If you'd like to try the curry recipe the ingredients are in the description & for the method head to our website barrylewis.net/recipe/chicken-curry-recipe-cheep-vs-steep-6/ If you want to watch more cheap vs steep check out the playlist featuring chocolate brownies, english cooked breakfast to date and others! ua-cam.com/video/5awtkLiSXHY/v-deo.html
Barry It’s not about the price of the chicken it’s about how the chickens are kept at the farm that matters more..... most cheap chicken is probably not even British chicken and if it is it probably from mass produces chickens rather than free range chickens
I was coming to comment something similar. Particularly for a recipe like this, it would be awesome for you to figure out exactly which ingredients it's worth spending a bit more on. Maybe swapping out just one of the key ingredients each time, like the curry powder, chicken, yoghurt, tomatos... See what's worth upgrading!
Cheap Vs Steep : Lasagna Plenty of different ingredients to source from different grocery stores, but it shouldn't have any risks. Given i was originally going to suggest sushi ... well ... you get the idea. Don't want to poison the kids. Or Mrs. Barry. Or Barry, I guess.
could do a cheap vs steep vs home made like using jar sauce + meat + pasta from each supermarket, then a completely homemade from scratch version like pb cups
Risotto. I think some kind of risotto could work very well for this series! Especially since people always argue how important good (expensive) ingredients are for a risotto...
The only thing I’ve found affects the taste of a risotto is the wine used. It took my parents ages to find a brand that we all love, and it ended up being on the more expensive side of a middle range wine. The quality of the other ingredients doesn’t seem to affect anything though ^^
Maybe you could modify the series to pick afterwards the ingredients that are really making a difference for the ultimate version? That could teach people how to make better decisions for their shopping. It's not about buying all the expensive stuff but making smart decisions that make a difference!
Yes! Like here they said that the rice and chicken had the difference for them. That is indeed a great thing to always do, and maybe make more of a point of it!
@@mrbarrylewis That was the original idea. But maybe it's enough to just explicity pick the ingredients at the end if it takes too much time to cook *another* version
@@mrbarrylewis I think it would be quite useful to go over any ingredients from the steep version that you might want to add to the cheap version. For example, you could say that you might do the cheap version but use more expensive chicken and rice.
Since it's the upcoming restaurant, how about a cheep vs steep homemade pizza? Make your own bases, sauces etc from scratch. You could also add in a cheep vs steep shop made pizza too for comparison.
For the record (I work in the cheaper Supermarket from this episode), we do get loose ginger in but they come in small trays so are often sold out, which is probably why you thought the packaged ones are the only ones at the supermarket 😁
A good tip of mine is dont fry the chicken off. Create the sauce, make sure theres enough liquid and then add the raw chicken. Let it simmer for 15 mins. The chicken will then be nice and moist inside and wont dry out. Works everytime
It'll be moist but it won't have any flavour. Fry it off for a few minutes turning constantly until brown on all sides, pull it out, put to the side and add at the very last second and mix through Full flavour, not boiled chicken, still lovely and moist. Do it every time and it works every time if you are careful for the chicken cooking time
Absolutely no way would I want chicken which hasn’t been fried off. I hate meat that looks anaemic. People who cook sausages like that or just plonk stuff in the slow cooker without frying off first 🤢 🤢
@@handsoffmycactus2958 butter chicken (for example) is often made without searing. You're poaching it in the sauce, so it's not like boiling it in water, and in a sauce rich in staining ingredients like turmeric, chilli powder and paprika the chicken won't be anaemic at all. Chicken is a white meat, so it's not something you can really 'brown' to any significant level without overcooking it anyway. I would agree that things like sausages and beef absolutely need searing - although in many cases that is to contribute to the colour and flavour of the overall dish, through the umami tastes brought about by the maillard reaction.
It's no better than the cheap rice, though, but it's par-boiled, whereas the cheap one isn't. I suspect Barry cooked them both the same way, which means he over-cooked the cheap rice, which is why it turned out so badly. If he'd cooked it properly, it wouldn't have turned to mush.
@@THENAMEISQUICKMAN It's a total con, but it's parboiled, making it easier to cook, which is a good thing, as Barry doesn't seem to know how to cook regular rice. Sorry Barry 🤣
Only ever tried uncle Ben's rice once and it has some mingin flavor to it just simple plain rice but tasted like ass so I'll take the cheap n cope with the texture
About the Greek yogurt: Fage is a Greek brand that was probably imported to UK. So count that to the price 😊 Now there are many yogurts claiming they are Greek but they are not. Greek yogurt is not creamy. It’s more thick. That’s a big problem to me as a Greek living abroad. Original Greek yogurt is not easy to find 😢
I shop mainly at Aldi these days. So much cheaper than other supermarkets and most of the stuff is crackin quality. The odd time I’ve had to Chuck some chicken or mince away for being a bit yuck haha but not that often! The veg can be made questionable (at most supermarkets I find!!) so I just cook with frozen haha frozen onions, peppers, you name it!! All tastes the same once it’s cooked up 😋👍🏻
the thing with "steep" ingredients is it's not always about quality, also its about ethically sourcing, paying higher wages to people involved or just dealing with a much more delicate product
Agreed. As a matter of fact, many of the steep ingredients are available here in Italy and they are just regular priced and not fancy at all. They are good, but not fancy.
