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01x03 - Selena + Candice Kumai

Episode transcripts for the TV show, "Selena + Chef". Aired: November 30 – December 21, 2023.*
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Selena Gomez stars in a cooking series filmed in her home.

01x03 - Selena + Candice Kumai

Post by bunniefuu »

- Hi. I'm Selena Gomez,

and I love to eat.

Selena and Candice, take one.

Really, really love to eat.

But I'm not the best cook.

I can't even fix eggs

properly.

So while I've been

stuck at home,

I thought,

"What better time

to improve my skills

in the kitchen?"

You've actually never been

to set with me before.

So I've asked some of

the best chefs to school me.

And this is

what I'm burning today.

They're at home. I'm at home.

I gotta put my mic on, Daisy.

And we're gonna see if we

can make a meal

together apart.

You know you've gone crazy when

you're talking to your dogs.



- Two, three, four.

I'm tryin', I'm tryin' ♪

I'm tryin', I'm tryin' ♪

Whoo!

Tryin', I'm tryin',

I'm tryin' ♪

My feelings on fire ♪

Candice?

Hi!

- Hi, Selena!

How are you?

- I'm so good!

How are you?

- This is exciting.

- I'm not a great cook,

so please bear with me,

but I am very honored

that you came on the show,

and I can't wait to learn.

- Thanks, Leenie.

- Today, I'm talking

to Candice Kumai.

She has written six

best-selling cookbooks

and has an awesome nickname:

The Golden Girl of Wellness.

What are we making?

- Okay, so today

we're gonna make

spicy miso ramen.

My Japanese

grandmother

is known for

spicy miso ramen.

But I do

a little bit of

California twist.

So stuff that'll be

good for our skin,

like shiitake mushrooms

or avocado.

- Great.

- And then we're gonna do

matcha chocolate chip cookies.

- Love that.

- This is the best

date night meal ever.

Once you have a boy over

and you master this

- I want a boyfriend ♪

- He will definitely

call you back.

Good.

- I'm currently struggling

in that department.

It's quarantine.

- No, you're not!

That's what I'm here for.

- I want a boyfriend ♪

Thank you.

So I got all the stuff here.

What are we gonna start with?

- The first thing

we're gonna start with

is some toasted sesame oil.

And it's really fragrant.

- Isn't that amazing?

- Wow.

So yummy.

- Get a hot pan

ready to go.

- Okay, which pan should I use?

- I have one pot

that's sort of like this

that I'm gonna start with.

And if you have something

similar--that's perfect.

- Okay.

- So what we're gonna do is

sauté our onion

and our mushrooms.

Take our yellow onion,

and we're gonna slice it

in half right now.

Start peeling back

these layers of the onion.

Slice it thin.

- Okay.

- You know, if you cry,

it's okay,

because the onions

can do that.

- Yeah. So can boys.

- They were similar to boys.

I was just gonna say that.

I love your knife, by the way!

It's so cool!

- Thank you! I've been

getting some compliments.

- They look beautiful. Okay.

We're gonna grab

this sesame oil.

Selena, I want you to start

eyeballing while cooking.

I want you to just dump in

what you think

is two tablespoons.

- Wow.

- To be frank,

I don't like rules.

I never have.

I think it's way more fun

to just do your own thing.

- Okay. Yeah?

- That looks perfect.

So you can take the onion

and dump

as much or as little

as you like into your pan.

- I might've done some of the

pieces a bit too thick, but

- That's okay!

- My first time.

- So this is like

a speedy ramen

for date night or girls' night.

- I've been quarantined

with two

of my really good friends.

Liz and Raquelle.

- Yay!

- Who have you been

quarantining with?

- I have a couple

of girlfriends

where we all have been

quarantined,

so they'll come over.

But, gosh, I never thought

this was gonna happen, Selena,

'cause I've single

for a few years.

I met somebody during

quarantine through a

- No!

- Yes.

It was through a Zoom call.

- That is so crazy!

- It means that

you could meet your person

anywhere at any time.

Okay, well, I mean,

I'm down for anything, I guess.

- That smells incredible.

- Come on in, Raquelle.

