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MING TSAI'S STIR-FRY SAUCES
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Along with his list of accomplishments
that includes chef, author, television host
and producer, Ming Tsai continues his
Blue Ginger line with six signature stir-fry
glazes, available in Cranberry-Teriyaki,
Lime-Teriyaki, Roasted Garlic-Ginger, Dim
Sum Dipper, Lemongrass Vinaigrette and
Mango-Pineapple Sweet Sour Salsa.
The glazes can not only be used to stir-
fry with, but also to glaze a protein, use
as a marinade or as a dipping sauce. The
sauces are available at 170 SuperTargets
and 560 Target stores throughout the U.S.
The Blue Ginger line was created five
years ago when Ming was approached
by one of Target's "idea guys" who
asked if he would be interested in doing
a designer line for Target. "I quickly
rationalized in my head that, one: Target
is by far the hippest and cutting-edge
retailer they got the edge, so that's one
thing I love about Target," said Ming. "And
two: it doesn't matter if I'm charging 38
for my lobster or 99 cents for a bag of
rice corn chips, as long as it's best in its
category, as long as I'm providing high
quality and great value, the price point
shouldn't matter."
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| Ming says that this was exactly how it
went with his partnership with Target, he
has full control over every product how
it looks, how it tastes, how it is produced,
how it is cooked. "We design everything together, and it's up to me to make the
food," said Ming. "I probably work with
eight or nine different producers all over
the country, and Canada, each one of them makes a specific thing," said Ming. "One makes my sauces, one makes my
chips, and I either go to their factories and
work with their food chemists and make
them there 50 times and then approve
them; or I fedex, email and phone, and
they send me samples. I tell them 'that's
great, but it needs more salt, more sugar,
more lime,' and then, usually by version
ten on average we have a final
product.
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Ming Tsai's Line of Sauces |
Ming's Blue Ginger restaurant, along with his TV show, Simply Ming, is his testing
ground for the sauces. Every year, Ming
does 26 shows, with four recipes per show
and one master sauce which generates
200 recipes just to do the show, in addition
to the restaurant. Ming says that only certain
sauces translate well for packaging, and
certain others do not. Some need to be fresh
because of the herbs that are used in the
recipe. "The reason the sauce tastes so good is that
the herbs are fresh, and that's not going to
translate well in a bottled sauce," said Ming. "The Dim Sum Dipper is exactly the way I
eat dim sum. I like vinegar, soy sauce and
sambal when I eat dim sum. The Cranberry-
Teriyaki is something that I did on Simply
Ming. I love cranberries ... they're both sweet
and tart, and there is just a great twist. The
Lemongrass-Ponzu Vinaigrette is again
something that we did at Blue Ginger and people aren't really familiar with ponzu, or Ming says that the difference with selling authentic soy sauce or oyster sauce in an
Asian market is selling to people who know how to cook traditional products as opposed
to Target, which is marketing to the masses. "You are not dumbing it down, but you're
trying to simplify it so that people can get
quick, easy results that are tasty," said Ming. "And then just as important as those three is
the fact that it is affordable and [customers]
leave the table thinking that it was not only
good and easy to do, it's also incredibly
affordable." He adds that at the end of the
day, it doesn't really matter what you sell the first time,it's the repeat sales that make any
product a success or a failure."
Ming was raised in Dayton, Ohio, where he
spent countless hours cooking alongside
his mother and father at their family-owned
restaurant, Mandarin Kitchen. His love
of cooking and eating great food was
forged in these early years, while also
gaining valuable experience in front and
back of the house. In 1998, Ming and Polly
Tsai opened Blue Ginger in Wellesley, MA
and immediately impressed diners with the restaurant's innovative East-West cuisine.
In the winter of 2000, Ming launched his Blue Ginger line with Target. Ming's Blue
Ginger line of tasty, easy-to-use Asian-inspired ingredients and snack foods
is available exclusively at Target stores
nationwide. In 2005, Target planned a major
line expansion. Ming's frozen dim sum,
noodle bowls, rice bowls, stir-fry kits and
flavored chips and sauces arrived in September 2006. Click here for Ming Tsai's interview with NAC |
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