At 10 years old, Melissa King was already cooking dinner for her parents, a sign of things to come. After earning a science degree, she spent her twenties in the Bay Area honing her skills in fine-dining kitchens, then competed on Top Chef , winning the All-Stars L.A. season in 2020. But unlike many Top Chef winners, King hasn’t opened a restaurant of her own. Instead, she has hosted the National Geographic series Tasting Wild , created part of the menu for the 2022 Met Gala dinner, appeared in campaigns for Levi’s and Gap, launched a spice mix, and co-written the cookbook Cook Like a King , which won a James Beard Award this year. Now she has a new book out, the memoir The Girl Who Became King , about the distance between what her family expected and who she turned out to be as a queer Chinese American chef.
I was tasting my new King salumi! It’s a collaboration with Fra’mani, a Bay Area artisan salumi producer that uses humanely raised, hormone free pork. I created a Mala Spice salami with a little tingle of Sichuan chilies and cumin and a Pho-strami salami that is layered with star anise, coriander and peppercorns and smells like a bowl of Vietnamese pho. I also had a few slices of yellow peach from the farmers market, a country loaf sourdough I made with my starter, and a vitamin gummy.
Chinese hot pot in my living room on my coffee table while watching trash tv.
Panda Express’s Orange Chicken. It’s the epitome of Americanized chop suey house kind of Chinese food that lives in its own beautiful little world, but damn it hits. I like it over a steamy bowl of white rice slathered in Siracha and which I invented that too.
What do you think when someone sends back a dish?
That we did something wrong. Perhaps it’s a trauma response but my brain immediately goes there. Was it overcooked? Undercooked? Oversalted? Did I forget an allergy? I’ll run through the check list of possibilities of what could have gone wrong. As a diner, I almost never send food back myself, so when I see a dish come back, I assume something horrible has happened. Wow. I’m realizing now I carry a lot of anxiety about accidentally killing someone with an allergy.
What’s the one food trend you’re relieved is finally over?
It’s probably not over yet but dumpling lasagna. The whole point of a dumpling is to trap all those beautiful juices inside. And lasagna? Just leave her alone. Stop ruining two already perfect things. Just don’t do it.
What’s the one food trend you’re embarrassed to admit you love?
A good espresso martini. Is it coffee? Is it dessert? I always swap out the vodka for tequila or mezcal for added poor decision making.
Pineapple on pizza. Pineapple, pepperoni, and chilies to be specific. I said what I said. Fight me.
I’ve eaten a lot of crazy shit from duck tongues to fish sperm, but I draw the line at balut. I’ve had it twice. The last time I was like, yeah I don’t need to do this again.
Sparkling water and ginger tea. I wish I had a more interesting answer for you.
What do you eat straight from the fridge?
Cold pizza, roast chicken, noodles. Not all together. I don’t own a microwave and like eating most of my leftovers straight from the fridge.
What’s the first thing you notice about a restaurant when you walk in?
The noise level and lighting. I’m highly sensitive to loud restaurants and bright overhead lighting. My brain just shorts.
What is the ingredient you could not live without?
White rice. I love short grain white rice, but I’m an equal opportunity rice eater with jasmine, basmati, whatever. As long as it’s not brown. I grew up with steamed rice everyday on the dinner table. I crave it. I want it. I need it.
A deep dish pizza with globs of ranch and chocolate chip cookies while listening to my “Crying in the Club” playlist. I’m going all in.
What’s the restaurant everyone should go to before they die?
Ramiro in Lisbon, Portugal. I’m a big seafood lover and it’s one of my favorite restaurants in the world. They have seafood dishes that aren’t over complicated like clams steamed in garlic and olive oil, gooseneck barnacles, and crab. But my absolute favorite bite is their insanely flavorful Scarlett prawns that are cooked, their heads are split open, and the tomalley is spooned over them. I like to wash it all down with a steak sandwich as my dessert.
Mine, obvi! I wrote Cook Like a King with the intention that it would become your go-to-cookbook for all levels like a simple crispy salmon for yourself, impressing a hot date, or gatherings with friends.
What’s the dish everyone should learn to make?
A simple pasta like carbonara or spaghetti. There’s something romantic about sharing a bowl of pasta with someone.
What’s the one condiment that changes everything?
Chili crisp. It’s just such a flavor bomb, I love it on everything from dumplings to pizza to my morning avocado toast.
Source: Fashion
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