie Oliver's
what do you say in Malaysia
we don't really say
I grew up
do you not drink
we drink
come on
come on
we say
I grew up
I'm Chinese Malaysian
so I grew up
just saying
Kanpei
which is a Chinese
Kanpei
what does that mean Kanpei dry the cup so just drink it up basically
i'll get me mexican twice yeah come on dry the cup that's going to be my new thing
dry the cups who's your favorite cook?
It must be a Chinese cook then.
Asian, Asian.
The character's favorite cook is Esther Choi because I'm writing like a love interest arc
into the character's universe.
You are having so much fun with Uncle Roger.
She exists, yeah.
We made a video together
and we were just flirting with each other.
The character is flirting with her.
How old is Esther?
Esther, I think she's like, I don't know if you like me divulging her age i
think 36 yeah yeah yeah but uh i think my favorite cook oh i think it has to be has to be gordon
he's just such a showman so you've got a bit of a relationship with him now yeah yeah a little bit
actually like in jamie's defense he was so wonderful and he's very
passionate about food and I have tried many a Jamie Oliver that has much flavor um but I did
really enjoy your annihilation I mean and actually when I think about it him doing the red Thai curry, mum, he put fucking peppers in and
tomato paste.
Yep.
That was, it was kind of, it was beautiful for you to be able to have that.
Why didn't he just buy a pot of red Thai curry paste?
What are you teasing?
Anyway, back to you.
Yes.
You live in London.
Yes.
Grew up in Malaysia.
Mm-hmm. Studied in the u.s yes um
what did you study i don't yeah i did engineering and philosophy you know coming from asia you're
going to do something so how the hell did this happen i started doing comedy in university and
i just fell into it and at first I was just doing this
as a hobby
and I moved here
I moved here for a woman
and to continue
doing stand-up
the woman left
the stand-up stayed
I think that's
the better option
we're still friends
but it's okay
yeah yeah
and then I started getting
doing some spots here
on weekends
started getting paid
over here
I was like okay
I could try to make this work
and then I went
full-time stand-up
six months before the pandemic yeah i joke about it on stage i say right when the guy was about to
eat that first bat that's when i quit my day so i was like oh shit and when the pandemic hit i lost
all my life stand-up work right that's my main income at the time so i was like okay i have eight
like 10 months of runway 10 months of savings in the bank to if i run out of the 10 months then sure i'll go back and get a
day job which wouldn't be that hard i had that i was working uh in data science before they had a
startup data analytics and everything so i said okay i have 10 months to kind of figure something
out online and then fortunately uncle roger blew up so and uncle roger yeah was the kind of thing that
birthed out of lockdown and it was a you started on youtube and it's huge it's a phenomenon oh
thank you but it is i mean it's huge my brother who is so not have his finger on the pulse about
anything told me about you years ago and said because that's how long this pandemic is
fucking um so he was like you've got to get uncle roger on i said who are you bloody talking about
i watched it you were very you were very i saw you when you when the lady was draining the rice
and i saw that that was the first one i saw and that was that was the first video
i want i want to know whether mom is, I don't know what you'd say,
would you say a rice fuck boy or a rice fuck girl?
Wok fuck boy.
Yeah, I feel like, well, I don't know whether...
I don't think I'm a fuck boy, darling.
Well, anyway, well...
Maybe or maybe not.
We will find out.
Yeah.
The fact that this character is now like,
it's you reviewing recipe, being made on.
On YouTube.
On YouTube.
Jesse, do you know what he's going to do?
He's going to review us.
Yeah, I'm expecting that.
This is going to happen.
Yeah.
I just want you to know,
we've got a very strong fan base and they love me.
He's like, yeah, fine.
More than Jesse, they like, they prefer Lenny.
They much prefer me.
They much prefer mum they much prefer mum
much prefer mum
but that's okay
I need to get my mum
on my podcast
yeah
what's she like
she's nice
I don't think she'll
is she as opinionated
as Uncle Roger
no no
she keeps herself
I can dig it out of her
she complains a lot too
so that's
that's the gist of comedy
yeah
that's what we're finding
but is she happy about
the path you took?
Or would engineering...
Now she is.
Now she is.
Now you've got that house in Highgate, eh?
Yeah, I tried to buy her a place in Malaysia too.
They struggled to raise me, you know,
so at least I could do.
But houses in Malaysia are cheap.
You get like a nice bungalow.
So did you get one?
In the process.
So let's talk about your childhood and growing up and
and what you were eating what's a really memorable dish from your childhood
i think and this will be the answer if you ask the last supper question this will be one of the
dishes okay well okay so we're combining we're killing two birds with one stone
alice is a great editor she can put it all in yeah okay okay so the most memorable dish is like
a sweet malaysian dessert thing called bobo cha cha and you can get it at a hawker or a street food
anywhere and it's memorable because uh i remember when i was growing up every week or twice a week
i had like taekwondo classes like martial arts stuff so that was after school so we went like
six and until eight and then at eight p.pm My parents would come Pick me up And then we would all
Eat as a family
Just that one dish
That bobo cha cha dish
And what is it?
It's
I was googling this
Because I knew
I was going to have to explain it
It's like
Nyonya coconut milk pudding
Type kind of thing
So that's sweet
What's nonya?
Nyonya is
When the Chinese
First immigrated to Malaysia
They married the local Malays
So those two cultures combined So it's like Chinese slash Malay fusion when the Chinese first immigrated to Malaysia they married the local Malays so those
those two cultures
combined
so it's like
Chinese slash Malay
fusion
it's like
sweet coconut milk
with a lot of sago
you know
that transparent balls
oh like the tapioca
tapioca balls
not like bubble tea ones
the tiny tiny ones
the sago balls
sweet potatoes
some yam
and then you just
you just it's like a broth it's a
broth so it's a it was it's a main dish no that's a dessert oh that's a memorable you'd have that
after taekwondo yeah yeah so your mom was going to my little road my little belt you know any good
at taekwondo no i i they thought you were good and they gave you they rewarded you with this delicious
dessert i think they wanted to have it too did your mom make it or did you get it from like
a street got it from a street food stall so in malaysia eating out is so common because it's
cheap and it's good and we my mom cooks at home but eating out is just very easy eating out in
london man i don't know how you guys do you guys eat a lot i mean jesse does no i don't anymore it's it's expensive booking the booking do you need a pa to eat at restaurants
here i know yeah so this would be in your last supper however what was your mom good at cooking
good cook yeah very good cook i remember one of my favorite dishes was um
yeah very good cook i remember one of my favorite dishes was um scrambled egg with spam i know it sounds terrible but it's really good we have it for lunches
sometimes so what would you do would you cook the spam then because i've never actually i think all
the spam has gone to malaysia then because you can't get it here barely yeah it's an asian thing
in korea they have like spam stew, army stew. It's decent.
God, what we did in imperialism really shows, doesn't it?
We made it better.
We made it better.
So you'd cook it, scrambled egg, fry up the spam.
I don't know how she does it.
I think she fries up the spam first, then scrambled eggs,
and mix them together.
And there's probably some sort of secret ingredient in there or something.
I don't know.
It was great.
Was it crispy?
Parts of it.
Yeah.
Is your mum the best person
that cooks rice
in the whole universe?
Every Asian mum
cooks rice great.
Every Asian...
Can you cook rice great?
Yeah, we use a rice cooker.
Yeah, that's what I've...
Well, I've got a rice cooker
but to cook rice,
Persian rice.
Persian rice?
Yes.
So it comes
to the tadi yeah that's gorgeous you have a lovely rice cake ah okay well the rice cooker i use the
japanese brand the zoji i need to get one by them yet no the japanese companies they're so
corporate and slow and they you know i want i wanted that the biggest msg brand to sponsor me ajino moto but uh an indonesian
brand reached out first so so now i'm sponsored by sasa you know i love this it's sponsored by
different msg that's amazing it's amazing but you get a rice cooker it's it's such a
yeah i think i'm gonna get one actually i and you're you're when i watch the um When I watched the YouTube of you reviewing the girl, Alexis.
Alexis.
She said she was just crazy.
Oh, she made food in a coffee maker.
She made a three-course meal in a rice cooker.
And to be fair, it all turned out really nice.
But Uncle Roger was pissed off that she didn't make bloody rice.
Well, in Asia, we actually use rice cooker for a lot of things.
It's a steaming mechanism, right?
We make cakes in there. Malaysian dessert, we call it kueh. It's a steaming mechanism, right? We make cakes in there.
Malaysian dessert, we call it kueh.
It's like a steamed cake.
So you can make those in there.
I accidentally made a hunter's stew.
I thought I was using my pressure cooker, but it was a rice cooker.
Came out delicious.
Yeah.
You made me think, actually, I'm just going to get a rice cooker.
However, is this the time where we should talk about how my mum makes near on perfect rice?
