Sweet Mandarin is a 10minute walk to the MEN Area. Perfect for a Pre-concert meal. Book here

Strictly Come Dancing 2011 winner Harry Judd will lead an all-star celebrity line-up at this year’s live Manchester shows.

Fellow finalists Australian acting and singing superstar Jason Donovan and local actress Chelsee Healey plus ex-Eastenders legend Anita Dobson, former footballer Robbie Savage, feisty property lawyer and entrepreneur Nancy Dell’Olio and ex-Olympic swimmer Mark Foster will join McFly’s Harry in Manchester for the Tuesday 31 January & Wednesday 1 February shows. Kate Thornton will return as the host of the live shows.

Alongside the exciting celebrity line-up will be judges Lee Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Craig Revel Horwood, who is also directing the live tour for a second year running.

Former Blackburn Rovers footballer Robbie Savage said: I’m enjoying each week more and more and I’m really glad to be continuing the experience on tour. I can’t wait to be out on the floor every night, hopefully there won’t be any cameras to crash into this time!”.

Eccles-born Waterloo Road actress Chelsee Healey said: “I’m so thrilled to be part of the Strictly tour, the TV show has been more fun than I ever could have imagined and I can’t wait to carry on dancing every week”.

Jason Donovan added: “I have been overwhelmed with the support I have had so far on the show and I have really enjoyed dancing every week. Learning so many different dances has been an amazing experience and I can’t wait to see the new routines we’ll be performing on the tour”.

The ultimate in feel-good entertainment, Strictly Come Dancing Live features all the must-haves from the hugely popular BBC1 TV series. Stunning costumes, outspoken judges, dazzling dances from your favourite celebrity contestants and some brand new routines courtesy of the ever-popular professional dancers make this a must-see show.

More than 9 million viewers tuned in to watch the series’ launch show on BBC1.  The television format, also known as Dancing With The Stars, entered the Guinness Book of World Records three years ago as the world’s most successful reality television show and has been sold by BBC Worldwide to over 35 international broadcasters.  2010′s final saw more than 14 million people tune in to see Kara Tointon raise the Strictly glitterball.

Helen’s book Sweet Mandarin is an internationally reknown books with fans who have read about it all around the globe. Having been distributed to 33 countries by Random House, Helen’s journey has been extremely busy. Here’s Helen catching up with Michael Ondaatje, author of The English Patient.

Sweet Mandarin and all the other establishments in the Northern Quarter, Manchester had one street party to remember. The street party itself was a sight to see. So many had put in so much work to make the celebration a success. Sweet Mandarin has an outdoor beer garden adjacent to the magnificent Smithfield Fish Market Wall (in the photo) that seats 40 people and we took advantage of the sun to serve ice cold beers, delicious dim sum and a dollop of British pride of being part of history.

I was enjoying talking to our guests who ranged from aged 9 to 90, the latter having a very happy memory of a street party to celebrate the Queens’ Silver Jubilee  in 1977 – the year I was born!  She went on to tell us about the next most memorable street party for Diana and Charles’ wedding. And now, I was experiencing it for myself. Wow. Earlier in the day, I was glued to the TV watching the fairytale wedding of Wills and Kate, coo-ing at the amazingly elegant Alexander McQueen dress and how dashing Prince William looked. Now, the euphoria of a nation spilled into Sweet Mandarin’s beer garden and the Northern Quarter alike. Its amazing when our little community of independent businesses pull together for something that isn’t out of necessity or some kind of emergency. That’s what makes the Northern Quarter so special. We can do so much when we collaborate. We’re small enough to care, big enough to cope. May God Bless the Duchess and Duke of Cambridge. We wish them all the best for their sweet future together. We also wish you and your families all the best and look forward to welcoming you to Sweet Mandarin for your special dinner or even your wedding (http://www.sweetmandarin.com/wedding).

To book a table at our beer garden or restaurant please fill in the below table. Please note that although Manchester is of course the best place on the Earth it does rain ‘occasionally’ so the beer garden is open if the weather permits!

Love is not just a single day on 14 February, but a journey. I am honoured to share the stories of couples whom I have met at Sweet Mandarin, who told me that during a dinner or during the cooking school, they found that spark again or the humour that  initially brought them together. Over a romantic meal, there is nothing quite like making eye contact with your loved one, talking one-to -one and just escaping from the world for a few hours together. The couples who participate in the Sweet Mandarin cookery school learn things about each other they never really knew about – and the time spent on cooking and learning new techniques together is something that they cherish and can share together.

Love cannot be taken lightly. Its not just the butterflies or chemistry, but its also working through the difficulties and challenges together. As you take the steps together on this wonderful journey, keep a resolute mind and a steadfast determination toward each other.  Love should not be the brief interlude that is sampled or briefly tested. Keep talking, keep eating together and commit a day at a time to your relationships.

Lunchtime and dinner times are the most important events in our household. Its a time to share our lives, our highs or lows around the table over good wholesome food. Its the glue that will bind and strengthen a love, a family, a marriage. I am honoured to serve you and may your love continue to grow at Sweet Mandarin.

