MING: This week on Simply Ming, my old, old, old friend from the '90s, Sara Moulton, is in the house.

She's a protégée of Julia Child, and this girl can cook, indeed.

Put a little more flour on it till it doesn't stick.

MING: She's a prolific author.

She's done eight seasons of Sara's Weeknight Meals on American Public Television.

And today, we're cooking comfort food.

She's going to be making her Alsatian onion tart, and I'm going to be taking that same allium goop and doing my version of a French onion soup.

People have all these tricks about onions and how not to cry.

Julia did them all.

You light a match, you run it by water, you do... Oh, devastating.

MING: Yeah, this is good.

We're cooking here at home right now on Simply Ming.

♪ ♪ MING: Sara Moulton.

Ming Tsai!

MING: Nice to have you back.

I'm so glad to be here with you, yes.

MING: Sara I really credit for putting me on TV, honestly.

Well, you should.

MING: She had a show called Cooking Live.

I substituted for you in a week in August back in '98.

Right.

MING: 20 years later, we're still cooking together.

We are, we are.

MING: So thank you.

Yes, you got your show.

MING: But now I'm getting smarter.

I make cocktails at the beginning of the show.

Because this is what we do.

I like that.

I like the way you think.

MING: All right.

So this is called a Gator Bait.

Do me a favor-- give me just a little bit of big cubes.

We're going to do what's called a Tiki shake.

And then the crushed ice to fill these up, please.

Okay, and what's the history of this?

MING: So the Gator Bait, actually, John Councilman, who used to be... John used to be one of our great bartenders at Blue Dragon-- he created this.

This is all New Orleans-based, Louisiana-based... Well, of course-- it looks like it's got a lot of alcohol in it.

MING: Well, it is a cocktail.

More, or is that good?

MING: All the way to the top.

Cover it up.

Oh, cover it, okay.

MING: So we start with rum, use a little of this.

It's a Louisiana...

It's a satsuma orange liqueur.

Oh, I like that!

MING: So good.

Then we're going to add a little bit of lime juice, freshly squeezed, of course-- all right.

A little bit of passion fruit juice, as well, which I love.

I do, too, I do, too.

MING: Taste of the tropics-- then we're going to do four ounces of pineapple juice.

I'm sorry, this is a little bit reluctant, this ice.

MING: That's okay.

I'm doing my best, doing my best-- there we go.

And I actually got some in the glasses.

There we go.

MING: And just a couple of Augusta bitters.

Oh, yes.

MING: And, again, you're not going to hear much action, because those are just four cubes, because the idea, you just want to shake it to get it together, but not waterize it.

Oh, all right.

"Waterize it."

That's a bartender word?

MING: Yeah, waterize.

That's when you add water-- there we go.

Oh, okay.

MING: Awesome.

MING: So what we're going to do...

I'm excited.

You know, when Jacques comes and does a show, he brings a whole bottle of wine, which is empty by the time the show is over.

MING: Well, he is French.

He is French, yes.

It's a good excuse, isn't it?

What's our excuse?

MING: I speak French.

And so do you.

Yes.

MING: Mon Dieu.

Yeah, un petit peu.

MING: Voilà, then we're going to take this.

We're going to just put a little hole, and then you're going to stick a mint through there.

Oh, I am-- I can do that.

A mint sprig, okay, this guy.

Okay, here we go.

MING: Put it through the middle.

Okay.

MING: And voilà.

But then how do you drink it?

MING: Use a paper straw.

Thank you!

No plastic, no plastic.

MING: Because Blue Dragon's gone no plastic straws, ever again.

I agree.

MING: Cheers to you.

I like this.

MING: Cheers to you, Sara.

Mmm!

That almost tastes healthy.

MING: It is healthy.

Oh, oh, is it?

MING: Yes, of course it is.

Those are the worst kind.

They sneak up on you-- you think they're healthy, and then before you know it, you're in trouble.

Very good.

MING: We get to cook with onions.

We do, we do.

I have a few things to tell you about onions.

MING: Good, let's go.

And you thought you knew.

MING: Onion stories.

Sara, your dish?

Is a... Well, it's known in France as a tarte flambée.

It's an Alsatian onion tart.

And essentially what that all translates as is flaming tart.

MING: All right, can I do any prep?

I see lots of stuff.

Yes, you can.

I'm going to get the dough going.

I'm going to make it in a food processor.

You can cut the bacon into lardons.

MING: Lardon-size.

Which is... just slice it.

MING: Very thin, yes.