Yep. It's a little frustrating things like "living wages" and "humane treatment of animals" and such are never addressed. Yes, my family opts to pay more money for food... but we also want to minimize our participation in literal slavery, so. 🤷🏼♀️
@@khills I’m vegan, but, like I said, many of those ingredients are not fancy, just overpriced, I suppose it’s because he bought them in England. I think one pack of Barilla’s pasta, and I assure you here it’s not fancy at all, goes for twice or more there, just because it’s imported.
Uncle Ben's rice is "converted" rice. It has already been rinsed, parboiled and had other stuff added to it. You do not need to rinse Uncle Ben's rice, indeed it is best you don't but do follow the packet instructions. I buy Thai Jasmine rice (Royal Umbrella) in a sack and the quality, aroma and taste is far superior to either Uncle Ben's or any normal budget bags of long grain rice. I pay around £1.20 per kg for a 10 kg sack from a local Asian market.
Uncle Ben's is very low quality, the fact it's imported is what raised the price. Also I agree with the poster above buy Thai Jasmine Rice it would only half what the Uncle Ben's cost but 10x better. North Western India Basmati rice and Japanese rice are also excellent rices, the cheap stuff you bought is most likely Chinese. A good rice to avoid and certainly not give to kids due to arsenic concerns.
Even Japan grown Japanese rice is £4.50 per kg online, absolutely delicious with katsu curry and worth getting for the occasional Japanese meal. Morrisons sells 5kg bags of Jasmine Rice (not from Thailand, just vaguely labelled as from Asia) for £5 in the world foods section, not the best rice but perfectly acceptable. Honestly for uncooked rice, just go to the world food sections in the supermarket if you don't fancy an extra trip to an asian supermarket.
If the Uncle Ben's rice there is the same as it is here in the USA then it is "parboiled" rice. It's already been rinsed and slightly cooked, which is why every time you make it the grains are separated. It's pretty much fail proof rice. That other "cheap" rice is your standard fare rice that turns out gummy and lumpy such as that did. I have used Uncle Ben's for yrs, and it is pricey here as well. However now its common to find store brand "par boiled" offerings that are much cheaper. Lovely video as always!
Ever thought of doing a "grow your own herbs" kind of video? I'm just getting myself a herb garden set up. Nothing fancy, just some basics I can snip bits off and throw into a meal. Rosemary, mint, chives etc.
Do comparisons between farm shop produce and supermarkets. For example Farm chicken vs Supermarket. Supermarket chicken is injected with water to add weight and has additives and preservatives. The water is lost when it’s cooked. Other meats could be compared and also vegetables and fruits.
Apologies Barry if this has been asked before… When you do the cheap shop do you buy the cheapest tomatoes/chicken et cetera available and the steep shop the most expensive available? I love this playlist just showing up the biggest difference between the two… If you want any recommendations can I suggest either sushi or fishcakes with an Asian salad and poached egg on top?
At home we use the cheap stuff that Asda and Sainsbury's have labelled as "White Rice" and is between 40-45p per 1kg bag. On the back it does say that it's long grain white rice and it cooks pretty well and is cheaper to buy multiple bags of that than one 5kg bag of the Asda or Sainsbury's branded ones that they do in the bigger bags. For cooking, we eon't use the instructions, I measure it using this little plastic cup and put the same amount of cups of water as rice, plus about half a cup more, then just leave it on a medium-high heat with the lid on the saucepan. Then I just leave it until all the water has boiled away. Have used a rice cooker in the past that basically tells me when it's done, so I just copied that method into a saucepan and have the timing kinda worked out. It never turns out sticky like yours and is usually the texture of the Uncle Ben's one you used.
I was going to order his onion copper deal, but it cost more to ship than the whole order. I was truly bummed. I've been watching Barry since he started youtube. Maybe in it won't be so costly to ship to the US. I truly enjoy your vids, I even made a few dishes after watching. Today we are having the impossible pie recipe.. Ty for always being such a cheerful, loveable family!!
Total is my favourite Greek yoghurt by a long way, but Tesco Finest Greek yoghurt is a very close second but over a £1 cheaper. I think its worth the money as one pot will be used for 3 meals either as a marinade, sauce or as a side
cheap rice can come out well if you bake it. you put the rice in a dish, add some oil and whatever spices or herbs you want. mix it thoroughly then add water on a 3 rice to 4 water ratio. cover tightly with foil and bake for 70 mins at 180C. it comes out fluffy every time.
About how often do people in your country have curry? It's available here in the northwestern USA, but I don't think we have it more than once a year on average.
You should make a video on rice, or rather rice+water+salt. It isn't until you start to explore the world of rice that you really start to appreciate it - I mean, yeah, most super markets only carry four different main varieties (and usually two of the varieties from about two to four different regions) but it still is worth exploring the different types' qualities and how to best use them (yes, there are multiple ways to prepare and cook rice). Personally I have pakistani basmati as my baseline rice, but there is with good reason that I normally (state of the world exception) have 5-12 different "kinds" (some simply are differences in region) of rice at home. And that is with long grained rice alone (short grained rice is even more varied in terms of qualities of that which is carried in normal super market stores).