I’ve designed a Sweet Sweet menu for Valentines www.sweetmandarin.com which I know you will love and savour with your loved ones, family and friends.

We’ve also got the Sweet Mandarin Cookery School for couples who want to book on the Sweet Mandarin Cookery School together – learn which foods are natural aphrodisiacs – and rekindle your relationship with an amazing dinner (taught by us, cooked by you – its true, a way to a man or woman’s heart is through the stomach!) and lots and lots of laughter.

Wishing you best wishes and sweet dishes

Love

Lisa

www.sweetmandarin.com

BOOK A TABLE HERE

As you know, Sweet Mandarin has a cookery school that is growing by the week, literally. Classes are held every Saturday morning and places are filling up fast.  My twin sister, Lisa and I teach you the secrets of the wok, how to cook the perfect fried rice, wrap the most delightful dim sum and tell the fascinating stories behind the 5,000 years of history of Chinese food.

So its no surprise that when I met Martha Stewart, who has a cookbook out called Cooking School – that we had a lot to chat about. Wok verses oven baked recipes….. Who inspired us to cook? – Martha was inspired by her third grade teacher Miss Weyer, we learnt from our mum and grandma how to cook in the family food takeaway (Lisa was cooking banquets by the age of 11!).

There are many things in this world that try to divide us, but one thing that unites us is food. To all you budding chefs out there, cook cook cook. If you get stuck, call Lisa and join the class. You’ll impress your friends and family forever!

(To book your place at the Sweet Mandarin Cookery School or to purchase a gift voucher for a budding chef call Tel 0161 832 8848, email: lisa@sweetmandarin.com – see more details (click here). Classes are held at Sweet Mandarin 19 Copperas Street, Manchester, M4 1HS on Saturday mornings 11am – 2pm) and are priced £100 per person per lesson.

I believe in the Secret. The Secret is the most powerful law in the universe and how I live my life.  The knowledge of this law has run like a golden thread through the lives and the teachings of all the prophets, seers, sages and saviors in the world’s history, and through the lives of all truly great men and women. All that they have ever accomplished or attained has been done in full accordance with this most powerful law.

Without exception, the Secret believes that every human being has the ability to transform any weakness or suffering into strength, power, perfect peace, health, and abundance.  This is the secret to prosperity, health, relationships and happiness. This is the secret to life. Ask and ye shall receive. I ask for good health, for my family and loved ones to be safe, and to see my lovely customers every night at Sweet Mandarin. Tonight, I also ask that the judges of Tsingtao (Ching He Huang, pictured above, Alan Coxon and James Wright) enjoy my food which I have cooked for them. Its an honour to welcome you to Sweet Mandarin.

The Legacy of Taste link is here .

About Tsingtao Beer

We’ve tried a lot of the Chinese and Asian beers and have decided to only stock Tsingtao at Sweet Mandarin. We go through about 100 cases a week because the beer is so crisp and pairs so well with Chinese food. Tsingtao has a nutty sweet malt like flavour that works well against the spicies of our Sichuan King Prawns or the Manchurian Fillet of Beef in black pepper sauce.

How do you pronouce Tsingtao?

It is pronounced ‘Ching Dao’ after the place where it is brewed, QingDao. If you join me for our Tours of China, we visit the Tsingtao brewery in the seaside town of QingDao and see how this delicious beverage is made.

The history of QingDao

In 1900  German troops occupied the city for a few years and left behind their legacy of European style architecture and love of beer. When I take people to here, we walk around the quaint church and railway station and forget we’re in China. It could be Morecombe beach!

The Germans actually imported all the brewing machinery and raw ingredients from Germany and when they left China, the Chinese began to brew Tsingtao. The rest is history as they say as Tsingtao is now China’s top export beer worldwide.  This little seaside town has been transformed into Beer world where every corner shop or corner trolley sells fresh beer by the jin (half kilo) in bag containers! Crazy but true.  Join me on my next tour of China here

Gordon Ramsay has a new tv show out called Ramsay’s Best Restaurant. I wish all the participants all the best and hope you too will enjoy the experience like I have done.

Its an amazing opportunity to cook with Gordon Ramsay and watching this new show has made me reminisce about my experience exactly a year ago.  The pressure tests we were put through were the hardest, toughest, back-breaking, shooting-through-the-roof blood pressure experience in my culinary career. Cooking a three course meal for the 50 diners was a live competition – there was no cut, edit, paste. It was live, it was furious, it was hard. I know I cook  for sittings of 65 guests every night but Gordon Ramsay and his guests were a different kettle of fish and with Gordon Ramsay standing there watching over my shoulder it really stretched me to the limit. I’m thankful that we achieved 82 out of 100 and I dedicate this success to my mum – whose recipe, the Mabel’s Claypot Chicken helped us to rocket to the top of the leaderboard.

Although it was exactly a year ago, I remember vividly that evening when we received the news that we had made it to the Final of the F Word’s Best Chinese Restaurant Competition and we were estatic (Watch us battle it out here). Thanks to our wonderful customers who nominated us, we were on the map a la Gordon. However, before Gordon,  we were and still are are the third generation of women restaurateurs and have always had great families follow us generation after generation. Their gran knew our gran (who set up her restaurant before Chinatown was established), their mum knows our mum and now the third generation visit Sweet Mandarin.

Nothing had quite sunk in even when a black car picked us up at our home to drive us to the studios in London. Having not slept the night before didn’t help when we were faced with 50 chicken breasts and about 100 pieces of squid to cut in the F Word kitchen – and we had an hour’s prep time to get through the mountains of ingredients.

I was cutting away in my own little world when suddenly this voice said ‘Hello Lisa!’ It was Gordon Ramsay. He was so tall and I was so shocked that it was the man himself that I nearly cut my hand.  It was at that moment that it finally sunk – I was in the competition headed up by Gordon Ramsay to find the UK’s Best Local Chinese Restaurant and after three generations who have endured rollercoaster after rollercoaster it was a chance for me to restore the family name.  Then I got nervous.   I finally realised that this competition was real and was shocked that Gordon knew my name. I’ve seen him on the TV, but for him to know and praise me was a chef’s dream come true.  It was a true honour to cook with him and a huge accolade to get 82/100 mark for the Mabel’s Claypot Chicken. When we won the Best Local Chinese Restaurant Award 2009-2010 I had tears in my eyes.  To my dear customers and to all of Manchester, this trophy is for you.

If you want to pop over for my mum’s claypot chicken, please book a table here

Read the interview with Sweet Mandarin’s head chef, Lisa Tse, and second chef, Helen Tse…

How did you feel when you found out you’d made it through the F Word?

Helen: Amazing! Speechless. Nearly wanted to faint! Jean Baptiste came to see us to try our Mabel’s Clay Pot Chicken. Just himself, very low key – and then he left. Suddenly I got this phone call at lunch time and it went, ‘Hi it’s Gordon’ and he said, ‘I’ve got some real bad news for you; you’ve got to come down to London on Thursday’. And we found out on Tuesday! So we had to re-jig everything to get down here but it’s worth it. We haven’t quite come down yet!

Why do you think your restaurant was nominated as one of the best Chinese restaurants?

Helen: We have the best customers. It’s thanks to them.

Lisa: I guess they must really like our food, they always rave about the food and the ambiance of the restaurant. And also the location is quite special. It’s in an area called the Northern Quarter and there’s a lot of regenerated business and it’s quite cool and funky round there and we blend into that, I guess.

Helen: We do a lot of work with the community as well. We open up the restaurant for free for events. Lisa here is a manic Twitterer and we always hold ‘Tweet ups’ every month, and they really appreciate that. And we do Flickr meetings as well, so people who are crazy about photography come along. We also do events called ‘Meet My Neighbour’ where we invite blocks of residents to our restaurant and they get to meet their neighbours. Where we are there are loads of flats, these people have been living there for years and they don’t even know who their neighbour is. They don’t even know who lives in their block, that’s how dangerous it could be. So we thought we’d introduce them to each other. We feel safe in the neighbourhood because we know who’s there.

Lisa: We feel safe in the neighbourhood, and also when they walk past after work we can give them a wave now.

What about the food?

Lisa: We serve modern Chinese cuisine and exotic cocktails. When we first set up the concept it was a casual dining restaurant. So you could come in for a bite to eat up to the full blown banquet. We do traditional sweet and sour and black bean for example, but we also do recipes that have been passed down from our mother and grandmother. Like Lily Kwok’s Chicken Curry, Mabel’s Clay Pot and we also cater for vegetarians as well. Not only that but we have a Taste of China menu as well. So you can get regional dishes from China that you can taste in our restaurant, which is quite unique. I think when people go to a Chinese they’re scared to try things they not used to, so we try to introduce them slowly to spicier stuff or savoury dishes.

Helen: The dish that we’re cooking tonight for the competition is called Mabel’s Clay Pot Chicken, and lots of our dishes have a story behind it. And Mabel is our mum and she came to England when she was about 8, and she was separated from her mum for a few years because our grandmother came over first. And you know if you ever have distance from a friend or a family member there’s always an awkward time when they meet up again. And that also happened with mother and daughter. My mum hated England initially when she came here because she couldn’t speak the language, didn’t like the rain, didn’t like meat and two veg – she was used to rice every day. And this chicken was her favourite dish growing up, so my grandmother would cook it for her and it was through this dish that they bonded again as mother and daughter – and that’s why we’re cooking it again today. We’ve got this very strong belief; there’s many things in the world that divide us but the one thing that unites us is food.

And what is in the Clay Pot Chicken dish?

Lisa: It’s got chicken in, it’s actually got quite a lot of ying-yang elements in. So it’s got ginger which is yang, which is warming for the body, it’s got spring onion which complements it very well. And another thing that is very seasonal, which is Chinese cabbage and some onions as well. It’s really the sauce; what makes the sauce quite special is the Chinese sausage, called lapchang, so it’s a bit like your salami, and also the Chinese mushrooms as well. It’s very rustic.

How do you feel about cooking for the F Word diners alongside Gordon?

Lisa: I think once we’ve been in the kitchen and seen it we’ll be a bit calmer.

Helen: We’re going to have to cook quite quick it looks like and also tweak a few techniques to make sure you get it out within the time frame.

What would it mean to the pair of you if you were to win the competition overall?

Lisa: To get this far is just surreal, to meet Gordon Ramsay was pretty cool as he’s just amazing.

Helen: It’s a big thanks to our customers and would show that all the hard work’s paid off – and that whatever we’re doing we’re doing it right. Because sometimes in business you don’t know what’s the right decision or the wrong decision and you just keep going and hope for the best sometimes. Especially in the restaurant business; it’s so competitive, you always have to innovate and watch your competitors and hopefully we’ll do that for the diners.

What is a Noodle?

A noodle is food made from unleavened dough that is cooked in a boiling liquid. Depending upon the type, noodles may be dried or refrigerated before cooking. The word noodle derives from the German nudel (noodle) and may be related to the Latin word nodus (knot). In English, noodle is a generic term for unleavened dough made from many different types of ingredients. Noodles exist in an abundance of shapes.

Which country created the first noodle?

Today Italians are credited with their pasta noodle dishes but in actual fact a 4,000-year-old bowl of noodles unearthed in China is the earliest example ever found of one of the world’s most popular foods, scientists and the National Geographic reported. It also suggests an Asian—not Italian—origin for the staple dish. The first written account of noodles is from the East Han Dynasty between AD 25 and 220. In October 2005, the oldest noodles yet discovered were found at the Lajia site (Qijia culture) along the Yellow River in Qinghai, China. The 4,000-year-old noodles appear to have been made from foxtail millet and broomcorn millet.

Davjon

With that in mind, when Davjon - probably the greatest noodle manufacturer (See Davjon website link here) asked me to sample, test, cook and talk about their fresh noodles, how could I say no. After all, the Chinese created the first noodle and with a humble wok, I took the challenge to stress test their noodles.

I met with Susanna, Alexia and Hayley at Sweet Mandarin who brought four products for me to test 1) Won Ton Pastry 2) Shanghai Noodles 3) Thin Egg Noodles and 4) Thick Egg Noodles . MY RATINGS KEY

***** outstanding will definite use in restaurant and will recommend to my cookery school students

****good will use now and again in restaurant but forsee home cooks will struggle with this product

*** ok but hard to use ands needs improvement in taste and/or packaging

 Won Ton Pastry *****

Taste: Light, non greasy, eggy flavour.

Texture: When fried, creates beautiful air bubbles enhancing the crunchy texture. When boiled the won tons are silky and smooth…testimony that the translation of a won ton is ‘swallowing a cloud’.

Good: I liked the fact that the pastry was thinly rolled out and all pieces were evenly cut and rolled out.  Easy to use and do not stick together.

Improvement Tips: I felt that it needed a sealable package to prevent air drying out the pastry and more emphasis on the packaging that the pastry is very versatile – it can be fried, boiled, steamed.

Shanghai Noodles ***(*)

Taste: Absorbs the flavour of the dish but an element of oily residue can be detected.

Texture: Heavy suet like noodles made from rice wheat. It has a springiness to its texture and has that chewiness and elasticity but perhaps a bit too hard in the noodle bite.

Good: Easy to cook and non sticky – used for Shanghai Beef Noodles…which can be replicated at home.

 Improvement Tips: Unattractive packaging makes it look like a pack of worms. 

Fresh Thin Egg Noodles*****

Taste: Lovely flavour and you can really taste the fresh noodles in these thin noodles.

Texture: Has a springiness in the noodle bite and retains its cohesivity in a noodle soup dish. Bonus was that the noodles were not too chewy.

.Good: Easy to use and perfect for restaurant dishes.

Bad: Packaging wrong size and the vacuum packed look negated the notion it was a ‘fresh’ product.

Scientifically – A typical Chinese raw noodle has the following measurements: springiness 0.96, hardness 1,200 grams, cohesiveness 0.66, and chewiness 750 grams. 

Why is this important?
Noodle texture is an important quality characteristic. Based on the noodle type and the marketplace, noodle texture can be hard bite or soft bite. For example, Udon noodles are usually softer and more elastic while other noodles are harder and chewier in bite.

Fresh Egg Thick Noodles****

Taste: Delicious stir fried. Can really taste the freshness of the noodle and the intensity of egg.

Texture: Has a springiness in the noodle bite and the ribbon effect of the noodles creates a multi-dimentional texture.

Good: Great taste

Improvement Tips: Very hard to cook, stick together and needs instructions on how to cook them for the optimum dish. In addition, restaurants generally do not use thick noodles – this product would only be saleable in takeaways.

Cooking

Noodles may be cooked from either their fresh (moist) or dry forms. They are generally boiled, although they may also be deep-fried in oil until crispy. Boiled noodles may then be stir fried, served with sauce or other accompaniments, or served in soup, often with meat and other ingredients. Certain rice-noodles are made directly from steaming the raw rice slurry and are only consumed fresh.

Unlike many Western noodles and pastas, Chinese noodles made from wheat flour are usually made from salted dough and therefore do not require the addition of salt to the liquid in which they are boiled. Chinese noodles also cook very quickly, generally requiring less than 5minutes to become al dente (firm but not hard) and some taking less than a minute to finish cooking, with thinner noodles requiring less time to cook. Chinese noodles made from rice or mung bean starch do not generally contain salt.

Measuring Noodles

Most dried noodles doubles in volume when cooked and fresh noodles increase by one and a half times. For accuracy, measure noodles by weight rather than by cup. The general rule is one pound of dry noodles will serve six as an appetizer or four as a main course. Remember – shapes may vary in size according to the manufacturer, so use these measurements as generalizations.  The easiest way to measure noodles is to use your digital scale. 4 ounces of uncooked noodles = a 1-inch diameter bunch of dry noodles = 2 cups cooked noodles.  

How To Cook Noodles Properly

Important Rule: Noodles should be prepared just before serving it.  

Its not every day that award winning restaurants meet to brainstorm….but we love to break the mold and recently caught up with Alan Yau, founder of Wagamama and Hakkasan…….Do you want to know what is going on at Sweet Mandarin ?  Pop in to see us for dinner (try the sumptuous Taste of China menu….this month we’re bringing you a taste of Shanghai) and we’d love to share our exciting plans…..or join Lisa for her culinary Masterclass and she’ll share the secrets of the wok with you.

For all the people in Los Angeles, we look forward to meeting you. We’re stopping off in Hollywood to do a tv interview et al. Email us at sweetmandarin@gmail.com if you want an invite to the exclusive book signing.

I love my job at Sweet Mandarin. I cook, I teach people how to cook, I make lots of friends along the way. Pictured here with me are my No.1 clients: Bill with his ‘I Love Sweet Mandarin teeshirt’ together with Sue, his wife, and Vicky their daughter. I met them when they came to dine at Sweet Mandarin and we just had a great laugh together during the meal. They came back nearly every single week and it was just a joy to serve them. Its so great to see a friendly face and catch up on the news todate.

Sue has previously joined me on the Intermediate Cookery course at Sweet Mandarin and loved it – she is now a pro at making steamed seabass, sweet and sour, beef and blackbeans (fresh, not from a jar) and spicy Sichuan king prawns.

Today, the family have joined me for the Dim Sum Masterclass at Sweet Mandarin Cookery School – and I had to put this on my Sweet Nothings Blog. Bill made the I Love Sweet Mandarin teeshirt and when I saw it – it brought a huge smile to my face. Wowsers, that is so sweet and I wanted it to share it with you my dear readers. They are so so lovely and really make my job at Sweet Mandarin worth it 110%. I dedicate this blog entry to Bill, Sue and Vicky. Thank you for being a great friend and you are always welcome at Sweet Mandarin.

Last year, I blogged about Twestival, being the first UK Chinese restaurant to use Twitter for business and our exciting dim sum masterclass via twitter next Saturday (28 Feb 10am).  The media picked up our story within 24 hours (thanks to the speed of Twitter) and here’s a selection of the responses from the media!!!

BBC features Sweet Mandarin

http://www.bbc.co.uk/manchester/content/articles/2009/02/18/280209_sweet_mandarin_feature.shtml

Manchester Evening News Features Sweet Mandarin (thanks @sarah_hartley)

http://blogs.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/food/2009/02/chinese_restaurant_tempts_city.html

Big Hospitality (@Bighospitality) features Sweet Mandarin

http://www.bighospitality.co.uk/item/2899/pg_dtl_art_news/238/pg_ftr_art

Crains Business

http://www.crainsmanchesterbusiness.co.uk/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090216/FREE/902169963/1064

I would like to thank all the Twitterers for your kind support so far.  We have loved holding virtual and real Sweet Mandarin cookery school sessions via Twitter.  Its gonna get messy, but someone’s gotta tweet n cook!

Best wishes and sweet dishes

Lisa Tse

Twitter (@sweetmandarin)

Web: www.sweetmandarin.com

When we received the news that we had made it to the Final of the F Word’s Best Chinese Restaurant Competition we were estatic (Watch us battle it out here). Thanks to our wonderful customers who nominated us, we were on the map a la Gordon. However, before Gordon,  we were and still are are the third generation of women restaurateurs and have always had great families follow us generation after generation. Their gran knew our gran (who set up her restaurant before Chinatown was established), their mum knows our mum and now the third generation visit Sweet Mandarin.

Nothing had quite sunk in even when a black car picked us up at our home to drive us to the studios in London. Having not slept the night before didn’t help when we were faced with 50 chicken breasts and about 100 pieces of squid to cut in the F Word kitchen – and we had an hour’s prep time to get through the mountains of ingredients.