So I am going to put the flour in here.

This is 360 grams of all-purpose flour.

MING: So you weigh.

I do.

I think we can both agree that weighing is really important.

MING: I think we both agree that the metric system is so much better for cooking.

I know, why not?

Why are we not there yet?

Because it's so much more exact.

MING: To the gram, almost.

Right, oh, yeah, it's crazy.

So here we have a rapid-rise yeast.

This is a weeknight meal, so we want to make it quickly.

So we're using rapid-rise yeast, which will allow the dough to rise in just an hour.

A teaspoon of both sugar and salt.

And I'm just going to whiz that up for a second.

I need some hot... MING: Hot water?

Do you think you could have done that a little faster?

MING: Well, I'm just getting warmed up.

Yeah, okay.

MING: Just getting warmed up.

At any rate, yeah, I need about a cup... MING: So what do you want, like, 108.2?

120 to 130.

MING: Oh, 120.

Because it's rapid-rise yeast, you need hotter water.

MING: Hot-- there you go.

Okay.

MING: You want one cup?

Yeah, one cup.

You're going to add it through the feed tube.

And then I'm going to add a tablespoon and a half of extra virgin olive oil because I like the flavor in there.

MING: Okay.

And this is going to come to a ball, and then ball around the blade.

It's going to be sticky.

We want a soft dough-- it's much easier to roll out.

Okay, let's see-- oop-- what it's going to be like.

Oh, it's still a little wet, but I... A little sticky, but I think we're just going to make it work.

And ooh, I'm smelling the bacon.

Okay, so we take the dough-- that is a happy thing.

MING: So low, low-medium heat, right?

Right, right, right, right.

Can I make a mess on the counter?

MING: Yeah, of course.

It's so pristine.

MING: It's your kitchen!

So if it-- see, it's a little too sticky.

Just put a little more flour on it till it doesn't stick.

But we want it to be soft, because it will be much more pliable.

MING: Do you want a little oil here?

I want to oil the bowl.

Might as well use the good stuff, because-- so we taste it-- because this is French.

MING: I don't know if people realize it, that in France, we use a lot of olive oil, too.

It's not just Italy and Spain.

Yes, exactly.

So this is sort of fun.

MING: That looks so soft.

Yeah, and feel-- it's nice and warm.

And the hot water helps the yeast, which is rapid-rise, just go boop, really quick.

So it takes... MING: How does it go?

Boop.

MING: Boop.

Yeah, right, right, right, or whoo!

So then we turn it around and, because we don't want it to stick on the sides, so we oil the sides, too.

And then I've got some plastic wrap here.

And we just cover it and put it in a warm place, about an hour, until it doubles in bulk.

And I'll show you...

I'm sure you know what it looks like when it's ready.

MING: So in an hour this will be ready, and this bacon will be rendered off.

Right.

MING: And we're going to continue this tarte flambée.

And I'm going to hose down.

MING: (laughs) So this is ready.

And how do we know?

Because... MING: It's twice as big, right?

Well, that is true, but it's the bellybutton trick.

MING: Let's see it.

Okay, the bellybutton trick is you stick your finger in and you get an innie.

If it wasn't ready, it would pop right back up.

MING: That would be an outie.

Yes, that would be a no-y-- we don't want that, okay?

MING: A no-y-- I love that trick.

So I'm going to show you, I have a really cool trick for rolling this out.

I'll do that in a minute.

But I wanted to talk about onions.

MING: Please.

Okay, so for the home cook, because I try to think about speeding things up in the kitchen.

MING: Right.

Like, if you're slicing onions.

Oh, but first, wait a second.

I have a little...

I have something for you.

Okay, here.

MING: What?

They're green.

I think it's a nice color for you.

What do you think?

MING: For slicing onions?

Yes.

So people have all these tricks about onions and how not to cry.

Julia did them all.

You light a match, you run it by water, you do a... Oh, devastating.

MING: Yeah, this is good.

I can go play squash now, too.

Yeah, you could, you could.

You could get into a car and start driving.

So the thing is, it's so much easier to peel an onion.

MING: Right.

So you always do the same action.

So cut off both ends of the onion.

MING: Okay.

And then cut them in half.

I know-- the thing about Ming is, he's so quick with the knife, he'll go... (trills): He'll be done.

But for a normal human, you're going like this, you need these.

And they come in pink, just in case, ladies.

Or gentlemen.

MING: And by the way, the only reason you cry when you slice onions is, your knife is too dull.