Great vid as always, would have been good if you pointed out the chicken was significantly more expensive because it wasn't battery farmed like the cheap one, unlike most of the other ingredients, there's an ethical aspect to that one
I always find this with cheap supermarket chicken in a curry, no matter what I do it always seems a bit rubbery and it never browns properly, doesn't seem to stick to the sauce as much either.
Seems like you're right, hmm. well it always seems very wet which prevents the maillard reaction from forming easily. Maybe as a result of being previously frozen, or just poor battery chickens...
@@TheErador Yes, there is a difference. The Chinese use Corn flour/Starch to make marinades stick to meat -- maybe try some cornflour in your sauce as a workaround or marinade the meat?
Fish and Chips could be a little difficult as to truly get the best result you need a deepfryer, and they're not exactly common in UK households. Would be interesting to see the difference in fish batter, though - you'd think "batter is batter"
The pound is worth more than a dollar tho. I follow another Brit youtuber (Grackle) who does a lot of shopping/cooking based content & when I mentioned once I was shocked at their food costs someone in comments pointed that out to me...but even with that I think it's a good bit less, our food prices in the US are ridiculous in far too many places. 😖
Agreed, it never ceases to amaze me how inexpensive their groceries can be. Even accounting for currency conversion, the cheap version here was less than $8. Where I live, half that budget would be gone just for the chicken!
It was definitely eye opening living there. We ate far better-in part because salad greens, in particular, were so much cheaper, but also because stores were literally around the block, so there was minimal food waste. Add in actually relatively health and inexpensive prepared stuff (I miss fish pie so much), and full salad, entre, bread, dessert dinners could be done in 30 minutes for under 5 USD.
Gotta say, since you're not using cast iron you should start your pan off really hot, do the chicken first and get a quick sear. Lower the heat to medium and add the onions, wait a minute or two and then add the ginger and garlic to sweat off for another minute or so. Then you get the seared flavor without fully cooking it and you don't end up with over-done chicken after all that simmering.
Here in California the garlic comes from either Christopher Garlic Co. in Gilroy California or from China... China's garlic the roots are missing so I always go for the Gilroy garlic with the roots..
Yes, always buy the best tomatoes you can afford. They will be contain more goodness but the taste will be outstanding. I made a pasta dish once, put good quality tomatoes in, it hardly needed anything else!
With the weather getting warmer, how about comparing salads? Are organic vegetables really more palatable than the more uniformly grown mass produced ones? I remember my parents used to grow their own tomatoes a few years ago, and I was amazed at how they tasted, compared to the boring, dull, watery tasting ones from the supermarket.
The more expensive chicken likely tasted better because of the way it was treated when it was alive, also the food chickens are fed is significant because it affects the over all taste, i would love to see some educational videos on hear about the quality of food and finding a way to be more ethical without braking the bank? Just a thought, definitely going to give this curry recipe a try
Marinade the chicken in yoghurt with some curry powder overnight to get tender chicken and grill it to char, tandoori style before doing the sauce. Sauté spices along with onions for a more authentic restaurant style curry, but without the hassle of having to add individual spices., gravy base etc. Then add chicken and simmer. A trick to thicken curries is to finely dice onions/tomato purée, sauté in spices, then blitz to a paste and add. I’d love to see you do an authentic British Restaurant style curry from scratch.
One thing to note about the yoghurt is that Total is proper Greek yoghurt (made by a Greek company) and the cheap is Greek style yoghurt which is a lot more artificial and goes through a shorter manufacturing process.
Barry It’s not about the price of the chicken it’s about how the chickens are kept at the farm that matters more..... most cheap chicken is probably not even British chicken and if it is it probably from mass produces chickens rather than free range chickens That’s why we get all out meat from the local butchers
@@alexdavis5766 the local butchers can trace the meat back to,the farms and its all local as well and they make their own sausages and burgers so we know it’s good meat
@@CricketEngland they do if you still have local butchers, unfortunately they have disappeared here, also the cheap meat is actually injected with water to pad it out, and sometimes chlorinated.
I wouldn't trust a local butchers, christ knows where their meat comes from or how old it is, and i think i would rather my meat comes from outside of the UK, to be honest, i don't really trust the farmers here.
@@Bill-Door then you really don’t know what good quality food we produced in the UK. Most if not all local butchers source their meats independently and knowing exactly where it comes from and actually if you find a good one (not these odd Saturday market butchers but those that have shops open 6 days a week) you will find most have long queues on Saturdays because they are so popular. You will find the old chain butchers like Dwehurst back in 80’s have all closed down and it now independent butchers that are around although these are far and few between these days but most are very good and I would far rather have good quality meats that I know what local farms they come from rather that anything from overseas when you don’t know what’s goes on.
Have you ever considered tasting the main individual ingredients from cheep v steep? Maybe even creating a new series comparing plain cheep v hybrid steep?
I think the most common theory is you buy bulking agents (i.e. Tomatoes, Beans, Rice) cheap and your finer more delicate elements (herbs, spices etc.) you get higher end and with meat you always get the best you can afford, especially if it is the main part of the dish.
What is the cheap supermarket? But Waitrose does sell some things that you can’t find in other shops for example their spices section is really extensive and you can find all kinds of things.
I would love to see the Barry family take a trip to California and do a split cheap vs steep video. Even your steep seems cheap against middle of the road in California.
