If you’ve ever eaten at Mikado, you have surely tasted Chef Mou Chen’s food. He’s the hot line cook at this Asian restaurant, creating a combination of flavors and textures in every dish. Recently, we had a chance to sit down with him over a hot meal and talk to him about his culinary career, where he began it, and we even discussed some of his own favorite meals!
This Week on MV: Can you tell us a little about yourself and how you got into cooking Chinese food?
Chef Mou Chen: Well, I’ve been cooking since I was 8 years old because my family owned a small, casual restaurant in our house. It was basically just a couple of tables in our downstairs space and we lived upstairs, so I was always around food and cooking. Growing up in Longtian, Southern China, across from Taiwan, I was exposed to so many techniques and foods, and that got me interested in cooking.
This Week on MV: So, you went to culinary school in China – how was that?
Chef Mou Chen: I knew I wanted to cook because of one simple reason: I love to eat! So it was obvious my route in life would be to follow food. I enrolled in a Chinese culinary school at 16 years of age, where we had to cook a meal for the chef instructors to be accepted into the school. I scored a 95 out of 100 on that meal and entered into the world of professional cooking. With my parents support, I studied culinary arts for 2.5 years and then did half a year working in a Chinese hotel kitchen doing more training.
This Week on MV: Before MV, where have you cooked in the US?
Chef Mou Chen: I moved to the United States in 2006, where I headed to the West Coast, California to be more specific. There I worked in Chinese restaurants around Battery Park and fell in love with cooking even more.
This Week on MV: To you, what makes Chinese food special?
Chef Mou Chen: To me, Chinese cuisine has the most taste and flavor experiences of all cuisines. Have one bite of a Chinese dish and your mouth explodes with sweet, sour, bitter, savory – because that’s one of the main things we are taught. We are taught on how to combine flavors to make them all work, balanced and not overwhelm your palate. A country with over 5,000 years developing their cuisine and every region in China executing the same dishes in quite a different way, makes us the most diverse and flavorful cuisine, in my opinion.
This Week on MV: Describe your perfect meal.
Chef Mou Chen: Oh, that’s easy. Chinese wontons (pork, scallions, wrapped in fish skin) as appetizers and then sand worms as my main dish.
This Week on MV: Sand worms….?
Chef Mou Chen: Ha, YES! Sand worms are only found in China and are the most delicious thing ever! Like their name states, the worm hides in sand burrows which it makes by itself during the day and may extend its tentacles out of the burrow to feed at night. It is a delicacy in China, prepared with a simple sauce and they are divine!
This Week on MV: If you couldn’t cook Chinese food any longer, what would be the cuisine you’d like to explore and cook?
Chef Mou Chen: Mexican, for sure. They also have so many flavor and texture combinations like the Chinese and I think I would enjoy that the most!
To learn more about Mikado Asian Bistro, visit www.mikadoct.com/