Okay, let's do it.
I think.
Let's do it.
What type of rice do you use first?
Basmati.
Okay, okay.
And then I'll tell you what I do.
I put basmati rice, probably about up to your thumb, or maybe a bit more, in the bottom of a glass dish.
Okay.
That has a cover on the top.
Pyrex. Py I put dried onions, maybe
two tablespoons, a stock cube, a teaspoon full of salt, and then a tablespoon full of
oil. Then I fill it up just so it is a thumb that much with cold water.
So the base of the thumb touches the rice.
Yeah.
The proportions.
And then I pour microwave.
Microwave?
What do you think about that?
Microwave?
We were going to call it microwivies.
Microwave.
The microwave.
I mean, I feel like it comes out great.
It comes out gorge.
Can we try it?
Yeah.
We can have it with our dinner.
Is dinner ready yet, mum, or not?
Almost done.
I would say basmati is a little bit more forgiving
because it's a long grain rice.
It's less sticky.
Yeah.
Shut up.
Stop spoiling it.
What?
No, I like this.
You know, it might be getting too much of the rice talk.
Is that too much for you?
No.
Do you like it?
I was going to do Thai sticky rice,
but I don't know how to cook it.
Thai sticky rice is different.
Glutinous rice is different.
I don't even know how to make that.
Do you like it?
Yeah.
Yeah.
See, Alex said he would rather have that
than normal rice.
I made it when I had...
I had...
The best restaurant that's going to open up this year
is Anglo Thai.
Anglo Thai.
So he's an amazing chef called John.
And he had a kind of do-it-yourself lockdown meal thing.
And I made Thai sticky rice with banana leaf.
And it was really, it was, no, thank you.
It was really, really delicious and quite straightforward, actually.
It's like, it was really straightforward.
You did it in a steamer, one of those, like, bamboo steamers.
I don't have a bamboo.
Do you have a bamboo steamer at home?
No, I need to buy one.
You see, he doesn't even have one.
Yeah.
It's not time, Mum.
I just moved.
Oh, you've only just moved.
My kitchen just got done up.
Would you, would you?
Okay, question.
Did you get any really fantastic kitchen gadgets
that everyone should know?
Jessie's going to show off about her thing in a minute.
Oh, please show her the kitchen gadgets.
I love it.
Well, fancy gadgets.
No, I just have like,
Gordon sent me a few pans and woks,
so I just used those.
Oh, Gordon, you're your best mate.
All right.
It's the hex clad stuff,
which I love because it's non-stick,
but you can use metal in it.
So it's just very satisfying.
You did make me laugh in Hersha when you got so offended or Uncle Roger got offended by her using a metal spoon on her palm.
Yeah, it's everything.
My mom is completely the same.
Yeah.
Most moms teach kids that.
Yeah.
You're just scraping off the teff.
How close is Uncle Roger to you as an idol i say uncle roger
is who i would become in 20 years if i didn't leave malaysia then that's who i would oh yeah
yeah to me uncle roger is like like the full-blown asianness in me you know they just let it out and
that's who i would be but i've lived abroad for a while now since 2010 so my personality is like um fusion like western eastern character
traits and values so uncle roger is like just the asianness so what do you think about um
british british cuisine i think it's more frightening cooking for him i know what
jay rayner we've had ray Kerridge. We've had Angela.
Nigella.
Nigella.
Oh, I feel bad
she's on Nigella sometimes.
She's lovely.
Do you take the mickey
out of her?
Yeah, I've reviewed her
a few times.
Has she come for you yet?
No, she hasn't responded.
Which I,
for good reason.
Yeah, that's dignified.
Is dinner ready, Mum?
Should we plate up?
I'm frightened.
No, I'm frightened too.
I'm just going to
put the microwave on.
He's going to put that orange T-shirt on.
So, Nigel, do you have a girlfriend?
No.
Are you looking for love?
Yeah, everybody is, right?
But I'm touring so much, it's hard.
Yeah.
But, I mean, I'm sure you have lots of people falling at your feet now.
The funny guy.
Yeah, I got the casual, you know.
You're having a lovely time being single and mingling.
Meeting people, mingling, yeah.
How's tour life for you?
Oh, I love it.
Do you?
I much prefer touring abroad than in the UK
because in the UK, all you can think about after your show
is how do I get home?
Take the train from Glasgow, home.
