>> MING: Hey, Ming Tsai here with Simply Ming.

I've literally got one of the best in the United States of America, and it's not just my opinion.

Rick Bayless is in the house.

He's won every James Beard award possible.

He's won Best Chef in the United States of America.

He's won Best Restaurant in the Country.

But his proudest one is Humanitarian of the Year by the James Beard Foundation.

This guy is a winner, and he can also cook.

He's doing swordfish with a pasilla crema and grilled asparagus.

>> This part really adds a nice kind of a bright note and some really great texture.

>> MING: I'm going to take the same swordfish, but do a little ponzu marinade and serve that up, both of them off the grill.

>> I love that flavor of the shiso in there.

>> MING: Isn't that great?

>> Mm-hmm, it's super-good.

>> MING: We're going to start this all off with one of my favorite cocktails, the bullet train.

We're going to be grilling right here, right now, on Simply Ming.

♪ ♪ >> MING: Rick, good to have you back.

>> Oh, it's a pleasure.

>> MING: Mi casa es su casa.

>> Muchas gracias.

>> MING: So, as you know, we're going to start with a delicious cocktail just to get us motivated to cook swordfish, right?

We've got to get in the mood.

>> Get us motivated, yes.

>> MING: Right, so I'm going to make what's called a bullet train.

We created this at Blue Dragon.

We had it when we opened.

We took it off, but by popular demand, everyone wanted it back.

The key ingredient is actually cucumber sake.

>> Now, I don't know about cucumber sake.

>> MING: Well, you're going to taste it.

So I'm going to ask you to do two things.

I'm going to ask you to fill those glasses with ice.

>> Okay.

>> MING: In front.

And actually, just give me two nice pieces of cucumber.

>> Okay.

>> MING: Cool?

>> Fine.

>> MING: Cucumber sake, It's actually naturally infused sake, made in Japan.

And we're going to do about four ounces of this.

It has great flavor, very light and refreshing.

That's three, and then we do four.

We're going to add a little little Aperol, right?

>> MING: Has a nice little... >> One of my favorites.

>> MING: ...bitterness, but orangey and delicious.

>> Sweet and bitter and... >> MING: On the rocks.

If you're on the Amalfi Coast, it's unbelievably delicious.

>> I think it's delicious anywhere.

>> MING: Delicious anywhere.

An ounce of pineapple juice, and then an ounce of ginger syrup.

All right?

This is fresh.

>> So it makes it a little spicy.

>> MING: Yeah, we've got a little spice.

We kind of purée it.

Then this is the real secret.

This is a Thai bird chili tincture, four drops.

>> Can you buy that?

>> MING: You have to make it.

>> You have to make it.

>> MING: We make it at Dragon.

>> Okay.

>> MING: Right.

>> Are you going to share the recipe?

>> MING: It's very easy, actually.

Just a truckload of Thai birds, infuse, and then strain them out.

>> Okay.

>> MING: Not that hard, all right?

Good shake-- I don't want it too waterized.

All right, smells good.

Here we go.

>> I like the color.

>> MING: Yeah, it's nice, right?

A little of that.

>> Boy, it smells really good.

>> MING: Yeah, you smell it.

I've got to top it off with a little bit of sparkling water, which I have right here.

>> Ah.

Very nice.

>> MING: And then we're good to go.

Because I like...

I like when there's a little bit of bubbles.

>> I do, too.

Aperol and bubbles go really well together.

>> MING: So good.

There we go.

It's always good to have a little foam head.

>> Nice.

>> MING: To you, sir.

>> No, thanks for the invitation.

This looks great.

>> MING: Chin-chin.

>> Oh, a little bit of spice.

>> MING: Right.

>> Spice from ginger, spice from the Thai bird chilies.

>> MING: Right?

Not too sweet, but refreshing.

>> Very, very... >> It's not sweet at all >> MING: Right?

>> I really like it a lot.

>> MING: Cucumber comes through.

>> It is motivational.

>> MING: Good.

Let's go grill some sword-- come on.

¡Vamanos!

All right, mi amigo, your dish, please.

>> Okay, so it's going to be grilled swordfish with grilled asparagus.

But the ringer here is this pasilla crema.

So pasilla chilies, these dried chilies, they're going to mix, get mixed with some caramelized onions and garlic and some crème fraîche.

>> MING: Awesome.

>> Okay, so, first thing... >> MING: Can I do any prep?

Anything I can do?

>> Well, let me tell you here.

We got to cut up a few of these guys here.

So I'm going to ask you to use those scissors and just go at them.

I need three of them cut about... >> MING: Just about, like, this big?

>> Yeah, like that, about a quarter-inch across.

And while you're doing that, I'm going to slice up an onion and then put it on to caramelize.

But I'm not going to do that slow caramelization that a lot of times people do... >> MING: Right-- why is that?

>> ...that makes the sort of melting texture.

Because I want texture left in this.

So it's actually going to be caramelized on the outside, but still crunchy on the inside.

A little bit of olive oil in a skillet.

Now, the skillet I've had over kind of a medium heat, just to get it started here, so that when I add the onion, it'll start to cook right away.

Going to give a sprinkling of salt here all over everything.

Get it coated nicely with the oil so that it will start to brown right away.

>> MING: Am I kind of seeding this?

>> Yeah, kind of toss it a little bit like that.

>> MING: So let the seeds stay on the board?

>> Right.

We've got some chopped-up garlic here that I'm going to add once we start to get a little color.

But these are really easy to work with.

Now, this is called a pasilla chili.

Pasilla means long and skinny, basically.

>> MING: Like you-- that should be your nickname, Pasilla.

Pasilla Bayless-- I just, I got you a new nickname.

I am not pasilla.

>> But this one is pasilla negro-- it's almost black-looking.

>> MING: Right.

>> But when you buy them, you want to make sure that they're flexible.

When you smell them, they should smell a little bit like spicy prunes, because this really is like a dried fruit.

And then you just cut them across.

You could use the knife or the scissors.

I find the scissors really easy to work with.

>> MING: Well, like, with nori, knives are hard to get through nori and chilies, right?

>> Exactly.

>> MING: Scissors are so much easier.

>> And scissors work, and then you can just kind of toss them like that and get the seeds away from it.

And we're going to leave that sit there for a second.

I'm starting to get a little bit of, of... >> MING: I can smell it.

>> ...the brown going on here, but not yet quite enough.

>> MING: Smells good, dude.

>> It does.

It takes probably two or three more minutes to get them nicely caramelized on the outside.

And while that is cooking, let's talk about the asparagus here.

So I use that technique, the breaking technique.

>> MING: This is the French, right?

You just grab it, and where it breaks... >> And where it breaks is the right place for it.

>> MING: This is tender, this is not tender.

>> Is not tender.

But this goes really fast, and then you can get through a whole lot of asparagus quickly.

And you don't have to worry that you're going to have any really tough spots there, so that we would save.

And this one I'm going to just sprinkle with salt after I drizzle it with a little bit of olive oil.

>> MING: So is there much extra virgin olive oil used in Mexican cuisine?

>> Actually, quite a lot.

And Mexico produces a lot of olive oil.

>> MING: Really?

>> We just don't really see very much of that in this country.

Okay, so that's ready for us to put on the grill now.

I think these onions are looking really nice in the pan.

>> MING: Yeah, nice-- okay.

>> Got a lot of color on them.

I've got some, some garlic here.

I'm just going to let that go in there for about one minute or so, until I smell it.

That's what I'm looking for, to know that it has softened just enough to release its aroma.

>> MING: So you're getting the rawness out.

>> Just getting the rawness out, that's all I need to do.

And now I can smell it, so I think we're about ready.

>> MING: Smells so good.

>> And I'm going to take it over here.

And if I could have that blender jar, I'm going to put half of these onions and garlic mixture into a bowl, and the rest of it is going to go into this blender jar here.

>> MING: Okay.

>> Okay, so scrape out the last of the garlic because I'm going to use the pan again for toasting those chilies.

>> MING: I love it.

One-pot cooking, thank you.

>> One-pot cooking.

It's kind of the way that I like to cook at home.

Now, this is going to go really fast, so I'm going to put the olive oil in the pan.

Actually need a little bit more just to coat the bottom nicely.

And then these chilies that you so nicely... cut up for us.

We're going to cook or really just toast here.

And this should happen...

