• 2 hours ago
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00:00This is a Mekong catfish.
00:01It's the largest freshwater fish in the world
00:03with a maximum weight of over 770 pounds.
00:06Not only are we gonna be cooking
00:08the biggest freshwater fish in the world,
00:10but we're also gonna be donating it to people in need
00:12because this is well over 500 pounds of meat.
00:14We just got to the filming location
00:15and they're unwrapping this catfish.
00:17This outdoor kitchen is in the middle of Thailand
00:19where everything around us is a potential ingredient.
00:21The biggest difficulty we're facing right now
00:23is that not a single person here speaks fluent English.
00:26There is a massive language barrier.
00:27My friends, what's next?
00:30What's, what is next?
00:32Defrost.
00:32Defrost, defrost, okay.
00:34This catfish species is rare and hard to get.
00:36So if we're gonna cook it, we're gonna need some help.
00:38I'm here with the only gentleman that speaks English.
00:40His name is Thom and he's the guy that invited me out here.
00:43Obviously, I don't, I can't communicate
00:44with any of the crew.
00:45First of all, I don't think this has ever been done before.
00:49Ever.
00:50Nobody has ever attempted to cook one this size whole.
00:54This will be my first time and your first time
00:57and all our first times.
00:58There are a series of steps we need to make
01:00in order to feed everybody.
01:01With the first step being to lift this fish off the truck,
01:03I started to get nervous.
01:04I've never lifted anything this heavy before.
01:06We also have to put a human-sized steak into the fish
01:08and lower it into a fiery pit for it to cook.
01:13I'm freaking out right now.
01:15One, two, three.
01:17Oh!
01:19I can't slide it.
01:20Ah!
01:23Oh, no, no, no, no.
01:26Ah!
01:29Oh, my God, it's wild.
01:31That is sick.
01:33Oh, my goodness.
01:34Now that the first step is complete,
01:36it's time to attempt to kebab this catfish.
01:38The biggest concern with this is that the steak
01:40isn't gonna be able to hold the catfish, right?
01:41Do I understand that correctly?
01:42Yes.
01:43Ah!
01:44We'll find out.
01:45The reason the fish may be too heavy for the steak
01:46is because it was welded this morning.
01:48Here's how we made it.
01:49Wood, car battery, amateur welder.
01:51On our first attempt to kebab this catfish,
01:53we realized most of the meat was frozen solid,
01:55making it completely impossible to hammer through.
01:58So to combat this, we have a hose running through it.
02:00This should make it thaw out a lot faster.
02:02Oh, look, it's out here now.
02:04What is actually holding on the steak?
02:05Because the middle of this is hollow, right?
02:07It's gutted.
02:08So the only part of it that's really on the steak
02:10is his mouth.
02:11I think they've got it through the bones as well.
02:13Really?
02:14Really?
02:14Okay.
02:15The sketchiest part of this mission
02:16is attempting to stand this fish up,
02:17because if the steak breaks, we're back to square one.
02:20Ah!
02:21Ah!
02:22Ah!
02:22Ah!
02:23Ah!
02:24Ah!
02:25Ah!
02:28Ah!
02:30Now, the thing we were most afraid of
02:31actually just happened.
02:32The steak on the bottom of this broke.
02:34So the only thing holding up this 600-pound catfish
02:37is me and Thumb.
02:38We tried to get the steak out, but it wouldn't budge,
02:40so it's coming along for the ride.
02:42All right, so.
02:42Okay.
02:43That first attempt was, it didn't work.
02:45No, it did not work.
02:47It did not work.
02:47So what is the plan now?
02:49My team's over there.
02:50They're welding four metal poles
02:52onto the same metal platform that we were using earlier
02:55instead of the steak.
02:56We're going to try to put that around the catfish.
02:59How confident are we that this is about to work?
03:01Realistically, if you were a betting man,
03:03your life is on the line.
03:04What are the odds that this works?
03:07I mean.
03:08I wouldn't put my life on it.
03:09Yeah, I won't put my life on it.
03:11I don't know.
03:11I'm staying optimistic.
03:12I'm staying optimistic.
03:13I think it's gonna go good.
03:14I don't know, man.
03:15I don't know.
03:16I only believe in speaking good energy into the universe.
03:19However, however, I'll tell you right now,
03:22I feel like I could rip one of these poles right off.
03:24Here we go.
03:35It tipped, it tipped.
03:37Yeah!
03:38It's looking good.
03:39It's looking really good.
03:40All my pessimism, ridiculous.
03:41I don't even know why I was talking like that.
03:43That crazy nonsense.
03:44They're connecting the pulley system right now
03:46and we're gonna see if it's able to hold or not.
03:51Oh, this is scary, man.
03:52This is like, if this thing goes in any direction,
03:55we could break a lot of bones.
