Simply Ming-tastic!

Last week I went to a fun fund-raising event at Macy’s Cellar in San Francisco. It featured celebrity chef Ming Tsai of “Simply Ming” on PBS.

Tsai, one of the few visible Asian chefs around, is a charming and large presence. The fund-raiser was a kick-off to Macy’s “Come+Together” campaign to raise money to provide 10 million meals through the Feeding America non-profit. For our part that night, attendees paid $25 for a ticket and all proceeds went to Feeding America.

This wasn’t just a cookbook signing event, there were a few nibbles to taste as well. The central area of Macy’s Cellar was roped off for the evening, allowing paid attendees to grab a glass of wine and mingle among the Cuisinarts and Martha Stewart Collection.

Taste Catering was in the back cooking up some of Chef Tsai’s recipes for snacks, such as a shrimp-and-rice dish, an Asian sloppy Joe and for dessert a kind of banana foster sundae with macadamia nuts. It took awhile for the food to come out initially and everyone grabbed whatever came out on the trays, but eventually there were more than enough. I really enjoyed the sloppy Joe.

Part of the fund-raiser included a silent auction, where people could bid on kitchen items and food products like chocolates.

I was more interested in Chef Tsai’s demo. Tsai, who’s from Boston where his “Blue Ginger” restaurant is located, demonstrated a pot sticker recipe.

The pot sticker recipe looked pretty basic, but it was entertaining to just listen and watch Tsai. Who knew he was so hilarious?

He’s so cute, Tsai even had his parents in the audience. He features his mom on his PBS show occasionally, but apparently his dad likes to cook too.

Later on we got to try his pot stickers, and they were so tender and fresh. It was really tasty.

You can also participate in Macy’s Come+Together campaign to feed the hungry. It works by you hosting a dinner party and then asking your friends and family to donate to Feeding America. Macy’s will match your donations dollar-for-dollar. If you don’t feel like hosting a dinner (or like me don’t have the room to fit people in your apartment), then shop at Macy’s on Oct. 17 for its national “Shop for a Cause” day when part of the proceeds help the charity. Eating or shopping for a cause. You can do that, right? ;-)