I'm going to put this over a fairly high fire and then just watch it.

Now, they're going to release their aroma pretty quickly, and you can see that they're already bubbling in here.

And the one thing that you really will notice here is the change of color.

They will lighten up, especially on the inside.

But I always use my nose for this, as well.

>> MING: Yeah, you can smell it.

>> Because you can smell it.

>> MING: Yeah, and they're opening up.

>> They are opening up, changing color a little bit, and releasing their aroma.

And that's all it takes, just a few seconds.

Now, half of these guys are going to go into the, the bowl here with the caramelized onions and garlic, and the other half is going to go over here, if we can get them all in there.

>> MING: Okay.

>> Now, to that, I'm going to add this crème fraîche, okay?

Now, it may sound like I'm making French food here, because I said crème fraîche, but when you buy real crema-- what they call crema de rancho in Mexico-- it is always just like crème fraîche.

>> MING: Interesting.

>> I'm going to give it a little bit of salt.

>> MING: Okay.

>> And then we're ready to blend.

So I'll let you go ahead and put the... >> MING: So no liquid.

>> No liquid.

We're just going to work with what's there-- the caramelized onions and so forth.

It's those beautifully toasted chilies that are going to give that gorgeous color to it.

But they're also going to add this robust flavor that will be softened by the cream.

So it should be ready now.

>> MING: Okay.

>> And to this mixture here, I'm going to go over here with a little bit of sherry vinegar and mix that mixture up there.

And let me look at the consistency of that one.

Perfect.

So we can spoon that over very nicely.

And this will just sit for a little while while we prepare the asparagus and the swordfish.

>> MING: Looks so good.

>> So we're going to make sort of a little pickle here, and then we've got our crema over there.

Swordfish, asparagus.

>> MING: So you're prepped.

>> All prepped.

>> MING: All right.

Since we're going to go grill, if I may, let me prep my whole dish.

>> Okay.

>> MING: Because you wouldn't season the sword till right before you grill it, right?

>> Right before I'm going to... Add it, some salt and pepper to it, and then it's ready.

Well, olive oil, too.

>> MING: Awesome, all right, so stick around.

I'm going to prep my swordfish and then we get to go grilling.

Muy bueno, señor.

>> Thank you.

♪ ♪ >> MING: That pasilla crema is awesome.

>> It's good, isn't it?

>> MING: I can't wait to go grill it.

>> The deep flavor of those pasilla chilies, they're really good.

>> MING: It's so unctuous.

So I'm doing a shoyu ponzu- marinated swordfish with ginger.

We're going to grill some corn off and we're going to grill some asparagus off.

>> Okay.

>> MING: And we're going to make an asparagus-corn salsa that's going to be bound with a shiso aioli.

If you can make these naked for me.

>> I certainly can do that.

>> MING: Simplest recipe for marinade, guys.

Beautiful sword... And by the way, when you buy sword, it should be that translucent, shiny, right?

And the most important thing-- God gave us a nose.

(sniffs): Smell it.

It should smell like the sea.

It should never smell fishy.

Shoyu ponzu-- this is soy sauce mixed with ponzu.

Ponzu is a very acidic...

Traditionally, sudachi is, um, is the citrus fruit, is the Japanese citrus fruit that you use.

>> Right.

>> MING: And this literally is going to be, like, a five-minute marinade.

>> And so that, you just mixed ponzu with soy...

Okay.

>> MING: You could also buy shoyu ponzu.

And a little bit of fresh ginger.

>> Cool.

>> MING: So that's my marinade.

We're going to move it this way and...

It just, you know, kind of like a quick brine, if you would, just gives it... it starts cooking it a little bit because of the acid, all right?

So that's good to go.

Then I'm going to go ahead and make my aioli.

And then after you finish that corn, I'm going to have you do some asparagus, but let me get 'em prepped for you.

>> Okay.

>> MING: Rick's way is the French way, and that's how I learned in France, right?

Is breaking 'em.

But what I'm going to do is take off this, because I know that part's tough.

>> Yeah, for sure.

>> MING: But we're going to peel them.

>> Now, why would we do that?

Why would we waste our time doing that?

>> MING: Because it looks pretty, and I'm Chinese, and you get more... You get more yield out of your asparagus.

