Kathy Fang's used to cooking all day and managing chaos—she's the chef and general manager of Fang in San Francisco—but she had to learn to leverage those skills in a whole new way when she stepped on the set of Chopped. The Food Network show takes chefs through three rounds of competition, where they must open a basket of mystery ingredients and create one course per round, from appetizer to dessert.
Fang survived every round, taking home the $10,000 prize—and some serious bragging rights. Here, she tells us what really went on, from the moment someone suggested she compete on the show to the ride home after taking home the title.
The Interview Is Surprisingly Low-Key.
After applying to be on Chopped, a producer reached out to do a Skype interview. "They asked a lot of questions about my culinary philosophy and background: how I got into cooking, whether I'm comfortable cooking with random ingredients, how often I cook without a recipe," Fang says. "I learned how to cook from watching my dad in his restaurant, which they seemed really interested in. In middle school, I'd see him make something and ask how I could do it, so my parents started buying ingredients they'd keep in the fridge. Then I'd try to replicate the dish when I got home from school."
The Skype interview led to a follow-up phone interview, and before long, the producers asked Fang if she could fly to New York in less than two months to film the Chinese New Year episode.
The 'Imposter Syndrome' Fear Is Real.
As the days started to tick away to filming, Fang started getting excited—and a little anxious. "Running a restaurant is fun, but stepping outside of your comfort zone is what really made me want to do the show," she says. "You have to confront those fears: What if I'm not a good cook? What if I fail? That was a challenge for me."
You're Better Off Not Preparing.
Chopped doesn't provide contestants with any hints or clues as to what the mystery ingredients will be, Fang says. So, rather than obsessively try to memorize every cooking technique and rare ingredient known to man, she decided to take it easy.
"I filmed another show and prepped like crazy beforehand, and I psyched myself out. I was super nervous," she explains. "For Chopped, I got to New York a few days early and decided to enjoy myself. I had some nice meals, I explored the city, and I just relaxed, as much as I could."
Aside from growing up in her parents' restaurant, Fang also grew up exposed to a variety of cooking influences—her relatives hail from Hong Kong to Shanghai—and she trained in French cuisine while in culinary school at Le Cordon Bleu.
"I'll try and eat anything, except for bugs, so I took confidence in knowing that in any challenge, there wouldn't be so many ingredients that I haven't seen before," she says.
That Hour-Long Episode Takes 14+ Hours to Film.
Contestants meet up at the Chopped set around 5:45 a.m., ready to film, which means you're probably waking up early to do your own hair and makeup (no, there isn't an artist on set to do it for you).
"I got up around 4 to get ready and grab something to eat, just to make it feel like a normal day so I wouldn't psych myself out," Fang says.
Once you arrive, you're pretty much filming nonstop until you're eliminated. If that happens, you may get out in the afternoon. If you make it to the end, like Fang did, you're filming until about 8 or 9 p.m. After you've been named the winner, there's still an hour to an hour and a half of on-camera interviews to go through—those scenes where contestants explain what's going through their minds at any given moment.
"Even though I was surrounded by food all day, I was running around so much I didn't even think of eating," Fang says. During the final interviews where they recapped the day, she finally slowed down long enough to snack on a plate of lentils, spinach and samosas the production crew gave her.
There's Some Humblebragging Before Filming Starts.
All of the chefs competing meet each other just before the cameras go on, and the small talk that ensues usually covers where you've worked, who you know and what major chefs or restaurants you've worked for.
"I was surrounded by big chefs, and I'm mostly self-taught, at least for the cuisine at my restaurant, so at first it felt like, 'who brought this kid here?'" Fang says. "You feel out of your element at first, and it's intimidating, but once you step in front of the stove, all of that goes away."
Jumping Out of A Plane Is Easier Than Waiting to Open That Basket.
"They really draw out the anticipation," Fang says. "We were standing in front of the basket for about 15 minutes before we could open it. I was like, 'Are there any holes in the basket I can peek through?'"
The whole time, Fang couldn't help but run through potential scenarios: "If I have to braise something, will the oven be hot enough? What if I can't find the ingredients I need?" It was a total attack of the what-ifs.
There's A Trick to Conquering Each Round.
It's easy to let panic overwhelm you, particularly if you're staring at a box of ingredients you've never used before. Fang decided to focus on the one ingredient she felt most comfortable cooking with and think of a few dishes she's loved that use it.
"Then I think, 'If the dish is great with this ingredient, how can I add this second one to it?' It's all about building on that dish," Fang says.
For the dessert round, the basket contained giant fortune cookies, hard candy, ginger beer and winter melon. On their own, these didn't really inspire a specific dish, so Fang stuck to a classic Chinese New Year dessert: Rice Pudding. She zeroed in on the hard candy, realizing she could grind it up and use it as a sweetener.
"Once I had that, I got to work," Fang says. "I didn't pressure myself to come up with a perfectly composed dish. Adding the ginger beer and other ingredients came later."
You Can Share—or Sabotage.
While contestants have full access to the Chopped kitchen, there's one catch: There's only one jar of each spice and seasoning, Fang says. If you're the last one to start grabbing ingredients, you may not find what you need.
"You could yell and ask, 'hey, has anybody seen the cumin?' Some people might tell you to come and get it; some people might decide to hide it," she explains.
It's Surprisingly Emotional.
Fang stunned herself when she started tearing up while filming. "Whenever I see someone crying on TV, I think, 'Are you pulling something?'" Fang says. "I didn't want to cry, but I got so emotional talking about my family and how I'd want my parents to look at me and be proud."
The Judges Can Rattle You.
Taking criticism directly—and on camera—can really make you second-guess yourself. "You look at how accomplished the judges are, and you feel like their opinion matters a lot," Fang explains. "If they don't like something you made, you might wonder, 'Does this mean I'm not that good of a cook?'"
In those moments, it's critical to take a step back and reframe how you view their feedback.
"If I read these comments on Yelp or something, I might just think, 'okay,'" Fang says. "If three chefs say I really messed up a dish, I'm going to go home and make this dish a bunch more times and figure out how to make it work."
It's a whole new challenge to take on.
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