Right, correct.

MING: Because there's actually onion mist you don't see.

Well, also, older onions.

Okay, let's talk about what kind of onions.

So then you peel them-- it's so much easier.

MING: I like that.

Okay, and I brought my other favorite tool.

MING: Let's see it.

I'm just full of tools-- you know this.

My giant bench scraper.

MING: That is a big scraper.

It helps you to pick up massive amounts of vegetables and put them into pans.

So I... one other thing.

MING: Yep.

See how much easier it is to peel, I mean, for the home cook.

You're still doing that trick, the chef trick.

But it really is so much easier.

Okay, so there's two ways you could slice these onions.

MING: So, can I ask you?

There's yellow, there's red, there's white.

We want white.

Correct, white's fine.

Yellow would have been fine, too.

We want storage onions, the ones that have been cured and left for quite a while.

Because the fresh ones, the Vidalia, or the other-- you know, the Texas sweets-- are too sweet.

What makes us cry in these onions is what we want.

MING: Got it.

Because when you take an onion that's high in sulfur, which are the storage onions, and you cook them low and slow, they develop that flavor.

Whereas the Vidalias are just sweet.

MING: And they're delicious.

But I just want to point out, there's two ways you can slice it, this way or this way.

This way is following the ribs.

If you slice it this way, you'll have nice thin strips that will keep their strips.

If you slice it this way, you'll end up with chopped pieces, and you will cry more.

As soon as you start to slice the onion, you've ruptured the cells, and it will make you cry.

MING: So you want it with the grain.

And how thin?

About a quarter of an inch thick, yeah.

MING: I'll do this.

And let me just say, I worked with Julia Child at Good Morning America, and I had to take a break, and she had to hire somebody else.

So she hired a friend of mine, or tried to hire a friend of mine.

My friend came in, apprenticed for a whole day, did a great job.

At the end of the day, I looked at Julia, I said, "So are you going to hire..." let's call her, "Susie?"

And Julia said, "No."

I said, "Why not?

She was fantastic."

She said, "She sliced the onion the wrong way."

MING: Wow.

Yeah.

Can you cut a third of that for me?

And I'm going to roll it out.

MING: One-third.

Yeah, I'm going to roll it out.

So one of these makes...

I don't know why...

I mean, whose recipe is this anyway?

Why it serves... makes three pizza doughs, but that's what I'm going to do.

MING: Can I show you your bacon?

Is that good?

Oh, that is perfect.

You don't want it to be completely crispy, because it can continue... MING: So drain it?

Drain it.

Save about two tablespoons of bacon fat in there.

MING: Two tablespoons, got it.

Yeah, because we want that flavor.

MING: And then cook these onions in the fat?

Yes, okay, so the onions, again, low and slow.

You start them covered for ten minutes, you know, stirring every so often.

MING: Covered for ten, okay.

And then uncovered for another 30.

Or until they look really golden.

So, okay.

MING: Low and slow.

So meanwhile, yeah, you get those, and here, wait, whoa!

Where did you put my favorite tool?

Here it is, right here.

MING: I didn't take it.

I put it... there we go.

MING: Sara Moulton's bench scraper.

Don't we love that?

MING: Oh, my God.

Oh, just indulge me, yes-- I think it's so handy.

MING: It's like a Zamboni for the kitchen.

So what I have done, in my Picasso fashion here... MING: I love it.

I've painted a square of olive oil.

Again, remember, I learned this from my Sicilian makeup lady.

Who learned it from her mother.

And if you've ever rolled-- which I'm sure you have, a million times-- pizza dough... Or you probably throw it up in the air.

MING: No, I don't.

Okay, good.

MING: I'm actually not Italian.

So you're right there with me.

I noticed that about you, yeah.

So any rate, if you roll it on flour, you roll it, it comes back, you roll it, it comes back.

It's so frustrating.

MING: Yeah, right.

But when you do it...

I may have had a little too much oil, but when you do it on oil, it sticks to the counter.

And so therefore, you can just roll it so easily.

So we're looking for about ten by 12 inches.

I'm making a paper-thin pizza.

So what you do, you take parchment paper, and you want the unbleached kind, because it's just better for you and the environment.

And then you lift it up-- it shrinks a little, but you plop it on there.

Plop.

And then we're going to roll it out again just to get it, you know... And, you know, if it looks like the state of Texas, who cares?

Florida, who cares?

You know, if it's a nice triangle... MING: Rhode Island?

It's really small.

I had to really think-- no, that's too small.

