Jorge Meraz: Folks, today in "Crossing South," we visit a man who recycles bio waste into things we need.

And we also visit a Chinese food restaurant with a stunningly authentic building and it's coming to you now.

♪♪♪ ♪♪♪ Jorge: Today we visit Mexicali.

We heard of a guy here who is creating products out of discarded seashells.

Jorge: We've all had oysters, right?

You've had all kinds, especially here in Baja.

But what happens with all those discarded shells from the oysters after you're done eating them, right?

They become this, all be it, biodegradable waste.

Except now a company has realized that, that is actually a valuable, natural, renewable resource.

So no longer just waste.

These shells are gonna have a second life, and we're gonna go to that company right now.

It's called BioBreak.

Stay with us, folks.

"Crossing South" coming your way.

Jorge: This process is not simple.

When you're a trailblazer, you get to open the way to a new industry.

Daniel is the man with the vision, the one that saw the potential in all that seafood refuse.

Jorge: This is the the natural resource but already processed for them to be able to manipulate it and use it.

We don't see a stack of seashells or other residual products that they use.

We see sacks full of powdered material, right?

So they have companies that send them the material already processed, already pulverized, you could say.

So this is not chalk, this isn't flour.

This is actually oyster shells already pulverized.

So now chemistry happens.

They have to treat the material and manipulate it in a way where it can fusion molecularly with plastic to create a product that's the one you'll see at the end of--on the end of this assembly line.

Jorge: The actual chemical process to bind the seashell powder into a material they can utilize is pretty much established and efficient, as you can see.

Jorge: It's a complicated process that is way beyond my pay grade.

But the product is basically heated up to 200 degrees, melted, and this conveyor belt will create 12 strands of the, you know, the melted material that's been fusioned with either a degree of plastic, or whatever it's going to be.

And that are then on this conveyor belt cooled all the way over with these fans right here.

These fans, this whole conveyor belt has, like, tons of these fans.

And this machine right here is a cutter.

So if the product comes out like this they'll come into this conveyor belt right here, which is vibrating to remove any dust.

If it continues vibrating over on this side, it'll fall through the strainer.

And whatever is cut wrong is not gonna fit through there, so it's just gonna fall through this hole, and that product would be reused, remelted, to bring it all over again.

So those pellets are the material used to now manipulate and create the end products that they take out to industry now.

Jorge: Having this precedent has made the company think of what other waste is being, well, wasted.

Pardon the redundancy.

Turns out there's a lot.

From wheat to coffee, they're adding materials to their quiver of options.

Jorge: One of the things that's really popular in Mexico for some odd reason is instant coffee.

They basically make a gigantic coffee pot, and the coffee that comes down from that, it's reburned, it's repressed, and it creates a fine powder and that's instant coffee.

But the above grain that was initially pressed, and boiled, and prepared, is this.

So this is a residual material that was just gonna end up-- maybe a percentage of it as compost for some agricultural use.

But the majority of it was just gonna get dumped, right?

So they bring it over here, and as you can see they're drying it, they're separating it, getting any of the humidity, any of the dampness out.

And they send it, they send it over to the same company that pulverized the seashells.

They send it over to them, and when they get it back, this is it.

So then after that, you end up in what's in that bag over there.

This is the coffee resin, which is the material that they're gonna use to make products.

So this is the pellet, coffee resin.

Jorge: So I was wondering if he just collects his raw materials from the city dump or what's the deal?

Where does he get all this waste?

Jorge: I was asking Daniel, you know what happens, you know, when you come to these industries and these companies, because you're basically solving a problem for them, right?

Some of these have so much waste, they're taking loads and loads of containers and trucks, and they don't know what to do with it.

They're just dumping it.

So what do they do?

I mean, do they still charge you for it?

He said some do.

Some get greedy and some will maybe charge a little bit.

That's the negotiation he does.

Some of them let him take it for free.

Some of them pay him to take it by getting all the waste from-- discarded waste from different facilities, different industries and so on.

They're reducing what would have been in a landfill or so on, right?

And at the same time they're creating a product that would have been full plastic.

Now, it's either, you know, reduced in a significant percentage or completely.

Right now, it's about a 20% mark up from your non-biodegradable products equivalent.

So somebody who buys it in the store is gonna pay a little more.

They need to have the determination, the intention of contributing to the reduction of the contamination footprint.