Greek style and natural Greek yoghurt are pretty different, which would explain the price. They are made very differently and one is more expensive to make. Greek style they just add thickeners or milk powder to it and its still a bit runny. Actual plain Greek yoghurt they strain the whey and don't add anything, so its naturally thicker and more nutritious.
The cheap rice would have been fine but you need to rinse it 2 or 3 times to get all the starch out. Soaking rice is sometimes not enough because you are soaking the rice in starchy water. You need to stir the rice in the cold water and change the water every 15 mins a couple of times or run under the cold tap in a fine sieve until the water runs clear.
Your rice came out that way because of cooking method. It can be a little difficult to make it on the stove, especially if it's not something you do often. A rice cooker is the easy way to go, but if you don't have one, you can try pouring the rinsed rice into boiling water in an oven safe pot, which you then cover and bake at 190 C for 20 - 25 minutes. Texture will probably be a lot better. Rinsing for longer can help, too. The expensive stuff is just par-cooked so it's harder to mess up. That's the only difference.
Ive been eating rice whole my life... i think it depends on what kind of rice you are buying. Long grain rice tends to have more amylose which makes it not gummy and sticky which is the more expensive rice while short grain rice tends to have more amylopectin that makes the rice stick to each other. To make the rice "drier" you just have to adjust the water, less water less sticky.. it just need to be enough to cook it but if yoy put too much water than yeah.. it will taste watery, I think the rice is based on preference and the price doesn't really do much on what it actually served and tasted
Can someone explain why at 8:03 when he said about colour difference a photo of a black man comes up in the bottom right hand corner? Am I missing something
If you'd like to try the curry recipe the ingredients are in the description & for the method head to our website barrylewis.net/recipe/chicken-curry-recipe-cheep-vs-steep-6/
If you want to watch more cheap vs steep check out the playlist featuring chocolate brownies, english cooked breakfast to date and others! ua-cam.com/video/5awtkLiSXHY/v-deo.html
Cant wait!
What's with the face popping up in the bottom right hand corner of the vid at around the 8 minute mark?
Barry It’s not about the price of the chicken it’s about how the chickens are kept at the farm that matters more..... most cheap chicken is probably not even British chicken and if it is it probably from mass produces chickens rather than free range chickens
How about doing cheap v steap v takeaway Fish and Chips
It's not that we can't stand cilantro, we literally can't eat it, lololol.
I'd love to see a "cheep vs steep, best dish possible" where you take the lessons learned from these and make the best, cheapest dish.
Atomic Shrimp made meals for under a Pound.
@@dogwalker666 lol, now that sounds great
I was coming to comment something similar. Particularly for a recipe like this, it would be awesome for you to figure out exactly which ingredients it's worth spending a bit more on. Maybe swapping out just one of the key ingredients each time, like the curry powder, chicken, yoghurt, tomatos... See what's worth upgrading!
Was just going to request this, highlighting the individual ingredients that were actually worth it
Cool idea
Mrs B saying "I hope *you* are well" made my day and I don't know why!
i’ve been watching barry since the beginning and it’s actually so cool to see all the new stuff he’s doing and how far he’s come!! :)
Thanks Ellie
Same here, love the stuff Barry comes up with.
It's good to see he has proper grown up haircut now as well right?
Cheap Vs Steep : Lasagna
Plenty of different ingredients to source from different grocery stores, but it shouldn't have any risks.
Given i was originally going to suggest sushi ... well ... you get the idea. Don't want to poison the kids. Or Mrs. Barry.
Or Barry, I guess.
could do a cheap vs steep vs home made
like using jar sauce + meat + pasta from each supermarket, then a completely homemade from scratch version like pb cups
Risotto. I think some kind of risotto could work very well for this series! Especially since people always argue how important good (expensive) ingredients are for a risotto...
Great idea that
There's no where to hide with a risotto, but I would argue that good ingredients aren't always expensive.
The only thing I’ve found affects the taste of a risotto is the wine used. It took my parents ages to find a brand that we all love, and it ended up being on the more expensive side of a middle range wine. The quality of the other ingredients doesn’t seem to affect anything though ^^
@@niatheelf I make risotto in the microwave using vegetable stock sage and squash and a bit of parmesan it's amazing.
Maybe you could modify the series to pick afterwards the ingredients that are really making a difference for the ultimate version? That could teach people how to make better decisions for their shopping. It's not about buying all the expensive stuff but making smart decisions that make a difference!
Yes! Like here they said that the rice and chicken had the difference for them. That is indeed a great thing to always do, and maybe make more of a point of it!
yes!! that's probably the most important part to get out of these videos
So how would that work please? We would do the cheap vs steep ahead of time? Then do a third ultimate version?
@@mrbarrylewis That was the original idea. But maybe it's enough to just explicity pick the ingredients at the end if it takes too much time to cook *another* version
@@mrbarrylewis I think it would be quite useful to go over any ingredients from the steep version that you might want to add to the cheap version. For example, you could say that you might do the cheap version but use more expensive chicken and rice.
Yoghurt and Greek yoghurt are 2 very different things. I’m surprised the Greek yoghurt one didn’t split. It’s notorious for that!
Since it's the upcoming restaurant, how about a cheep vs steep homemade pizza? Make your own bases, sauces etc from scratch. You could also add in a cheep vs steep shop made pizza too for comparison.
