The Fortune Cookie Chronicles


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    Why I Relate to Ming Tsai

    By Jennifer 8. Lee | March 18, 2010

    Ming Tsai and Soba Sushi

    Did a fundraiser with Ming Tsai at Blue Ginger for the AAJA New England chapter on March 11. We even got a little write-up in the Names section of the Boston Globe (scroll all the way down. Last item.) Above: Ming preparing his special soba sushi recipe.

    I spent a lot of time with Ming in my book research, and as I write in my book, he’s the one I met along my journeys that I most related to.

    As I write in my book:

    In one of our conversations, Ming told me, “If I can give my kids at least what my parents gave me, then that is definition of a true success.”

    I reflected on his words, concluding what his parents gave him was what set him apart from so many of the Chinese people in the restaurant industry I had met. Many Chinese cooks had told me, “We cook so our children won’t have to.” Ming cooked because he wanted to, not because he had to.

    Likewise, I write because I want to.

    This is why I dedicated the book to my parents and all the other parents out there who traveled across oceans so their children could follow their dreams.

    Topics: Chinese Food | No Comments »

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