MING: This week on Simply Ming, I'm on the road, cruising down the Rhine.

And today, we're stopping in Heidelberg, Germany, home of the famous Heidelberg Castle.

I'm so stoked because I also get to cook with Mario Sauer, who's a one-star Michelin chef.

I know he's going to be making a confit of kohlrabi with wild herbs and a little chanterelle vinaigrette.

So luscious for a vegetarian dish, right?

Everyone thinks vegetarians are going to be light and...

I love the vegetarian cuisine.

MING: Yeah.

I'm going to go check out the farmers' market and hopefully pick up some cool vegetables to make an equally good vegetarian dish.

We've got two pretty good vegetarian dishes, I think.

We're also then going to find out what's this student kiss?

What's that all about?

Apparently it's a Heidelberg specialty.

We're on the road, and it's coming up right now on Simply Ming.

♪ ♪ MING: Before shopping at the farmers' market, I thought I'd be remiss if we didn't visit the Heidelberg Castle.

It really is the centerpiece of this town.

The first parts of the castles were constructed around 1300.

It was destroyed by lightning in 1764, leaving it permanently unlivable.

In 1800, Count Charles de Graimberg began the difficult task of conserving the castle ruins.

Up until this time, the citizens of Heidelberg had used the castle stones to build their own homes.

This is why I love Europe-- such amazing history.

Now we're off to the farmers' market to see what bounty they have to offer.

I'm here at the Heidelberg Farmers' Market to pick up some stuff before I go meet Mario Sauer, the amazing chef.

So, I'm thinking, you know what?

We're going to probably do vegetarian, because he's known for that.

I'm going to do my version of a ratatouille.

Guten Morgen.

Guten Morgen.

MING: May I have some of these?

I love-- so, ratatouille traditionally is bell peppers.

Thank you, danke schön.

Eggplant, usually.

And I think I'll just use one of these beautiful eggplants and get some steaks out of him.

That should be enough-- beautiful.

I need tomatoes-- tomatoes and garlic.

Now, look at this, this is cress.

I love this.

This is cress, yeah?

Cress, yes.

MING: We'll use a little cress as garnish.

Please.

And then-- these shiitakes look awesome.

Maybe some shiitakes, ma ke some vinaigrette with that.

Danke schön.

We got our stuff, I'm very psyched on this.

I'd like to do my version of ratatouille for Chef Mario.

And we're going to go find him right now.

Hello.

Hello-- hi, Ming, nice to meet you.

MING: Allison, so nice to meet you.

Welcome.

MING: Thank you for inviting us to your hotel.

Can you tell me about it?

I mean, this-- this looks historic, it must be.

Yes, we've over 500 years of history here.

MING: 500!

It was first mentioned in 1470, in a love story.

And, what are also famous here is that the students have been here fencing from 1815 to 1979.

And the students here were very actively doing this fencing here in the large hall... MING: So wait, let me get this right.

So this is a fraternity house?

It was a fraternity house until 1979, when the students had to leave, because it was not allowed to do the fencing.

MING: And then you and your family took over, and now you've turned it into... We've turned it into... MING: The best hotel in Heidelberg, no?

We have a Michelin star restaurant.

MING: Yes, you do, Chef Mario.

And we have some fa ntastic rooms to go with that.

And, we can... MING: So you can eat, dr ink, and just walk upstairs... That's right, walk upstairs and no... yeah.

MING: That's so perfect-- excellent, well, good.

May I meet the chef?

Is he here?

Yes, sure, let's go inside, he's waiting already.

MING: Okay, oh, fantastic.

Mario, Ming Tsai.

Hi, Ming.

MING: It's so nice to meet you.

It's a great pleasure to have you here.

MING: Thank you, I'm so psyched, I get to cook with a one-star Michelin chef.

So, my honor.

And I'm doubly psyched you have a cocktail.

What's this cocktail, please?

It's a sour, Cuarenta y Tres sour.

And, it's... And it's a liqueur from Spain.

MING: This stuff.

So what, what is this?

Yes.

MING: What's the liqueur?

