| I love hearing from
Blue Ginger diners, viewers of my television shows and readers
of my cookbooks! Below are some questions that are
frequently asked. |
1) Where is Blue
Ginger?
Blue Ginger is located in Wellesley, Massachusetts at 583
Washington St, just west of
Wellesley Center.
The phone number is 781-283-5790
Visit the Blue Ginger section. |
2) What is East
meets West cuisine?
I answered this question in the introduction to my book:
“My food is based on the ingredients and cooking techniques
of both the East and West. Too often, however, so-called fusion
cooking (con-fusion cooking, some of us call it) produces
chaos on the plate and in the mouth. To avoid this, I have an
enormous sense of respect for each culture’s ingredients and
traditional techniques. Successful East-West cooking
harmoniously combines two distinct culinary approaches. Take
my Savory Braised Oxtail with Preserved Lemon Polenta recipe:
When a dish is not just new but better - when I can find a
superior way to celebrate oxtail’s earthiness, say, or the
deep sour tang of pickled lemons, and then join the two - that’s
real East-West cooking.” |
3) Where do I
get some of the harder to find ingredients in the recipes?
To make all of my recipes as accessible as possible, I created
Ming's
Pantry, a special Asian ingredient section of my
website. The pantry includes many of the hard-to-find
ingredients that are found in my more authentic dishes.
I have taken the labor out of traveling to Asian markets and
ethnic grocery stores in order to source some of the specialty
ingredients. My aim is to enable the at home cook to
create their own Blue Ginger dishes in the comfort of their
own kitchens. |
4) Where do I
buy the ceramic knife you always use on your show?
The ceramic (not plastic) knives that I use on my show, in my
restaurant and at home, are made by
Kyocera. Please check out the Ming’s
Store section of my website to purchase one or even the
entire set. I endorse these knives very simply because
they work like a
dream and heighten any chef’s level of slicing and food
preparation. Tomatoes are transformed into paper-thin slices
with one pass of the blade. Guaranteed for five years,
one may send them back to Kyocera in San Diego and
they will sharpen them for free. (They use a specialized diamond
sharpening wheel because diamonds are the only other material
harder than ceramic). However, don't throw away your boning
and filleting knives. My knives are not recommended for
breaking down lamb chops, filleting fish nor smashing garlic
and bones. |
5) How do I make
traditional Chinese dishes?
If any of you are also interested in delicious, traditional
Chinese dishes, I suggest you peruse your bookstores for books
by three of my favorite Chinese Chefs: Ken Hom, Eileen Fei-Lo,
and Pei Mei. As you may know, my parents owned a Chinese
restaurant, the Mandarin Kitchen in Dayton, Ohio. As a result,
I grew up surrounded by the delicious aromas of red roast pork, sizzling pot
stickers and the sweet smell of cooking garlic and ginger.
Sunday afternoon Dim Sum in Chinatown is still one of my
favorite ways to start/spend the day. |
|
6) What is your
favorite food to eat on your day off?
Being Chinese I lean towards even the simplest
Chinese cuisine. However, any kind of Asian food fits the
bill. I drink soy milk all the time and my wife Polly and I go out
for Dim Sum once a week, usually on our day off. In my
family, I am also
known as the ‘Sandwich King’ because I’ve been
known to put practically anything between two slices of bread. My wife Polly
and I enjoy making soups at home in the winter, especially
noodle soups like Vietnamese Pho, and Chinese Wonton Noodle
Soup. We tend to eat at Blue Ginger
once a week. Although we are extremely lucky to own Blue Ginger,
we still dine on take-out all the time. Our favorite spots are in
Needham: Sweet Basil (Italian), Joy Luck (Chinese) and Bai
Thong (Thai). |
7) What are
Ming’s favorite restaurants across the country?