Happy to see you have new oven gloves!
i love these cheap vs steep love watching you and mrs barry together and also when the kids come in brill xx
For the record (I work in the cheaper Supermarket from this episode), we do get loose ginger in but they come in small trays so are often sold out, which is probably why you thought the packaged ones are the only ones at the supermarket 😁
This is my favourite meal of all time. Much love to you and family.
i love your vids they help me get through so much thank you
Thanks glad they can help I appreciate the support
A good tip of mine is dont fry the chicken off. Create the sauce, make sure theres enough liquid and then add the raw chicken. Let it simmer for 15 mins. The chicken will then be nice and moist inside and wont dry out. Works everytime
It'll be moist but it won't have any flavour. Fry it off for a few minutes turning constantly until brown on all sides, pull it out, put to the side and add at the very last second and mix through
Full flavour, not boiled chicken, still lovely and moist. Do it every time and it works every time if you are careful for the chicken cooking time
Absolutely no way would I want chicken which hasn’t been fried off. I hate meat that looks anaemic. People who cook sausages like that or just plonk stuff in the slow cooker without frying off first 🤢 🤢
@@handsoffmycactus2958 least appetising thing is freaking boiled chicken.
@@handsoffmycactus2958 butter chicken (for example) is often made without searing. You're poaching it in the sauce, so it's not like boiling it in water, and in a sauce rich in staining ingredients like turmeric, chilli powder and paprika the chicken won't be anaemic at all. Chicken is a white meat, so it's not something you can really 'brown' to any significant level without overcooking it anyway.
I would agree that things like sausages and beef absolutely need searing - although in many cases that is to contribute to the colour and flavour of the overall dish, through the umami tastes brought about by the maillard reaction.
Just use thighs
Keep the Cheap vs Steep vids coming! Love you both xx
Uncle Ben best be coming to cook the rice too for that price! Jesus.
Let's get Barry a sponsorship from Uncle Ben's, at that price it should come free
It's no better than the cheap rice, though, but it's par-boiled, whereas the cheap one isn't.
I suspect Barry cooked them both the same way, which means he over-cooked the cheap rice, which is why it turned out so badly.
If he'd cooked it properly, it wouldn't have turned to mush.
@@THENAMEISQUICKMAN It's a total con, but it's parboiled, making it easier to cook, which is a good thing, as Barry doesn't seem to know how to cook regular rice.
Sorry Barry 🤣
Yeah, Barry WAY overpaid for that - the equiv US price for that package is about GBP 1.40. 😂
Only ever tried uncle Ben's rice once and it has some mingin flavor to it just simple plain rice but tasted like ass so I'll take the cheap n cope with the texture
About the Greek yogurt: Fage is a Greek brand that was probably imported to UK. So count that to the price 😊 Now there are many yogurts claiming they are Greek but they are not. Greek yogurt is not creamy. It’s more thick. That’s a big problem to me as a Greek living abroad. Original Greek yogurt is not easy to find 😢
binging the cheap vs steep episodes. I'm gonna need more
I shop mainly at Aldi these days. So much cheaper than other supermarkets and most of the stuff is crackin quality. The odd time I’ve had to Chuck some chicken or mince away for being a bit yuck haha but not that often! The veg can be made questionable (at most supermarkets I find!!) so I just cook with frozen haha frozen onions, peppers, you name it!! All tastes the same once it’s cooked up 😋👍🏻
the thing with "steep" ingredients is it's not always about quality, also its about ethically sourcing, paying higher wages to people involved or just dealing with a much more delicate product
Agreed. As a matter of fact, many of the steep ingredients are available here in Italy and they are just regular priced and not fancy at all. They are good, but not fancy.
Aldi has some of the best ethics and fairest pay of all the supermarkets. They're renowned for it
Yeah but you’d rightly expect the end result to taste better if you’re shelling out a lot more. Simple
Yep. It's a little frustrating things like "living wages" and "humane treatment of animals" and such are never addressed. Yes, my family opts to pay more money for food... but we also want to minimize our participation in literal slavery, so. 🤷🏼♀️
@@khills I’m vegan, but, like I said, many of those ingredients are not fancy, just overpriced, I suppose it’s because he bought them in England. I think one pack of Barilla’s pasta, and I assure you here it’s not fancy at all, goes for twice or more there, just because it’s imported.
Could you do a spag bol one I think that could be interesting as it's almost a basic recipe
You just made my day, thankyou for the upload!! 😊 Hello from South Wales UK!
South Wales is the best 👍🏼
Uncle Ben's rice is "converted" rice. It has already been rinsed, parboiled and had other stuff added to it. You do not need to rinse Uncle Ben's rice, indeed it is best you don't but do follow the packet instructions. I buy Thai Jasmine rice (Royal Umbrella) in a sack and the quality, aroma and taste is far superior to either Uncle Ben's or any normal budget bags of long grain rice. I pay around £1.20 per kg for a 10 kg sack from a local Asian market.
Uncle Ben's is very low quality, the fact it's imported is what raised the price. Also I agree with the poster above buy Thai Jasmine Rice it would only half what the Uncle Ben's cost but 10x better. North Western India Basmati rice and Japanese rice are also excellent rices, the cheap stuff you bought is most likely Chinese. A good rice to avoid and certainly not give to kids due to arsenic concerns.