Take the train from Birmingham
get home
but in the US
or I'm going to Australia
in two weeks
you are just forced to
stay in a hotel
forced to go do something
go find a restaurant
go eat somewhere
go to a bar
you know
and I
when I say mingling
I like meeting new friends too
just friends
that's what I look for
after I just
want to go out
have a good time
you must be having
some really amazing
food experiences
on these tours, right?
Because everyone must be
wanting to take you
to the hottest places
or their spots.
Oh yeah,
chefs come to my shows
and then they meet me
and they're like,
come to my restaurant,
get you in for free.
So I got like really good
omakase in LA.
Where did you put the beans?
Where did I put them?
I think there isn't
enough beans there.
You told me to not put any more beans? Where did I put them? I think there isn't enough beans there.
You told me to not put any more beans in!
We'll put some tender stem on as well.
Please don't burn the garlic and the...
Oh, Jesus, hold on.
Oh...
Hey, at least they have a gas stove.
I'm watching Jesse
scrabbling with the beans.
They're doing good, they're doing good.
How do you think that rice looks, Nigel? I'm watching Jesse's Scrabbling with the beans And They're doing good
They're doing good
How do you think that rice looks, Nigel?
Oh my god
He's really peering in
Yeah, he is
What do you think of the smell?
The fragrance?
It's alright
Yeah, because you like that chicken stock
Don't you?
The chicken stock is a good thing
The chicken stock didn't mix properly
Yeah, but I quite like
Those little pockets of umami
Ah, okay
It was intended
sure you can
you can say that
if
that's a mess up a dish
I like it that way
that looks
that looks
it's alright
it's good
it's alright
it's not slimy
yeah
it's quite moorish
so you made it
in the microwave
yeah
oh I'm impressed
let's see
I think you got
you got the you got the technique down.
You've done it for many years.
Jessie, do you want to get some?
She's got her technique down.
I think he's trying to be polite
because he's not behind a screen.
I need to taste it first.
I need to taste is like.
It's really nice, Mum.
Don't worry about what I think.
I'm frightened to death.
It's delicious, Mum.
Well.
The rice is good.
The rice is...
It really adds something to it.
We have something like this in Malaysia.
Yeah.
We call it Hainanese chicken chicken rice it has something of that flavor we use like we cook the rice in chicken
fat and the chicken stock yum you know but we use medium grain rice we use something like a
jasmine rice so it has a little bit of stickiness maybe i should start doing that that's a little
you might have to change or figure out a new microwave preset because it's a little more finicky.
But asmari rice is long grain, it's less sticky, so if you overcook it, it doesn't mush together.
Mum, he just said your rice was good.
Thank you darling.
And he is like...
The king of rice.
The king of fucking complaining about bad rice.
I hear you love karaoke.
You don't, right? i'm not into it it's so fun yeah i love both both types the asian types and then also the western types
what's the asian type different you get a room with your friends yeah what's the western type
you have a stage in the bar in the middle oh yeah right i love both they're both great for different purposes
what's your song western western or asian if it's wow okay come on man oh do you do k-pop
no i don't i don't speak korean oh but they're so popular yeah they play it in my nail bar
and they just because they're all vietnamese and they just love it listen to it yeah do you it's
in my pre-show playlist you come to my show is it yeah um okay so western karaoke i just did it
last week in seattle just i went on stage and i did a take on me by uh-huh great people love it
you know oh you did it on stage yeah it's part of your thing no
no not on my show no i was gonna say on that karaoke room not karaoke but the karaoke bar
and did it go down brilliantly yeah people love it you don't have to sing it properly
and then how many drinks in were you two three okay so, so pretty sober. We grew up doing it
so we don't really have that,
I mean,
I don't have that fear
of singing in front of people.
Okay.
Don't you want some more chicken?
Maybe.
But not now.
I'm eating and it's weird
to just break into song
in the middle of a kitchen island.
Oh.
Wow.
Well, that was our next question.
No, I'm joking.
It could be a popcorn thing.
Mum, this is really good. No, I know it's not proper Asian food. It shouldn't have joked mum this is this is really good
it takes
now I know
it's not proper
Asian food
no but I didn't
I think
you weren't
I was like
oh why have you
done like
a version of
Asian food
that is like
and actually
this is really yummy
I like how the skin
is a bit crispy
and charred
it's good
and chicken leg
good choice
chicken breast
sucks man it's the worst thing do you have like a wish list I like how the skin's a bit crispy and charred. It's good. And chicken leg, good choice. Chicken breast sucks, man.
It's the worst thing.
