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ASIAN AMERICAN ISSUES
MING TSAI: PROTOTYPE OF THE NEW AA MALE?
epending on your perspective, Ming Tsai is either a role model for a new generation of Asian American men or the nightmare of many Asian parents.
On the role model side, he's America's most famous Asian chef, with two popular Food Network series (East Meets West, Ming's Quest) and a recipe book under his belt (Blue Ginger). And at the age of 36, he and his wife have built up an acclaimed, highly profitable fusion restaurant (Blue Ginger) in the Boston suburb of Wellesley.
On the parental nightmare side, Tsai threw away a Yale mechanical engineering degree to work in a Paris restaurant just because he belatedly discovered that he'd rather cook than compute stresses. Adding insult to injury (some Asian parents might say), he married a white woman from Dayton Ohio.
The ages-old tension between following the road to traditional success and the yearning to hack one's own trail may have been sown in Tsai's childhood. Ming-Hao C Tsai was born March 29, 1964 in Newport Beach, California and grew up in Dayton, Ohio where his father was a high-level scientist at nearby Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. His mother ran the family's Mandarin Kitchen restaurant and taught cooking classes.
As a teen Ming helped out in the restaurant while aspiring to Yale and following in his father's footsteps. Not until well into his Yale career did Ming discover that his real passion was cooking. He toughed out the Yale B.A. but lost no time after graduation. He went to Paris to take a Cordon Bleu course, then spent two years working his way around that city's kitchens. Upon his return, he enrolled in Cornell for a masters in hotel management, then spent nine years apprenticing under top chefs.
During that period Tsai developed a unique style that fuses Asian and western flavors and ingredients with a rare mix of discipline and dash. He caught the eye of cooking show producers. Audiences liked his babyface and smooth-talking style. In 1998 the Food Network tapped him for the East Meets West series. Tsai and wife Polly lost no time opening the Blue Ginger that March to satisfy the appetites they expected to be whetted when the show premiered in September. Polly contributed the provocative name and served as the hostess while Ming built up a kitchen operation that would free him for filming shows and allowing two uninterrupted family days each week. One is Sunday when the Blue Ginger is always closed.
Ming Tsai is busier than ever now, what with a new son and jetting around the world filming outdoor culinary adventures for Ming's Quest, his second show. Glowing reviews and admiring profiles have made him a media darling. People magazine voted him one of the world's most beautiful people.
Ming Tsai isn't without detractors. Some AA complain that he's catering to stereotypical images of Asian males as smiling purveyors of exotic flavors. Others say he's corrupting venerable Asian cuisines into Asian-lite. Still others grouse that he's enjoying his own cooking so much that he's turning into a chubby Buddha.
So what's Ming Tsai's impact on the AA male image? On the career ambitions of young AA males?
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WHAT YOU SAY
[This page is closed to new input. --Ed.]
(Updated
Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008, 05:53:31 PM)
I really like MIng! As an adoptive mother of a Korean son who is now 15, I am happy for him to see successful Asians. My son once wrote to Ming, and when we went to eat at Blue Ginger, Ming was unbelievably generous to us. He came to our table to talk, sent over free appetizers which he had made minutes before, served our dinner to us, and sent us dessert free. People stared at us like we were celebrities.Then he took us on a tour of the kitchen and made my son feel really special. He encouraged him to go to college or become a chef-whatever he wanted. I think he has earned whatever sucecss he has.
As for marrying someone white-I didn't know people were only allowed to fall in love with someone of their own ethnic race. Frankly I hope my Korean born son marries whomever he wants. I thought living in America gave you the right to choose your friends and spouses.
Debbie
Thursday, December 27, 2001 at 07:11:58 (PST)
Ming Tsai, Emeril Lagasse and Wolfgang Puck are my favorite celebrity chefs. Yes, they are all chunky. But, does that take away their appeal and talent? Hell NOOOOOOOOOOO.
reality check
Wednesday, December 26, 2001 at 17:48:23 (PST)
Do any of you know that the guy on Yan Can Cook speaks flawless English? Why does he speaks with such a horrible accent on TV? Funny or not, it doesn't look well on the younger generation Asians who try hard to gain acceptance. At least, Ming Tsai doesn't do that.
Used to think Yan Can Cook was cool
Wednesday, December 26, 2001 at 17:46:39 (PST)
Hey folks,
Would you rather see an Asian Tech Geek demonstrating the newest version of Windows on TV or this chubby Asian cook licking all the plates clean during the show?
The lesser of 2 evils would be the second one. Seeing an Asian Geek feasting on culinary is more entertaining than one who is feasting on tech gadgetry. It is at least refreshing!
Btw, I think this Asian glutton has an English name, Ming Tsai sounds too "nicknamey".
Leave Ming alone
Wednesday, December 26, 2001 at 15:32:27 (PST)
Personally, I think Ming Tsai is a cool dude, regardless of his ethnic background. His touring all over the place on "Ming's Quest" to cook different types of regional dishes or to incorporate them into his repertoire shows the guy's ablities to be superior. The fact that he is creative and is able to improvise, "fusing" Western and Eastern cuisines makes him a very capable chef.
The fact that he has a lot of female fans of many different ethnic backgrounds (I know a number of Asian, White, Latin and Black women at my place of business who don't miss his show and talk about how "cute and hot; he is) speaks well of him. I do a lot of cooking in my home and have gotten some great tips from the guy. I feel no insecurity about sharing this with anyone because knowledge, including that of cooking, is powerful. Just ask my wife and in-laws about our Christmas dinner...
Hank Lewis
Wednesday, December 26, 2001 at 07:02:56 (PST)
Geek! Whatta geek. Lose some weight, will you, you pillsbury dough boy. And stop trying to look tough when all you are is piece of oily fried dumpling that goes bad fast.
Ming is an a**. He should stop eating his own oily crap and go on a diet.
I feel sorry for his wife and everyone else who has to look at him
Ming Hater
Wednesday, December 26, 2001 at 00:12:14 (PST)
I think Ming needs to stop eating everything he cooks! I love him but he's getting chunky.
CrzySxyCool
Tuesday, December 25, 2001 at 17:29:32 (PST)
am
What people knew about him (before reading the article on the left) was also based mainly on what media had told them previously, don't you think? BTW, I wasn't talking about Ming. I was just referring to the media in general and using him as example.
Dumpling
Tuesday, December 25, 2001 at 15:24:33 (PST)
In my opinion, Ming is a big Joke. He represents nothing for me or my fellow Asians. He's trying too hard to be White. It's almost offensive to see him in action. How White does he want to be? Marrying a White woman is bad enough. It's like a slap in a face for Asians. Everytime there's a prominent Asian in the media, he or she is always married to some White person. What type of messages are we sending to our Asian kids? Why do we Asians put so much emphasis and priority on White? Do we not value ourselves and our Asian mates?
xyz
Tuesday, December 25, 2001 at 11:45:14 (PST)
I'm just sick of how we have to pick out everything that's wrong with successful asian american celeberties, discussing if they are hurtful to the image of asian americans. I'm sure not everyone sets out to correct people's stereotypes of asian americans. It seems that Ming is happy doing what he does, so lets congratulate him instead of trying to find something to criticize about.
baybee510
Monday, December 24, 2001 at 22:33:53 (PST)
I agree with am --I liked him before already, and all the article did was provide a little background. Ming is cute and his food looks great.
aa girl
Monday, December 24, 2001 at 12:57:16 (PST)
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