Ming Tsai 'In Your Kitchen'

How many times have you opened your favorite cookbook, flailed around trying a new technique, and just wished the original chef could be there to walk you through it?

Ming Tsai's new cookbook, "Simply Ming in Your Kitchen," offers you just that.

"They always say a picture is worth a thousand words. Well, a video is worth a million words," Tsai said. "You can't write in words how you roll sushi. You can't articulate it perfectly. It's impossible. But a video — it's easy."

Where Spatula Meets Smartphone

Tsai, chef and owner of Blue Ginger in Wellesley and the upcoming Blue Dragon in Boston's Seaport District, incorporates smartphone technology — specifically, QR codes — in his new cookbook so that he effectively pops up in your kitchen.

Once a reader scans the QR code with their phone, it redirects them to a cooking video on Tsai's website. Other videos are available for purchase.

"We're hoping we're creating a second revenue stream for everyone that writes cookbooks," he explained.

How To Avoid A Mess In The Kitchen

A recipe may make sense on the page initially, but sometimes part way through, the actual execution of it can get confusing.

"You should read the whole recipe before you start cooking," Tsai offered as advice. "Ditto the video. Sit down for eight to 10 minutes, watch the video. Then you'll see all the steps."

And what if splattering oil or flour dust or water droplets get near your smartphone while you're watching the video on your smartphone or laptop?

"You can put it  far enough away," he said. "A lot of these recipes you can cook real time with me. And, ideally, don't touch the computer with your dirty hands!"

The Importance Of Eating Together

Many recipes in Tsai's cookbook are served in the pan or wok in which it was cooked.

"That's family style eating — it's the best way to eat because then people can grab what they want and it'll stay warm right at the table." Tsai said. He stressed that families eating together is something that the country needs more of.

Online Recipes: Blessing Or Curse?

Tsai said that the wealth of recipes available online is both good and bad.

"If you Google 'spicy chicken,' you're going to get 15,000 spicy chicken recipes. But unfortunately only 1 percent are good. And that's the hard part: There's no filter...which is why there's still a market for cookbooks," he noted. "All of us test our recipes — that's why we're chefs. The addition of video and convenience of QR code just makes it that much easier to hopefully get people to learn techniques and to cook."

Asian Cuisine: No Longer 'Dumbed Down'

Tsai acknolwedged that much of what we know as Asian cuisine — whether it's Japanese, Thai, Chinese — is still under the umbrella of American food, just as pizza is no longer considered ethnic food.

"The good thing that's going on in this country is we're getting authentic chefs," Tsai said optimistically. "So not just a Chinese chef. We're getting a Schizuan chef, a chef from Guangzhou, a chef from Hunan, and they're doing the real food that is done in China and bringing it here. We're no longer dumbing down.

"The creation of chop suey 30 years ago — that person really should not be allowed on this planet, right?" he joked. "But that was done because the food was dumbed down thinking this is what the Americans want. But guess what? The Americans — us Americans — want more now. We're traveled. We see the cooking shows. We see what real lemongrass or real Thai chiles look like and taste like. And now they're demanding to have that authentic flavor."

Guest:

More: