>> MING: Hey, Ming Tsai here with Simply Ming, not quite at home-- as you can tell, we're not in Boston.

We're actually in Maui.

We're at an awesome resort called Makena, and even a more awesome chef named Chris Kulis.

We're gonna be making sushi and some ceviche as well.

Show you how to make the rice, show the awesome seafood and produce that Hawaii has to offer, including the farm right behind me, but of course, we'll start with some cocktails.

We're gonna make a little sake kind of Kir Royale.

And then a non-alcoholic version as well.

So this is all coming up right here on "Simply Ming."

♪ ♪ >> "Simply Ming" is brought to you by Subaru of New England, proudly celebrating 50 years of love.

Authorized retailers at SubaruOfNewEngland.com.

Here's to the next 50 years and beyond.

>> MING: As you know, we're gonna start with a cocktail.

So, Chris, if you don't mind... >> No problem.

>> MING: Open that up.

So, in France, they have something called a Kir Royale.

Well, I'm making kind of a sake Kir Royale.

So I'm gonna take some beautiful sake here, put about two ounces, and I like it in a champagne flute.

And the one thing with a Kir Royale, is you always have a little bit-- wait, one sec, Chris, let me put a little cassis.

And a little cassis gives it a nice, um, red color.

Let me take this off.

And... this adds a little fruitiness, right?

>> Yeah, just a little bit, it'll still be pretty dry, though.

>> MING: Just a touch-- I don't wanna-- it's nice and sweet, so that's all I want, and then the rest we top off with a little bit of, just, really good champagne.

And then we're gonna do a nice little lemon flag.

And that's how you make a sake Kir Royale.

Rub the rim, super simple.

My friend.

>> Cheers.

>> MING: Cheers to you, buddy.

Good to see you.

Oh, wow.

>> That's pretty darn good.

>> MING: That's pretty good, right?

>> Especially in this sun.

>> MING: Now, in case you don't drink booze, guys, super simple.

Give me two wedges out of there, please, Chris.

>> Just regular wedges?

Got it.

>> MING: Just regular wedges.

So, you can also just take just a little cassis... Just to get a little sweetness to this sparkling water.

Go ahead and juice the lemon in there, sir, and this is just a great, kind of, I guess, French Shirley Temple, if you would.

I mean, in theory, there may be one percent alcohol, just 'cause cassis has, in theory, a little bit-- here.

So, just to try, another good... >> Cheers, again.

>> MING: You don't always have to drink booze.

Nice and refreshing.

♪ ♪ We're gonna start with sushi rice.

The most important thing, which Chris has already done, is he's washed this about six to seven times, so the water is super clear.

Right, so once the water is super clear, then the key is, how much water do you add?

All right, I do the Mount Fuji technique.

Mount Fuji, guys, for me, is right there.

So if I put my hand, these are clean hands, and put it in, the water has to come to here.

>> So we need a little bit more.

>> MING: Right, so we need more.

Or you can do this, and it has to go to the first finger.

So, I'll do the first finger technique for now.

And this is just regular, cold tap water.

And Chris, do you soak your rice?

>> We rinse it, and then we soak it.

You really want the white-- the rice to be nice and white.

>> MING: Then this goes into a rice cooker, right, and once you have a rice-- once you cook in a rice cooker... >> I'm gonna go ahead and get this one going.

>> MING: Thank you, yeah, put that in the rice cooker.

And this is what cooked sushi rice looks like.

So here's a traditional white pine bowl that is so key-- I'm sure you agree, Chris.

If you use a stainless steel bowl or a glass bowl, the problem is, it condensates, right?

So in a stainless steel and glass bowl, the water-- the steam will condensate and then we'll get mushy rice.

What we're trying to do instead... the pine absorbs this.

Now, here's the key, guys.

This is su, all right, see that little bit of steam?

This is a combination of, uh, traditionally vinegar and sugar-- I put a little bit of mirin in it.

And it's hot, it's the same temp as the rice, so-- I'll do it off your thing.

>> My sushi rice, I do four parts vinegar, two parts sugar, and one part salt.

>> MING: And, but what's key, what he's doing, is he's just trying to flip the rice over.

Don't mix it, right-- you do this, you break up all the grains.

