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Ming Tsai, chef host and executive producer of Simply Ming, shares his exciting
culinary trip’s experience to the Lee Kum Kee Xinhui, China factory and the Lee
Kum Kee oyster fields. Find out what he has to say as he tours the facilities
and learns the time-honored process of making several of Lee Kum Kee’s popular
sauces.
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| LKK: |
We know you were in China recently. Was this your first trip to
China with Simply Ming? |
| MT: |
Yes, and it was actually my first time in 25 years. I was 17 the
last time I was there and, it goes without saying the Beijing has certainly
changed. However, a lot of Beijing is the same: the Imperial Palace, Tiananmen
Square, the Great Wall, all the major monuments that have been there for ages
are still there and look as they always have. The main difference is not the
modern, Western stores and influence. This time, for me, though I liked food
when I last visited, I wasn't a chef. Visiting China as a chef, it was 10 times
more fascinating to see, learn, absorb what the Chinese do with food. From
eating the freshest possible fish, seeing it butchered and cooked and the Great
Wall, to eating this fantastic corn crepe with black bean off the back of a
bicycle, to seeing exactly how millions of oysters become oyster sauce -- it
was all amazing. |
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| LKK: |
There are only a few people ever visited this remote region in the
Southern part of China where oysters are harvested for the famous LKK oyster
sauce. Can you share your experience visiting and filming there? |
| MT: |
It was such an amazing experience. Especially, to go from being
in Beijing, which is so modern, to the outskirts where people are doing things
as they've been done for decades and decades. The equipment that's used is just
fascinating to see -- from the outboard with the single engine that's as big as
a lawnmower engine to the funky land carts with the two wheels in front and one
in back -- it all seems archaic, but it has worked for ages and continues to
work. They grow such huge oysters -- the size of my hand -- and there are
millions and millions of them, as far as the eye can see. And, I must admit,
from my Western training, seeing mountains of oysters in the 90 degree sun, I
kept thinking, "you could never eat those raw." But the chef there echoed my
thoughts, saying these oysters should be wok-stirred, which he did for us, and
they were absolutely delicious. Obviously, when the oyster sauce is made, the
process kills any and all bacteria. Also, because the oysters are grown in such
pristine water, using the same method that's been used for years, it produces
an incredibly tasty oyster for oyster sauce.
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| LKK: |
The cuisine in southern part of China is distinctively different
from the north. What do you see are the marked differences, and do you
personally have a preference? |
| MT: |
Cantonese-style food has a great focus on seafood, soy sauce,
oyster sauce, and in the North, the food is more focused on meatier dishes,
noodles. In terms of preference, I like both equally -- they are so different,
and both so good, as are Sichuan and Hunan cuisine. |
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| LKK: |
The cuisine in southern part of China is distinctively different
from the north. What do you see are the marked differences, and do you
personally have a preference? |
| MT: |
Cantonese-style food has a great focus on seafood, soy sauce,
oyster sauce, and in the North, the food is more focused on meatier dishes,
noodles. In terms of preference, I like both equally -- they are so different,
and both so good, as are Sichuan and Hunan cuisine. |
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| LKK: |
While in Beijing, which restaurants did you try? What was your most
memorable meal? |
| MT: |
My most memorable meal was at Da Dong. Though I've made plenty
of Peking ducks, it was incredible to see how a master makes it. The chef, who
came from the most famous Peking duck house in China (Quanjude), openly shared
his technique, which I had never even heard or thought of, of freezing the duck
rather than boiling it. As for the Peking duck, the duck was first dipped, then
hung in 18 degrees Celsius for 8 hours, then frozen overnight and hung again at
18 degrees Celsius. The freezing permanently changes the cell structure of the
fat, so that the fat still renders when it is cooked, but the skin is crispy
and thick. The duck is not blown up (the freezing replaces it). It is the best,
thickest Peking duck skin I've ever had in my life, and I've had Peking duck
probably 500 times in my life. (I'm still not an expert, but I've eaten a lot
of Peking duck.) |
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| LKK: |
What is your favorite recipe using oyster sauce? |
| MT: |
My favorite is very simple: Chinese
broccoli or bok choy, stir-fried with garlic, ginger and oyster sauce and a
little chicken stock. The oyster sauce gives the dish a remarkable depth of
flavor and really brings out the inherent sweetness in the veg. |
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| LKK: |
Did you have a chance to see the soy sauce factory housed in their
10 million square foot plant? |
| MT: |
Yes, I did, and the most amazing sight was when we climbed up 5
floors to look down on the silos of fermenting soy beans. Even though I knew
that there are billions of people in China and the world, I couldn't believe
this was not more than a year's worth of soy sauce. Also, I found it so
interesting that they combined the old, traditional technique with new, modern
technology. The control room especially -- they monitored the exact temperature
of every part of the process.
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| LKK: |
In most Chinese kitchens, there
are the standard soy sauce and dark soy sauce, sesame oil, essence of chicken,
cooking wine and 5-spices. What is in your kitchen at home? |
| MT: |
My pantry is East-West, so I have 3 different types of LKK
sauces: (soy sauce, double deluxe soy sauce, oyster sauce). I have about 40
different bottles and containers of hot sauce from all over the world (Jamaica,
Asia, South Africa). Oils: canola and grapeseed for cooking, extra virgin olive
oil from France for vinaigrettes, garlic oil for cooking for the kids. We have
no nuts in the house because one of my sons is allergic to peanuts and
treenuts. We have 8 different types of sea salt: fleur de sel, Maldon,
Mauritius. And, every peppercorn: pink, red, black, green, white, Sichuan. |
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| LKK: |
What is the Chinese dish you cook most often for your family? Can
you share the recipe? |
| MT: |
Fried rice. My kids love fried rice. And the key, funny enough,
is to only use a little bit of soy sauce, so that the rice does not get colored
from it; the soy sauce just gives it a nicely seasoned, deep flavor. If my boys
could eat fried rice with chicken or pork or turkey every day, they would.
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| LKK: |
What do you consider the most valuable thing
you learned from this trip? |
| MT: |
Everyone says the Chinese are into fresh, fresh, fresh. And,
I've seen the fish tanks with live fish everywhere - Asia, the US, all over the
world, but I never thought I would see, at 2 am, driving from Guangzhou to the
oyster fields, truckers picking out their fish at a rest stop and having it
cooked for them right then and there. It really hit home how fresh fresh really
means in China. And, it shows that, it can be done. You can eat well and eat
fresh more often than not. That's great.
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| LKK: |
You are such a celebrity in the U.S., Are you also recognized as a
celebrity chef in China? |
| MT: |
Though I am on TV in Australia, some parts of Asia and other
parts of the world, I'm not on TV in China, so I'm not as well-known there. I
would love to do a West-Meets-East show in China, though, and I would be
honored to cook with Chinese chefs and learn from them and show them how to
blend cuisines. |
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