Nic’s Flavor of Happiness

The business opportunities in Taiwan's instant noodles market has reached over 10 billions of dollars every year and the rise of instant mixed noodles in the recent year has become the prime area of competition. At the end of March 2018, “Chef Nic's Noodles,” invented by Hong Kong actor, singer, entrepreneur, chef Nicholas Tse through one year of research and development, suddenly emerged and became the most outstanding dark horse in the market. In the pursuit of health and no food additives, “Chef Nic's Noodles” first began being sold at all HOLA stores around Taiwan. A total of one thousand supplies were sold out immediately like hot cakes within the first day!

To launch“Chef Nic's Noodles” in Taiwan, Nicholas Tse came to Taiwan for an interview at “THL” this April. Before the interview, he asked ardently about which flavor of noodles do we like? When hearing the feelings and answers, he responded with a smile in his intense eyes: “Oh, really?” as if he is about to open a winner's envelope. We can truly feel that this superstar in front of us nourished his life with his devotion to cooking.

Making his debut as a singer and an actor since 16 years old, Nicholas Tse had been given the World Music Awards at the age of 21 and became the first post-1980 generation who received the Best Actor of Hong Kong Film Award in 2011. Moreover, he started the image post-production enterprise “Post Production Office” which later on became the best special effects group in China. The post-production works of the Company include A Simple Life, winning five Hong Kong Film Awards, and the China top-grossing film Monster Hunt. In 2015, Nicholas Tse had ranked the third place in the lists of the “Forbes” China Celebrity List.

As an actor, such achievement is at the summit of his career; but as Chef Nic, it is just a beginning.

Being a superstar and a successful entrepreneur, Nicholas Tse resolutely and determinedly changed paths to become Chef Nic in 2014 and began shooting the Chinese food show Chef Nic, the name inheriting from Nicholas Tse's previous food show It has been broadcast for four seasons continuously in China, reaching the production budget of NTD 15,000,000 each episode. Filming across five continents around the world and dominating the rating of Chinese food variety shows, Chef Nic was awarded the “Annual Food Reality Show Award” of the State Administration of Radio and Television.

Since then, the professionalism of Chef Nic has made a deep impression on the public. In 2016, the global delicacies authority Michelin announced Nicholas Tse as the first “Friend of Michelin” in history and invited him as one of the star chefs to manage the Michelin evening dinner with other Michelin star chefs for two consecutive years.

It is unavoidable that the public will closely examine whether or not a star is capable of being a good chef. However, encountering various suspicions from the external world, Nicholas Tse takes a positive attitude toward these suspicions. Every profession has its most difficult part to conquer; the only path to win is to train yourself hard. Nicholas Tse has his own determination of what to do and what should be done to make the beginning as a form of achieving without fearing the unknown.

”For me, cooking is the most comfortable way of communication!” Speaking of cooking, we can observe a sense of firmness and peace through Nicholas Tse's eyes, “Cooking can also train your patience, since you cannot hurry to the next step before the food is fully cooked!” He laughed and said he often stayed at the kitchen for a long time since cooking is a way of practice and you can feel your improvement in the process.

“Every dish you made in the kitchen reflects your own feelings at that moment. It tastes different when you are in a hurry or in a peaceful mood. Even just a bowl of rice, you cannot cook two bowls with the same mouthfeel!” said Nicholas Tse, expressing his thoughts on cooking, “I am an irascible and hot-tempered person. But after entering the kitchen, I can feel my temper and perceive my progress.”

Possessing the characteristics of a Virgo that seeks perfection, Nicholas Tse has a frenzied persistence of trying every ingredient, every flavor and every possibility in the kitchen. With an apron and a knife, without his superstar burden, he has infinite time to indulge in the discovery of his flavor of happiness in the kitchen.

He even had a vegetable garden at his home in Hong Kong and Beijing with a variety of culinary herbs and spices just to understand how the flavor of seasonal and healthy ingredients made deep impressions on people's palates.

“I have met some great farmers and respected their spirits. How does a good chef present the best cuisine? I start from the foundation, plant and study.”

