SIMPLY MING: Easy Techniques for East-Meets-West Meals

Tsai, the irrepressible host of the Food Network's East Meets West and chef of Boston's Blue Ginger restaurant, is doing things differently on this print venture. Rather than embarking on a parade of salads, soups followed by vegetable, proteins and starches, he organizes this book by dominant flavors, like Hoisin-Lime Sauce, Roasted Pepper-Lemongrass Sambal and Soy-Dijon Marinade. Besides making the book easier to use (no more flipping around looking for sub-recipes), the sauce-based structure makes the most daunting part of the cooking easy to prepare ahead of time. Big flavors and easy prep—as in Roasted Miso-Citrus Chicken, Scallion-Crusted Cod with Mango Salsa, and Broiled Stuffed Eggplant with Black Pepper-Garlic Sauce—are essential to the Ming method. This isn't virtuoso cooking or high-concept pan-Asian like Patricia Yeo's. But Tsai (Blue Ginger ) is a culinary magpie who creates the oddest juxtapositions with the fewest ingredients: Carrot-Chipotle Syrup, Kimchee "Choucroute" with Seared Dijon Halibut, Tea-rubbed Salmon with Country Mash, Potato Pancakes with Apple-Scallion Cream. Cultural borrowing on this order of magnitude can be intimidating for the home cook, which may be why the chef has concentrated the considerable force of his winning personality on making the recipes accessible. His cuisine may not win converts among the fusion-phobic, but only the hopelessly incurious will fail to find some inspiration here. (Nov.)

Forecast: The timing of this title is no accident ; Simply Ming will soon be airing on public television . Readers are likely to be charmed.