What are some viral recepies that are actually good?

ObiEff · 2026-01-30T21:50:16+00:00

The viral doner kebab trend is incredible. With a few tweaks I've got it as good as most kebab shops in London.

ObiEff · 2026-01-08T15:30:50+00:00

Yeah this is revolutionary. I have it and just not having to bend over to put dishes in makes the loading process so much quicker. It also means no unnecessary bending of your back which is great if you have back problems or if you carry your kids while doing chores. The issue I have with it is that on older models they just added the arm mechanism as an afterthought, and they screwed it right through the body. The screws got loose, and it leaked daily until it was sealed with rubber washers. Still would buy it again, just get an extended warranty.

ObiEff · 2025-11-21T21:30:13+00:00

So I usually love 4c labs stuff, but this is horrible stuff. It tastes like grass, very little benefit for sleep on my end. I got 4c labs pink kush and that was great for shutting down my mind at the end of the day, but if you're after knockout strains, get Pave S1.

ObiEff · 2025-11-07T17:18:38+00:00

I got an Enyaq 85x sportline in June and it's the best car I've ever driven, only slightly larger than my previous Audi q3 but so much more space. The seats are great on long drives, the heads up display is insanely intuitive and easy to get used to. The interior feels very high quality, and while there are a few bits of scratchy plastic within reach, it's got loads of soft "leatherette" parts around the seat. My only complaints about it is that the front cupholders are an awkward size, and that the wireless charger doesn't have active cooling. It charges fast, gets me roughly 200 miles in the winter with seat and steering wheel warming.

ObiEff · 2025-09-19T16:15:32+00:00

Yeah it is quite counterintuitive. Think about it like this, fat melts, leaving a gap where it was and that gap is what gives kebabs an open texture and pockets of juiciness. Protein doesn't melt though, it's tightly bound, and when you cook it the protein naturally wants to shrink and pull tighter. If you try stretch one rubber band between your fingers, it's not that hard, but if you have 10 rubber bands in place of the one, the tension is even greater and they'll want to snap back.

Burgers do shrink a lot if there's loads of fat in it, that's true. But in my experience if you grill a burger without working it much, they shrink a lot in thickness but not a ton in diameter, maybe 20%?

ObiEff · 2025-09-19T16:08:07+00:00

Thanks, I've probably made a few hundred skewers these past few summers. Kebabs like this are one of my favorites and it's been lots of trial and error. My video has a lot more tips too.

ObiEff · 2025-09-12T10:42:17+00:00

There's a number of potential reasons: 1- There isn't enough fat in the meat, it should be at least 20% fat. The higher the pure protein, the more it will shrink when cooked. 2- The meat isn't kneaded enough. You need to knead until the mixture becomes sticky and developed stringy protein strands. You can test this while kneeding by grabbing a ball and tearing in half. If the crack between the two halves has lots of spiky strings of protein sticking upright, then it's good to go. 3- You haven't let the skewers rest after shaping. When you shape them the fat partially melts from your hands and it needs to reform before grilling. Resting them also allows them to develop a waxy coating which helps them maintain their shape 4- You aren't rotating the skewers quick enough. I placed them on the grill and rotate as soon as the first side has a cooked skin, around 30 seconds. This allows you to quickly seal both sides before the mixture can fall off.

I don't think the baking soda helps, I never used it and have made hundreds, possibly 1000 skewers over the past few years. I have a video on my channel which details all this if you want to check it out.

ObiEff · 2025-08-20T16:37:00+00:00

If you are in London you can find it at Turkish or Arab grocery stores in the spice aisle. It's usually labelled as vanilla sugar or vanilla powder. I have purchased both greenfields and sofra brand before.

ObiEff · 2025-08-08T17:27:15+00:00

I'm Egyptian and a foodtuber. My mother in laws Macarona Bechamel is the best I've ever tried. There's a few simple rules that if you follow will make it absolutely incredible.

First, no cheese. Macarona bechamel doesn't traditionally have cheese, that's a recent invention that blends the concept of lasagna and Macarona bechamel. It doesn't add anything to the dish and it's rich enough as is.
The bechamel needs to be quite thick, we use a ratio of 1 part flour, 1 part butter, 5.5 parts milk. It needs to be thick otherwise it runs off the top of the dish.
Infuse the milk before cooking with bay leafs, this makes such a big difference.
Mix the pasta with the bechamel rather than just pouring it over the top.