MING: By the way, any salt and pepper with the onions?

Yes, season as you go, right, Ming?

And they should be covered.

MING: Yeah, I got to cover it, sorry.

Yeah, got to cover it, yeah.

MING: I was waiting for the salt and pepper.

We sort of sweat it to begin with.

Yeah, I should have said something.

It's important not to wait until the end when you're cooking.

You should season as you go.

MING: 100%.

You end up seasoning more deeply, and also, you won't add as much salt in the end.

MING: It's such a great point.

You season as you go, period.

So when the onions are ready, we're going to top this with crème fraîche.

And we're going to mix this-- so this is crème fraîche.

Why crème fraîche?

Well, for starts, that's what the Alsatians do.

So we're trying to be honest to the recipe.

We're going to add egg yolks, some nutmeg, salt, and pepper.

So crème fraîche, because it's high in butterfat, higher than sour cream, it's about the same as cream.

And it just will hold up nicely in the oven.

MING: So nutmeg, egg.

Salt and pepper.

MING: Salt and pepper.

Yeah, and we've got... good.

MING: How much nutmeg?

Just a tiny bit.

We both know how strong it is.

So you don't want to overwhelm it.

But that's also very Alsatian, the nutmeg.

Yes, and we just stir it up.

Here, I'm going to go like this.

MING: I'm your Handi Wipe.

You're useful, you're useful, yes.

Now we just need to grate... coarsely grate the cheese.

We want about three ounces.

The thing about pizza dough is, if you overdo it, if you load it up... and it's Gruyère-- let me say it's Gruyère, because that's what the Alsatians do.

It could be Emmental, or it could be Italian Fontina.

It could be any good melting cheese, but...

So the thing about making a pizza dough is, you don't to load it up with too much stuff, because we want a crispy, thin dough.

So not too much cheese-- that's why three ounces.

Not too much bacon-- that's why six ounces.

MING: That looks about three ounces to me.

Yeah, that looks good.

All right, I think we're good to go.

MING: So onions, ten minutes covered, 30 minutes uncovered.

Until they're really brown and wonderful-looking, and then we can assemble.

MING: Okay, back in 38 minutes, plus or minus.

Yes.

I'm going to start building the pizza.

Now we've got our dough down, I'm going to put the crème fraîche on the top.

Wow!

Look at those onions-- those are perfect.

MING: It's amazing that those two huge onions, when you cook them down after your technique, which I love, shrinks this much.

We've concentrated the flavor, all that wonderful, you know, compounds came out of the... you know, the sulfur.

All the things that make our onions cry are why they're so good.

MING: Even though they're one of the least sweet onions, this still smells so sweet.

Oh, it is.

So in the end, you're not really going to taste the crème fraîche, but it gives it a wonderful, sort of creamy bottom.

Okay, go ahead with the onions.

MING: May I?

Yes-- so the onions are next.

And we just have to sort of... do you mind if I use my hands?

MING: No, please.

Okay.

Because now they're all sort of stuck together.

You let them cool a tiny bit.

It doesn't... you know, it's not that important, but... And by the way, I have to say it, because you'll get an email from somebody saying you're not supposed to put parchment paper in the oven over 400 degrees, or something like that.

In eight to ten minutes, which is all this takes, the parchment is fine.

Okay, so now the bacon.

Yeah.

All over-- just well spread out.

MING: This looks so good!

I know.

How can you go wrong with bacon and cheese and onions?

MING: I could almost eat it like this, but I'm not going to be that piggy.

No, no, that would be a little weird.

Okay, and then the cheese.

And let's... maybe it's a little more than three ounces.

Let's not quite put it all on, because then it gets soggy.

And we want crispy-- crispy, crispy.

MING: It looks so good.

Doesn't it, doesn't it?

This is great, you know, for a meal with just a little salad.

I think that's good.

MING: Love it.

Okay, so we've preheated the oven to 500 degrees.

We're going to put it on the bottom shelf.

MING: Why bottom?

Because you want the crust to get really crispy.

I mean, it is an electric oven.

In a gas oven, a lot of the times, the heat is at the bottom.

So, but even so, we want the bottom to get crispy, so that's why we put it on the bottom.

MING: But no convection, no fan.

No.

MING: Okay, and how long?

Eight to ten.

Or until the famous... until it looks right.

MING: See you when it looks right.

Oh, that looks perfect.

MING: Look at that!

Yeah, and I'm going to show you what we're looking for, because you want it to be, as I said, really crispy on the bottom.