This is my friend, Raquelle.

- Hi!

- Hi, Raquelle!

- It already

smells incredible.

I was smelling it

from the living room.

I'm, like, "I have to see

what's going on in there."

- Yeah, and we're,

like, talking

about boys and cooking.

- We talk about boys a lot.

Oh, yeah. Big time.

I mean, the love life

is struggling a bit

in quarantine,

but, you know, thank God for

We have each other.

Sometimes I'm just, like,

Sel, can you give me a hug?

- I totally get it.

- Should I let this be?

Or should I

start something else?

- Okay, I'm gonna start

the mushrooms with you.

- Okay, mushrooms.

- You're gonna

remove the stems.

Just give it a twist, firmly,

off the bottom.

These are full

of antioxidants,

which are gonna keep you

glowing and gorgeous.

- Love that.

- You're gonna start

slicing your shiitakes.

Yeah, very good.

- So you've obviously been

surrounded by cooking

your whole life, I'm assuming.

- I was professionally trained

in a French kitchen,

and then I cooked on the line

for many years.

I also studied under

a bunch of monks in Japan.

- Wow.

- Wow!

- And I really learned about

how they worked together

as a unit.

- Yeah, it's very selfless.

- That's my kind of people,

you know?

Like, I can tell that you're

the same way,

and you care for others.

You're not basic.

Yes!

Okay, BRB.

- Okay.

- Bye, Raquelle!

- Thank you.

- Yeah.

- So now we're gonna just

throw 'em in.

Coat them in that same oil

with the mushrooms.

Go ahead and add

a little more oil.

Perfect.

Also, Selena,

do you want to boil

two eggs in a pot of water?

- Okay.

- But we're gonna put them

on top of the ramen.

- The smell is so good.

- Nice.

- Good work, girls.

I love this.

Team single girl power.

- Yeah.

- Oh, you're single, too?

- Oh, no! She's met someone

during quarantine.

- No! What are we doing wrong?

- I don't know.

- Oh, my goodness.

- I just gotta go be

with the monks, so

- Okay. Next.

You can take out

of your goody bag

your miso paste and tahini.

It's a ground sesame paste,

typically used

in Middle Eastern cooking.

- Okay.

- So go ahead and measure out

roughly a 1/2 cup of sesame

paste and your miso paste.

- Okay.

- But like I said,

who cares if

you're a little bit off?

- Sometimes I'm a hit or miss.

- And that's life,

though, right?

That's perfect.

You wanna get roughly

8 cups of purified water.

- The water goes

into the miso, right?

- This is really the soup base.

Let a little simmer come up.

- Okay.

- Okay, this is a really

cool sauce

that hails from Vietnam.

The original Sriracha.

Squeeze into your miso pot.

- I love spice.

- It should look beautiful

in color and texture now.

- Can you see this?

- Yeah.

That's good!

And you guys can

taste-test the soup.

- Oh, yeah!

- Mmm

- That's really good.

Do you think I could add

a little more?

- Yeah, a little.

- Okay.

So you guys like it hot,

which is great.

So you guys ready to cook

your fresh ramen noodles?

Get another pot

of boiling water,

and then we're gonna

drop the noodles

into the warm water.

It's not the crap

that you have, like,

in the package in college.

- Right.

- Honestly, Selena still has

those at her house.

Okay. Okay.

- You know what?

My mom still makes them.

It's okay.

- They're super soft.

- Aren't they amazing?

- Oh, ooh.

- Okay.

Is your soup simmering?

- Umm

doesn't--I mean

Doesn't look like it.

- Okay.

So Selena, turn it up.

- Okay.

We're gonna make

a topping center.

So the toppings are all

gonna get lined up together.

A bowl of spinach

your green onions

some micro cilantro

- Mm-kay, I'm still

- Did you find it?

- I don't know if this is it.

- Sorry.

- No worries. Take your time.

- That's--see,

doesn't it look like

- This is cilantro.

This is cilantro.

This is right.

- Okay.

Cilantro.

Thank you.

- Okay. You should have

sesame seeds and togarashi.

- Togarashi!

- This is seven spices

in Japanese cuisine.

- Mm.

- Right before we drop

the noodles in,

you want to cut

your beautiful green onions.

- Ah!

- Sorry. Two at a time?

- No prob!

Yeah, like two at a time.

When you cut them on the bias,

you get this beautiful result.

You can go even smaller

and even more at an angle.

And then,

is your water boiling?

- Yes.

- Copy that.

Is it enough

for four sets of noodles?



I hope.

- Selena,

this part goes so fast.

So, Raquelle,

can you help to time?

- Yes. What time should I set?

- 3:30.

As soon as Selena puts them in.

- Okay.

- You can separate them

a little bit so they don't

clump together.

- Okay.

- Okay, leave it.

- Okay, so leave 'em at a boil.

- Yeah.

- We're at 1:30.

- Okay.

- Two minutes to go.

- Grab your pot,

and then I bring it over

next to my plate-up station

with the ladle.

- We've got five seconds, babe.

- Okay, so grab your bowl

of ramen,

and then you can just dump it

right into your strainer.

- Okay, I'm gonna need

your help, Raquelle.

- It might stick to the bottom

a little bit,

and that's okay.

That's what

your tongs are for.



- Okay, so it is supposed

to be a little sticky.

- Yeah.

- I'll get the tongs.

- No, what are you doing?

- Oh!

- Okay, okay, okay. Sorry!

- I'll go get the tongs.

- I always take it with me!

- I know, I'm like,

"What's happening?"

- Give it a good shake.

Yeah, you guys, shake, shake.

- Whoo! Okay.

- Okay, so you're

moving the noodles.

- Let's go.

- Really, we're moving?

- Use the noodles

to create

the base of the ramen

into the bowl.

You want to twirl them

a little bit

so that it's in the center

and it has a lot of height.

The art of

perfecting the noodle

is really just cooking it

al dente.

Gotta work on

the art part of it.

- Uh, yeah.

- Okay, so now you take

your noodle bowl

and you ladle on the side

of the soup, Selena.

Okay.

- It smells so good.

- Oh, it smells so good.

I'm so excited.

- You can cut your avocado.

I know you're an avo girl.

- Big time.

- This is the California part

that most Japanese people

would be, like,

"What is this?"

- Whoa, you--

you're like, "Bam."

Sel's getting real co--

I saw that!

- We're just gonna pretend

that didn't happen.

- She's getting really

comfortable with the knife.

- I know, I know.

I'm so sorry.

- Hey, girl.

That's a good thing.

- Wait, I'm trying

to pay attention.

What do I do?

- Lay them

on the cutting board face down,

so that you see

the green side up.

- Oop!

- Okay.

We're gonna slice

thin, thin slices

so just like this, Selena.

I just slide through

like butter

and do these small slices.

- Oops!

- Once we get the avo in

- Got it.

- Grab your hardboiled eggs

and give 'em a tap.

- Oh, I'm not good at this.

- The eggs are always

the nerve-wracking part.

I'm gonna

take a picture of you

cracking that egg.

- How do I--okay.

- Maybe a little harder.

- Oops.

Mm

Is there an easy way

to peel these?

- Some people say,

"Run 'em under cold water.

Cool them all the way."

But you're doing it

the right way.

- Okay.

- And then you slice it

in half,

and you show

that beautiful yellow yolk.

- Okay.

- So you place that

kind of artistically

on top of your ramen, Selena.

- Okay.

- The last thing

that always goes on

is gonna be your greens,

because they wilt.

So spinach,

and then on the very center,

you can do the green onions

and the micro cilantro.

And channel your inner chef.

- Whoa!

- Yeah!

Oh, my God, Selena,

this is so good.

Makes me feel good.

- Grab your togarashi,

and then you're gonna sprinkle

this guy on the very top.

If you want,

you can also add sesame seeds.

- I love sesame,

so I think I'm gonna do that.

- I love sesame.

It's so good.



- It looks beautiful

in your overheads.

So you better get ready

with that camera.

- You wanna get some shots,

too, Sel?

- Yeah, I will.

- Oh, I'm trying to--

what's your angle

that you're doing here?