03:56Three, two, one.
04:01Oh, three, two, one.
04:05Okay.
04:05One, two, three, yeah!
04:09That's it, we're good.
04:10The fish is as close as we can get it to the pit.
04:12So now the next step is we're gonna start to score it
04:14on every side so that the heat gets in the middle
04:16and then we're gonna salt it?
04:17Yes.
04:18What does salting it do?
04:19Just flavor?
04:20Well, I mean, adding flavor,
04:21but also just rendering the fat out
04:23and rendering some of the water content out
04:26so the fish cooks faster.
04:27Oh, okay.
04:28The flavors intensify.
04:29So, you know, just like salt and cooking.
04:30So we just gotta get to rubbing at this point.
04:32Correct.
04:33The pit behind the catfish is 10 feet deep
04:35and has been heated with hot coals for the last eight hours.
04:38There's also a motor feeding a supply of fresh oxygen
04:40to the bottom of the pit, making it really hot.
04:42Come on, more muscle, Nick, more muscle.
04:45This really is a dense fish.
04:46Like, no BS.
04:47It's hard to cut through a little bit.
04:49All of these holes are gonna make it
04:50so that the heat really gets inside
04:53the freshwater catfish.
04:54The fat just starts dripping out of every score.
04:57The goal is to have a score every four inches
04:59so the protein is able to be evenly salted.
05:01With enough sodium, the fish will lose several pounds
05:03of excess water, decreasing the cooking time
05:05by over six hours.
05:06So right now, we're looking at this fish
05:09and the fat content is over an inch thick.
05:12What we're expecting is for that fat to melt.
05:14It's gonna start dripping.
05:15It's gonna set the whole thing ablaze.
05:17Oh, no way, no way.
05:20This thing is gonna have a lot of flavor in it.
05:21It's finally time to put this catfish in the pit,
05:23which is a good thing,
05:24because we're exhausted from carrying it.
05:39Are you okay?
05:40The rope just completely snapped.
05:41I'm not gonna lie, I think it's entirely my fault.
05:43The plan is to retie the pulley system
05:45and hopefully it will be able to hold.
05:47Now that there's an inconsistency in the rope,
05:49it might be a little bit tougher,
05:50but this is our only option at this point.
05:52Three, two, one, bite!
05:57It just landed right on his foot.
05:59Oh my goodness.
06:00This is bad.
06:01This is bad.
06:16So that's the only-
06:17So what happened just now
06:18was there was too much people on this side when we lit,
06:21and the rope was restraining the movement.
06:23The whole thing dumped that way,
06:24and that's how he got crushed.
06:25Bro, his toe is disintegrated.
06:28That was wild.
06:30With the day coming to an end,
06:31we still have all this meat we can't afford to go to waste.
06:33If we don't get it cooked fast, it could begin to spoil.
06:35We're gonna adapt.
06:36The whole point of this video is to cook this fish
06:38and make sure it gets to people in need.
06:40We're lucky enough to where Thumb owns a restaurant
06:43that's quite literally three minutes away from here.
06:45It's the right thing to do to load it into the truck
06:47and cook it correctly.
06:52With the priority shifted to feeding these kids,
06:54we got to work breaking down this fish.
06:56Usually, you'd fillet an entire side hole,
06:58but because of the size of it,
06:59it has been broken down into several sections of its body.
07:02While that was underway,
07:03I was making my way to the hospital to go check on Book.
07:05Hopefully, fingers crossed, he's in good hands.
07:08If not, he's about to be.
07:09Yeah.
07:10While we were worried about how Book was doing,
07:12Thumb's restaurant was focused
07:13on making over 500 pounds of chili paste.
07:17Let's go.
07:31And we finally got some good news.
07:32How you doing, my friend?
07:34Did it hurt?
07:35It didn't hurt?
07:36No way.
07:38A little bit?
07:39Just a little?
07:41How many stitches did he get?
07:43Five stitches?
07:44The worst part of the experience for him
07:46is he scared of needles.
07:48So, he wasn't even in pain.
07:50He was like, oh, I got a stitch up.
07:51Oh my gosh, I just got a needle.
07:53The doctor said, see, he'll be better in two weeks.
07:55I'm glad you're okay.
07:57I'll be going now.
07:58Sparika.
07:59Not only was Book feeling better,
08:00but all the food was finally finished
08:02for all of these people.
08:03We invited all ages and passed out over 500 containers
08:06to whoever said they were hungry.
08:07As for me, I was on a plane back to my hometown.
08:09We had been filming for so long
08:11that by the time it was time to taste it,
08:12I was drained of my entire personality.
08:14At least we fed all those people.
08:16If you guys like this video,
08:18you will 100% love this video.
08:20I mean, look at it.
08:21Look at that thumbnail.
08:23You should really click on it.
08:24It's pretty wild.