Season 5 of The Next Food Network Star premieres in just 11 days! Tune in to Food Network Sunday, June 7 at 9pm/8c and catch the ten finalists compete for the biggest prize on TV – their own show!
Our love for Asian cuisine has us super excited to meet finalist Debbie Lee, a 39 year old restaurant consultant. According to the Food Network website, Debbie’s Korean heritage and Southern upbringing make a a dynamic combination as she uniquely blends Asian and American cuisines.
Last Friday night, I got the opportunity to attend a Japanese Spring Cooking class taught by my friend Hiroko Shimbo. Our mutual friend Matt introduced us, inviting us both for a night of tapas, which eventually led to lengthy discussions about Barcelona, debates about short grain vs. long grain rice, and ultimately an invitation for me to attend Hiroko’s class at the French Culinary Institute’s International Culinary Center.
Having left straight after work to attend Hiroko’s class, I joined the rest of the class, which had already started. I immediately recognized Hiroko’s signature bob and distinctively blunt bangs behind the prep table upon entering the kitchen. Hiroko teaches her classes using traditional Japanese methods and recipes while using local and seasonal ingredients. Donning blue aprons and chef hats, all the students gathered around the demonstration table as Hiroko led us through each recipe, explaining each ingredient and technique. We started with the basics, making kombu dashi (kelp stock), then advanced to more difficult dishes with tasks such as poaching fish and frying tempura. Charged with glutamate, which produces a deep Umami flavor, kombu dashi plays a central role in Japanese cuisine and was a key component in multiple dishes for our Japanese Spring dinner.
Only 3 days left to participate in the Hot Chef Grilling Challenge! Winner receives the opportunity to showcase his/her recipe in a culinary demonstration at the 2009 National Restaurant Association Restaurant, Hotel-Motel Show in Chicago (May 16-19)!
Fluctuating temperatures and unexpected bouts of winter precipitation has made for a slow start for the Spring season here in New York. My mounting anticipation for temperate weather, winter coat-free wardrobes, and light spring meals served as inspiration for dinner last night. My friend Ellen, a devout vegetarian and healthful cook, came over to help prepare a walnut miso noodle recipe that I found on 101cookbooks.com. Packed with umami, the miso harmoniously blended with the garlic and walnuts to create a flavorful, creamy dressing for the soba noodles. The dressing also can double as a veggie dip; Ellen used it as dip for extra slices of cucumber we had left over. Paired with a warm cup of Genmaicha Tea (Japanese matcha green tea with brown rice), we sat on the couch and enjoyed our TV dinner.
Having spent a full two days at the International Boston Seafood Show, engorging myself with perhaps one too many raw oysters and smoked salmon samples, my seafood pilgrimage concluded with the Taste of Oishii event sponsored by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. Hosted at the Westin Hotel adjacent to the Boston Convention Center, the tasting featured ten leading Japanese seafood producers whose products are poised to lead the newest Japanese gastronomic trends in the United States.
A brief introduction by Harvard Professor Theodore C. Bestor, Professor of Anthopology and Japanese Studies, highlighted the history of Japanese cuisine and culinary practices and its deep roots in Japanese tradition, while also emphasizing new contemporary applications of Japanese ingredients beyond solely traditional Japanese cuisine.
Although the Chinese restaurant industry represents 45,000 Chinese restaurants across the U.S., that generates over $20 billion in annual sales, most Americans diners still think of Chinese food as a cheap take-out of chow mein, spring rolls and fortune cookies. While Chinese food has reinvented itself many times over on the Asian culinary scene – whose amazing growth was fueled by the recent economic boom – its counterpart in the U.S. has not yet acheived the same stature.
Join New York Times reporter and author of The Fortune Cookies Chronicles – Jennifer 8. Lee in a conversation with world renown Chef Martin Yan, a celebrated host of over 3,000 cooking shows broadcast worldwide, author of over 30 cookbooks and, most recently, Founder and Chairman of Martin Yan’s Culinary Arts Center in Shenzhen, China. Chef Yan has launched his center to promote the Chinese culinary arts in response to the world’s fascination with Chinese heritage and cuisine. There will be a live food demonstration.
Thursday, March 26, 2009
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm
Asia Society and Museum
725 Park Avenue
New York, NY
Every month or so I hop onto the 7 train and make my pilgrimage to Flushing, Queens. A standard trip to Flushing includes a trim at my usual Asian salon (where they pump up uncensored hip-hop beats and Cantonese pop ballads) followed by dim sum lunch at the restaurant next door.