The whole thing about sushi rice-- and when I learned in Osaka-- and this is why we have this wet cloth.

We're gonna bring it all together, make sure there's not any piece of rice all by itself, 'cause that rice gets lonely and dies.

That's the history, that's the story.

But, guess what?

If you ever eat a sushi, a nigiri, or a makizushi, you have a crispy rice in it, you ruined it, right?

A sushi master would be, like, I can't believe you have crispy rice.

That looks so good.

>> That looks perfect.

>> MING: All right, so then, this is the wet cloth, guys.

And what we'll do, then, is we'll gather the sushi rice on one side, and not have that little kernel around.

And you want to cover it, and just let it rest, what, five minutes, right?

'Cause it's a little bit-- it's a little too hot to wrap it with-- to put fish on it right now.

So we're gonna just let this sit right here.

>> I do really enjoy warm rice with sushi.

I mean, it has to be the right temperature, right, you don't want it to be too hot, where it's cooking, but there's nothing like having that perfectly tempered piece of rice with the sushi.

>> MING: Exactly, I'm with you.

All right, so, let's talk about-- look at the produce.

They have these awesome fruit, fresh herbs, papayas, mangos, pineapples, the whole nine yards.

Also, look at this fish, guys.

Go ahead, Chris, what do we got there?

>> We have three fish right here.

This is snapper, it's caught 600 feet deep.

I got a guy, Beamer, who goes around the corner here, and catches fish, about 100 pounds a week for me.

It's perfect.

Um, kampachi, this is a farm-raised fish out of Kona, >> MING: Yep.

>> And it has zero mercury, which is pretty cool when you're trying to balance out with ahi-- >> MING: And by the way, they have farm-raised, right?

It's delicious kampachi, and it's not farm-raised in little pens, right, it's done in the ocean.

They're so delicious.

And the last, of course, the king fish down here.

>> Tuna-- this is big eye, sometimes we get yellowtail.

Typically it comes from the big island.

>> MING: Yep.

>> Typically.

And, uh, this actually did.

>> MING: And by the way, here, show the fish.

So this is the fish before it was broken down.

>> So this is onaga, or as we call it, long-tail red snapper, right here.

>> MING: Beautiful.

>> And, I actually left the tag on this-- this just flew in today, and you know that it's a product of the U.S., you can get it in the United States, and it's kampachi-- I got this scaled, and it's very similar to hamachi, but it's farm-raised, sustainable, doesn't need to be fully cooked if you're cooking it like a fish.

>> MING: Okay, so, I think our rice is ready.

Let's do a couple rolls.

So, we have some nori here-- Chef, you go do whatever you want.

So let me talk to you about a couple things.

>> What do you want to start with, fish-wise?

>> MING: Yeah, let's do each one of these, I think.

I'd just do a quick little tuna roll, and, um... we have wasabi right here, we have pickled ginger, of course we have soy sauce we're gonna use as well.

And it's key, with wet hands-- if your hands are wet, then the rice doesn't stick to it, all right.

So I'm gonna just make-- take a little bit like this, and just press it down... like that, all right?

>> Chef, here are some pieces for you.

>> MING: Thank you.

Notice, the shiny side is down, the rough side is up, 'cause when I roll it, I want the shiny side out.

All right, so we're just gonna do a really traditional...

I'm gonna take a little bit of wasabi-- this is wasabi paste, guys, right.

Take some maguro, just right center.

This is just gonna be a super simple roll.

And I love these mats that Chris came up with, these are not made out of the bamboo-- this is, what, silicon or something, right?

>> Yeah, and you can wash them, you know, when you're cooking, rolling that much sushi, it's nice to wash your mats, right?

And they're, you know, they're plastic, it's easy.

One of the good plastics.

>> MING: So, key here, guys, right, I want this tuna centered.

So I have to bring this around so this rice touches that rice.

If that rice touches, like right there, now I know it's centered.

So then you lightly pull it back, and the rice is gonna make the nori stick, okay?

So then, what you do, is you then use the mat and you roll, using your thumbs, you roll the sushi, and at the very end, you need a little bit more, there's vinegar water to glue it... and I'm gonna square it off.

You can square it like this, and that's how you get... classic makizushi, right?

How about you?

