4 cardamom pods, crushed.

Meet Jonathan Yao, one of the most imaginative, natural-born cooks we've ever encountered., Yao interprets the flavors he grew up with as the son of Taiwanese immigrants in the San Gabriel Valley—booming and fading the levels of burnt shallot, sweet soy, basil, and Chinese celery.Three-cup chicken may be the "Free Bird" of Taiwanese cuisine; if you only know one thing about the island's food culture, this dish—seasoned with equal parts soy sauce, sesame oil, and rice wine—is probably it.

Yao's three-cup cover takes the form of a paste, rubbed into curls of octopus or painted on buckwheat crackers sandwiching sweet raw scallops.Thick corn soup is a Taiwanese lunch-box staple; Yao also borrows from congees and egg drops for his luxe rendition, which surrounds a brilliant yellow yolk.These are flossy ideas, evidence of a thoughtful cook.

But the dish that cemented Yao as a Best New Chef is also his most modest: Delicate branzino and ribbons of scallion scorched with burning-hot oil, a Taiwanese method that adjusts the scallion's brightness from mellow flicker to floodlight.Tasting it for the first time is a bit like opening Dorothy's farmhouse door and stepping into the Technicolor Land of Oz.

When it comes to succeeding as a chef, there's nothing wrong with taking the established route.

But every once in a while you find a chef who's cut their own path.. 08. of 10.Ft. Slide-In Dual Fuel Range.

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