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'Recipes From My Home Kitchen: Asian and American Comfort Food'

Christine Ha Recipes From My Home Kitchen: Asian and American Comfort Food.
Christine Ha Recipes From My Home Kitchen: Asian and American Comfort Food.

Those of you who regularly watch TV cooking competition shows know just how intense they can be. First, there’s usually a time limit, and there are often obscure ingredients that can be hard to work with or challenges like cooking with only one hand. It can be very stressful for even the most polished cooks.

Enter Christine Ha, the winner of Season 3 of Fox’s Master Chef series. Not only did she compete in one of the toughest and most demanding competitions around, she won. And the kicker is - she’s blind.

Ha has a calm and reserved personality, so she didn’t command a lot of fanfare or want attention drawn to her because of the blindness. She had a helper who talked her through the challenges, but she did all the knife work and cooking without seeing any of it. Her main problems came when she worked with ingredients like live sea urchin and crabs. A couple of times they drew blood, but Ha soldiered on.

Part of the prize package for winning the show is publishing a cookbook, Recipes From My Home Kitchen: Asian and American Comfort Food. It has an interesting array of recipes and stories from her life experiences.

The idea, Ha says, is “that food can unite people regardless of culture, ethnicity, religion, political ideals or backgrounds.” The recipes are meant to showcase the culture that shaped her life.

Ha has since gone on to judge Master Chef Vietnam, host cooking demonstrations and give motivational speeches. She is an American success story at its finest.

There’s a brief introduction that gives a glimpse into Ha’s background and her culinary journey from novice college student cook to master chef.

The book’s chapters include Snacks and Starters, From My Mama’s Kitchen, Western Classics, Food for Casual Gatherings and Something Sweet. It concludes with a small glossary that explains ingredients and cooking tools. And the whole thing is packaged in a hardback binding with lots of attractive photos.

As for recipes, they range from the simple things like Prosciutto-Wrapped Asparagus Spears to more labor-intensive dishes like Panko-Crusted Rack of Lamb. And along with many of the recipes, Ha provides in-depth information about ingredients, types of preparation and how to serve the finished dishes to showcase the flavor.

Food, Pages 29 on 07/10/2013

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