Beyond what is immediately surrounding the subway station is entirely foreign to me. Once past the six block radius around the subway station, the density of Chinese storefronts gets substantially sparse, eventually disappearing altogether and splitting off into various ethnic enclaves.
Deep into Korean territory in Flushing, I went to see the filming of a segment for one of my favorite TV shows, No Reservations with Anthony Bourdain. While driving further away from familiarity, the urban landscape changes significantly, as signs that were once all in Chinese begin to be outnumbered by those in Korean. The short segment that was being filmed is for a future episode featuring the outer boroughs of New York. Accompanying Anthony, as his guide to the Korean cuisine of Flushing, is David Chang of Momofuku, who is fittingly Korean American.
Our final destination was Sik Gaek. The Korean restaurant’s interior cleverly mimics the streets of Seoul, furnished with corrugated metal roofs, street lights, a flashing traffic light, and cleavage bearing posters advertising a popular brand of soju (Korean hard liquor).
If you are a fan of The Food Network’s Guy’s Big Bite, you may already know all about the yummy ginger cocktail mix called Elixir G. Elixir G is a non-alcoholic cocktail mix with the soul of fresh pressed ginger and it has been making quite a name for itself since being carried nationwide at P.F. Chang’s and Benihana restaurants. The New York Times even called P.F. Chang’s Bistro Ginger Beer, a mix of Kirin beer with a a shot of Elixir G, the best drink in the house!
Earlier this year Guy Fieri, host of Guy’s Big Bite, featured Elixir G on its “Let The Good Times Roll” episode. Guy created his own tasty Elixir G cocktail creation - the Elixir G Minty Lemonade. Try it out yourself or be sure to order an Elixir G cocktail the next time you dine out at P.F. Chang’s or Benihana. Check out ElixirG.com for more recipes too! Cheers!
Master Sculptor Jimmy Zhang Features Chinese Zodiac Food Showcase at Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in the USA Awards Show at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino
Award winning Culinary Artist Chef Jimmy Zhang featured a Chinese zodiac culinary art showcase in celebration of the Year of the Ox at the 5th Annual Top 100 Chinese Restaurants in the USA Awards Show at the Rio All-Suite Hotel & Casino. Organized by Chinese Restaurant News, the Top 100 Chinese Restaurants Awards Show recognizes, cultivates and preserves the best in Chinese cuisine. Award winning Chef Martin Yan and Theresa Lin Cheng hosted the show and announced the winners.
Chef Jimmy Zhang is founder of Art Chef, Inc and is recognized as one of the best Chinese culinary produce artists. Zhang can transform carrots into mice, taro roots into birds or a sweet potato into a stallion. Zhang sculpts food into scenes from a fairy tale. Chef Zhang is an amazing talent, said Betty Xie, Editor in chief, Chinese Restaurant News.
Located in the Bay Area since 1998, Art Chef, Inc has been actively promoting the intricate Chinese art of fruit and vegetable carvings to the general public as well as the food service industry in the US. For more information, please go to www.artchef.com.
Join Chef Susur Lee in celebrating his annual tradition this Chinese New Year 2009! Returning from New York, Chef Lee will be preparing very special menus for both Madeline’s and Lee Restaurant in Toronto from January 26 – 31. Five course menus for $50.00.
Madeline’s Menu – Chinese New Year 2009
Chinese Marinated Chicken Roulade, with whipped potato croquette, sweet & sour sauce, red radish, watercress & endive salad.
Braised Veal Cheeks, with sea salted air dried mussels, potato spinach ricotta gnocchi, Chinese black pepper sauce.
Beef Consommé, with shrimp dumpling, ginger sherry vinegar.
Cucumber, Persimmon & Avocado Salad, with miso barley, Chinese black vinegar, roasted red pepper, crisp lotus root.
Coconut Crème Caramel, with spiced black rice pudding.
Lee Menu – Chinese New Year 2009
Savory Rice Broth, with shrimp, salted duck egg, Chinese sausage & crisp Chinese wafer.
Persimmon Salad, with lily bulb, fresh chrysanthemum leaves, golden lotus root chip, soya bean crumble.
Sashimi of Salmon, with 19 part salad, green mango, salted apricot dressing.
Season 5 of The Next Food Network Star premieres in just 11 days! Tune in to Food Network Sunday, June 7 at 9pm/8c and catch the ten finalists compete for the biggest prize on TV – their own show!
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