Ken Hom on Chinese cookery

Gulf News

Famous Chinese American chef Ken Hom shares why Chinese food is still one of the most popular dishes in the world and how it maintains its authenticity.

Transcript

00:00Actually, after being in China for such a long time and seeing what's happening, the

00:09culture is still, I mean, too strong to be influenced by outside.

00:14Just like China, it still remains basically very, very Chinese.

00:18I discovered more, not so much dishes, but ways of doing things.

00:22For instance, when people were stirring fried potatoes, that was a really new revelation

00:26to me.

00:27To discover more about ingredients was something that was quite interesting for me.

00:31Seeing how chili bean paste was made and how it was fermented, that was a revelation.

00:38Now Chinese chefs are traveling all over the world.

00:41They're sophisticated, they're open, they learn new things, they eat in other people's

00:46restaurants.

00:47There was a young chef in Sichuan called Yu Bo, who was really spectacular, in Chengdu.

00:53And there was another young big chef named Da Dong in Beijing.

00:57I ate in his restaurant and I was impressed by not only the presentation, but how he's

01:02refined Chinese cooking.

01:03The stir-fried potato dish, which I learned from this woman in Chengdu, in her home, and

01:09to see her stir-fry that and to eat that, I was flabbergasted.

01:13It's easy, it's wonderful, and it's surprising.

01:16That's why it's nice.

01:17You don't think of it, but I guess Chinese don't eat anything.

01:21I think people often think about cooking as very complicated.

01:26I do very simple things, and if you talk to many chefs, they say the same thing.

01:30I just like something fresh and whipped up, and instant gratification.

01:34For instance, to stir-fry corn with chilies is absolutely wonderful.

01:38People don't think about that.

01:40And you have the sweetness of the corn with the chilies, and it's a great juxtaposition.

01:44And I think about vegetables, you have to think outside of the box.

01:48It's not the traditional, boil it and throw some butter on it.

01:51Chinese cooking is about layers of flavor, and that's what I try to teach.

01:56We do one thing, and then we do another.

01:58So when you taste the food, it's more than one-dimensional, it's multi-dimensional.

02:05And that's what makes Chinese food so popular.

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