>> I'm gonna do a hand roll.

>> MING: Let's see it.

>> So I'm gonna wet my hands.

Now, there's a couple different ways you can do these hand rolls.

I call them, you know, American style has a lot of rice in them.

I like them a little thinner, kind of low-carb action.

And I make it kind of sideways, here... and just kind of make myself a little... a little canyon for my fish to go in.

I'm gonna use some kampachi, probably two pieces.

>> MING: Nice.

What is your favorite fish here?

>> Uh, I like the onagas a lot, but, I mean, for sushi, ahi's king, right?

>> MING: Right.

>> Kampachi is a great fish.

I got gochujang aioli, I'm gonna put some jalapenos in there.

>> MING: That looks awesome.

So, guys, freeform it.

So this aioli, he just took, you know, store-bought mayonnaise and you can just add siracha or sambal.

So notice how he rolls it on its side there.

See that?

>> Nice and tight.

And these are-- traditionally, hand rolls are rolled and then handed straight off, right?

They're not supposed to be-- they're not supposed to touch the table.

>> MING: Right, or those cone things, right?

>> Yeah, exactly.

>> MING: So you don't glue it, you like to have the... >> I like it freeform like that, 'cause you're gonna pick it up, grab it-- you know, I don't like the cone too tight on the bottom, because I like to have some rice on the bottom, I don't want to just have ahi.

>> MING: That looks awesome.

I love these two here-- all right, let's keep going.

So, one thing-- some people don't like raw fish.

That's okay, because you can really do anything inside a makizushi, right?

So I'm gonna start the same, gonna put a little bit rice down here.

And believe it or not, we have... poached shrimp, which work awesome.

>> Which are from Kauai, also a farm-raised product.

It's always good to have a farm-raised and a wild product to kind of balance out things.

>> MING: So I'm gonna put a nice poached shrimp in here.

I'm gonna add some of these awesome microgreens, like that.

All right, super simple.

And... hey, what is that, shiso?

One of my favorite things in the world, guys, this is shiso, this is called beefsteak plant, and it's, uh...

I think it's the combination of basil meets mint, meets, I don't know, maybe even a little cilantro.

It's crazy good.

>> We use it in a lot of savory food, too, not just sushi, you know.

Especially in a lot of our stir fries, and finishing a crudo like this is always really nice.

>> MING: And ice cream-- you made shiso ice cream?

>> I have not.

>> MING: It's really quite good.

All right, so same thing guys.

So as you can tell, this one I'm gonna keep round.

I'm not gonna make it square, all right?

I'm gonna do one more, and this is for son Henry, who's not a huge fan of raw fish.

This is a chicken finger.

You can roll chicken fingers, you don't have to roll sushi, right?

>> It's great texturally, too, it's just like shrimp tempura.

>> MING: Yeah, so there is a traditional, right, that they have, they put hot shrimp tempura, or hot softshell crab, or, right-- I mean, I love, I love when you have a hot inside of a cold.

So this one, I'm gonna do super big.

I'm gonna grab-- I'm gonna grab some scallions behind you, chef, here.

And some finger limes.

>> You want me to cut those up for you?

>> MING: Uh, no, I'm actually gonna just lay one out.

So, a little finger lime-- look at this, guys.

It's like the caviar of the garden, right?

It's so good.

So, like chicken lime.

And this is just gonna be a big ol' one, and it's not gonna be perfectly centered, 'cause it's just gonna be a gigantic, kind of, sushi roll.

But that's okay, right.

So my point is, you can put anything you want inside of a makizushi, including steak, which chef has some beautiful wagyu here, huh.

>> I got some wagyu, flatiron steak.

I love a good flatiron, it's good for grilling, it's good raw, it's got great intermuscular fat, it's good to sear, um...

I mean, it's just a great all-around steak.

>> MING: Flatiron, that's what we use, I love flatiron.

So, here, guys, here's our shrimp, look how pretty that is-- I'm gonna keep these nice and large, right?

Actually, I'll cut them-- we'll cut them in smaller pieces.

See, the other trick, guys, is when you're making and cutting the sushi, make sure you have a wet towel, too, 'cause you wanna make sure your knife is moist when you're cutting, 'cause you don't want it to stick to the rice, okay?

