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Grilled: Celia Cheng

Posted by Adam Kuban, September 18, 2006 at 7:00 AM

Ladies and gentlemen, we have for you another edition of Grilled, in which we interrogate a known burger lover and brief you on the results of our intensive questioning. This week's subject is Celia Cheng, editor and publisher of Cravings, a monthly web-based food magazine. I met Ms. Cheng when she interviewed me for a feature on her site. After a short time talking, it became clear that her own cravings often ran toward burgers—specifically bacon cheeseburgers. And so we hauled her in for intelligence gathering. Without further ado, let's get Grillin' ... —Ed.]

Name: Celia Cheng
Location: New York City
Occupation: Editor of Cravings

How often do you eat burgers?
Once a week.

Where did you eat your most recent one?
Broome Street Bar.

Cheese: American, Cheddar, other?
Cheddar.

Ketchup or mustard?
Ketchup!

Sesame seed or plain?
Definitely sesame—everything tastes better with sesame :)

Grilled, griddled, or broiled?
Grilled.

And how would you like that done, miss?
Medium RARE!

Would you do us the favor of describing your perfect burger? Price and ingredients are no object.
For the patty, raw egg, bread crumbs, a dash of Worcester sauce, pepper, and salt should be mixed in with the ground beef to give it the right texture and flavor. Then the patty should be brushed with butter and grilled to a crisp on the outside, but perfectly pink and juicy on the inside. I love burgers on toasted English muffin because the pockets soak up the juices, but I guess since I'm adding bacon and avocado to this one, let's go with a sesame bun so it can hold more. Add: cheddar cheese (if we were going with the English Muffin, then Cheez Whiz instead), crisp bacon, and avocado. Oh, and of course lettuce and tomato. Assess taste, and add ketchup accordingly.

What's your favorite fast-food burger?
BK Whopper Junior with cheese.

What topping or condiment, in your opinion, should never grace a burger?
I think anything can work because everyone has a different palate. I'm sure even ice cream or natto (Japanese fermented soybeans) on a burger could taste great. [Natto I'll buy. But ice cream?!?!? —Ed.]

What's the most unusual burger you've ever eaten? (Or most unusual burger experience you've had?)
Egg burger. This is not unusual to me since I grew up eating it in Taiwan. It's an Asian rendition of a burger and is a popular breakfast food. The patty uses pork instead of beef and is tenderized and mixed with carrots, onions, salt, and pepper. The thin patty is griddled, then placed on a sesame bun. Lettuce, tomato, ketchup, mayo (Chinese mayo is lighter and sweeter than American mayo), onions, salt, and pepper are added. The most important ingredient that tops this off as the world's best breakfast is a fried egg.

The hamburger is a dish with which many people have strong childhood associations. Do you recall your first experience with this tasty treat?
Yes! I still have extremely fond memories of the "terry burger" from Orange Julius in Hawaii. Terry being short for teriyaki of course. OJ no longer serves burgers in Hawaii, unfortunately. To date, I have not yet found a terry burger that compares. Not even in Japan. The teriyaki burger at McDonald's in Japan is awful and though the teriyaki chicken burger from Mos Burger is good, the regular teriyaki burger is still not as good as my childhood terry! Bring it back, Orange Julius!

What’s the most overrated burger in your city? Most underrated?
Overrated: Jackson Hole. Underrated: Tony's (street vendor on 62nd and Madison).

For some crazy reason, you're going vegetarian. Where do you go for your final burger?
I would like to state that I would rather kill myself before I went vegetarian. But to answer your question, in NYC, I'd go to DuMont Burger. If in Hawaii or Tokyo, Kua Aina.

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BURGER JOINTS REFERENCED
Broome Street Bar: 363 West Broadway, New York City; broomestreetbar.citysearch.com
Burger King: Various locations worldwide; burgerking.com
McDonald's: Various locations worldwide; mcdonalds.com
MOS Burger: Various locations, Japan; mos.co.jp
Jackson Hole: Various locations, New York City; jacksonholeburgers.com
Tony Dragonas street cart: Southwest corner of East 62nd Street and Madison Avenue, New York City; A Guy in New York on Dragonas
DuMont Burger: 314 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn NY (Williamsburg); AHT review
Kua Aina: Various locations in Hawaii and Tokyo; 'Ono Kine Grindz on Kua Aina

FURTHER READING
Cravings [Ms. Cheng's web-based food magazine]
Other Grilled interviews [AHT Archives]

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