Even Japan grown Japanese rice is £4.50 per kg online, absolutely delicious with katsu curry and worth getting for the occasional Japanese meal. Morrisons sells 5kg bags of Jasmine Rice (not from Thailand, just vaguely labelled as from Asia) for £5 in the world foods section, not the best rice but perfectly acceptable. Honestly for uncooked rice, just go to the world food sections in the supermarket if you don't fancy an extra trip to an asian supermarket.
I just buy the cheapest rice at the store to be honest😂
@@Fiddling_while_Rome_burns Hi. I've not heard about the issue with rice, can you provide some sources for the arsenic concerns?
@@jakesdiner All rice has arsenic, this is why it is important to thoroughly wash rice through to remove most of it (not just for starch reasons)
If the Uncle Ben's rice there is the same as it is here in the USA then it is "parboiled" rice. It's already been rinsed and slightly cooked, which is why every time you make it the grains are separated. It's pretty much fail proof rice. That other "cheap" rice is your standard fare rice that turns out gummy and lumpy such as that did. I have used Uncle Ben's for yrs, and it is pricey here as well. However now its common to find store brand "par boiled" offerings that are much cheaper. Lovely video as always!
Ever thought of doing a "grow your own herbs" kind of video? I'm just getting myself a herb garden set up. Nothing fancy, just some basics I can snip bits off and throw into a meal. Rosemary, mint, chives etc.
Barry, your videos make me so happy, and are really getting me through lockdown
Do comparisons between farm shop produce and supermarkets. For example Farm chicken vs Supermarket. Supermarket chicken is injected with water to add weight and has additives and preservatives. The water is lost when it’s cooked. Other meats could be compared and also vegetables and fruits.
Apologies Barry if this has been asked before… When you do the cheap shop do you buy the cheapest tomatoes/chicken et cetera available and the steep shop the most expensive available? I love this playlist just showing up the biggest difference between the two… If you want any recommendations can I suggest either sushi or fishcakes with an Asian salad and poached egg on top?
Thanks for the recipe Barry
I coukd really go for a curry now, looks yummy!
Hi, Barry .. what do you do with all the meals you make? Do you eat them as a family for lunches ect? ....
Ah a new upload time to procrastinate doing my dissertation
I wish you the best of luck sir
@@tethfrute3569 thank you
Good luck :)
@@mrbarrylewis Thank you!
Same!!!
Really interesting these cheep Vs steep vids. Looking forward to the next one! 👍
Barry I’d love you and the fam to taste individual steep vs cheap items and guess which is the most expensive 😍
Love watch these cheep and steep
So strange. I just cooked myself a chicken tikka masala and while tucking in I thought "lets check UA-cam" and lo and behold here this video is!
My favorite cooking channel, family style!!! Thank you so much. Your channel has encouraged my family to cook more together.
Oh, I don't think I've ever been at a video so early on before!
Love this series btw, great idea and enjoy how you execute it.
At home we use the cheap stuff that Asda and Sainsbury's have labelled as "White Rice" and is between 40-45p per 1kg bag. On the back it does say that it's long grain white rice and it cooks pretty well and is cheaper to buy multiple bags of that than one 5kg bag of the Asda or Sainsbury's branded ones that they do in the bigger bags.
For cooking, we eon't use the instructions, I measure it using this little plastic cup and put the same amount of cups of water as rice, plus about half a cup more, then just leave it on a medium-high heat with the lid on the saucepan. Then I just leave it until all the water has boiled away. Have used a rice cooker in the past that basically tells me when it's done, so I just copied that method into a saucepan and have the timing kinda worked out. It never turns out sticky like yours and is usually the texture of the Uncle Ben's one you used.
My wife introduced me to good rice. I'll never go back. XD
Spices are oddly all over cost wise. Cheap spices can be startlingly good or really flat.
I love cheap vs steep. I also love Mrs. B.
I was going to order his onion copper deal, but it cost more to ship than the whole order. I was truly bummed. I've been watching Barry since he started youtube. Maybe in it won't be so costly to ship to the US. I truly enjoy your vids, I even made a few dishes after watching. Today we are having the impossible pie recipe.. Ty for always being such a cheerful, loveable family!!
Was not expecting you to do my suggestion on last cheap v steep. Glad you made curry :-)
Total is my favourite Greek yoghurt by a long way, but Tesco Finest Greek yoghurt is a very close second but over a £1 cheaper. I think its worth the money as one pot will be used for 3 meals either as a marinade, sauce or as a side
The tomatoes are definitly worth going steep. Huge differens in taste 👍
I love this series !
cheap rice can come out well if you bake it. you put the rice in a dish, add some oil and whatever spices or herbs you want. mix it thoroughly then add water on a 3 rice to 4 water ratio. cover tightly with foil and bake for 70 mins at 180C. it comes out fluffy every time.
Barry, do you have a way to clean the curry smell out of that silicone spatula you used? I’ve tried everything!
Hi. Usually what I have found is that loose ginger is usually soo much cheaper than the prepacked ginger (@ 3 minutes...)
Really enjoyed this....
Only just found you...
And we like what we see... Keep up the great work...
Take care.....
About how often do people in your country have curry? It's available here in the northwestern USA, but I don't think we have it more than once a year on average.
