The Las Vegas Episode of ‘No Passport Required’ Airs Tonight on PBS

Go behind the scenes of the vibrant Chinese restaurant scene in Las Vegas when Eater’s PBS show, No Passport Required, takes host Marcus Samuelsson, to restaurants on and mostly off the Strip.

The second season of the show — which explores immigrant traditions and cuisine across the U.S. — features Las Vegas on February 10 on PBS, airing tonight at 9 p.m. (check local listings here).

Mongolian hot pots, hand-pulled noodles, a Taiwanese breakfast, and Peking duck all make an appearance. Samuelsson starts at Mott 32, the chic restaurant at the Palazzo, where chef Alan Ji shows Samuelsson how he makes lobster mapo tofu and Peking duck served table side.

Over in Chinatown, he visits KJ Kitchen, the old-school Cantonese restaurant with live lobster tanks, where he notes that many Chinese-American restaurants either adjust their recipes to suit non-Chinese guests or use local ingredients.

At the spicy Chengdu Taste, Yong LIu cooks some numbing spicy toothpick lamb.

Then at Yi Mei Champion Taiwan Deli, he eats a Taiwanese breakfast from owner Borman Yang.

Sam Huang at Shang Artisan Noodle shows Samulesson how to make hand-pulled noodles and knife-shaved noodles.

Alan Wong at Kung Fu Thai & Chinese Restaurant, which has been open since 1973, showcases teochew roast duck, which is becoming an endangered dish. Wong says that when the restaurant opened, it was one of three Thai restaurants in the United States.

At Chubby Cattle, Samuelsson hangs out with Harby Yang to learn about Mongolian hot pots, the No. 1 cuisine in China.

Finally, Sheridan Su and Jenny Wong lift the veil on Fat Choy and its pork belly bao dishes and then showcase Hainanese chicken rice at Flock & Fowl.

Additional episodes: Each hour-long episode focuses on a different immigrant community in a new city: In addition to Las Vegas, the series traveled to Seattle, where Samuelsson cooked with a Filipino community eager to preserve its food traditions while using key ingredients such as ube and vinegar to create new ones; Houston, home to one of the highest numbers of West African expatriates of any U.S. city; Philadelphia, where Italian Americans have thrived for generations; and Los Angeles to meet with Armenians influencing the city’s food scene. One additional upcoming episode heads to Boston (February 17), where Samuelsson explores Portuguese-speaking cultures and cuisines from three different locales: Brazil, Cape Verde, and Portugal. The episodes air weekly on PBS, and all are available for streaming.

Online and on social: Tag @eater, @pbs, and #NoPassRequiredPBS if you share clips, pictures, or quotes from the show. Check back on Eater Vegas tomorrow to see a map of the restaurants featured in the episode, and head to PBS to learn more about the show, find character bios, and get recipes to cook at home.

No Passport Required is produced for PBS by Eater and Vox Media Studios, part of Vox Media. Stream full episodes on Eater and PBS, or check local listings. Get more information on the show at pbs.org/nopassrequired.

Missed Season 1? Stream full episodes from the entire season starting tonight at 9/8 CST, or check out recaps and more intel on No Passport Required here.

• All Coverage of No Passport Required [Eater]