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Ming Tsai raves about ‘golf food’–crispy ‘bangus’


By Vangie Baga-Reyes
Philippine Daily Inquirer
First Posted 22:30:00 04/29/2009

MANILA, Philippines – He’s the celebrity chef chefs would love to meet.
So when chef Ming Tsai of the famed “East Meets West” and “Simply Ming” TV shows set foot on Philippine soil last Friday, local chefs felt privileged—and got very excited. Lunches, dinners, autograph signing, interviews and culinary demos were organized for him to get a taste of what he ought to know about the country during his six-day stay.
“I have to be honest—I didn’t know a lot about Filipino cuisine,” he admitted. “Though I have a couple of Filipino friends back home and have tried their food. I know lumpia and chicken relleno. But you see, being in Asia, I know you really have good food. Everyone in Asia has terrific food.”
Ming enjoyed almost every single dish served him by Filipino chefs, celebrities themselves—from chef Sau del Rosario’s Kapampangan spread of pork sisig, lechon, camaru and tibok-tibok at M Café, to the East-West interpretation of Pinoy food of Glenda Barretto, Myrna Segismundo and Jill Sandique at Edsa Shangri-La, Jessie Sincioco’s chicken pork adobo and alugbati salad with kesong puti, and J Gamboa’s delightful, crispy lapu-lapu with sweet chili sauce, spring rolls and fish cake at Azuthai.
“They were all delicious, I must say,” said Ming, who was flown to Manila by Kyocera in celebration of its 50th anniversary, with Subzero and Wolf. “They were prepared nice and clean. Sau took classic Filipino dishes and raised it to the next level. And the best dish for me every time has been the pork, especially the pork crispy skin.”
In his press conference at The Rockwell Club, other chefs like Margarita Fores, Buddy Trinidad and Penk Ching caught a glimpse of Ming in cool printed grey long-sleeved polo, denim and sneakers, with no socks.
“My cousin also lives here and he said, ‘Look, great golf, great beaches, great people’ that’s what you’ll see in the Philippines,” said Ming, who instantly got excited about the visit.
He managed to squeeze into his hectic schedule a round of golf at Southwoods and Sherwood Hills. He also enjoyed the clubhouse food.
“I’ve seen a lot of golf courses and you have great courses here. I love golf and more importantly, the food. The chef at Southwoods made an outdoor grill of squid, pompano and pork belly. We ate crispy bangus for lunch and I kept saying ‘This is the best thing I’ve had. It’s so good.’ And, this is golf food! In the States, if you say golf food you get hamburgers and hotdogs. Here, you’re getting fresh fish.”
Passion for food
Born in California but raised in Dayton, Ohio, Ming is best known for his shows “East Meets West” and “Ming’s Quest,” which both have been shown locally. Aside from winning an Emmy for “Ming’s Quest,” the Asian-American also has the distinction of beating “Iron Chef” Bobby Flay in the “Battle Duck” episode. He has also served as judge in “Cooking Under Fire,” and was a guest in an episode of “Top Chef.”
A Mechanical Engineering graduate of Yale University, Ming pursued his true passion and apprenticed in various European establishments, and later obtained a master’s degree in Hotel Administration and Hospitality Marketing at Cornell University. He counts among his influences Ken Hom, whom he considers his mentor and the father of East-West cuisine; Pierre Herme at Fauchon (for pastries); Gerard Boyer and Joel Robuchon; flawless sushi master Kobayashi of Osaka; and culinary doyenne Julia Child, who he says “taught me it was okay to be authentic and poke fun at yourself on camera.”
With wife Polly, Ming opened Blue Ginger restaurant in Wellesley, Massachusetts, now 11 years old, where he has developed a loyal following for his East and West cuisine. On its first year, Blue Ginger received stars from the Boston Globe, was named “Best New Restaurant” by Boston Magazine, and was nominated by the James Beard Foundation as “Best New Restaurant 1998.” Esquire Magazine honored Ming as “Chef of the Year 1998.”
Ming is the host and executive producer of the public TV cooking show, “Simply Ming,” now on its seventh season. He is also the author of three best-selling cookbooks: “Blue Ginger: East Meets West Cooking with Ming Tsai,” “Simply Ming” and “Ming’s Master Recipes.”
Ming is also a product developer. For the past decade, Ming has used Kyocera advanced ceramic cutting tools. His Blue Ginger line of East-West meal solutions, launched at Target stores in 2000, h as continued to expand.
He also co-designs an eco-friendly line of bamboo cutting boards and dishes. He is also featured in the Sub-Zero/Wolf website as one of the “Friends of the Kitchen” personalities.
East and West cuisine
Ming has never enjoyed the word “fusion” in his culinary creations. “Fusion is confusion,” he said. But his East and West combination of cooking techniques has always worked to his advantage.
“It’s simply the blending of Eastern and Western techniques and ingredients that produces food that’s bold and flavorful. I love contrasting textures and temperatures like shrimp toast on cold gazpacho or salad on a hot dip. I like smooth and crunchy. At the end of the day, my food is inherently healthy. I’m not a diet chef. I don’t care about calories but because of Asian techniques of braising and steaming and flash-frying, the food comes healthy yet delicious.”
As an Asian food advocate, does he really think Philippines has what it takes to be known internationally?
“It’s strange when you go to the States you have every Asian store but Filipino. Maybe one or two. It’s always Chinese, Japanese, Thai and Vietnamese. I’m just speculating but I don’t think Filipino chefs leave your country to try to make it to the States. Most Japanese and Chinese came and tried it.”
He added: “But with your style of food, with all the uses of vinegars, soy sauce and pork, you can absolutely do well. Just like a Singaporean restaurant in New York City that’s doing well now. Your food profile is delicious. You use a lot of meat like pork and chicken. But I’ve had more fish here, too, than anything else, like shrimp fried rice. Yours is a combination of Chinese and Spanish influences. You have the best of both worlds.”
Ming stressed that food is constantly evolving, whether we like it or not. People are shifting to simpler, lighter food.
“In the States, people are staying away from big, heavy food. They want lighter food. More veggies. As the world is changing, the best food is always simple. The hardest food to cook is the simple food. You have 15 ingredients and you can make dishes taste really good. But if you have only four ingredients, which is harder to make, you can also still make food taste equally good and clean.”
Clean in look and taste
“Clean” has always been Ming’s favorite word to describe food.
“Food has to be clean—in look and taste. There also has to be a contrasting taste. You guys do it here with nice acid to your vinegars. I love the balance of sour and sweet, spicy with sour-sweet. I love soy sauce, fish sauce and salt, and balance it with sugar or fruit. Because every bite should be balanced.”
Whether the approach to food is traditional, contemporary or gourmet, Ming would always go back to his favorite comfort food: ramen and sandwiches.
“I love any type of noodle soup. When I was a kid I’d eat ramen noodles all the time. I also love sandwiches. Any thing between two pieces of bread. I can put a whole chicken in between breads. Hamburgers are okay. At Sherwood Hill, they did a great club sandwich with scrambled egg and bacon. It was delicious.”
So far his greatest high as a chef is seeing his Blue Ginger customers enjoy his food.
“This is why I’m a chef, and that most chefs would like this is because you can actually change people’s lives for those two hours they’re in your restaurant. You can take them away into escapism. You walk into my door, we grab you by your hand, we serve you great food, great wine, great service and ambiance, and you can forget about, especially, this economy. You can forget about everything else in the world and just enjoy yourself,” said Ming.