Live Cooking Demos Rock! #CulinaryCouncil

When the opportunity came up to attend a live cooking demo with none other than Chef Ming Tsai, I jumped all over it.  I love watching Food Network and always wondered what it would be like to see a show "live".  I enjoyed watching Chef Ming Tsai on East Meets West years ago and more recently on Top Chef and The Next Iron Chef.

Honestly, I didn't know what to expect and I'm fine with that because when you have no expectations, everything is better.  

Even though I was sitting in the front row, I had a monitor right in front of me!

Chef Ming Tsai is not only talented but funny.  See him if you get a chance!

A packed house!  It was a great, diverse crowd!

A short lesson in wine.

Tamari is gluten-free soy sauce!

The South Coast Plaza Macy's Culinary Council Team, Chef Ming Tsai and one of his Blue Ginger chefs

This was my favorite dish.  The flavors and textures were incredible.  I don't think I've had a salad like this in my life.  Life changing!

This looked very easy to make.  I love the texture of quinoa and all of it's health benefits, I might attempt to make this one day!

Chef Ming Tsai said when peeling whole ginger, use a spoon.  Also, when buying canned tomatoes, get whole tomatoes because diced tomatoes are the leftovers of tomatoes.

Chef Ming Tsai used a pressure cooker to make the braised pork.  He seared it first and then pressure cooked it for about an hour.  My mom used to always use a pressure cooker when making stew, I'm tempted to buy a pressure cooker now.

Chef Ming Tsai also recommended soaking brown rice in water for an hour and adding it with white rice to a rice cooker.  I thought it was genius because I'm always struggling with brown rice!

All the food was yummy and I'm tempted to buy his recent book, "Simply Ming" but he mentioned that there are free recipes available on his site (if you are frugal like me - I rarely buy cookbooks)

Some other nuggets of good information from Chef Ming Tsai:

• Don't substitute coconut milk for soy milk.  Soy milk is for lattes
• Dull knives are more dangerous than sharp knives 
• Test your knife by dropping a whole onion on it - if it cuts, it's good
• Use cookbooks as a foundation for information, tweak recipes for you
• Get rid of kids food, what is that

Chef Ming Tsai is entertaining.  Buy his cookbooks, check out his site, eat at his new restaurant, "Blue Dragon" in Boston in 2013, check out a demo...  Thank you Macy's Culinary Council!


Disclosure: I am a member of the Everywhere Society and Everywhere provided me with compensation for this post about Macy's Culinary Council.  However, all thoughts and opinions expressed herein are my own.  

Meet Macy's Culinary Council Chef Ming Tsai in Costa Mesa!

I am so excited for this event, I grew up watching Chef Ming Tsai!  Come join me, I really hope to meet some of you there!

Meet celebrity chef and award-winning television personality -- Macy's Culinary Council Chef Ming Tsai.  Ming will demonstrate some favorite recipes from his latest cookbook, Simply Ming In Your Kitchen:  80 Recipes to Watch, Learn, Cook & Enjoy.  Following the demonstration, Ming will greet guests and sign copies of the cookbook.

Saturday, October 20th, 2pm

Macy's South Coast Plaza

Home Demonstration Kitchen, Level 1

3333 Bear St., Costa Mesa, CA 92626

Reservations are not required.  Seating begins at 1:30pm.  First-come, first-served basis.  Admission for each class is a $5 donation to benefit the Second Harvest Food Bank of Orange County.

Disclosure: I am a member of the Everywhere Society and Everywhere provided me with compensation for this post about Macy's Culinary Council.  However, all thoughts and opinions expressed herein are my own.