>> Okay, but not if you take those little tough ends and make them into soup.

See, that's my thing.

>> MING: But I can take my smaller tough ends and just make a little less soup.

>> (laughing): A little less soup.

>> MING: Right?

>> Right.

>> MING: Okay, you're going to be asparagus man after the corn.

>> You're going to make me do that?

>> MING: Of course.

>> Okay, I'll do it, I'll do it.

>> MING: All right, aioli-- we're going to take three egg yolks.

We're going to take two shallots.

Just rough-chop, right?

Because we're going to let the blender do all the work.

So there's no reason to waste time slicing and dicing, and making them look good.

Dijon mustard-- my favorite mustard in the world.

I don't know what you like.

>> Yep.

I, I would agree with you.

>> MING: Good heaping tablespoon.

A pinch of salt.

Get me the black pepper over there, sir, if you don't mind.

>> Yes, sir-- no... >> MING: Yeah, that one.

I'll take that.

>> That one?

>> MING: Yes, sir-- black pepper.

All right.

>> This is kind of tedious.

(Ming laughs) >> MING: I'm not sure I heard that.

A little bit of shoyu ponzu.

And you know about shiso, Rick?

>> Tell me about shiso.

>> MING: It's called the Japanese beef...

It's beefsteak plant.

It smells... you've had it before.

>> I love it.

No, I just absolutely love it.

>> MING: It's a spicy basil, it's a cilantro-basil-meets- mint.

>> Yeah, it's got a kind of strong flavor.

And to tell you the truth, we grow that as a microgreen.

>> MING: You do?

>> A little tiny leaf, and we use it in our restaurant all the time, and I love it.

>> MING: All right, so we just rip up some shiso, all right?

That is the aioli.

And then, of course, you're then going to put in an oil-- we're going to use extra virgin olive oil.

(blender whirring) Drizzle it in.

Nice and slow.

You got to get it to emulsify.

>> Yeah, take your time.

I'm not finished here.

(Ming laughs) >> MING: We have a case of asparagus downstairs for you, Señor Bayless.

>> (laughing): Thank you, sir.

Thank you.

(blender stops) >> MING: Just give this a quick taste, see how we did.

Taste, taste, taste.

Mmm, awesome.

Just needs a little bit longer.

A little bit more oil.

(blender whirring) Just a little touch of oil.

All right.

(blender stops) Perfect.

So now here we have a nice aioli.

This we're going to use to make my grilled corn and asparagus salsa.

>> Oh, that looks good.

>> MING: Boom, asparagus, done.

>> Okay.

>> MING: Well done, sir.

>> There.

>> MING: Thank you.

>> All peeled for you.

>> MING: Oh, God, look at how beautiful those look.

>> Oh, yeah.

>> MING: So, olive oil.

A little bit of salt.

And I'm going to use my heat-- togarashi.

>> Togarashi.

>> MING: Right?

This is a Japanese chili.

It's got good spice.

>> Nice.

>> MING: It has sesame... sesame seeds in it, as well, which I love.

All right?

And then those corn... We're also going to put a little olive oil.

>> Okay.

>> MING: Like this.

>> Salt?

>> MING: Salt, please, sir, and I'll do black pepper.

All right, why don't you grab your sword in the fridge... >> Okay.

>> MING: Because you have to season yours up, too, right?

>> Yep, I do.

>> MING: So I have my corn.

I have that.

I have my asparagus like that.

All right.

>> So I'm going to do the same kind of seasoning here.

A little bit of olive oil on there.

>> MING: Okay.

>> Salt.

I want to get some fresh-ground pepper.

>> MING: I love this-- we're both grilling sword, but the flavors are going to be so different.

>> They're going to be really, really different.

Absolutely.

So I'm going to flip that so that I can make sure that I get a nice amount of olive oil on both sides of it.

A little bit more salt on that other side.

And I think we're ready to go.

>> MING: Awesome, and you have your grilled asparagus.

I have my shoyu-marinated swordfish.

>> Okay.

>> MING: All right.

We're going to go outside.

>> Let's go.

>> MING: And let's grill.

>> Let's grill.

>> MING: Come on, vamanos.

♪ ♪ All right, Señor Bayless, let's get grilling.

Nice and hot, should I rub a little oil?