So that's--it takes right now that let's ask the question as to whether these products are actually worth it or not.

Okay, stay with us folks.

"Crossing South."

Jorge: Okay, so I'm gonna show you a few of the final products here.

For instance, this is the wheat that they use, the pulverized wheat.

And what are the products that they make with wheat?

This bowl is made out of wheat.

Can you believe that discarded residual wheat?

this is powder date waste.

It will only make tupperware.

So imagine this tupperware filled with dates at a store where everything comes full circle.

And you've got your coffee, the one we saw over there, right?

Coffee powder.

Well, they're making--they're making forks, spoons that you stir your coffee, with your coffee grain spoon.

In this case, it's a fork, but you get the idea.

This is the powdered seashell.

This is the powdered one they get.

Look at all the products that they make for that.

They make their spoons, they make straws, all that's with that.

This one's made from agave.

This package is made for sea urchin at stores.

You know, the package for refrigerated sea urchin.

His goal is that the product itself be made of sea urchins.

So it's like everything coming full circle.

The pellets were made after fusion and plastic, a degree of plastic with the product.

it's not like you can grab one of these and, "Oh, they're made of coffee," crunch.

No, you can't, because they do have plastic in them, which leads me to my final question.

This has plastic.

Like yes, it has your oyster shell, it has your coffee, it has your date, your wheat, and all the other, you know, bio-products, but it has plastic.

So how biodegradable are these products really?

Like-- [speaking foreign language] [speaking foreign language] Jorge: All of it.

[speaking foreign language] Jorge: Even if it has plastic in it, the whole product will basically disintegrate into the earth again, regardless within a year or two years tops.

As opposed to 500 years in your typical plastic products.

So that thing is pretty good.

Daniel.

Good job, man.

Congratulations.

You're doing a good work and making a nice honest buck out of it.

It's "Crossing South," folks.

Don't go anywhere.

More to come.

We're gonna keep exploring some other products.

I wanna see if I can score one of these bad boys.

Check it out.

A cooler.

That's cool, made out of seashells.

Alright, can I have this?

I'm just kidding.

Jorge: So as we move away from a place that has found the balance between profit and protecting the environment, we move to the city where it sits what could be the best Chinese restaurant building in Mexico.

I mean, look at this.

It is unmistakably a staple of Mexicali Chinese food.

It's synonymous with it as much as the Cachanilla plant, as much as the Sentinel La Cerro, right?

So if you know, you know.

One of the nicest restaurants we've ever seen, especially with the Chinese architecture, decor and style is the one we're at right now.

I mean, look at how ornate it is.

We're gonna be taking a little tour with the guy that built it.

His name is Pablo Chee, which I can assume Chinese ancestry.

Am I right Pablo or not?

Pablo Chee: You're definitely right, Jorge.

Jorge: Pablo, very nice to meet you.

He's the engineer that built it.

He's gonna take us on a tour.

Pablo: We gotta go back to our roots, and our roots are pretty much from China.

My great-grandfather came in from China back in the 1900s.

The first, you know, the first decade, he came in through Chiapas, down south of Mexico.

And he started his life with a Mexican woman down south.

And his first child was born eventually in China, because he went back to China.

But he came in, he came back to Mexico, and eventually settled here in Baja, California, in the first decade of the 1900s.

And he came in with a bunch of other Chinese people, immigrants, and his whole goal in life to give him a better, you know, a better life to the family and everything.

So he came into Baja, California.

There was opportunity here.

So they brought in their culture, but they also mixed with the Mexican culture.

And that's where the magic starts here in Mexicali.

Jorge: Wow.

The fusion of the two cultures, right?

Pablo: Two cultures.

Jorge: Baja, California and its people embraced Chinese immigrants and their culture as their own.

In return, the Chinese community have gone from respectful and appreciative guests to full blown members of the community.

They are as much a part of this place as any Mexican.

Jorge: Okay folks, as you can see, they really brought the spread here and some of them are familiar, but I can see they have their own touch on all of these dishes.

The first one we're gonna try here is this pork belly.

This is a baked pork belly with a crunchy crust.

So I know that pork is a very prominent part of Chinese cuisine.

What an awesome finger food.

You know, I've had pork belly where it's so smooth, it's almost like a butter at a restaurant, you know?

This is not it.

This is almost like a combination of the Mexican chicharron, which it is, you know, the pork rinds, bacon and carnitas.