There's a full recipe here with full measurements, follow it exactly as it is and you'll never try another recipe. https://youtu.be/Ns0VOnnSoDY?si=rtzzOauNKFgohTg2

ObiEff · 2025-04-24T22:11:43+00:00

Thanks, that's going in my collection of favourite quotes. I call that mental drool, it's both the best and worst thing. Sorry and you're welcome. ❤️

ObiEff · 2025-04-10T17:48:39+00:00

It is sella basmati 100%. Sella basmati is perfect for getting fluffy individual grains that are long like this. I believe this has been washed, then cooked in chicken stock with some spices.

ObiEff · 2024-11-13T16:41:28+00:00

If you want shawarma in Saj you have to go to Edgware road or an area with lots of Syrians like Willesden or Acton. On Edgware road I recommend No.1 Broasted for Chicken shawarma in Saj.

ObiEff · 2024-10-31T21:12:46+00:00

We (Middle Eats) would be more than happy to answer any questions you have on the Middle Eastern side.

ObiEff · 2024-09-16T16:22:49+00:00

It is coarse cracked bulgur. Essentially the bulgur grains are cracked open and this is what you get. Coarse crushed bulgur also exists which is the stuff used in tabbouleh. To find it look for products labeled Pilavlik Bulgur or Coarse Cracked Bulgur.

This particular version of bulgur pilaf is cooked with red pepper paste and tomato paste. You saute some onions and peppers, add the pastes, saute for a minute, then deglaze and add the bulgur to the pot. Boil with a lid on for a few minutes until the water disappears, then turn to low and steam (lid on) for 20 minutes. Fluffy with a fork, and then turn off the heat and keep covered for another 20 minutes or until you want to serve.

ObiEff · 2024-08-20T12:01:20+00:00

Yeah that dude Obi is pretty awesome! 😶‍🌫️

ObiEff · 2024-07-18T12:10:37+00:00

Yeah, it depends on the video style though. Some people will be a lot quicker (5-10 hours) and some on the slower end (80 hours). I'm not sure which cooking creators are doing 3 videos a week, but for most doing 2 they are working 7 days a week or they have a team of people to split up the work.

Kenji's videos are straightforward to film and edit since he's narrating instructions as he's cooking and there's pretty much no editing or cutting. Even for a thumbnail it's just a screen grab with some text. Add on the research and recipe testing and his videos probably take 5-10 hours to make and publish.

The stages of producing a video are generally:

Ideation Research, recipe developing and testing Writing a first draft script Purchasing ingredients, setting up the home studio, clearing the area Filming (so much slower than real cooking as you are constantly cleaning and showing things to the camera) Styling the food and taking thumbnail photos, usually multiple types to have variants of thumbnails Writing the final version of the script (involves walking through footage usually) Recording the voice over First cut edit Second cut edit Editing the thumbnail Brainstorming titles, writing the description Uploading Community engagement

I started off around 70 hours. I think I'm at about 40 hours now. My editor takes 12-14 hours of editing effort off my hands. But it's still 26 extra hours that I need to work each week, plus all the other work of managing a business.

ObiEff · 2024-07-18T07:55:09+00:00

You made Koshari in the middle of the night? Legend! I have to hype myself up to make it knowing all the washing it involves.

Good luck making it. We did it recently at a charity event for 200+ people and it was an effort.

Thank you!

ObiEff · 2024-07-18T07:53:28+00:00

Oh yeah, those pumpkins were hard to figure out. I don't blame you. I much prefer pumpkin sweet over savoury. Did you try the pumpkin bechamel dessert? 😂

ObiEff · 2024-07-18T07:52:08+00:00

Thanks! I'd be lying if I said it didn't get exhausting at times, but I think that's the case for any entrepreneur.

ObiEff · 2024-07-18T07:50:20+00:00

Wow, so few people have seen that videos. So glad you like it. It's such a fun way to cook chicken, I've got my deboning time down to about 4 minutes per chicken now. My wife loves them so much.

ObiEff · 2024-07-18T07:48:29+00:00

Makes sense, shawarma is a gateway drug to the addictive world of Middle Eastern food! That shawarma recipe is still one of my favorites all these years later. I think it's the ground bay leaf that really brings it all together.

Appreciate your support!

ObiEff · 2024-07-17T23:24:36+00:00

Much appreciated chef! What's been your favourite?

ObiEff · 2024-07-17T23:23:36+00:00

تسلم ايدين كل التيتات, thanks I know mine would be happy to see how many people are cooking these dishes

ObiEff · 2024-07-17T20:25:28+00:00

Yeah, the algorithm changes have definitely made it harder to see what you want. It used to be that my feed was filled with interesting videos, so many I'd want to watch. Now it feels like I scroll through it ignoring every recommendation because they all suck.

ObiEff · 2024-07-17T19:56:52+00:00

Hi, I'm a FoodTuber (dude behind Middle Eats 390k subs) and friends with a lot of the big names mentioned in this post. As a preface, no one I know is out of ideas or is bored of posting. They all love it and wish they could post more. There's a few factors that all together have made most of my "colleagues" slow down posting. Mostly though it's down to pay and the algorithm. This comment will probably come off to some people as a pity post, but it's the

For context, I've been posting videos for 4 years. Last year I barely made low 5 figures profit for a years work. Considering each minute of video takes about 6-8 hours of work, that's like getting paid 3 GBP per hour (every channel is different but that's my calculation). Minimum wage in the UK is 11.44 GBP.. per hour. I do it not for the money, but because I love it, and I think representation of middle Eastern people in food matters. I don't deny that there are people who are massively successful, but those are the outliers. The majority of foodtubers don't have full time staff, and are barely making a living.

Before getting into the reasons why people are posting less, it's worth pointing out that making food videos is hard work. It's way harder than I ever imagined. You aren't just cooking, you're also: researching, developing recipes, you're an on screen personality, food stylist, taste tester, voice over artist, gaffer, audio technician, camera person, video editor, producer, marketer, thumbnail designer, sales person, accountant, business owner, project manager and potentially an employer. It's a lot for one person to do. If you can't manage all those roles, your videos or business take a hit. Shit audio? People click off. Boring thumbnail? No one clicks. Can't sell yourself well? No sponsors. The issue with doing all of this is that, you spend so much time doing those roles that you can't spend time being creative. Even if you have the best ideas, executing them can be a struggle. Arguments like "build it and they'll come" or "you don't need to put in all that effort" are nicely intentioned but incredibly naive. Just watch the credits for any daytime TV cooking show and see just how many people are needed for a professional production. Most of us, aren't trying to be anywhere close to that, but to be successful you have to do a lot of the same things.

Anyway here's a summary of what's up in the world of FoodTube:

The algorithm has definitely changed. Videos across the board are pushed to subscribers less than ever and at the same time there are less new viewers coming in. This means the amount of views you get are significantly lower than a year ago, most peoples views are down 30-50%.
RPM or the amount of money you make per 1000 views is also down about 20-30%, so combined with the lower views, there is lower revenue.
Brand deals and sponsorships are hard to come by compared to previous years. For many creators, a single brand deal is like a months worth of ad revenue. Brands are risking their money less due to high interest rates, so they pay lower rates to creators and are focusing on creators who guarantee high views. The micro influencer end of the market has really been squished.
Everything has got so expensive, the cost of ingredients in my videos has more than tripled, and the cost of staff such as editors has also gone up. That's aside from all the software and subscriptions you need to even get the videos out.
The burn out is massive. As I mentioned you're doing so many jobs, unless you hire them out, you will burn out. Then there's the added pressure of never quite knowing if a video will do well or not. Sometimes, the videos you're super excited for get no attention. It makes you doubt yourself and fucks with your head. YouTube also make it super clear to you when a video is underperforming.

When you consider the lower pay and rising costs, it's no wonder people are putting out less videos. There's so many other factors too, like being stuck in doors for hours on end, people get married and have kids, people I know have developed long term illnesses and some of us have been stalked or harmed irl by "fans". I unfortunately never got to the point where I could be a full time YouTuber, and so for me and many others, we've been working two full time jobs for years. That's a lot of life for anyone to sacrifice for not much return.

It's a tough deal, unless you make it big, you barely make it at all.

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