Like that-- so, here, Chef, give me another black plate, here, we're running out of room.

>> Yeah, I made a little nigiri.

>> MING: All right, that's good, we'll put this here.

Look at that, you got a little sashimi going on there.

All right, I'm gonna just do two big pieces of chicken fingers.

We're gonna go straight down.

Look at that, guys.

Chicken finger makizushi.

What do you think?

>> I mean, I'd eat it.

I'd eat that in a heartbeat.

>> MING: (laughs) All right, this is fantastic.

So look how good this steak looks.

So, you gonna-- should we roll something with that?

Do a little nigiri, maybe?

>> Yeah, we can do another nigiri, I can do another handroll with it, um... let's figure it out.

Did we-- we talked about the nori sheet, too?

So there's two sides to a nori sheet, there's the shiny side, and then there's the granulated side.

That's where you want to put the rice, 'cause the rice is gonna stick to that sticky side a lot better than the shiny side.

So that's kind of another, little-- I wouldn't say trick, but you definitely wanna put it on there, 'cause otherwise it could fall off and fall apart.

>> MING: Chef, hand me another black plate, there.

>> Yes, chef.

>> MING: So this is a sushi triangle rice, and quite often, in Japan, they would actually put shiso and umeboshi in it, right?

But, I just like this shape, and what I wanna do, because I have this awesome wagyu, is we're gonna just go like this.

And, I would be so happy if I came to a restaurant and they served me that as an appetizer.

What do you think, Chef?

>> I mean, I would eat it, for sure.

>> MING: Right?

And then just a little bit... so as you can tell, guys, we're just free forming this.

So whatever fish you may have, if you go to your grocery store, your fishmonger, make sure it's sashimi quality.

How do you guarantee that?

You ask the fishmonger to put it on a piece of paper and you smell it, right?

That's it.

>> It shouldn't smell bad.

>> MING: It shouldn't smell fishy, it should smell like the sea.

All right, oh I love-- so he's gonna...

Chef's making a handroll, so as you can tell, it's on and on and on, you have all different ways of doing it.

And I'm gonna do a vegetarian roll now-- chef, behind you.

>> Yep, right behind.

>> MING: I like to use-- we have, uh... ooh, we got avocado here.

>> I'm gonna put some pea shoots on mine, got ponzu aioli-- which, ponzu is just, basically, soy sauce and some form of citrus, and then you can just mix it with mayo, or you can just serve it just like that.

>> MING: Look at that, oh, my God.

Your handrolls are making my mouth water.

Avocado, probably one of my favorite things ever to put in a makizushi, right, just love... >> Avocado in general, on everything.

>> MING: Love avocado in anything, right?

In general, exactly, it's the best thing ever.

>> We've got a couple hundred different kinds of avocado out here.

>> MING: Spoon, please, chef.

>> Yes, chef.

>> MING: Do you really?

>> Yeah.

They can be that big and round, to that small.

I've actually had ones are that edible-- the skins are edible, they're like micro ones.

>> MING: Avocado skin, edible?

>> Yeah, but they have to-- they're like this small avocado.

It's pretty-- pretty cool.

>> MING: All right, so here, I'm just gonna make a quick little, one more little roll.

Ah, you know, maybe should do a handroll.

Make a little handroll here.

>> I wanted to do, um, some ceviche.

We did it a couple different ways, 'cause ceviche-- there's multiple ways, just like cooking rice or seasoning rice.

So we have... just regular fish right here, no seasoning, no salt, no lime at all.

Then we have-- as, chef, we were talking about, a more Peruvian style, where it's just fish that has been salted.

And then, um, I learned how to make ceviche from a Panamanian girl, and it was always marinate onions, lime, and fish.

>> MING: How long has that been going for, chef?

>> That's been going probably for about three or four hours.

And you can really see the denaturing of the protein.

It doesn't cook, it actually takes the strand of protein, and kind of unravels it, so you can see just the difference, right?

The fish is white, it looks cooked, but you can also see that there's a little bit of opaque rawness in this.

And then, I always start with this, and then you can go anywhere from there.

You can do a mayonnaise-based one, a papaya, a pineapple, a jalapeno, whatever.

But if you have this, I would like to add lime juice to both of these and onions to that.