Like, I don't know if I would have this, like, as a sit down restaurant dish.

It is, because it's here.

But this would be an amazing finger food.

You got your chicharrón, you've got your carnitas, and you've got your like bacon part.

This is a trifecta right here.

Listen.

[crunching] I'm not crazy about beer in a can and if this was just like a commercial brand, I wouldn't even show it to you guys.

But the Chinesca, the Chinatown, the historic Chinatown in Mexicali, it's called la Chinesca.

And this is not just a commercial beer.

This is a beer that they make for their patrons.

And there's a reason for it.

It's not just to have a beer, because Chinese culture is not really big on beer.

The reason why is because the local population, the Mexicalenses, they tend to enjoy because of the heat in the city.

They like to enjoy their Chinese food with a nice cold one.

So in honor of their gracious hosts, the population of Mexicali that has been so good to the Chinese community, well, they decided to honor them by offering a customized beer dedicated to them so they can enjoy their Chinese food.

So we're gonna--after that little pork belly, we're gonna wash it down with a little bit of the Chinesca beer.

Jorge: So how do you have a part in building this beautiful restaurant?

Pablo: We have another business.

We have a hospital and we had a small restaurant back in the days.

And then we eventually met a very nice friend of us, Kevin Tan.

And he pretty much enlightened us to become a restaurant owner again.

So he wanted to go, he wanted to buy a restaurant, he wanted to buy a restaurant.

And we joined up with him with all his knowledge of the restaurant business, and with all his knowledge of the Chinese people that need to be working at a Chinese restaurant.

Jorge: Right.

Pablo: There's a lot of Chinese restaurants in Mexico City and other places.

Jorge: All of them have the experts.

Pablo: If you don't have the experts cooking, you're not gonna have a Chinese restaurant.

Jorge: He definitely has a point here.

If you as a consumer want an authentic experience, well, you're probably better served if you go to a place where the people working there are also Chinese.

So yes, Pablo is covering those bases here.

Jorge: Okay, these bad boys are like something that you would see normally at a Chinese food restaurant, in appearance, because there's so many restaurants that have like the coconut, you know, shaved coconut shrimp.

But that's not what this is.

This is actually potato strands.

It's like shave potato strands.

They call it the garden shrimp.

It has a creamy sauce in it.

Let's taste it to see what it is.

Maybe it's coconut, maybe it isn't.

But it says that the strands are actually potato strands and it is coconut.

It's a coconut.

It's coconut paste, coconut cream.

So, hm-hm.

It's crunchy and sweet.

Mm, the cream alone is so good.

Let's try it with some breaded shrimp.

This was so good.

There's over 350 Chinese restaurants in Mexicali.

So when somebody dares to venture out comfort zone and to bring something unique, but without sacrificing the essence of what makes the local, you know, Mexicali, famous Mexicali Chinese food so good, I think you've done something good.

Okay, so this is their breaded ribs.

Look at that, that crunchiness along with that perfect tender meat inside.

Look at that.

Ooh, I have a feeling folks, I have a feeling this is gonna be good.

Mhm-hm.

Jorge: I've been to China.

So a lot of this stuff is just like, did he bring some of the stuff here?

Did he have, you know, carvers do things here?

Tell me the story.

Why this place looks so cool?

Pablo: I mean, if you go to China, you'll find places that sell, you know, all the way from a screw to a building.

You know?

You can find everything over there.

But trying to find a place that sells the authentic, the original construction materials was a, you know, a needle in a haystack.

Jorge: Really?

Did you go to China to look for all the stuff?

Pablo: We personally went to China, we did all the purchasing there, all these tile works, all these pieces are hand made, hand carved.

Jorge: Wow.

Pablo: So they come from China, obviously from Chinese materials.

They--even the dirt, the sand, the grit that goes into making the the cement.

Jorge: This is not Mexican cement to make-- Pablo: The color that comes from that, you can't replicate that here.

I have experience with the construction working with our different architects, different engineers.

Jorge: There's no adaptation you needed to know to be able to place this type this tile?

Pablo: No, this is pretty much, you know-- Jorge: What you know is enough.

Pablo: Standard construction, but with very fine details of, especially the tile and all that.

That that needs to go-- Jorge: Carefully-- carefully laid.

Jorge: So your basic structure is standard, but the details, that's where the expert crafting is required.

The meticulous attention to detail pairs amazingly well with their delicious food.