You should make a video on rice, or rather rice+water+salt.
It isn't until you start to explore the world of rice that you really start to appreciate it - I mean, yeah, most super markets only carry four different main varieties (and usually two of the varieties from about two to four different regions) but it still is worth exploring the different types' qualities and how to best use them (yes, there are multiple ways to prepare and cook rice).
Personally I have pakistani basmati as my baseline rice, but there is with good reason that I normally (state of the world exception) have 5-12 different "kinds" (some simply are differences in region) of rice at home. And that is with long grained rice alone (short grained rice is even more varied in terms of qualities of that which is carried in normal super market stores).
Great vid as always, would have been good if you pointed out the chicken was significantly more expensive because it wasn't battery farmed like the cheap one, unlike most of the other ingredients, there's an ethical aspect to that one
Yes!! Been waiting for another cheap Vs steep video 😃😃😃
Barry wearing a donut shirt with Homer glaring in the background makes me giggle
I always find this with cheap supermarket chicken in a curry, no matter what I do it always seems a bit rubbery and it never browns properly, doesn't seem to stick to the sauce as much either.
I know exactly what you mean
That's because it's injected with water to increase the weight and plumpness
Grade 'A' chicken in the UK is never plumped with water. I don't think supermarkets sell less than grade A
Seems like you're right, hmm. well it always seems very wet which prevents the maillard reaction from forming easily. Maybe as a result of being previously frozen, or just poor battery chickens...
@@TheErador Yes, there is a difference.
The Chinese use Corn flour/Starch to make marinades stick to meat -- maybe try some cornflour in your sauce as a workaround or marinade the meat?
How about doing cheap v steap v takeaway Fish and Chips
yessss
Fish and Chips could be a little difficult as to truly get the best result you need a deepfryer, and they're not exactly common in UK households. Would be interesting to see the difference in fish batter, though - you'd think "batter is batter"
@@THENAMEISQUICKMAN no you didn’t you could use like fish cakes or cod or haddock in batter that is cooked in the over which is less fattening
I make my own in panko bread crumbs - i now prefer it to the local chip shops
I think getting the timing right would be hard, too, especially when it comes to the chips
With Xmas there definitely would've been a great opportunity to do a cheap vs steep Christmas dinner!
Im still shocked how inexpensive food is in the uk vs america. Even our budget food is nowhere near as cheap as yours 😭
The pound is worth more than a dollar tho. I follow another Brit youtuber (Grackle) who does a lot of shopping/cooking based content & when I mentioned once I was shocked at their food costs someone in comments pointed that out to me...but even with that I think it's a good bit less, our food prices in the US are ridiculous in far too many places. 😖
Agreed, it never ceases to amaze me how inexpensive their groceries can be. Even accounting for currency conversion, the cheap version here was less than $8. Where I live, half that budget would be gone just for the chicken!
It was definitely eye opening living there. We ate far better-in part because salad greens, in particular, were so much cheaper, but also because stores were literally around the block, so there was minimal food waste. Add in actually relatively health and inexpensive prepared stuff (I miss fish pie so much), and full salad, entre, bread, dessert dinners could be done in 30 minutes for under 5 USD.
We love our 'gummy' rice here in Japan, but oh man either of those look amazing.
Barry is the large fryingpan cast iron where did you get the from please cheers Ali
Again, I'm shocked at how cheap groceries are in the UK. The cheap in the US would be the steep price from the UK.
Gotta say, since you're not using cast iron you should start your pan off really hot, do the chicken first and get a quick sear. Lower the heat to medium and add the onions, wait a minute or two and then add the ginger and garlic to sweat off for another minute or so. Then you get the seared flavor without fully cooking it and you don't end up with over-done chicken after all that simmering.
Well done Mrs B.!!! Very Kedgeree!!!!
Here in California the garlic comes from either Christopher Garlic Co. in Gilroy California or from China... China's garlic the roots are missing so I always go for the Gilroy garlic with the roots..
You would definitely see the difference with the tomatoes in a pasta dish. San marzanos are quality
Yes, always buy the best tomatoes you can afford. They will be contain more goodness but the taste will be outstanding.
I made a pasta dish once, put good quality tomatoes in, it hardly needed anything else!
With the weather getting warmer, how about comparing salads? Are organic vegetables really more palatable than the more uniformly grown mass produced ones? I remember my parents used to grow their own tomatoes a few years ago, and I was amazed at how they tasted, compared to the boring, dull, watery tasting ones from the supermarket.
The more expensive chicken likely tasted better because of the way it was treated when it was alive, also the food chickens are fed is significant because it affects the over all taste, i would love to see some educational videos on hear about the quality of food and finding a way to be more ethical without braking the bank? Just a thought, definitely going to give this curry recipe a try
I cant handle how you cooked rice ! Love this idea grea channel, if you want a to how I coon rice let me know 😀
I'll bite... Do tell
I’ve found in the states, organic chicken is so much better tasting g than a cheaper chicken. To me always worth it
Marinade the chicken in yoghurt with some curry powder overnight to get tender chicken and grill it to char, tandoori style before doing the sauce. Sauté spices along with onions for a more authentic restaurant style curry, but without the hassle of having to add individual spices., gravy base etc.