Do you have a wish list of people that you're ready to review?
Or do people now send you content?
Because I can imagine at the beginning, you know, what did it start with?
Did it start with the egg fried rice, the BBC egg fried rice?
BBC food egg fried rice, yeah.
Now I'm sure you're inundated with suggestions. How do you make egg fried rice. BBC food egg fried rice. Right? Yeah. Now I'm sure you're inundated with suggestions.
How do you make egg fried rice, Nigel?
So my way, I guess, leftover rice, just jasmine's fine.
Take it out.
I would do some, first you stir fry the shallots, the garlic, the shallots, the garlic, throw
the egg in. I do one and a half eggs. So it's garlic,
shallots and eggs. But the rice is already in the pan? No, rice goes in after the egg.
So the eggs, that's a little bit fluffy. So you start to scramble with the egg already.
Do you want some more food? Would you have a little bit more? You're not under pressure.
Whatever you want. I have a little bit more of the rice and beans, yeah.
Yeah? Yeah.
There's more chicken if you want some more chicken.
The chicken is good, the sauce the chicken's cooking in is good.
It's quite good, it's miso.
But yeah, go on, spatch your egg fried rice.
So the eggs are in, then the rice goes in,
put the soy sauce in.
Oh yeah, you cook it and if you have oil, use that,
but if you don't have oil, use pork lard.
Well, if you have pork lard, use that,
but if you don't have it, you can use like. Well, if you have pork lard, use that. But if you don't have it, you can use peanut oil.
But I prefer pork lard.
Okay.
MSG.
I always put a healthy dose of MSG.
I didn't even know you bought that.
You could buy that separately.
Yeah, Asian grocery stores.
The protein.
I like shrimp on there.
So if you want shrimp, then you should pre-cook it first.
Then whack it into the rice together.
And top it off with some spring onion.
Am I missing anything?
Did I say soy sauce?
I said soy sauce, right?
Yeah, sesame oil.
No, you didn't say soy sauce.
Oh, forgot.
How much?
It's all a feeling thing.
Until the colour looks kind of right.
Oh.
Optionally, you can also put some sambal if you want it spicy.
Sambal is like a Southeast Asian chilli paste. Lovely. So you so you whack it it becomes like this reddish brown color you like hot stuff i do i do
thank you from malaysia we gotta do you like people bully you if you don't like hot stuff
he's basically got a second proper full meal mum so we won't be offended if you can't eat it all
nigel but we will be happy if you can oh one more thing for the fried rice white pepper almost oh white pepper which is very hard to find
because i just did up the kitchen right so i bought the very nice that that salt grinder thing
the purge oh right yeah they have a salt they have a pepper but they never have white no they don't
white pepper asian grocery stores they always come in like the the worst plastic packaging and it's just like i would love to try to elevate it to have a nice
yeah but it's not right grinder maybe you need to do a collaboration with
yeah pepper babe people usually use a pestle and mortar to to pound it though for the white pepper
i've never seen white pepper in full form do you see what i mean like i've never seen this
yeah i've never seen them i've seen pink peppercorns black peppercorns but i've never seen white peppercorns. Yeah, I've never seen them. I've seen pink peppercorns, black peppercorns,
but I've never seen white peppercorns. Yeah, I think they only sell them
in Asian grocery stores.
You really believe in a pestle and mortar,
don't you? I like them, yeah.
I use them quite a bit.
I make green curry. Why does Uncle
Roger wear an orange
polo shirt? When I was coming out with
the character, I asked all
my Asian friends, like Like send me a picture
Of your dads
Oh my god
And polo was a very
Garish polo
It's a very common choice
Sometimes it's stripy
But stripes don't look
Good on camera
So I just went
With one solid colour
Orange kind of stuck
So do you think
You'd ever move back
To Malaysia
To retire maybe
You know
I think it's a bit
Too small there
Whereabouts are you In Malaysia Are you by the seaside Kuala Lumpur No Oh you're KL you'd ever move back to Malaysia? To retire, maybe. You know, I think it's a bit too small there.
Whereabouts are you in Malaysia?
Are you by the seaside? Kuala Lumpur, no.
Oh, KL,
as they call it.
I have comedians when I,
yeah, KL, yeah.
When I joke with comedians
in Malaysia,
I tell them like,
oh, in Malaysia,
there's a ceiling for comedy, right?
And the ceiling is Australia.
You know,
that's the most they can go to Australia,
a show there every couple of years.
And it's a little bit too real, but it's also true, you know.