(sniffs): Oh, vanilla.

Yes, it's-- it smells like a crème brûlée.

MING: Cool, awesome.

And that's a sour, so we need the lemon.

MING: Uh-huh.

And a simple sugar... MING: Yep.

...and fresh orange juice.

MING: All right.

So, we need some ice cubes.

MING: Can I ice you?

Okay, ice you up.

So this is your-- your creation?

Yes, That's right.

MING: Awesome.

There we go, chef.

Okay.

And we also need some ice cubes into the glasses, please.

MING: Oh, yep.

Pleasure.

Already has me working, not a problem.

Yeah.

MING: So, one-star Michelin, that's such a huge honor.

Did it-- took you, took you few years to get?

Yes, it's... MING: How long?

How long, it's four years.

MING: Four years?

Four years.

MING: Wow.

Talk about patience.

You keep cooking and cooking and cooking.

And then, four years, you finally get it.

Yes.

MING: You must, you must have drank a lot of champagne, no?

Oh, yeah.

MING: (laughs) A lot of champagne.

MING: I would hope so.

Oh, that looks good.

So, this is aperitif?

Yes.

MING: To get our digestive juices going, right?

Awesome.

All right, prost.

Prost.

MING: Congrats on your Michelin star, really.

Thank you.

MING: Prost.

Oh, that's delicious.

Taste the orange, and the vanilla's unbelievable.

Yeah.

MING: It covers the whole palate.

Spanish taste.

MING: Yeah, it's great, but it's not too sweet, I love it.

Okay.

MING: Fantastic.

Shall we go cook?

Welcome.

MING: Let's go.

Come on.

MING: Let's go cook.

Delicious, chef.

Thank you, danke schön.

So tell me about your dish, what is it?

Now we make a confit from kohlrabi.

MING: Confit, kohlrabi, nice.

Yes, with... with a vinegar, with a vinaigrette from chanterelles.

MING: Okay.

And peas... MING: Okay.

And herb salad.

MING: Awesome.

Well, what can I do?

Yes, please.

Please prepare the chanterelles.

MING: Okay, what, just take-- clean the stems?

Yes.

MING: Okay.

You can... MING: Excellent.

And-- this one, and... MING: And the shallot, mince this?

Yeah.

MING: Okay, perfect.

And what are you going to do there?

I prepare the kohlrabi, I need.

MING: And why kohlrabi?

Is that, is that a product you use a lot here in your restaurant?

Every time.

I love this product.

MING: And do you-- is it this restaurant?

You have a Michelin star, as I said earlier, which took you four years to get.

When you first started here, you had no star, right?

No, in the first time, I've started in 2007.

MING: Right.

And it's got no Michelin star here in this restaurant because I'm just one chef here.

I'm alone for two restaurants, on six days-- six days a week.

MING: Wait, wait.

You had-- you had no cooks?

No.

MING: By yourself?

Yes.

MING: Two restaurants.

Yes.

MING: (laughs) I'm, I've never-- how do you do that?

What do you... Yeah, that's the first years.

Now I've got six cooks.

MING: Okay, better.

With me, with me.

MING: That's better.

Yeah, that's really better.

MING: All right, so you peel the kohlrabi, right?

Yes, peel the kohlrabi, and then I slice them.

MING: You were born here in Heidelberg, right?

Yes, I was born here in Heidelberg.

MING: So are there, are there-- do you use German influence in your food?

Yes, I take a lot of local products.

MING: Right.

Like this.

MING: Like kohlrabi?

Yes.

Like the, the... the chanterelles.

Like the, the... the meat and the pig from here.

MING: Yep.

Yes, always with the pig.

MING: And the...

I love, I love the... We went to the farmers' market, where we got a lot of great stuff.

That's amazing produce-- really, really... And we're, you know, we're in the middle of fall, and you still have some amazing stuff.

What do you do to cook the kohlrabi?

I cook them in the pan.

I make a confit, so I need the whole pan.

MING: Okay.

Is this enough chanterelles?

More?

A couple more?

That's okay.

That's okay.

MING: You sure?

Yeah.

MING: Okay, all right.

Then, please, peel some peas.

MING: Okay.

That's enough.

MING: Fair enough.

So, what-- is that extra virgin olive oil?

Yeah.

MING: Oh, so you go-- you're going to go nice and slow.

All right, so you got your kohlrabi peeled.

Yes.

And then I-- make such a cut.

MING: In a traditional German dish or French dish, how would you use kohlrabi?

Oh, we bake it in a high, in a high bread.

MING: That's right, I've seen it.

Yeah.

MING: So, for flavor-wise, it's, like, I don't know, like a daikon meets potato, you think?

It's hard to describe kohlrabi.

Crunchy.

Nice and crunchy, and we've got no waste.

MING: So you're going to use those peels?

Yes, we use it for the salad with the herbs.

MING: Oh, fantastic.

Yeah, I mean, by the way, you in Germany here?

They have four different... trash.

You have trash for food, that goes to the farm.

Yes, that's right.

MING: You have plastic, you have glass, and you have paper.

That's right.

MING: Unbelievable.

Such a clean country, that's so smart.

That's standard.

MING: We need to get there.

Ah, yes.

MING: Yeah, that's your standard; that's not our standard yet.

Hopefully.

All right, so, extra virgin olive oil.

Yes.

MING: You just cut to make it look pretty.

And so I take some salt.

MING: Okay.

Regular salt.

MING: That's just kosher salt, right?

Yes.

MING: Pepper?

Pepper.

MING: All right.

So far, so good.

I need to mince a shallot for you.

Just half a shallot's okay?

Yes, for us.

MING: Okay.

Boom.

All right.

And what was that last thing?

That was sugar?

No, that's... No, that's all, that's all the salt.

MING: Okay.

And then I make a vinegar.

That's a regular standard recept.

I take three parts of oil.

MING: Right.

One part vinegar.

A little bit sugar.

MING: Okay.

Salt, and the French mustard.

MING: And that's for the vinaigrette.

All right.

Is that enough shallots?

Fantastic, thank you.

MING: Okay.

All right.

Okay, I think we're good.

We have this, we have this.

We have shallots, we have peas.

Yes, we... MING: You're going to blanche your peas, you're going to confit the kohlrabi.

Yes.

MING: And we're going to sauté the chanterelles-- chef, let's get cooking.

Okay.

MING: Here we go, boom.

All righty, chef.

So, please put the shallots into the pan.

MING: Okay.

All right.

And I give a little from the olive oil into it.

MING: Okay.

Yes.

Yes.

MING: All right.

And then please... MING: A little salt?

You need some salt... MING: Okay.

In the water.

MING: And peas, right?

Okay, fantastic, yeah, that's right.

MING: What, 30 seconds, one minute?

Yes.

Just 30 seconds, that's enough.

MING: Got it, okay.

And we'll shock that.

And then, the kohlrabi...

Yes.

MING: You go nice and slow?

Very slow, very slow.

Just takes eight minutes.

MING: Eight minutes?

Eight minutes, just eight minutes.

MING: Awesome.

Are you caramelizing the shallots, or just sweating them down?

No, not brown, just white, yeah.

MING: Not brown?

Okay.

All right.

It's amazing when you add salt, right?

It gets so green, right?

That's a, that's a chef's trick.

You ever want green vegetables, right?

Salt water and ice water.

MING: Ice water-- salt and ice.

You have to stop the cooking.

Then I put the chanterelles into the pan.

MING: Okay.

Very nice.

One of my favorite mushrooms in the world.

Okay.

MING: Love chanterelles.

Yes.

MING: Okay, peas are good.

Good to go.

Okay.

MING: Chanterelles, this is going to take, what?

Three, four minutes, right?

Three minutes, three minutes is enough.

MING: You want some salt and pepper, chef?

We need some salt, we need some pepper, please.

MING: Okay.

Okay, it's fantastic.

MING: All right, good.

So three or four minutes, and this has about another five minutes?

All right?

I think, yeah, it's okay.

MING: So five minutes, another three or four, and then you're ready to plate up, right?

I take a knife?

MING: Yeah.

Oh, yeah.

MING: So, once it goes through... Four, five minutes, and it's finished.

MING: Okay, all right.

Four or five minutes, come back and plate.

It's going to be a good dish, I can tell.

Now we finish the plate, please.

MING: These look great, with these chanterelles.

So, peas in here?

Okay, peas in here.

MING: Okay.

In the pan, and then, please mix it with the kohlrabi and the herb salad.

MING: Kohlrabi shavings, very good.

And then dump it in the herbs.

Yes, that's right.

MING: Okay.

Oh, look at that.

Oh, that looks good.

And that's your vinaigrette.

Yes.

MING: It's just extra virgin olive oil and vinegar, right?

Vinegar, a little bit of salt, sugar, and the French mustard.

MING: Awesome.

So please, mix it, slowly.

MING: Awesome.

And these wild herbs are all local herbs that, just from the whole area?

Yes.

MING: Okay.

Here you go, chef.

And then...

Put your hands.

MING: Yeah, that's fine.

Oh, it looks so good.

So luscious for a vegetarian dish, right?

Everyone thinks vegetarians are going to be light and...

I love the vegetarian cuisine.

MING: Yeah.

Peas, love it.

It's beautiful.

I always say the hardest thing in the world to cook is vegetables.

Everyone should be able to cook meat and fish, right?

Vegetables are harder to make delicious, right?

Yeah, you need, you need a really, really good basic product.

MING: Yeah.

Oh, so good.

So, we're finished-- good look.

MING: Fantastic.

All right, chef, but before we get to eat, you have to be my sous chef.

I'm going to make a qu ick ratatouille, Asian-style.

Oh, I'm afraid, thank you.

MING: Okay, good.

(laughing): He's afraid.

Chef, that dish looks so good.

I can't wait to try that.

I love that it's vegetarian.

Now, what-- what do you do?

MING: I'm doing a ratatouille.

A ratatouille, it's fantastic.

MING: So, we're going to have-- well, traditionally, bell peppers, onions-- we're going to use shallots-- a little bit of garlic.

We're going to have a shiitake vinaigrette.

So we're going to brunoise all this, and I'm going to salt some eggplant and crisp that up.

So the eggplant is going to be kind of the garnish of the ratatouille, all right?

So if you could do a brunoise of this.

Okay.

MING: And then we do a brunoise of all these ones here.

And I'll start on the eggplant.

Okay.

MING: All right.

So, eggplant, as you know, you want it-- you want to salt it a little bit, right?

Because you want to draw the bitterness out.

So I'm going to take four slices, and I'm going to reach up-- hand me that salt, chef, if you don't mind.

Sure.

MING: Thank you.

Salt.

MING: Do one more like this.

Okay.

MING: All right, so this, we'll salt this, on both sides.

And I say, I don't know, 15 minutes, just to draw some of the, the bitterness out, right?

Just, you'll see some of the liquid come out.

And then we'll just wipe off the salt and we'll be able to fry that up.

All right, so this could go here.

That looks good.

MING: So then, we can go ahead and do a little bit of just sliced shallots.

We'll do some sliced shallots with a vinaigrette and then get this in a pan.

Yeah, and very nice brunoise.

I think that's about all we need.

With the tomatoes on the top?

MING: We'll do some thin slices of tomatoes, yeah.

Okay.

MING: Just as a layer, a layer of raw.

All right, that's all the shallots we need there.

Do a little bit of minced garlic, as well.

And that-- this, we'll use this to cook all the vegetables in, right?

Okay.

MING: You have this best fresh garlic here, right?

I love it, it's so good.

All right, so we'll go ahead and mince this up.

Hey, taste... MING: That's plenty there, chef.

We can go ahead and...

Okay.

MING: Yeah, you can-- if you want, yeah, do a little... Just, like, half a bell pepper of each color.

And we got-- beautiful, you had green, as well, I didn't-- we just didn't have enough room... Green, orange, yes.

MING: You have everything.

Yellow one.