Is it good like that?

Or is it better like this?

- I always sh**t overhead,

and sometimes I really

get into it.

- Yeah!

- Oh, yeah,

the overhead's nice.

- Natural light is the best.

- I like to think I'm not

too bad at pictures.

Taking them.

- You have a good eye.

- Okay, can we eat?

- Yeah!

The Japanese have a saying.

Itadakimasu.

And it means, "Let's eat."

- Wait, say it again.

- Can you say it again?

- Ready? It's itadakimasu.

Itadakimasu.

Yes! And then you can eat.

- Itadaki

Masu.

- Honestly, I need the spoon.

- Mmm

Wow, this is good.

- Oh, it's so good!

- This is boss.

- I love you!

- Oh, it's so hot.

- It tastes

really, really good.

- It's really yummy.

- This cooking journey

that you're on

is gonna be really cathartic

and healing for you.

And I know how hard

this industry can be.

It was hard learning

under a bunch of male chefs

that told me about machismo

and how cool they are.

- My last album,

every single song

had a female on it.

Whether it was a producer

or someone who engineered it.

Very much like you,

I love my girls.

Oh, God.

- So good.

- So now you kinda know

how to make upscale ramen.

The next recipe

that we're gonna do

is matcha

chocolate chip cookies.

- Oh

- Oh, my gosh.

- They're, like, next level.

So as soon as you guys

are done with your ramen,

we can start on dessert.

- Whoo!

Gonna clean up.

- Some nights,

I just want more than me ♪

I know that there's

a fine line between ♪

It's not what I need, but ♪

Daisy!

Ooh, ooh, ooh ♪

I want a boyfriend ♪

- Daisy!

Oh, she's eating something.

Hey, Winnie.

Come here.

All right, Selena,

are you ready for cookie time?

- I am so excited!

Hey, Daisy!

- Is that your doggy?

- Yeah.

I have two maltipoos.

- Oh, my gosh!

I wanna see them!

- I'll show you Daisy.

- Oh, my God, Daisy's so sweet!

- Can you say, "Hi"?

Say, "Hi" to Candice.

- Can we make cookies

for you, Daisy?

- Okay, now I have

to wash my hands.

- Selena, she is so sweet.

We're gonna do matcha

chocolate chip cookies.

They're, like, the best.

Are you ready?

- I am so excited.

- So I created this

banana chocolate

chip cookie

for one

of my cookbooks.

And then to take it

to another level,

I decided to add

matcha powder to it,

which is Japanese green tea.

Matcha is the whole tea leaf,

dried

and then ground on stone.

- Whoa.

- So what you want to do is

first set your oven

on a preheat to 350.

- Okey-dokey.

We are set.

- All right, so I want you

to go get coconut oil,

bananas, vanilla extract,

oats, sugar,

then I want you

to get your flour.

- Yep.

- Matcha powder.

That's our

magic ingredient today.

- Matcha

- Dark chocolate chips.

- Yep!

- And baking powder.

- I brush my teeth

with baking powder.

- Okay, I always start

with my mashed banana.

And then we want to start

mashing this with a fork.

There's something magical

about super ripe bananas.

They just bake really well.

Really mash that banana.

And then we want to marry this

with 1/2 cup of coconut oil.

Next on our list is

about 1/3 cup of sugar.

- Whoops! I just spilled

a lot of sugar.

My bad!

So what do you like to bake,

Selena?

Like, if you are baking.

- Baking is actually

really difficult for me.

It's, like, really hard.

It's harder to bake.

- It's precise, yeah.

Like, we have to stick

to measurements for baking.

'Cause it's like

a science experiment.

Okay, so then we add vanilla.

So about 1 tablespoon is good.

We're gonna add a cup

of gluten-free flour.

And then I whisk until

all the flour is in.

Hey!

Winnie, be nice.

- What are they doing?

- I think they're excited

about the cookies.

- About the cookies?

- Yeah, I don't know.

They're having

some sort of breakdown.

Okay.

Now we're gonna add our oats.

1 cup.

And give it a nice fold.

- Wow. Raquelle?

It smells incredible.

- I'm gonna come have a smell.

Oh

- Right?

It's so nice!

Oh, my gosh! What happened?

- I don't know!

I spilled sugar everywhere.

- Whoa!

Okay, so we want to add

a little pinch of sea salt.

And add in about a teaspoon

of baking powder.

You're almost done, Selena.

- Amazing.

Now we can fold in

our matcha powder.

So about 1 tablespoon.

The last thing we're gonna do

is add our chocolate chips.

Do as much as

or as little as you want.



- It looks incredible.



- Mmm.

I could eat it like that,

honestly.

Wow.

- Grab two sheet trays.

- It looks like

I have a big one.

Is that okay?

- Yeah, that's fine!

So we line with foil

and then we spray

with cooking spray.

I use coconut oil spray.

- I'm gonna use a little bit

of the coconut oil.

- Okay.

You can use two big spoons.

And the trick is,

is to grab your dough

and kind of

mold a cookie shape.

Oops.

Let me make sure

it's not too thick.

- I'm gonna show you

a little trick,

too, that I learned.

We use these trigger scoopers,

which are really just

ice cream scoops.

- Ah!

- And you have

the perfect shape

every single time.

- Okay.

I think I have

something similar.

- Does it scoop it out?

- Yeah.

- Yeah, if it works, it works.

The other thing you could do,

is you can get

extra chocolate chips.

And you can put them

on the top of each cookie.

- Okay.

All I heard is chocolate.

- We're gonna put these

in the oven.

- Oh, no.

I've made a mistake.

- Uh-oh.

- I accidentally

I accidentally put the heat

on my bread oven.

- Oh, no!

Okay, no worries.

So hit bake and then 350.

- Yeah, I'm sorry.

- No worries.

- Okay, well,

since I kind of messed up

and waiting

for the oven to heat up,

I would love to know

a little bit

about the charity you support.

It's called City Harvest?

- Yeah, so I picked

City Harvest

because when I lived

in Brooklyn,

we had tons of food shoots

for all of our books

in production.

And we'd have this leftover

surplus of food.

And so City Harvest

used to come,

and they'll donate it

to people in need.

- That's epic.

- All right.

So I think we can

check your oven now.

Does it feel like it's warm

and ready to go?

- Yeah.

- Perfect.

I think we can put

your cookies in.

- So they go in for

about ten minutes, Selena.

- Okay, let me grab my phone

to time it.

I need a break anyway.

- Okay.

- Hi, honey.

Hi, baby!

You want a treat? Here.

Okay. Come.

Sit. Sit. Up.

Up.

Good doggy!



Gotta check on the cookies.

Oh, no!

- They're burnt?

You burned the cookies?

Selena Marie!

- I don't know if I d--

well, I did.

Candice!

- Yo.

- I burnt mine.

- Okay, so let's open the oven,

Selena, so we can see.

- Yeah.



Whoop! Ow!

- Oh, my God!

I keep tripping over the bone.

- Oh, no. Are you guys okay?

- We're falling apart, Candice.

- It's getting wild over here.

Burning, tripping.

Oh, yeah, they're burned

at the bottom.

- Oh, well that--

just that one.

- It's okay, girls.

Like, sometimes,

it's just the oven.

Everyone's oven has, like,

different calibration.

Maybe they just need

to be recalibrated.

- My oven doesn't

have an option

of conventional, of broil,

of anything.



- Can I try?

They're good!

- I knew they would be!

- The flavor's great.

- You think?

- Mm-hmm.

- Selena,

they look really beautiful.

You did a great job.

- I appreciate that.

I can't wait to pack these up

and drop them off at some

of my friends' house.

They're gonna have to deal

with the fact

that they're a little burnt,

but

I really, really

appreciate you teaching me.

This has been so, so much fun.

Thank you so much!

- Thank you!

- Bye, ladies!

- Bye!

- To thank Candice

for helping me today,

we're making

a $10,000 donation

to City Harvest

to support their mission

to feed vulnerable people

in the city of New York.

Please go to cityharvest.org

for more info.

I would assume

that the ramen would be harder.

Of course, it's cookies.

My favorite thing.