Then add chicken and simmer. A trick to thicken curries is to finely dice onions/tomato purée, sauté in spices, then blitz to a paste and add. I’d love to see you do an authentic British Restaurant style curry from scratch.
One thing to note about the yoghurt is that Total is proper Greek yoghurt (made by a Greek company) and the cheap is Greek style yoghurt which is a lot more artificial and goes through a shorter manufacturing process.
Barry It’s not about the price of the chicken it’s about how the chickens are kept at the farm that matters more..... most cheap chicken is probably not even British chicken and if it is it probably from mass produces chickens rather than free range chickens
That’s why we get all out meat from the local butchers
That’s why I don’t eat meat at all, but everyone should buy the most expensive meat they can afford
@@alexdavis5766 the local butchers can trace the meat back to,the farms and its all local as well and they make their own sausages and burgers so we know it’s good meat
@@CricketEngland they do if you still have local butchers, unfortunately they have disappeared here, also the cheap meat is actually injected with water to pad it out, and sometimes chlorinated.
I wouldn't trust a local butchers, christ knows where their meat comes from or how old it is, and i think i would rather my meat comes from outside of the UK, to be honest, i don't really trust the farmers here.
@@Bill-Door then you really don’t know what good quality food we produced in the UK.
Most if not all local butchers source their meats independently and knowing exactly where it comes from and actually if you find a good one (not these odd Saturday market butchers but those that have shops open 6 days a week) you will find most have long queues on Saturdays because they are so popular.
You will find the old chain butchers like Dwehurst back in 80’s have all closed down and it now independent butchers that are around although these are far and few between these days but most are very good and I would far rather have good quality meats that I know what local farms they come from rather that anything from overseas when you don’t know what’s goes on.
Oh that looks so good. I want curry now. 🤔
For curry, surely extra long grain basmati rice rather than American long grain?
Have you ever considered tasting the main individual ingredients from cheep v steep? Maybe even creating a new series comparing plain cheep v hybrid steep?
Brilliant video barry
Love your videos 😊. How about "cheap vs steep - shop bought pastries/pasties/pies /sausage rolls" 😊. Is it worth the money for on the go?. Xx
I think the most common theory is you buy bulking agents (i.e. Tomatoes, Beans, Rice) cheap and your finer more delicate elements (herbs, spices etc.) you get higher end and with meat you always get the best you can afford, especially if it is the main part of the dish.
Cheap vs steep roast dinner that would be so good and interesting to see
I'd like you to say which ingredients were better in each version.
How about cheap v steep lasagne or shepherd's pie
Got to do a cheap vs steep roast dinner Barry (then you can add it to the British roast dinner playlist too, 2 4 1!) 😉
Ive tried the cheap rice before. IMO, it doesn't need half as long cooking time as its suggested on the pack.
What is the cheap supermarket? But Waitrose does sell some things that you can’t find in other shops for example their spices section is really extensive and you can find all kinds of things.
Both Boston and Barry are still trying to figure out Phoebe's magic disappearence trick!!
I would love to see the Barry family take a trip to California and do a split cheap vs steep video. Even your steep seems cheap against middle of the road in California.
Greek style and natural Greek yoghurt are pretty different, which would explain the price. They are made very differently and one is more expensive to make. Greek style they just add thickeners or milk powder to it and its still a bit runny. Actual plain Greek yoghurt they strain the whey and don't add anything, so its naturally thicker and more nutritious.
Do spaghetti and meatballs, cheap vs steep. Love Mrs.B reactions and humour! Canada loves you
The cheap rice would have been fine but you need to rinse it 2 or 3 times to get all the starch out. Soaking rice is sometimes not enough because you are soaking the rice in starchy water. You need to stir the rice in the cold water and change the water every 15 mins a couple of times or run under the cold tap in a fine sieve until the water runs clear.
Have you done coconut milk before? U can do a coconut curry or Thai curry!
I’ve been watching your videos for sooo many years now, I feel like we are friends 😂
please can you do cheep V steep icecream? Love your cooking Barry
Never use American long grain rice, always use basmati for curries.
Your rice came out that way because of cooking method. It can be a little difficult to make it on the stove, especially if it's not something you do often. A rice cooker is the easy way to go, but if you don't have one, you can try pouring the rinsed rice into boiling water in an oven safe pot, which you then cover and bake at 190 C for 20 - 25 minutes. Texture will probably be a lot better. Rinsing for longer can help, too.
The expensive stuff is just par-cooked so it's harder to mess up. That's the only difference.
yes .. but are they pomodoro san marzano AOP ?? !!
Please do a cheap vs steep trifle!
Ive been eating rice whole my life... i think it depends on what kind of rice you are buying.
Long grain rice tends to have more amylose which makes it not gummy and sticky which is the more expensive rice while short grain rice tends to have more amylopectin that makes the rice stick to each other.
To make the rice "drier" you just have to adjust the water, less water less sticky.. it just need to be enough to cook it but if yoy put too much water than yeah.. it will taste watery,
I think the rice is based on preference and the price doesn't really do much on what it actually served and tasted
Can someone explain why at 8:03 when he said about colour difference a photo of a black man comes up in the bottom right hand corner? Am I missing something
was the cheap ingredients from a shop that begins with A and ends with an I
also i'd love to see a cheap vs steep sausage casserole.