>> Yeah, please.

>> MING: A little oil, just to clean the grill.

>> Okay.

>> MING: I'll get my corn down.

>> And I'm getting my asparagus down here at the back part of this.

>> MING: How come your asparagus is so short?

Look at how long mine are.

>> Are you bragging?

>> MING: Come on, I just trimmed my asparagus.

Okay, there we go.

>> Okay.

>> MING: And I'll grab my sword.

>> This, this swordfish is really beautiful.

>> MING: Yeah, it's so nice.

>> You know, when you were talking about how translucent it is, that's just so absolutely perfect.

That's what I'm looking for.

>> MING: There we go.

Oh, yeah.

>> Okay, now we're getting some smells going here.

>> MING: There we go.

>> I really like that, okay.

>> MING: Oh, another plane from Logan.

It's nice grilling on the rooftop, though, right?

>> It is... >> MING: You get to see everyone in traffic, and we get to be grilling.

I'd rather be here than over there.

>> Yeah, me, too.

>> MING: How long are you thinking each side?

>> I'm going to do probably about two or three minutes on the first side and then flip it.

I like swordfish to be translucent in the center when I'm eating it.

>> MING: As well.

>> So sort of a medium-rare kind of thing.

>> MING: Because if you overcook it, it tastes like chicken breast, literally.

>> It does, and you know what?

It's just not that moist when you overcook it.

>> MING: So, cover, yeah?

>> Yeah, please.

>> MING: All right, two minutes.

All right, Rick, so it's been about four minutes.

>> Okay.

>> MING: Let's move our veg.

All right, our asparagus is looking good, huh?

I'm taking mine off.

>> It's perfect for me.

>> MING: Yep, me, as well.

>> I'd like to get a little char on the outside of it because I like that flavor.

>> MING: Exactly.

>> But I don't want them to be completely cooked all the way through.

Still a little bit of crunch.

>> MING: I like to char my corn.

So let's talk about... >> Okay.

>> MING: The rookie move when you grill swordfish, or any fish on a grill, is, you put it down-- don't try to unstick it.

>> Don't do it.

Just wait until it releases itself.

>> MING: It will release itself.

>> That is the... that is absolutely a rookie move.

>> MING: So here, it's got a crust...

It's going to come off by itself like that, right?

>> Beautiful-- ah, nice.

>> MING: All right?

Like that.

It unsticks itself.

>> Okay.

>> MING: May I?

>> Yeah, sure.

All right, oh, look at that.

No stick at all.

>> Okay.

>> MING: All right, there we go.

And we're going to go another, what...?

>> I'm going to say just a couple of minutes.

>> MING: Like, two minutes.

>> Because I like to cook it kind of three-quarters on one side and then one-quarter on the other, because it will get that nice flavor, but it won't be overdone.

>> MING: Got it.

Two minutes, swordfish.

All right, so it's been another two minutes.

Oh, yeah.

>> Okay.

>> MING: How's it looking?

>> Got a little bit of resilience to it still.

>> MING: Yep, I like that.

>> So these guys off... >> MING: Perfect.

You do me the spatula honor?

>> I certainly will.

>> MING: On the asparagus is fine.

>> On the asparagus, okay.

>> MING: Perfect.

>> Another one here.

>> MING: Fantastico.

>> There you go.

>> MING: All right, let's go plate these up.

Vamanos.

Swordfish!

All right, you start plating up.

I just got to cut some asparagus and then take some kernels off the corn like this.

Oh, yeah.

>> So I'm just going to scatter this asparagus over the bottom of this plate like that, and then put the, the swordfish on top of it.

>> MING: Love it.

>> Like that.

>> Now, we've got the sauce next to work with here.

So... >> MING: Did you check out how good this was?

It just took it all off, it's unbelievable.

>> That's incredible.

>> MING: It's incredible.

>> You're already done with that?

>> MING: It's kind of like my quick asparagus technique, Rick.

>> Okay.

(Ming laughs) Well, at least you're saving some time on something.

(Ming laughs) Okay, so, our pasilla crema... >> MING: Yep.

>> ...is going to go over the top of all of that, and then we have this pickle of the pasilla chilies with the caramelized onions that are going to go over the top of that.