MING: Oh, my God, it looks so good.

That was about... that took a little longer.

Sometimes it takes eight minutes.

That was about 12.

And how you know is, you take a look underneath-- you see that?

You see how it's nice and... oh, ouch.

Those asbestos fingers you must have.

And so, okay, now we need to let it cool.

Because that would be, like, take off the top of the roof of our mouth.

MING: That would crush us-- but look how good that looks.

Awesome.

All right, well, I'm going to make my version of an onion soup, then we get to eat lots of onions together.

I like onions-- onions are good for you.

MING: You stick around and you stick around.

I can't wait to eat this, yay!

That tart looks so good.

I cannot wait to try that.

Well, it's going to be great, it's going to be great, yeah.

MING: So I'm doing onions, too, like... Who sliced those for you?

MING: Come on, barely any tears.

MING: So I'm doing a French onion soup, but it's a French onion apple soup.

And it's going to have a little bit of soy sauce, and a little bit of apple cider, and some Granny Smith apples.

Okay.

MING: To kind of elevate it.

Make it sort of Normandy-style.

MING: Exactly.

So if you could just slice me some garlic.

That's a lot of garlic.

MING: It is a lot.

I mean, there's a lot of onions, too.

So I'm going to start... this is six onions, and about 12 shallots, and you have a bunch of garlic.

The whole idea is, you got to build flavor when you make onion soup.

Right, and you, again... MING: Caramelize, caramelize, caramelize.

And low and slow and low and slow.

To bring out the best in those onions.

MING: Just a touch of grapeseed oil.

Yeah, I don't need to hear a sizzle.

But I'm going to stick to a lot of traditional ingredients, because, you know, I spent time in France.

Dijon mustard.

Yes, okay, we love Dijon.

MING: Absolutely a must for French onion soup.

Yes, depth of flavor, umami.

MING: Worcestershire sauce.

Which is an English thing, but always in onion soup, the way I was trained.

I'm going to add a little bit of soy sauce, because I can.

Because you're Asian.

MING: Right.

And we're going to add basically four allium groups.

So we have onions, we have shallots, we have garlic, and we have... Scallions!

MING: And the idea is just that little simmer.

So I'm going to also add a couple of Granny Smith apples.

Now, why Granny Smith?

MING: I want the tartness.

I like the nice tartness of it-- these are washed.

I'm keeping the skin on, because they're going to melt away.

So all I do is, I quarter, and I take off the core.

Two of these.

All those seeds.

Yeah, and that's a good idea, because onions are so sweet.

You've sort of got to counter-balance them.

MING: 100%.

Do you want me to do something with this thyme here?

MING: The thyme?

Yeah, just mince some thyme up, too.

Thyme is also a traditional ingredient.

Yes, very.

MING: So I have to ask you-- never a restaurant, you.

You resisted.

I did.

MING: Because?

Children.

MING: Yeah.

Yeah.

You know, I was working 80 hours a week, and I didn't even think I could get pregnant.

I was too busy working.

MING: All right, so two apples.

You got thyme, you can hear that sizzling.

Yep, yep, yep.

MING: But, now I can add...

I'm going to add the Dijon.

You actually want the Dijon to cook a little bit.

So that's two tablespoons of Dijon, all right?

So let's get this-- there we go.

Now, I like...

I love the smell of cook... Dijon cooking.

Yes, I agree.

Dijon is one of my sort of regular ingredients, in my refrigerator all the time.

I add it to soups and stews to just up the flavor.

It's just good stuff.

MING: I mean, it's unbelievable how many onions this is, right?

But this is going to end up being, like, that tall at the very end.

So like Sara said earlier, season in layers.

Season as you go.

MING: Season as you go.

Black pepper is a must for a good French onion soup.

When do you want the thyme?

MING: Thyme after we add all the liquid.

So I'm not putting a ton of salt because I know I'm going to be putting soy sauce in this, as well.

I'm going to let this just come down.

Going to turn it a little bit low.

It's going to take about an hour for this to come down.

Then I can add the apples, and then I'll add all the liquid, and then let that simmer, simmer, simmer, and we'll have some delicious soup.

Yum.

MING: Right?

See you in an hour.

Look at these, Sara.

Wow.

MING: One hour.

All of those onions.

That is so crazy.

MING: Right it was up here, it comes down.

So I'd say that reduced by three-quarters, at least.

MING: Absolutely-- it takes an hour.

All right, so now we're going to add... Give me your thyme, please.