So do you live in the high rise?
Right now?
No, in Kuala Lumpur.
I don't live there.
No, where your parents live?
No, I hate high rises,
which is one of the few things I agree with them.
But in Asia, they love the high rises, man.
They love a high rise, don't they?
You go to Vauxhall just Chinese people
in those buildings
I think there's something
about how it connotes
prestige and status
back in Asia
being high ups
that's what I like
about Britain
you preserve the old shit
I live a period of property
and Britain's converted me
to liking old stuff
what do you think
of the wine Nigel?
I haven't really had it yet.
God, we're really putting him under pressure.
Well, he does it on my fucking rice.
Fresh taste is good.
It's good, isn't it?
Yeah, it is.
I really love it.
Yeah, it's strong.
So the last supper,
we know what the pudding's going to be
because that was a nostalgic memory of your childhood.
I don't know if I pudding if I didn't know.
I don't think you've ever made it.
What would be your starter?
So I was thinking about this on the way here
and I think,
you know,
I think it probably will be
the only western-y dish on it.
So it's,
I had this at a restaurant
in Seattle.
Fagra on deep fried brioche.
Oh my word.
You like that?
You like that?
Yeah. The brioche is my god you like that isn't that
what was the restaurant
a place called Sawyer
New American
it's the stomach of a geese
oh my god
and you're eating that
oh piss off mum
I've never had foie gras
you lie
I've never had foie gras in my life
it's delicious.
It's good.
Is it?
It's very good.
It's the liver.
And they force feed, they put a funnel in a geese's mouth.
It's quite mean.
Are you going to carry on eating it after you've heard about that?
Yeah.
I know.
It makes me want to eat it more.
Oh, it does.
Yes.
Force feed that goose.
Torture.
Yeah.
Okay.
Okay.
So that's your starter.
You don't want a geese to die for nothing, you know?
You want to enjoy it.
So the foie gras on deep fried brioche.
It's fried.
I don't know if it's deep fried, but fried.
I don't know the difference, but maybe it's crispy.
It was delightful, and it was at a place called Sawyer.
Sawyer, yeah.
Okay, so that's your starter.
So good.
Main?
Main.
Oh, the other starter.
Can I have two starters?
Yes.
So, roti? Maine Oh The other starter Can I have two starters? So
Because
You know what
For the people that turned off
When you said foie gras
Redeem yourself
And choose something else
It's guacamole
Don't say guacamole either
It's not guacamole
What is it?
Guacamole
I think guacamole is the crime
Foie gras is okay
Okay
Guacamole is the hate crime
Fine
Guacamole
Anything you can eat While watching the Superbowl That's not That shouldn't be on your bucket list foie gras is okay okay all right only is the hate crime fine guacamole that's anything you
can eat while watching a super bowl that's not that shouldn't be on your bucket okay you mean
yeah tuck it yeah yeah you really got it in for jamie oh jamie i'm gonna have to have a word with
him after and say listen i legitimately like turn off went to the next episode after i heard that
seriously i was like the fuck okay come on second second
starter roti planta you know roti in malaysia roti chana is a classic thing but roti planta
is one it's crispier they use butter or ghee on it i don't know what kind of butter they use
but it's crispier it's saltier it has a slick oil on it you know what roti is so bloody good
planta means butter in malaysia
oh so it's just a piece of roti it's a roti but like yeah no stuffing no stuffing just but you
dip it in dal or a curry sauce curry sauce oh yeah that's it okay so which which curry would
you be dipping it in or would you be yeah would you be doing dal i'll probably do dal
any particular dal anything from the hawker but really you know yeah would you be doing dal i'll probably do dal any particular dal anything from
the hawker but really you know yeah um that's yeah i've never had that one okay main main is
really tough when i was thinking about this and i think it has to be some sort of like
dish with meat and of course with rice so i'm gonna go with heinanese chicken rice
heinanese chicken rice Hainanese chicken rice
isn't that what you said
mum's
chicken rice
the rice
has like some
overtones
I mean he's not
yeah
so the chicken's
poached
so it's the only
time I enjoy
chicken breasts
because they
cook it
and then
once it's done
immediately dip it
into an ice bath
so the chicken's
cooked but the
moisture doesn't
evaporate because the ice bath cools it down immediately chicken's cooked but the moisture doesn't evaporate because
the ice bath cools it down immediately that's really interesting i never need to do so like
chicken breast tastes like silk like you can eat the whole thing chicken breast just kind of melts
in your mouth and to i mean to cook chicken breast is already really hard and to make chicken breast
tastes like silk they have a texture of that softness that melting of mouth that's
that's next level and then it's served at room temperature.