MING: I mean, I am so impressed with the produce and the meat you have here.

All right, so we have this.

And then we're going to go ahead and do brunoise a zucchini, as well.

So, we're going to keep prepping.

Okay.

MING: We'll get a nice brunoise of everything.

Okay.

MING: This eggplant's going to take 15 minutes.

Okay.

MING: So when we come back, we're going to rinse off these and wipe them down, and then we're going to fry them up using some panko.

Stick around.

Chef, that's some nice brunoise-- small dice.

Yes.

MING: Obviously, one-star Michelin.

So we have a ratatouille base here.

Zucchini, bell peppers, we got.

We're going to make a vinaigrette with that.

Scramble me some eggs, please.

Okay.

MING: And I'm going to work on the eggplant.

You can see all this water that came out, right?

That's why you salt an eggplant.

Because you want to get that water, a little excess.

And that, actually, wh at is bitter on the eggplant.

All right, so, remove some of the bitterness.

Just wipe it off, you don't have to rinse them.

But see all this moisture that's left behind?

That's a good sign.

Then what we're going to do is paner.

So we do flour.

And flour, of course, makes the eggs stick.

Chef's going to dump the egg for me right here.

And then we'll panko, please, chef.

Perfect.

If you could, chef, a little salt and pepper with my panko, please.

Yes.

MING: I'll take this.

And then here, keep one hand clean.

That's going to be my dirty hand.

So, a little salt and pepper in the panko.

You got the salt.

Excuse me.

MING: There you go.

Thank you.

Go ahead.

Three.

All right, perfect.

Four.

Then, keep one hand clean.

All right?

And just get this egg... You paner-- you must.

You must coat things this way, right?

I mean, when you do, like, the Wiener schnitzel, or the-- what's the, what's the chicken version called?

When you, when you have the paillard?

When you, when you pound chicken?

Yes, it's a Backhendl.

MING: Backhendl.

In German, it's a Backhendl.

It comes from the Bavarian.

MING: Use the same technique?

Yes, it's the same technique, but here we need some... More, more... it's fine.

MING: It's finer?

Yes.

MING: Okay.

So this is the Japanese breadcrumb, which I love.

All right, so we have that.

A perfect mise en place.

MING: Okay, so now this will just fry in a fryer, around 350 degrees or so, like this.

All right.

And then we'll go ahead, and we're going to cook all these, and then slice tomatoes at the end.

But let's just... Let's keep cooking.

Yes, okay, okay.

MING: Come on, chef, here we go.

Okay.

MING: So, if you just fry those up for me, then salt them when they come out?

Yes.

MING: I'm going to get the ratatouille started, so a little extra virgin olive oil here.

A little extra virgin for the vinaigrette, as well.

So, for the ratatouille, a little bit of the shallots.

Let those soften up.

And in here, I'm going to put the garlic.

This is our garlic shiitake vinaigrette.

So, it's actually going to be lemon juice with this olive oil, right?

How's that looking?

It looks pretty good, chef.

Thank you.

MING: So this is kind of like a hot vinaigrette.

Okay, okay.

MING: It's going to be shiitake, garlic...

Okay.

MING: With a little bit of lemon juice.

MING: All right, le t's get these shallots going.

Just a touch of salt and pepper.

(sizzling) All right.

There we go.

So now I can add... We have the zucchini.

We'll do the zucchini for a minute first, and then add the bell peppers, right?

It smells fantastic.

MING: That's the shallots there.

All right.

Here we have the garlic.

Again, I'm not trying to brown it, I'm just trying to get the raw flavor out.

Okay.

MING: So now I can add my shiitake mushrooms.

And at the very end, we'll add some just-chopped chives.

All right.

All right, that's looking good.

How's the eggplant?

We're looking for G., B., and D.-- do you know what that is?

No, I don't know.

MING: G., B., and D., in English-- golden, brown, and delicious.

That's why we call it G., B., and D. Oh, goodness.

MING: Okay, so I can add the rest of my peppers in here.

Like that.

Just a touch more salt.

All right.

Yes, slowly they get crunchy.