I was cutting away in my own little world when suddenly this voice said ‘Hello Lisa!’ It was Gordon Ramsay. He was so tall and I was so shocked that it was the man himself that I nearly cut my hand.  It was at that moment that it finally sunk – I was in the competition headed up by Gordon Ramsay to find the UK’s Best Local Chinese Restaurant and after three generations who have endured rollercoaster after rollercoaster it was a chance for me to restore the family name.  Then I got nervous.   I finally realised that this competition was real and was shocked that Gordon knew my name. I’ve seen him on the TV, but for him to know and praise me was a chef’s dream come true.  It was a true honour to cook with him and a huge accolade to get 82/100 mark for the Mabel’s Claypot Chicken (my mother’s recipe which we serve at Sweet Mandarin). When we won the Best Local Chinese Restaurant Award 2009-2010 I had tears in my eyes.  To my dear customers and to all of Manchester, this trophy is for you.

If you want to pop over for my mum’s claypot chicken, please book a table here

I visited the Northern Restaurant and Bar Show at the GMEX last week and bumped into Clive and Adam from Sugarvine. It was great to see them because we go back five years, when Sweet Mandarin started and it was Clive who helped us make a 360 panoramic video of Sweet Mandarin and introduced us to google and online marketing. Sugarvine has grown to an impressive 20 regional sites so not only are locals reading about your restaurant and menu, but their million or so visitors around the country are too.  I’m often asked what tips I can give to budding restauranteurs. One of them is speak to Cliver or Adam at Sugarvine 0844 277 9858 for your promotions and marketing and just to understand your market and competition.  They are affordable, effective, have their finger on the pulse and are very pleasant people to work with – oh and they are a fellow Twitterer too (follow them http://twitter.com/sugarvine) .

To celebrate my forthcoming appearance on Iron Chef on Channel 4 in April/May (5pm- 6pm daily), I’ve teamed up with Sugarvine to launch a fantastic competition worth £180 (the Chinese believe 8 is a lucky number because it sounds like the word ‘rich’. Putting together 1 and 8 symbolises ‘always rich’).  Enrich yourself and win a three course banquet for 2 (with a bottle of wine) and a cookery school place at Sweet Mandarin.  To enter click  here  on the Sugarvine website and best of luck! Remember you have to be in it to win it.

Tomorrow, I’m cooking at the Retirement Show which is on at the GMEX from 1.15pm onwards. I was invited to cook for this event last year so its an honour to be invited back.

I have a word of advice for husbands and wives who are planning for their retirement—take up cooking.  Many couples who have joined me at the Sweet Mandarin Cookery School have told me that learning how to cook and jazz up meals has really helped keep their marital relations from sagging like a cold soufflé. Cooking is in part fun but also a lot of work and at times stressful, if you don’t know how or what to cook.

Retirement itself is a big adjustment from working everyday to wondering what to do with the hours ahead. There can only be so much DIY to be done (if any) but what has endured is the daily dinner hour and the dreaded question ‘What’s for dinner?’, and unless you eat out, you still need to plan and prepare your meals.

Some couples eat out all the time but  in the current economy, the trend in most households is to eat out less.  For the newly retired, taking on the role of cook can be a little daunting for someone who perhaps has never cooked the daily meals. Perhaps you can just about boil an egg, chop an onion and put a pizza in the oven but I’d like to invite you to broaden your horizon and tastebuds and join me at the Sweet Mandarin Cookery School.  There, I can teach you the art of Chinese cooking – its healthy, relatively cheap to re-create at home and delicious.  If you want to learn more, come and visit me at GMEX on Saturday 20th March 1.15pm at the Cookery Demonstration or drop me an email to book onto the Sweet Mandarin Cookery School Beginners course.

Here is the link to the Retirement Show http://www.the-retirement-show.com/manchester/manchester.htm

Things are always busy leading up to Chinese New Year (On 14 February, 2010 we welcome The Year of the Tiger grrr) and its super busy at Sweet Mandarin this year because I’ve agreed to be the featured chef for Amoy / Waitrose for their extra special Chinese New Year promotion.

Read our book Sweet Mandarin which charts our family’s rollercoaster history and you’ll discover an interesting nugget from our past; our great-grand father, Leung used to manufacture soy sauce for a living.  So when Amoy (the premier soya sauce manufacturer) contacted us and asked me to be their chef, it was a huge honour and from a personal perspective, this opportunity is the connecting piece that binds present to the past.