And you can use green onions, you can use garlic, you can use a leek, you can use anything you want.

>> MING: What is your favorite fish for ceviche?

>> Um...

I like the snapper a lot, um... and I like kampachi, both.

I can't say-- they both have their own thing.

Because the fat in the kampachi is really nice.

I use snapper, and I usually use the belly.

So when we're breaking down fish, I take kind of the upper loins, the tail, 'cause I'm gonna use that for savory preparations.

And then I take the bellies and I cut them up and dice them for crudos like this.

>> MING: Love it.

All right, and what I'm gonna do... is, so you're doing that, all right.

>> I'm gonna do a couple different kinds and we'll try them all out.

>> MING: I'm gonna do a sashimi with chilies, extra virgin olive oil, and a bunch of this awesome, um, fish we have.

So we're gonna go ahead and do super thin slices... Of fish-- let me grab a plate from you, chef, here.

>> Right under here.

>> MING: We'll do this one here, all right.

And we're going to-- again, as you can tell, the most important thing is start with pristine fish, and once you have pristine fish, make sure you have bright flavors with it.

Oh, my God, chef, this fish is so good.

>> You want some of these jalapenos?

>> MING: Yes, I do.

So, obviously, jalapeno is spicy.

We don't have any corn tortillas, but we have our sushi rice.

I like crispy sushi rice, as well, right.

You can do that, but it starts with high-quality fish, guys.

There we go.

We'll add a little shoyu.

So you, um-- all in, how long has your fish been marinating, before you serve it?

>> Um, I like to do about four hours, or even overnight-- four hours at minimum.

And it's just, really, just kind of takes that-- a lot of people that don't like raw fish... >> MING: Right.

>> I mean, ceviche is somewhat cooked, right, it has been denatured and I think it's more crowd-pleasing for everybody.

>> MING: All right, I got some lime juice.

I'm gonna use a little bit...

I think, a little bit of apple, chef.

Oh, it's not apple-- guava.

>> Lilikoi.

>> MING: Oh, this is lilikoi?

Oh, it's not ripe enough yet.

>> It's not...

It feels-- I mean, we can cut it open and see.

>> MING: Lilikoi, guys, this is passionfruit.

It's not an apple.

>> Passionfruit is purple on the outside, where this is just starting to turn yellow.

It grows a couple hundred feet away from here.

Yeah, eh...

It's a little-- >> MING: Passionfruit usually is... >> That's not bad, actually.

>> MING: Oh, that's not bad.

>> It's actually good, it's really good.

>> MING: You know what, I'm gonna use it.

>> I think that's a good idea.

>> MING: All right, passion fruit seeds, guys, love it-- on my little carpaccio.

Again, the quality of the fish matters.

You could put mango, you could have pineapple, you could use anything for that.

We're gonna fresh lime juice this, gotta have fresh lime juice.

I love these jalapenos.

And key, of course... >> Hawaiian pink salt.

>> MING: Hawaiian pink sea salt.

So good.

And then we have a little extra virgin olive oil.

>> You know, I'll take a little olive oil on my ceviches, if you're okay with that.

Perfect.

>> MING: Don't know why I can't pour it.

There we go, there we go.

And add some ceviche-- olive oil, like this, guys.

And I'm gonna just do a drop of shoyu, 'cause we have it-- right here, guys.

Don't need a lot, literally just a drop.

So I'm gonna use this spoon here, 'cause... that way I can control it.

Just like this, guys.

Little shoyu.

There we go.

>> You want a little cilantro, too, or what?

>> MING: Yeah, awesome and maybe some of those flowers.

All right, so this-- that looks so good, that's so ready to go.

>> Yeah, so this is the one that was marinated, this is the one that was salted, and then this is the one that didn't have either one.

And you can see the denaturing is all different, and this one just starting to denature from the outside.

>> MING: So this is good to go, right, chef?

>> Oh yeah, it should be tasty.

>> MING: I'm going in.

Oh, my God.

>> I almost wanna go for the chicken finger roll, I don't know.

(laughter) >> MING: Wow, look at that, that's beautiful.

It must be so fun for you to have a garden to just pick from.

>> I mean, it's pretty special, and this is just the beginning.

This is less than two years in.

