When the Cooking Channel first launched last year, I was thrilled to find that the lineup included a show called Chinese Food Made Easy — up until that point, the only Chinese cooking shows I'd seen were reruns of Martin Yan's Yan Can Cook. Its host, a fresh, upbeat face named Ching He Huang, had appeared in a slew of cooking shows in the UK, where she's widely recognized for reinventions of her favorite Chinese dishes.

Today marks the Cooking Channel premiere of Huang's second season for the show, which is now titled Easy Chinese: San Francisco. In preparation, Ching spent six weeks in the San Francisco Bay Area. I caught up with her in the heart of San Francisco's Chinatown, and in between cups of medicinal herbal tea, she shared her thoughts on why China's multifaceted flavors will be the next big thing. See more when you keep reading.