The chicken's like not,
it's just lukewarm.
And do you ever make this at home?
No, impossible.
Really?
Impossible.
You need one,
you need professional chefs.
My friend who runs Mei Mei at Borough Market,
a Singaporean restaurant.
Yeah, she's good.
Mei Mei.
Can we go there? Yeah, we did. me can we go there yeah we did we sat
there at the yeah we sat on the stools yeah so good I filmed a few videos with her she's she's
great uh gonna see her on Friday to eat actually what did we have with the fried egg on top I think
we had nasi goreng or something like that nasi goreng is fried rice nasi lemak probably
had a fried rice a fried egg on the top yes yes yes i was
semi-loved her will do will do um okay so so that's your main we've got pudding and what
drink are we going for oh drink open with sparkling sake sparkling you know i love that
so how do you make is it you buy it like champagne yeah I want to add something
I don't make the
Hainanese chicken rice dish
because the pros
they use a sous vide machine
to get it
you could get a sous vide machine
no don't
Jesse
please don't
get any ideas
they're quite
cumbersome
yeah and then you use it
a couple times a year
Max
you know
I would rather just get an Uber
to my friend's place
eat
have a good time
yeah
should I get the dessert yes please I still want to see a bit of uncle roger yeah we'll we'll
we'll do it don't worry yeah yeah yeah we'll whip it out um so we've got your last oh no i'm mom
yeah don't say it like that about the orange t-shirt you're so disgusting um i'm literally
ringing jamie dimitri actually'm going to text him now and say
Nigel is
rinsing me
he has a very confident
voice and demeanour
and then
what vegetarian
what guacamole
oh
ooh
I hope it's
I love a pavlova
is that British pavlova
it's kind of Australian
I think
because someone I dated
made one for me
before I was like oh this is new and very good you know so how is dating in the UK It's kind of Australian, I think. Because someone I dated made one for me before.
I was like, oh, this is new.
I'm very good.
How is dating in the UK?
Are you on any apps?
Yeah, I'm not used to.
And then in LA, I got on Raya.
Oh, forget about it.
I know.
It's the worst.
It's the worst.
It makes you hate yourself.
I'm saying that like I'm married.
None of them have personality. You know, when you're on the regular apps. People seem to be doing well on Hinge. worse it's the worst it makes you hate yourself well i'm saying that like i'm married and i have
personality you know you when you're on the regular apps people seem to be doing well on
hinge from what i got banned from hinge this is real they thought i was impersonating a youtuber
because on the hinge you can't get verified so people reported my account saying this guy's
pretending to be a famous youtuber who uncle roger Roger? Yeah. They thought you were... No, people thought
someone with like
my number of followers
would not be on Hinge.
Someone else is using my photos.
Yeah.
And then...
Oh, I'm so sorry for you.
There's no way to appeal.
I'm sure people are
listening to Hinge now.
Yeah.
Hinge, unblock me.
I'm trying to find happiness here.
That's outrageous.
I like just meeting people
through friends
and at shows. It's more
organic, you know? Yeah. Mum, this is lovely. Is it? Flaky, crumbly. Jamie Dimitri has replied.
Oh no. Let's see. I'm a fucking tourist. I don't know anything.
Sorry, Jamie. Mum, this is delicious.
Do you want some more, anyone?
Please.
I'll take a little bite more.
Oh, yes, Nigel!
Oh, my darling.
It is good.
Do you know, I'm so happy.
He could have really rinsed me.
No, it was really good.
Great chef, Mum.
Do you want that last bit of rhubarb?
Yeah, sure.
Pavlova, you can't really get these in restaurants, can you?
It's rare, is it? No, do you know what? You're right. You don't get a pavlova you can't really get these in restaurants can you it's rare you know
what you're right you don't get a pavlova i love a pavlova but most restaurants don't do it yeah
do you think you've got good table manners nigel and i'm asking you as nigel and then i'm gonna
ask you as uncle roger uncle roger probably not definitely not but me i try i still don't know
which fork to use sometimes it's a fine dining place but most trendy fine
dining expensive places don't even have that a lot of fork thing going on anymore right it's like
courses by course i'll give you at each yeah i love that it's like pretty woman when they start
from the outside and work in that's what he tells it to do i would say it's it's it's okay it's okay
i think you've got a table manners. But every culture is different too.