MING: That's looking good.

All right, so this is a li ttle vegetarian oyster sauce.

Okay.

MING: So, it's an oyster sauce made with shiitake mushrooms.

It's going to add a really good umami, dark, luscious, kind of meaty flavor.

All right, so this is going to take another two or three minutes.

Okay.

MING: And shiitakes are going to be another three-- and how long, chef?

Another three minutes there?

I think two or three minutes, yes.

MING: Okay, so, in three minutes, we're going to plate this dish up.

Stick around-- Asian ratatouille.

All right, chef, super-thin slices, if you don't mind.

So here's a little lemon zest, chef.

I'm adding that to the vinaigrette.

So, again, that was, that was just shiitake mushrooms with garlic.

I like acid, right?

Got to add a little bit of acid.

Okay.

MING: Because otherwise it's a little bit too rich.

So, juice of a lemon.

Okay, I think we're good.

So we're going to take this.

Put this on the bottom.

So that veggie oyster sauce, I'm going to be curious to hear what you think.

It's got a really good umami, deep flavor to it.

Okay, chef, lay your tomatoes on top of that for me, please.

Okay.

MING: Perfect.

There's going to be a little liquid, which is fine.

I'm going to take this.

Put that on top of that.

And then here, lemon juice, olive oil.

Shiitakes, just a little bit of chives.

We're good to go, chef.

Wow.

MING: We got two pretty good vegetarian dishes, I think.

Okay.

MING: Wait, and some cress.

This is great.

Okay.

MING: This is really bright and spicy.

I love this cress.

Just a little bit on top, like that.

Let's go eat.

Great job.

MING: All right.

on y va, time to eat.

After you, chef.

Okay.

MING: Chef, what-- what wine is this?

It's a German Riesling, from Baden-Baden.

MING: Baden-Baden, is that close to here?

Yes, it's in the middle from Heidelberg and Karlsruhe.

MING: Thank you, danke schön.

You're welcome.

MING: Smells delicious.

(slurps) Mmm, love it.

Dry, right?

I love that.

For food, it's going to be terrific.

All right, I'm going in for your kohlrabi chanterelle.

Oh, my God, this cuts so easily.

Crunchy.

MING: Mmm.

Very crunchy.

MING: Oh, my God, chef.

The kohlrabi's as rich as a piece of fish, right?

That oil is so good.

And the peas and chanterelles, fantastic dish.

Love it, love the balance.

It's a great vegetarian dish, yeah.

MING: Is that okay?

Yes, yes.

Really great-- good job.

MING: Like a third of a Michelin star?

A quarter, maybe?

(laughing) It's great, when you don't miss fish or, or meat on the table, yes?

MING: Right?

And like I said earlier, I think it's harder.

I think it's harder to make vegetables taste good than a good piece of fish or meat, right?

But I love also this match of the Riesling.

Chef, to you.

Are you going to go for two stars, or you're happy with one?

What do you think?

(chuckling): In the moment, I'm happy with one.

But, maybe.

MING: He already works six days a week.

So for two, you have to work eight days a week.

Just lazy on one day.

MING: Cheers.

So, danke schön, huh?

This is so delicious, leck, lec... Sehr lecker.

MING: Sehr lecker.

I'm learning my German.

So, a fun little story here in Heidelberg, I'm at the oldest café in this town, called Café Knösel.

And back in the 1800s, this café was frequented all the time by young boys and young girls, but always chaperones.

So it would be improper to give out a phone number, or make a little flirty, flirtatious act to them, so the pastry chef thought of, "W hy don't we create something?"

And he called it a Student Kiss.

It was actually a chocolate.

And because it was so beautifully packaged, he called these a Student Kiss.

And even the chaperones couldn't refuse the boy wanting to give it to the girl as a sign of their love.

So, here's a Student Kiss to you all.

I'm going to have one all by myself, but that's okay.

Because it's also, of course, European chocolate, which means it's going to be delicious, which is what I care about.

Ooh, and they're stuffed.

Fantastic.

A Student Kiss to you, and as always, peace and good eating.

♪ ♪