My thyme, yes.

MING: Your thyme.

I have these Granny Smith apples.

I like the skin-- it gives you a texture.

And they're going to have...

They're not going to be al dente, but they're not going to be nearly as soft as the onions.

Awesome-- we'll mix these in.

Now I'm going to turn it on high, because I want this to come to a boil, because I'm going to add all the liquids.

Please hand me the Worcestershire and the soy.

Okay.

And people can use tamari if they want to avoid gluten?

MING: Exactly.

But of course I'm going to have the crouton on top, right?

Well, you could have gluten-free... MING: You could, absolutely.

And what is this?

MING: That is apple cider.

Oh!

MING: So I'm going to, exactly....

So that's the alcoholic stuff.

MING: Because in French onion soup, sometimes it's ... Red wine.

MING: Red wine, sometimes cognac, sometimes armagnac.

Sometimes both-- I mean, they're French, after all.

MING: I'm doing apple cider.

You do that well.

Have you been a bartender?

MING: I've been a drinker.

Yeah, okay.

MING: Chicken stock.

Chicken stock.

So you're not using beef stock.

MING: I'm not using beef.

I have nothing against beef stock, but I like chicken stock.

I think the flavor of the onions... Comes through better.

MING: Comes through better, right.

Yeah, I agree with you, I agree.

I use chicken stock, too.

MING: There we go.

Okay.

Boy, this will feed quite a large crowd, I'd say.

MING: This will feed... this should feed you and I.

So now this, we're going to let go, and it's going to...

It has to reduce by at least about 20%.

MING: So that's going to probably take about another hour.

Oh, wow, all righty, then.

MING: Yeah, we got to go nice and slow.

And we going to top it off with cheese?

MING: We're going to put them in the bowl-- absolutely, croutons and Gruyère.

The whole thing, the whole nine yards.

MING: The whole nine yards.

I like the way you think.

MING: Stick around.

MING: Look at this, Sara Moulton.

Wow, that is fantastic.

MING: Right?

So this took about an hour, nice and slow.

It went down, like, yea much, but the apples are soft and the onions are ready to go.

Oh, wow, oh, gosh.

MING: Now, the last step-- we're going to build this puppy.

Yeah, we're going to do the cheese thing, the melty stuff.

Do you want me to grate this?

MING: Oh, yeah, grate some Gruyère.

Gruyère is the cheese, and the only cheese, in my humble opinion, you can ever use for French onion soup, but the same for French onion apple soup.

So ladle this on.

Oh, wow!

MING: I was so honored.

I got to do Rachel Ray's show for Jacques Pepin's 80th birthday.

Nice!

MING: Which, like Julia Child, we celebrated for four years.

(laughs) We're still celebrating his 80th.

MING: So, croutons, right, you dry them out, because I want them to get soaked up more.

So you did that under the broiler?

MING: Under the broiler, just a little bit of olive oil.

Oh, I think we got a lifetime supply of cheese, yeah.

MING: Oh, I think there's going to be enough.

There is no such thing as too much Gruyère, though.

Yeah, no, no, the more the merrier.

And this is going to be wonderfully hearty.

I love it.

MING: So now this goes in.

Under the broiler.

MING: Under a hot broiler.

I don't know, about one minute, until it gets nice and melty, then we get to eat!

Happy times!

MING: Sara Moulton, we get to eat like kings.

Would you like some of my onion tart?

MING: Please, serve me-- oh, looks so good.

So a little just Prosecco in honor of this.

Oh, God, that is so perfect.

Oh, wow, I'm pleased.

Mmm.

Wow.

MING: That's perfect.

I mean, bacon, come on.

MING: That is perfect.

Let's try not to burn on the roof of our mouth.

That is a problem, isn't it?

MING: It's really hot-- be careful.

Mmm!

Wow!

Oh!

That is just too much.

MING: That's not bad.

I like how the apples really sweeten it, but it's not too sweet, right?

No, no, no.

I actually think it helps with it, gives it a little tartness.

MING: But this, this is the bomb.

This really brings me back to Alsace.

Oh, I'm so glad-- I try.

MING: So to you.

Thank you.

MING: Thank you so much.

Thank you.

MING: As you know, today is a sad day.

Very sad, very sad.

It is a sad day.

MING: We lost a good friend of our industry, Tony Bourdain.

Yes.

MING: And....

He would want us to toast him.

MING: He would want us to toast him hard.

And to you, Tony-- we miss you.

Peace and good eating.

Very good, yes.