You know, slurping.
In the Japanese place, I slurp.
Right?
But that's good for them.
Do you have to do that?
Yeah.
To them, if you don't slurp, they think, oh, it's not good.
You're kidding me.
It depends who the chef is and where he's from.
How are you going to work out whether that chef wants you to slurp or not?
I have no idea.
So that's what i'm
saying so sometimes people might think i don't have table manners because i'm slurping and then
the chef's like what the fuck you know but i thought i was supposed to do this so i don't know
and what can't you stand in other people when you're at dinner with them vegans
i dated one once and i'm like you didn't I'm like well I'll have to
you know
date multiple people
you can't give me
everything I want
you need diversity
in your life
yeah
you know
I will
I'll shag you
about eating someone else
you know
diversity is very important
how do you break this
to them
you know
they just have this
character defect
and
mum is grinning and nodding i think you've fallen in
love tonight mum yeah absolutely i'm not sure if it's nigel i've fallen in love with or uncle roger
oh hey yeah exactly in 20 years he'll be uncle roger so don't worry mum nigel it's been such
a pleasure having you you've really like lifted my week. Yeah, me too.
I was feeling very tired and a bit fed up,
and you have been wonderful.
And I think my dad's still tweeting outside.
Oh, he wants to get in on the convo.
I just want to know,
so for everybody who's listening to this,
when this goes out,
you'll probably already be on tour.
I've been on tour since February.
Are your listeners mostly in the UK?
We have a mixture.
We have quite a strong contingent in Australia.
Okay.
So I don't know,
when are you going to Australia?
In two weeks time.
But I'm there twice this year.
Oh.
In June and then also in August.
You are booked.
Nice food, Australia.
Yeah, nice food.
The best food.
Yeah, yeah. Lobster rolls in Melbourne. I are booked. Nice food, Australia. The best food. Yeah, yeah.
Lobster rolls in Melbourne.
Mmm.
I'll try that.
Send me some recommendations.
I am so thrilled to have you.
Uncle Roger has kind of entered
so many people's lives
and you're brilliant
and you're funny and excellent.
I wish you all the best.
Not that I think you need any luck
because you're absolutely smacking it.
I can't wait for you to finally meet jamie oliver i can't wait for that segment of the uncle i seem to have a thing against jamie's don't i you know jamie oh my god yeah do you wish you
were called jamie no but i want to meet jamie one day oliver yeah i believe that I think you'd like him
I think you'd really like him
I think I would you know
maybe Jamie Oliver
shout
you know
let me
if we work together
I'm using this platform
you know
please do
let's film a video
Uncle Roger can make Italian food
and you can roast me Jamie
that is great
that's a great idea
thank you so much
for being on Tape Man
of course
it's been brilliant.
Jessie, I thought I was in for a rinsing tonight.
Mum, he liked you and he took his grub very seriously.
I know, and he had two portions of chicken.
He stayed for an extra glass of the Languedoc.
And he had two portions of my rice.
I consider that a huge success.
And two portions of your pavlova.
And my pavlova.
Basically, two portion nige.
Yeah.
Nige.
Nige. Nige.
I'm talking like my son.
That was a really good way to brighten up a monday evening for me this is the end of our series with people in the house and then after
this you'll be listening to live shows so what a way to finish uh close us out i've really enjoyed
his company i loved it when he puts his la orange shirt on. Oh, bless little Uncle Rog.
I wish him all the best touring all over the world.
Eating lots of rice.
And rinsing.
I do think that he needs to meet Jamie Oliver.
So, yes, you heard it on here.
He's sent out a kind of Game of Thrones request.
We'll probably fall in love.
Thanks for listening.
Lots of love to all the people who support us.
All the people who came up to me during our live shows
and chatted and winked and wanted their photo taken with me
and made this woman who's edging into her 70s.
You are in your 70s.
Okay, I've edged in.
But you made me very, very happy.
New career, and I absolutely loved it.
You sound like you're giving up.
I'm not giving up.
Are you trying to say sayonara to us all?
I want to, I'm thinking about
where we can do more live shows, Diana.
The next few weeks are a chance to hear
what went on in our fabulous live shows.
We have some brilliant guests that maybe some of you have seen on the old internet.
And you'll be hearing an edited version of all those fabulous evenings with our gorgeous audiences.
Thank you to everyone who made it down.
Thank you to everyone that listens to this far and wide.
We can't wait to make more podcasts for you.
And we will see you very soon.