Having quite an accomplishment in a few years, Nicholas Tse modestly considers himself luckier than the others since he has more opportunities to taste different delicacies through shooting the show around the world. Also due to the interaction with many great senior chefs, he can perceive new knowledge more rapidly than others who have long been in the food service business and broaden his horizons in the world of cookery.

Apart from displaying his professional techniques at cooking shows, Nicholas Tse was invited by FOX International Channels to compete one-on-one with the famous Canadian chef David Rocco at the show Celebrity Chef: East vs West. His invention of “Chef Nic's Cookies” in Hong Kong also successfully conquered the dessert market.

In the meanwhile, he consistently wandering, what exactly is Nic's flavor?

Nicholas Tse often cooks for his family and friends with great satisfaction.“But I want more people to enjoy more kinds of flavors!” He explained with his hand waving excitedly in the air. For example, capsicol with a bit of dried shrimps makes another smell while soy sauce with bits of basil, sugar and sesame oil turns into another taste.

If I can integrate these flavors into instant noodles, then I can deliver these tastes to the distance, “using the minimum space to travel the world; using the shortest distance to taste the furthest flavor, this is Nic's flavor!” he said.

The research, development, production and starting sale of “Chef Nic's Noodles” all proceeded in Taiwan with the cooperation of THL's Tian Gong Limited Company of biotechnology. Besides the Company having the strictest noodle production technology and food reputation, this collaboration is also a result of serendipity with the meeting of THL's general manager Terence.

Their first encounter happened at a meeting in Hong Kong. When Nicholas Tse talked about passing on his flavor through food production, Terence impressed him by frankly speaking “Do you know that earning money from foodstuff industry has a long way to go? And money comes quicker in the entertainment industry. Do you really want to do this? ”

Recalling this memory makes Nicholas Tse smile, “From that day on I knew we were the same kind of person. It takes a long-term cultivation to let customers have trust in us. We have the same vision and I can sincerely feel Terence's persistence and devotion to this industry, thus we worked together happily ever after!”

In fact, Nicholas Tse has canceled many shows and performances for his food business, causing more than billions loss of income. Terence told us, “He really wanted to make his brand great so that he rejected many endorsements and only have one film in a year. He even asked people to call him Chef Nic with great enthusiasm. This is really touching.”

Nicholas Tse honestly told us he did lose many opportunities due to Nic's Flavor, but “if you think that something is worthwhile, you cannot use the word ‘loss' to describe it, for it is just an instant choice that you made. No matter how difficult it is, there is nothing impossible as long as you have the right time and thoughts! ”

During the year of preparations, Nicholas Tse and his team paid constant visits to Taiwan, highly concentrating on the testing of noodles and sauces at the factory with strict experimentation and detection to strive for a healthy and no additives production in sauces and noodles. Nicholas Tse states that he has tried various flavors in the research process, including fried bean sauce, Sichuan noodles with peppery sauce, Laksa, curry and fennel… Due to the request of no additives in sauces, he had to overcome difficulties in production technique. He produced a bitter smile: “All of these even have to pass the experimentation and detection, which is really a strenuous process!”

Nevertheless, it is a worthwhile attempt. Three flavors of “Chef Nic's Noodles,” including hot and spicy, spicy sakura shrimp, three-cup sauce and special local flavors have boomed in the Taiwan market. At the first day of sale, ten thousand limited supplies of each flavor has promptly sold out at five physical channels like HOLA, c!ty'super, etc. Lots of customer even shared photos of their conquests on Facebook.

Nicholas Tse believed that the birth of “Chef Nic's Noodles” is a collaboration combining experts from different fields to convey his concept of delicacies. “People like Terence who concentrated on the food industry and has faith in delicacies and this business is another benchmark for me!” he insisted, “Not only chefs are those who make delicacies for people to enjoy. From the farmer, the chef to the sales end, each section all contributed to this achievement.”

Each step that Nicholas Tse takes symbolizes his confidence and superstar aura to spread his flavor of happiness to the world and beyond.