Blue Ginger: East Meets West Cooking with Ming Tsai: A Cookbook

by Ming Tsai, Arthur Boehm

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.

Genres: Cookbooks, Reference, Cooking, Culinary, Food, Nonfiction

288 pages, Hardcover

First published November 9, 1999

Reviews

[Emmeri · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you like Asian inspired food, spicey flavor or ginger this is the book for you. There are simple and complex recipes in this book for both the amature to experienced cook. However, the taste will probably not be for everyone but the recipes have been a huge hit in my family.

[Dean Martin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Eating well is living well

[Stephen · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a long time ago that I read Chef Wini Brugger's book "Asian Fusion" and marveled at the possibilities of combining the ingredients, flavours and techniques of Europe-America with those of Asia. Brugger was a European-trained Austrian chef sent by Hilton Hotels to Asia where he became their Regional Executive Chef for Central Asia. At around the same time, American-born Chinese Chef Ming Tsai was doing a similar sort of thing. Tsai was the owner-chef of Blue Ginger in Wellesley, Massachusetts, and the host of "East Meets West" in the early days of the Food Network. His photograph, on the dustjacket, taken in 1999, shows a fellow much younger than he looked last week as a judge on Food Network's "Tournament of Champions." The picture served as a Dorian Gray reminder of the years that have passed since my introduction to this quite-wonderful style of cooking. There are a great many more Asian ingredients which are widely available today than there were in 2000: more than one kind of soy sauce, Vietnamese fish sauce, mirin, rice wine vinegar, buckwheat noodles, wonton wrappers, pickled ginger, coconut milk, sesame oil, miso, gojujang, lemon grass, sriracha, tamarind, banana leaves. This abundance underscores the invitation to explore Asian cuisines in American kitchens. It is also the predicate to messing around with the borders between East and West: using Eastern ingredients in Western dishes and vice versa, using Asian techniques with American foods, and so on. Tsai's book is excellent in so many ways. He is not fussy; he presents his recipes in a simple straightforward way that conveys his belief that anybody can do this without apprenticing in an Asian kitchen for a year. The chapter on broth, stock and soup alone is worth the price of the book. The chapter on oils, dips and seasonings is a jumping-off place for innovation and experimentation. There are very few desserts in Asian cooking, but Tsai concocts a few: the apex is a riff on a root beer float made with homemade ginger ale and homemade lemongrass ice cream. He demystifies dim sum and discloses his mother's recipe for pork and ginger pot stickers, unchanged, out of respect. The chapter entitled "Over the Top" is an encouragement to show off for guests, because that's what good cooks do. I have not made the tea-smoked salmon yet, but I will. Also, his riff on Peking Duck: "Asian Lacquered Poussin with Hoisin Lime Sauce." Really good book; very happy to have it in my collection.

[Gabriel · Rating 3 out of 5]

finding some very interesting recipes... YAY!

[Liz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. Great flavor combos, definitely see how Tsai made his bones. Love the homemade ginger ale syrup to make ginger ale floats with lemongrass ice cream.

[Theresa · Rating 3 out of 5]

Blue Ginger: East Meets West Cooking with Ming Tsai

[Luz-Maria · Rating 4 out of 5]

east meets west, baby!!

[Shirley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great recipes