I had a great experience in LA while filming MasterChef, and the most beautiful part of it is I met such a great people there!
I became friends with people who I would never met if I didn’t make the show. Because all 100 of every single one of’em are so unique, some are good way and some are not so good way. lol
While people cooking for the 3 judges, I literally tried almost all 100 dishes. I mean, I really tried hard because every time I tasting it, I learn something from it.- even the story guy and cameramen tell and call me, “Hey! Tasting!”, whenever there is a chance to taste the food! lol Some were good, some were ok, and some were not really good…
One of the dishes I tasted was very unique… Not because of the flavor, but who made it!
Dr. Dennis Hong and his sous chef- CARLI
First of all, I’ve never tasted food made with a robot. What an experience!
I was watching them cooking together whole entire time, and LOVED CARLI’s cooking talent!!! The TV didn’t show what CARLI did, which was SO AMAZING! I really truly amazed by what robot can do now days, and thought about movie “I, robot”- got scared a bit. LMAO! Anyways, so disappointed that they didn’t show it, but it is what it is.
Oh, let me explain about who is Dr. Dennis Hong- the father of CARLI.
I took this article form http://www.romela.org/main/Dr._Dennis_Hong
Dr. Dennis Hong, a TED alumnus, is an Associate Professor and the Founding Director of RoMeLa (Robotics & Mechanisms Laboratory) of the Mechanical Engineering Department at Virginia Tech. His research focuses on robot locomotion and manipulation, autonomous vehicles and humanoid robots. He is the inventor of a number of novel robots and mechanisms, including the ‘whole skin locomotion’ for mobile robots inspired by how amoeba move, a unique three-legged waking robot STriDER, an air-powered robotic hand RAPHaEL, and the world’s first car that can be driven by the blind. His work has been featured on numerous national and international media. Washington Post magazine called Dr. Hong “the Leonardo da Vinci of robots.”
Dr. Hong has been named to Popular Science’s 8th annual “Brilliant 10”, honoring top scientists younger than 40 years of age from across the United States, “Forward Under 40” by the University of Wisconsin-Madison Alumni Association, and also honored as “Top 40 Under 40” alumni by Purdue University. Hong’s other past awards include the National Science Foundation’s CAREER award, the SAE International’s Ralph R. Teetor Educational Award, and the ASME Freudenstein / GM Young Investigator Award to name a few. Dr. Hong also actively leads student teams for various international robotics and design competitions winning numerous top prizes including the DARPA Urban Challenge where they won third place and the $500,000 prize, and the RoboCup, the international autonomous robot soccer competition where his team won First Place in both the Kid-Size and Adult-Size Humanoid divisions and brought the Louis Vuitton Cup Best Humanoid Award to the United States for the very first time.
Dr. Hong received his B.S. degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison (1994), his M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in Mechanical Engineering from Purdue University (1999, 2002).
He is also a serious gourmet chef and a magician performing annual charity magic shows and lectures on the science of magic.
I know what you think, he has lots of talents, right?! 🙂 I saw a bit of his magic through Korean TV show, and I was like- WTF! He really can cook and do magic!
I remember that he told me how much he wants to help people and how passionate he is about make this world a better place with what he does. I couldn’t understand what he wants to do or what he’s trying to say at that time, because I was so focused on my own journey. But after I came back home and researched about him, watched a Korean show that he was on- helped me understand him and his work a lot. He is very passionate to help people on his way. Like I want to make people’s life better with food, he does with robot.
When he started cooking, his sous chef- CARLI was right next to him, and handed him an apron perfectly. Then he helped him cutting a carrot, scoop out a cup of rice and even through a half of lemon… LOL! It was really really amazing to see a robot helping a person in the kitchen like that. What I want to see is if CARLI can wash the dishes, because that is only one problem I have in my kitchen. Dirty dishes. LMAO
Dr. Dennis Hong made Chilean Sea Bass with Oriental Glazed and Somyeon Noodles.
Let me tell you the truth about his dish. Because I was the only one who tasted the dish, accept the 3 judges. Hehehehehehe! I was lucky! 😉
He baked the sea bass fillets and it was cooked perfectly. Everybody was like, “Oh, look at that beautiful sea bass!!!”. I loved the glaze too, based on soy sauce. Savory and sweet but not too strong- so it won’t kill the delicate sea bass’s own flavor. I was craving some soy sauce at that time(because it’s been awhile I had Asian meals since day 1 in L.A…), so the sauce tasted even better! I was’t sure about the somyeon noodles and fish filet together, but I liked that “Out of the Box” idea. Later the show, Dr. Dennis Hong said what Gordon Ramsey said to him. “Dennis, you are a brilliant!!”.
I think so too!
I can’t wait to cook with him someday! It will be so much fun, because he is an energetic person! And he likes to trying something new(seems like), which is what I like to do too!
I hope the day comes soon! 🙂
Do you believe robot can help your life better?
XOXO
1 comment
In my opinion, Dr. Dennis Hong completely outsmarted Master Chef. He got free publicity on national TV for his robotic program. Go Pudue. I studied biomedical engineering. Way to go Professor Hong! 🙂