>> MING: Chef, why don't we do... let's use some of your fruit, all right?

We can kind of do, um... >> You wanna do a ripe papaya, or green papaya, or both?

>> MING: Uh, you do green, I'm gonna do-- break down this pineapple.

I think we should do-- let's do, like, a papaya pineapple salad that... that... you're eating all this great seafood, it's nice to have something acidic that can kind of cut through everything, right?

I love that.

>> Yeah, so, papayas, um... can be eaten green, or they can be eaten ripe.

This one's kind of halfway in between, and I think, because we're serving it with a pineapple, it's nice to have something that's kind of in between, and not fully green.

I think the lime juice, the cilantro, all the ingredients that we already have are gonna fit perfect with this.

>> MING: Awesome.

Dude, this is so much fun.

I love the fact that we can just... just freeform it.

So, again, you guys can get any type of fish, just ask the fishmonger, "Hey, what's your freshest fish?"

And by the way, you saw what I did-- you take this, see, I like to quarter it, then, because once you quarter it, then I can take the core out.

Right, 'cause you want that core out.

You can eat that core, of course, and suck on it, but it's nice to have the core off.

So why don't we just do a nice-- yeah.

I'm gonna do some thin slices of pineapple here.

We'll do like a carpaccio of... fruits de... not fruits de mer, fruits de... forest.

I don't know how-- fruits de farm.

You're not helping me, chef, I'm trying to set you up for a new name, you can name something, but nope.

>> I was, uh, thinking about it... (laughter) So you wanna go nice and thin?

>> MING: Yeah.

I think we should just do a freeform.

So this is kind of like dessert, guys, right.

Again, with the bounty of Hawaii.

And I love to have a little... extra virgin olive oil, I think, with fruit, is also incredibly good.

>> You know, we're, uh, we have our own olive oil out here now-- it's getting pretty good.

>> MING: Do you really?

>> Yeah... >> MING: I don't know if I've ever had that before.

>> I'll definitely have to get you some.

>> MING: Beautiful.

A little fresh lemon juice, as well.

And let's get a little salt on this.

I think-- >> Just like that?

Honey?

>> MING: Yeah, exactly.

I was gonna say it needs something sweet, and I know you had some honey.

>> Of course, this is honey from up in Kula.

It has-- you can see how dark it is.

It's because the silver oaks have been, um, actually blooming, so it gets them a lot darker than normal.

>> MING: I love this as a dessert.

Okay, we'll go like this, just a little drizzle.

You have any mint there, chef, or shiso?

Shiso would be good.

>> We got opal basil.

>> MING: Yeah, beautiful.

Oh, my God, there we go.

>> I'm sure we have mint, about 25 feet away from us, too, so, if we had to... Finger lime?

>> MING: Sure, it's my favorite thing in the world.

Literally is my favorite-- oh, wait, chef, we got your beautiful strawberries.

>> Oh, yeah.

Strawberries do really well out here.

We have lovely strawberries from up in Kula, but we have a small little strawberry patch that's growing on, like, some PVC pipe above ground so the chickens don't eat them.

These things are turning out super sweet.

>> MING: Wow, this looks awesome, Chef, oh, my God.

I don't know if this is gonna be better than our sushi sashimi?

Probably not, but... >> It's gonna complement it, chef, complement it.

>> MING: Exactly.

There we go.

Dude, I think we did pretty darn good.

So let's review.

We have the ceviches, we have a chicken finger makizushi, a maguro.

We have poached shrimp, we have snapper, we have a couple handrolls, one vegetarian with avocado.

We have the sashimi, just extra virgin olive oil.

We have tataki of wagyu beef, another veggie handroll, we have a chicken finger roll, and now we have dessert.

Chef, I raise my glass to you.

>> I was drinking without you, sorry about that.

>> MING: That's okay.

Cheers-- thank you so much.

And for all you out there, thank you so much.

Go roll some sushi, make some sushi rice, get some pristine fish, and as always, from Makena, peace and good eating.

Cheers.

>> Aloha.

>> MING: For more information on Simply Ming, including upcoming guests and more, visit us online at ming.com/simplyming.

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Authorized retailers at SubaruOfNewEngland.com.

Here's to the next 50 years and beyond.

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