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.
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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.