Okay, so this is their fried rice garden stone bowl, obvious description.

You got your stone bowl, which is still hot.

A little bit of a volcanic rock there.

But you've got your arrachera meat, which is your flank steak.

You've got your shrimp, and you've got your chorizo parts over there, all served atop a bowl of fried rice.

So we're gonna pour a little bit of this.

Let's do this justice.

Let's make sure that some acheta meat's in there.

Let's stab this little shrimp here, and you see my finger, which you shouldn't do, but I wanna get all of it in.

So we've got your fried rice.

We've got your arrachera meat.

You got chorizo.

Alright.

Perfect flavor.

It's the meat sauce cooked with the soy sauce, it's seeping into the rice, and it gives the rice this delicious flavor.

Normally your fried rice doesn't come with this bit of arrachera meat cooked with whatever seasonings they put on them.

It's just your bowl, your plate of fried rice, right?

But the fact that it has this bed of this really delicious sauteed dish, it's all seeping down and it adds flavor of the rice.

So that's how I'm trying it.

That's how I'm tasting it, and that's how I'm calling it.

Mm, okay, so this is a chicken breast cooked in white mushrooms--white mushroom sauce.

And you've got your, you know, your carrots.

You've got your bean pods here.

By mere appearance, probably would be the one I have the lowest expectation for.

But I've been surprised.

You shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

So, let's see what this one has to offer.

I'm putting all the-- check it out.

I'm putting all the little mushrooms in there.

Let's stab one of these pods.

Okay, so here we should have everything this dish has to offer, and we'll see if my instincts are right or wrong.

It's a really nice taste if you grab enough of the sauce.

The mushroom sauce is very good.

But if I had to compare it to the other ones, this would probably, and I can almost tell that it's gonna be like in the last place.

Which is not to say it's not good.

Like I said, that mushroom sauce is really nice.

I wish it covered more of the dish.

But let me try it with a spoon here just so I was able to spoon up more of that sauce, and let's see where we're at.

Let's see where we land.

Mm, definitely.

That sauce is a winner.

I wish I had more of it.

Jorge: How many, you know, how many restaurants in Mexico-- Chinese restaurants are there with this type of architecture, like this ornate, this authentic?

Pablo: I've been to Mexico City.

I haven't--still haven't seen one as evolved, you know, the whole building experience, no.

We have the typical Chinese Mexicali--Chinese restaurant menu.

But we also have a VIP menu, or a different menu, that you'll find different--special foods that some of them are, like, close to our family.

Some of them are close to the chef's family.

Jorge: That's what you want.

Secret family recipes.

Pablo: They'll give you the secret family recipe.

Jorge: You're inviting someone to get it at your house, right?

Pablo: That's right.

That's right.

Jorge: Well, now he's opened Pandora's box by letting me know of these secret menu items.

I have to try some of these.

Jorge: So this is a fried breaded squid with asparagus.

We'll just see how spicy it is.

I mean, there's peppers in there, but that's not necessarily indicative of whether something is gonna be very spicy or not.

So we'll be the judge of that.

We'll get some asparagus in there.

Make sure it's together.

By no means a finger food, but I'm telling you, on deciding my personal favorite so far, so far it's been the finger foods, the stuff that you can grab with your-- yeah, perfect flavor.

Mm, this is good.

They know how to make squid.

So this dish is a keeper as well.

Okay, so this bad boy right here is Sichuan lamb from the Sichuan area, and it's a region in China where they love to eat lamb.

See this, you've got your lamb meat, you've got your leeks.

Look at that stewy goodness.

Imagine folks like on a cold night, and this, you know, somebody just welcomes you to their home with a dish like this.

Oh boy, mm.

I think we have the evening's winner.

It is full of flavor.

So much seasoning.

Oh, man, you wanna be in a cold night, you would be very, very comforted by this food.

I'll just tell you that.

Well, folks, after this wonderful authentic Chinese experience in one of the world's most unique microcosms for the culture, which is Mexicali, well, we're happy to have visited this place.

So we hope you enjoyed it, folks.

We'll see you next time.

I'm gonna see if I can take any of these home because--hey, could we get a doggy bag?

Is that allowed?

Jorge: So after getting to see how valuable trash can be and seeing the mother of all Chinese restaurants, we leave wondering what other adventures we'll see the next time we get to cross south.

Jorge: Oh man, the flavors in this bowl just knock me right over.

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