I think Nobu Matsuhisa (LAX, NYC), Jean Georges Vongrichten
(Jean Georges, NYC), Mario Batali (Babbo, NYC), Sam Choy (Sam Choy’s,
Hawaii), Alan Wong (Alan Wong’s, HI) and Ken Oringer (Clio,
Boston), are some of the best chefs in the country. The
food is simply spectacular, and it is always so exciting and
inspiring for me to watch other chefs shine. For a more
down-home meal in NYC, check out Wu Liang Ye in midtown
Manhattan as well as Joe’s Shanghai down in Chinatown.
Of course when I’m on the run, there’s nothing
better than a good old Sabrett hot dog from a street vendor…they’re
always the best hot dogs in the world! In Boston, we go to
Ming’s Garden and China Pearl for Dim Sum and East Ocean
City and New Shanghai for dinner. |
|
|
Q&A
As
seen in
Boston
Globe West Thursday May 30,2002
By
Naomi R. Kooker
In 1998, Ming Tsai opened
Blue Ginger, an Asian-fusion bistro with his wife, Polly, in
Wellesley. This year, he won the coveted Best Chef Northeast
title at the James Beard awards. He stars in two shows,
is working on his second cookbook, and just set up a
partnership with Target to develop specialty food
products. He is also a spokesman for National Food
Safety Education Month (September). He moved to Natick
recently with his wife and son.
Q. With all the
hats you wear, why add to the list spokesman for Food Safety
Month?
A. I'll tell you why:
Paul Prudhomme [the previous spokesman]. I put him in the
same category as Julia [Child]. He's been a true success
story in the same industry, by being a chef and
entrepreneur. Part of being a success in my book is
being able to give back.
Q. How do you
like living in Natick?
A. Its a fun
town; its got a few decent restaurants, which we're always
looking for. To be able to drive to work in seven
minutes without traffic - you can't put a value on that.
In theory, I bike to work. All that foie gras - you got
to do something.
Q. Why did you open Blue
Ginger in Wellesley?
A. When I first
moved here, [Polly and I] had every intention of opening a
restaurant in Boston. I wanted at least 100 seats - I
couldn't find a space that size. I'm Chinese - it was
all about saving money and doing this mom-and-pop style.
My brother said, " If you open a restaurant [in the
suburbs], don't worry." I jumped on the Web and did
demographic research and at least one quarter million people
had median incomes over $100,000 and median houses over
$500,000. What I did want to know was if their palates
were educated; so the palate was key. The moment I
walked in the door [of the former Wellesley Market], I though,
"Definitely yes." We had a feng shui expert
check it out and our design worked out. The Town of Wellesley
has been great. They have really taken us as one of
their own - that's why we keep at least 30 percent of our
tables for walk-ins. One of these days TV is going to stop;
you can't sustain the ride forever. Once the ride starts
to slow down, its the neighborhood that's going to keep you
going. Its your loyal clients.
Q. Why do you
think your style of cooking is so popular?
A. Ultimately,
it doesn't really matter what the style of cooking is; it just
has to be good food at good value. I think one of the
reasons we've done well is the fact we're not fine
dining. We have paper on our tables. People don't
always want to spend $60 to $70 a night for dinner. You can
spend 25 bucks at Blue Ginger and still have a full meal.
Q. What's
the one ingredient people should always have in their pantry?
A. Fresh ginger
root. It is far superior to the powder. If you
peel it and mince it up, and put it in any stir-fry, you'll
get this fresh piquant ginger flavor you really can't get from
any other product.
Q. How do you
manage to spend time with your family?
A. One of my
secrets I finally learned a year ago was to just say no.
The only way this monster works is you have to make family a
priority. If you don't get to see your kid grow up or
see your wife, then what's the point?
Q. What is
blue ginger?
A. Miss Polly
came up with the name. We had a list of 50 names when we
first opened: Chef Ming, Jasmine's...Out of the blue she
said Blue Ginger. Blue, of course, is my favorite color
and blue also connotes water, and we're big believers in feng
shui - the flow of energy throughout a space. [In Singapore]
they call galangal [a root like ginger] blue ginger.
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