This part really adds a nice kind of a bright note and some really great texture to this dish.

And then I've got some flat-leaf parsley here.

And I'm going to pull the leaves off and sprinkle some of those over the top of this, just to add a little bit of freshness and some color.

And then I'm done.

Now, I notice that you're still not finished.

>> MING: Well, I'm taking my time.

I don't want to take your limelight.

I added my shiso aioli.

>> Okay.

>> MING: Make my slaw.

>> Okay.

>> MING: Right?

>> Now, that looks good.

>> MING: Well, thank you, Rick.

(Rick laughs) Give it a try.

>> Okay, I certainly will.

Okay.

>> MING: Pinch of salt, please, chef.

Little bit of black pepper, and we're good to go.

Perfect.

A little black pepper for me.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: Nice.

I know, I put you to work.

>> I like that.

Nothing I like better.

>> MING: All right, and now I take my corn-asparagus salsa.

>> Beautiful.

>> MING: Like this.

Like that.

Okay, then I'll take my two sword, like that and like that.

Take a little bit more of this aioli.

>> I love that flavor of the shiso in there.

>> MING: Isn't that great?

>> Mm-hmm.

Super-good.

>> MING: Just a little bit of the asparagus on top.

>> Oh, now you're getting fancy.

>> MING: Well, that's not fancy.

And then a little bit... >> Your togarashi over the top of that, very nice-- beautiful.

>> MING: Let's go eat some sword, sir.

>> Let's do it.

>> MING: A bottle of chardonnay for us.

Come on.

♪ ♪ All right, so we have a little unoaked chardonnay.

>> Okay.

>> MING: You know how chardonnays got a little too oaked in the '80s and stuff.

>> Certainly did.

No, this is... it smells really fresh.

Yeah, cheers.

>> MING: Citrus, apple.

>> This was fun.

>> MING: This is great, this swordfish.

All right, may I serve you?

>> Oh, I'd like that a lot.

That's going to go good with this.

>> MING: Yeah, right?

>> Likewise.

>> MING: There you go, sir.

>> Okay, thank you very much.

Okay.

>> MING: Some of this salsa and crema.

>> And I've got to get a little bit of the asparagus and the... all of the rest of it there.

Oh, but I'm having trouble because of the way I plated.

>> MING: Your asparagus is so short.

(both laugh) >> Uh-oh-- okay.

>> MING: All right, there we go.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: Let's give this a try.

I am so excited.

>> Okay, so, um... >> MING: I love, I love how this sauce just covers... Oh, look at that, it's totally still translucent in the middle.

>> This is exactly what swordfish is supposed to be like.

>> MING: Right?

>> It's super-tender, really moist.

I'd say we cooked it pretty well.

>> MING: We did.

This sauce, this pasilla crema, is unbelievable.

It's so roasty and toasty... >> It is.

It really gets a lot of flavor from the toasted pasillas that are in there.

They're not too hot, right?

I mean, it's not a very spicy... >> MING: I actually like the texture-- they're chewy.

>> Mm-hmm.

>> MING: Right?

Because usually, you buzz stuff, and I loved how you buzzed half and kept the other half whole.

>> This is super-fresh.

I love the little chopped-up asparagus with the grilled corn and the shiso aioli.

All good stuff, man.

>> MING: You know what?

I don't know, maybe we should do this for a living.

>> Okay.

>> MING: So your restaurants, you have six or seven?

>> Six restaurants.

>> MING: And now you're a barman, or your daughter... >> Number...

Number six is a bar.

It's modern Mexican bar snacks and an incredible cocktail program that's headed up by my daughter.

>> MING: That's fantastic.

>> And she's really shining.

I'm, I'm super-proud.

>> MING: That's awesome.

And you're a dozen years on PBS, right?

>> Yeah, a dozen-- dozen seasons.

Absolutely, yeah.

>> MING: All right.

>> Really, really happy about the... >> MING: 29 years on PBS combined.

>> Yes, exactly, super-cool.

>> MING: Thanks, muchas gracias.

>> No, this was phenomenal.

>> MING: Always mi casa es su casa.

>> Muchas gracias-- no, it's really, really fun to cook with you, always.

>> MING: You are the best, Rick.

And you guys are also the best, and as always, peace and good eating.

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