Jet Tila’s Enticing First Cookbook “101 Asian Dishes You Need to Cook Before You Die”

 

(Gerry Furth-Sides) Low key and genuinely as friendly as ever, Jet Tila’s personal introduction to his new cookbook,  “101 Asian Dishes You Need to Cook Before You Die”, made us feel special in Melissa’s Produce kitchen //chefjet.com/cookbook www.melissas.com

The jet was relaxed among friends.  I’ve known him for 20 years and he has remained earnest, intelligent and friendly.  He referred to Barbara Hansen several times during his demo because when he worked in the Los Angeles Times kitchen.

There is a new side now.  Jet playfully told of how he negotiated with mastermind, gazillionaire Las Vegas owner, Steve Wynn for his Wynn Encore Hotel job at the Wazuzu Restaurant.  This was after Tila cooked for Wynn and never even thought he would land an offer.  So the chef put down what he thought was an outlandish fee on a piece of paper.  “And it was snapped up,” he laughed.  I realized heard this story before — from Jet on the phone in Las Vegas when it happened!

Below is the Pineapple Fried Rice dish that has become a Wynn Hotel favorite. “It’s a recipe my family has been serving for 40 years,” says Jet.  “And I’ve put on every menu I’ve ever written.”  The chef asked the audience to call out the price for this “easy to make a dish” at the hotel.  It turned out to be double the highest price called out.

Jet is proud that Alton Brown wrote the introduction, noting that the book”is not a definitive guide to Asian cuisine, but  a very practical guide full of every essential recipe you’ll want.”  It helps that Ken Goodman’s photos jump off the page.

I worked with the “father of Thai cuisine, “Tommy Tang for 15 years, still preferring to eat his creations no how easy he said they were to prepare.  Even Jet’s authentic recipes don’t require extra shopping so they entice you to jump right in.

Jet explained it this way, “If you look at the way Americans and non-Asians consume Asian food, I wanted to cover 90% of the things they all love to eat.”  His aim is to “demystify Asian cooking” and make it “approachable.

 

 

Sample tip:  The secret to a good curry is not shaking the can of coconut milk, though even good Thai coconut milk cans have these instructions.  A good Thai coconut milk has 13% to 19% fat on top.  Skim that off to use as cooking oil, and fry your cooking (curry) paste in that fat to bring out the flavor. Forget the ” light” ridiculous coconut milk!

“All Asian dishes essentially are a balancing of five flavors,” Je explained.  “The ‘Yum’ philosophy of Asian kitchens is key.  It literally means a balance of five flavors: hot, sour, sweet, savory, salty to achieve the ‘yum.’ ” Jet claims that cooking through the book will instill an understanding of this.