Product Description

John Mariani has called Ming Tsai "the foremost interpreter of East-West cuisine in America today," and the appreciative diners at Blue Ginger, Ming's celebrated restaurant in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and fans of his top-rated Food Network show, East Meets West with Ming Tsai, agree. Now, in his first cookbook, Ming shares the technique and philosophy behind his exciting cross-cultural fare.
        
The key, Ming explains, is retaining a healthy respect for the traditions of each cuisine so that diverse elements can be combined in a harmonious way. His trademark Foie Gras and Morel Shu Mai, for example, elevates a traditional yet simple Asian preparation with a luxuriously sophisticated Western ingredient and transforms a humble dish into truly elegant fare. Prosciutto and Asian Pear Maki is a playful reinterpretation of a Japanese favorite, while Classic Roast Chicken with Sticky Rice Stuffing gives the holiday staple a savory new spin. The result is food that's inventive yet not trendy, complex in flavor but surprisingly easy to prepare.
        
In chapters devoted to Soups; Dim Sum (irresistible starters and bite-sized party fare); Rice and Noodles; Seafood; Birds; Meat; Sides; Oils, Dips and Seasonings; and Desserts, Ming proves again and again how delicious the coming together of East and West can be: Gingered Beef with Leeks and Asparagus, Hoisin-Marinated Chicken with Napa Slaw, Asian Gazpacho with Cilantro-Jicama Cream, and Wok-Flashed Salt and Pepper Shrimp are all quick and straightforward preparations that provide big flavors in every bite. And when it's time to pull out all the stops, a chapter dedicated to Over-the-Top recipes will guide home cooks through an array of showstopping dishes that dazzle with innovative techniques and presentations. Beverage suggestions accompany each recipe to complete the dining experience.
        
Filled with Ming's tips for working with unfamiliar ingredients and preparations, Blue Ginger is an outstanding introduction to the pleasures of East-West cooking.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #303472 in Books
• Published on: 1999-11-09
• Released on: 1999-11-09
• Original language: English
• Dimensions: 9.45" h x 1.00" w x 7.70" l, 2.44 pounds
• Binding: Hardcover
• 288 pages

From Amazon.com
Thanks to his cooking program on the Television Food Network, Ming Tsai has gone from chef to culinary celebrity, taking recipes from his Massachusetts restaurant, Blue Ginger, and using them to introduce cooking with Asian ingredients in a most appealing way. Beyond being attractive, serene, and engagingly articulate, Ming Tsai makes cooking with Asian ingredients look easy. This book, a companion to his television shows, offers the same approach and low-key instructions that viewers have come to love. To fill in the visual details for those who have not viewed the cooking series, the book includes step-by-step black-and-white photos for filling potsticker dumplings, rolling sushi, and preparing sushi rice, as well as glorious color shots of many of the completed dishes.

Tsai's specialty is bringing ingredients and techniques of Asia and the West together. It's not surprising to find Tsai using Asian banana leaves, French foie gras, and Southwestern chipotle chile peppers all at once. In fact, it's only natural for the Ohio-raised son of Chinese immigrants, who trained at the classically oriented Cordon Bleu in Paris and has cooked at U.S. restaurants from San Francisco to Santa Fe. His ability to create easily reproduced, globally influenced dishes is exceptional, and results in delights such as Smoky Turkey Shao Mai (dumplings filled with a chipotle-heated filling) and Asian Gazpacho spiked with ginger and Thai basil. Keeping it simple, Tsai offers a quick roll-up of Prosciutto and Asian Pear Maki. Lemon Basmati Rice, flavored with lemon zest and ginger, or couscous blended with a sauté of onion, scallion, and currants--both are side dishes made in minutes that can dress up a store-bought chicken, grilled meat, or Tsai's salmon teriyaki, creatively flavored with orange juice.

Blue Ginger offers many ways to spice up family meals and dishes to surprise guests without too much effort. Cooking from this book is an opportunity to take Asian ingredients you may have eaten in restaurants and master using them in your own kitchen. --Dana Jacobi

From Publishers Weekly
"Successful East-West cooking finds a harmonious way to combine distinct culinary approaches," proclaims Tsai, Emmy Award-winning chef-host of Food Network's East Meets West cooking program and owner of Blue Ginger restaurant in Wellesley, Mass. Tsai and Boehm (Empire Kosher Chicken Cookbook) distinguish their cross-cultural fare with popular fusion cooking. After a brief introduction summarizing Tsai's beginnings in his parents' Chinese-American restaurant in Dayton, Ohio, he turns to the eclectic contents of his pantry. Chapters divide the 125-plus recipes into soups, dim sum, rice and noodles, poultry, meat, seafood, elaborate side dishes and desserts, with mail-order sources. Flavor combinationsAfrom Rock Shrimp Lollipops with Spicy Almond Sauce to Lemongrass Parfait with Pineapple SalsaAdefy tradition. Many recipes require a long list of ingredients (e.g., Crispy Scallops with Carrot-Star Anise Syrup, Pomegranate-Marinated Squab with Thai Quince Chutney), but instructions are clearly written and often include tips for wine and food pairings and advice on ingredient substitutions and techniques. Tsai brings vigor and enthusiasm, along with inspired, intense flavor creations, to his cookbook, which will appeal to fans of his show and all readers with diverse palates. 9-city author tour. (Nov.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Blue Ginger is Tsai's restaurant in Wellesley, MA, where he serves innovative crosscultural dishes like Onion Soup with Steamed Coriander Scallops and Mongolian Beef Sandwiches with Black Bean Aioli. Tsai, who is Chinese American (his parents had a restaurant in Dayton, OH), has an interesting culinary background that includes the Cordon Bleu; a stint at Fauchon, the famed Paris food emporium; study with a sushi master in Japan; and an earlier Southeast Asian restaurant in Palo Alto. His recipes are imaginative but not contrived, and he has an engaging style, as fans of his Food Network television series already know. Recommended for most collections.
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.