You see, in the beginning, our family were farmers in Guangzhou China who had nothing – not even a sausage. It was my great grandfather, Leung who decided to manufacture the soy beans he farmed and created the inky black liquid, soy sauce – that led our family’s journey to Hong Kong and gave us our first taste of prosperity. Yet the double-edge sword of our family’s successful soy sauce business led to rivalry and jealously from other soya sauce manufacturers.  This escalated to tragedy when my great grandfather, Leung was murdered, leaving a wife and six girls including my grandmother. Women in the 1930s were not entitled to assets, education or rights so all the assets he built up were dissapated to a distant male relative who wanted nothing to do with us. Once again, our family was plunged into poverty and my grandmother, mother and our generation have since faced adversity after adversity ever since. Yet what has pulled us through each generation has been a love and talent for cooking food – we have cooked for a living and survived thanks to our customers.  To be invited to be the chef for Amoy is bittersweet – I wish my great-grandfather were here to share in the celebrations.

I cannot wait to cook for the competition winner and look forward to the challenge ahead. Remember you have to be in it to win it, so what are you waiting for, get entering and I’ll see you in your kitchen.
Best wishes and sweet dishes

Lisa

Click here to find out more about Amoy

America and Japan has their own Iron Chef who battle it out in a TV Kitchen Stadium creating dishes from one secret ingredient that is revealed by the Chairman. Is Lisa Tse the UK’s Iron Chef?

Lisa Tse, head chef and CEO of the award winning Sweet Mandarin restaurant and cookery school headlined at the GMEX Exhibition Centre for a cook-off in Manchester’s very own kitchen stadium. Battling against the clock and hundreds of hungry spectators, Lisa served the nation, and cooked her way through oodles and oodles of noodles, stir fries, dim sum, fruit origami and firecracker. Her secret ingredient for the day was soy sauce (her great grand-father Leung created a soy sauce brand in Guangzhou, China). Lisa has a natural knack of making cooking fun. She teaches members of the public how to make the most ordinary of ingredients into extraordinary dishes, although now and again, Lisa likes to throw in an exotic mix of tofu, udon and bok choy. Even the most experienced cook needs a little inspiration from time to time, and during this cookery demonstration Lisa shared her trade secrets with the audience as well as explaining that dim sum originated from the silk road of China and when translated means ‘from the heart’. Lisa also advises how to pair Chinese food dishes with wines that compliment and bring out the flavours of your favourite recipes. If you want to learn more, join the Sweet Mandarin Cookery School held every Saturday at the Sweet Mandarin restaurant. There are beginner and advance courses and costs £75 per person (which includes a hands on 3 hour course, lunch and recipe sheets). Lisa is also available for demonstrations for special events. TO BOOK Please send a cheque made payable to Lisa Tse to Sweet Mandarin 19 Copperas Street, Northern Quarter, Manchester, M4 1HS. Web: www.sweetmandarin.com Email: sweetmandarin at gmail dot com.Lisa also Twitters. Follow her @sweetmandarinTo download the press release click here: Is Lisa Tse the UK’s Iron Chef – Press Release

NAAAP (The National Association of Asian American Professionals) invited Helen Tse to address their twenty second annual convention with representation from over 25 states in the USA.  NAAAP’s slogan is “We Make Leaders!” and in particular Brad Baldia (elected president for 2009) and John Fok (current president 2008) were great role models who are really making a difference in enhancing their members’ careers and in the community.

Founded in 1982, NAAAP now has a presence in more than 25 cities in the US and Canada. With more than 3,000 active members, their message of leadership and professional excellence reaches over 20,000 Asian Americans in North America.

NAAAP embraced Helen and her debut book Sweet Mandarin. Her family’s story of struggle and overcoming adversity inspired the audience to never give up even in times of difficulty. Barnes and Noble kindly supported the book launch after the speech.

“Helen’s speech was inspiring and left the audience members wanting to return to their roots and being proud of their heritage”

For more information go to www.naaap.org

Other Dates for your Diary to meet Helen and Lisa Tse in person

6 September 2008 7.30pm – midnight – LISA TSE is the keynote speaker for Association of Chinese Financial Professionals in UK (ACfPU). (Location: Chartered Accountants’ Hall, 1 Moorgate Place, EC2R 6EA (nearest station: Bank/Moorgate))

18 September 2008 6pm – 8pm – LISA TSE is the Keynote Speaker for the a1a Women in Leadership Seminar. (Location: Thistle Hotel, 3-5 Portland Street,  Manchester, M1 6DP)

25 September 7pm – HELEN TSE is the Keynote Speaker and will launch her book in Michigan (Location: Okemos Library, 4321 Okemos Road, Michigan)

BBC One

17 September 2008 7pm – BBC One -Inside Out – a documentary on one of the oldest Chinese families in the North of England and the first Chinese woman to set up a Chinese restaurant, Lily Kwok. It tells the moving story of the three generations behind the award winning restaurant, Sweet Mandarin.

Sweet Mandarin has made it to Hollywood and is available in all good book shops in the Los Angeles area (as well as everywhere else in the USA and Canada). When Helen Tse was asked to appear on tv with Connie Martinson on the Connie Martinson Talks Books television series, I thought I should join Helen and give her some moral support (and also check out the sites).  The Connie Martinson Talks Books television series airs daily at 3pm on LA Cityview Channel 35 (and repeats at 11.30pm), can also be seen on government-access cable outlets throughout the country, and on PBS in New York.

You can catch Helen’s interview on 4 September 2008 on tv and online at:  http://www.conniemartinson.com/ 

We are thrilled to announce that Sweet Mandarin has been chosen by Barnes and Noble as their Great New Writers’ Selection and been nominated for the non-fiction prize. Buy the book on www.barnesandnoble.com or www.amazon.com 

There is a lot of exciting stuff going on at Sweet Mandarin. My twin sister, Lisa has been working hard in the kitchen, creating new taster menus which will tatalise your tastebuds. This month’s sample menu is a Taste of Shanghai……where you will be transported back in time with her Shanghainese dumplings, five willow fish, famous spring onion bread and ‘crossing the bridge noodles’…..where every dish tells a story.   If you want a cultured evening steeped in favours of the East and fine wine, we welcome you to Sweet Mandarin.

Lisa and Sweet Mandarin (the restaurant and book) is really making waves and catching the media’s attention. Here’s a snapshot of our lives so far….

Lisa headlines the BBC News across the world – with the opening of the Beijing Olympic Games

Watch Lisa’s Interview at Sweet Mandarin http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/7550569.stm

To celebrate the launch of the Beijing Olympic Games today (08/08/08 – extremely lucky for the Chinese) …… Watch our very own LISA TSE, CEO of SWEET MANDARIN being interviewed on BBC News about the Beijing Olympic Games, her identity and running the award winning restaurant, Sweet Mandarin.  This will be broadcast on BBC News, BBC News 24 and BBC World News (across 70 countries).

BBC Show Inside Out Features the Women Behind Sweet Mandarin 

Andy Johnston delves into the history of one of the earliest restauranteurs in the United Kingdom and discovers a a family who have had to endure a murder, poverty, the isolation of being an immigrant family and how despite the odds, they have lived to tell their tale – and continue their lifeline through food. This programme features the women behind Sweet Mandarin and gives honour to the grandmother, Lily Kwok, whose extraordinary life inspired the book Sweet Mandarin. Aired on 17th September 2008 on TV and online.

Barnes and Noble chooses Sweet Mandarin for their Great New Writers’ Selection

There are thousands of books that are stocked at Barnes and Noble. Yet despite the piles of books sitting there waiting to be read, Sweet Mandarin has been read from cover to cover and chosen by Barnes and Noble in their Great New Writers’ Selection and has been shortlisted for the non-fiction prize to be announced in February 2009. The book will appear in every single Barnes and Noble across America at the front of the store with a beautiful display and a bonus for booklovers – a 20% discount.

Portico Library, Manchester, UK Non-Fiction Prize

Sweet Mandarin has been nominated for the Portico Library non-fiction book award.

Helen Tse heads to Hollywood

Helen gives the keynote speech at the NAAAP convention and is interviewed on US TV …… watch this space…. 

Here’s a date for your diaries: 8 July 08 – our launch date in the USA for the book. Eight is a lucky number for Chinese – it means wealth, and luck especially if you throw in a dash of red.

So far, this book, SWEET MANDARIN which started off with a few scribbles on the back of the greaseproof paper (used to wrap delicious morsels of food such as spring rolls) has escalated into a published book by Random House that has been distributed to 33 countries and recently been recorded as an audio book by BBC Books.

So the next step is the U.S.A. 84 days to go and counting. To celebrate this new breakthrough, and getting the book endorsed by Amy Tan and Oprah’s chef, I’m going to post a little of the book every day. That way, you can read about our family’s history and understand why Sweet Mandarin is important to us, and why when we welcome you in with open arms and a delicious meal, you are more than a customer – you are a friend of the family.

If you want to buy the book, UK stockists include bookshops like Waterstones, Borders, USA stockists include Barnes and Noble, Books & Books, as well as the department store Harvey Nichols. You can also find the book on www.amazon.com, www.amazon.co.uk, www.amazon.de, etc.

Trade and Industry Secretary, Patricia Hewitt,  announced the appointment of the new  appointments of the Ethnic Minority Business Forum which includes Sweet Mandarin’s CEO, Lisa Tse.

The Ethnic Minority Business Forum is an advisory non-departmental public body which strengthens the Government’s dialogue with black and minority ethnic (BME) business communities over Government policies and services which affect the ability of BME entrepreneurs to start and successfully grow their businesses. EMBF members are ethnic minority entrepreneurs from across the nine English regions and include people of different ages, gender and backgrounds.

Lisa Tse took up her appointment on 1 April 2008, and said “I am honoured to represent the Chinese community on the EMBF Board and be a voice for the Chinese people to Government level. Indeed at the EMBF Awards 2008, I was delighted to have nominated Wing Yip, who ultimately won Business of the Year 2008. It shows that the Chinese community, which has predominantly been silent within the media and political arenas are nonetheless strong performers and excellent business minds in the entrepreneurial sphere.”

The EMBF reports to the Secretary of State and meets the Minister for Small Business, and the Chief Executive of the Small Business Service on a regular basis.