>> ming: i love tea. the tea of asia, but also the fresh mint tea of the middle east. and if you've ever had a black tea flavored with mint, you know the two flavors harmonize really well. so i'm reaching into both the asian and the middle eastern teapots for today's recipes-- tea smoked split chicken with mint pesto, best-ever mint iced tea and its alcoholic counterpart soju sweet tea, and a tea-brasied lamb shoulder with mint salad. and chinese tea and mint have inspired my old buddy and great chef susur lee to pay us a visit and whip up something special. stay right where you are, because simply ming is coming up right now.

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>> ming: and by... >> melissa's world variety produce is a proud sponsor of simply ming. >> ming: hey, this is ming tsai. welcome to simply ming. today's master pair, from the east we have chinese tea, and from the west we have mint. let's talk to you a little bit about tea. first and foremost, this is a tea plant. this is called camillia sinensis. basically all tea in the world comes from this one singular plant. what differentiates tea is how mankind treats the leaves. so how is tea made? with the large leaves there's a process called withering. withering dries it out a little bit. and then the tea leaves are rolled. and what that does is it releases the enzyme. and that process, mixed with air, is actually called oxidation. so some of my favorite teas. this is black tea. this is lapsang souchong. this is a fully oxidized tea, has an incredible smoky, deep, rich flavor. this is what i'm going to be

using to make some dishes. mint. tons of different mint. mint, if you buy it in a store, is actually spearmint. the second most common is probably peppermint, or something called applemint, which are these bigger leaves. there's also pineapple mint, there's chocolate mint, there's all different types of mint. what do we use mint for? well, the most common, probably back in the day in england they would make mint jelly. that's with lamb. in india they actually make pickled mint, which is delicious, and actually a little spicy. mint julep and mojito, probably the two most popular cocktails made with mint. it's in everything, from toothpaste to antacid to vapor rubs. why? because it tastes so good and it has invaluable medicinal qualities. the first dish is going to be a tea-smoked chicken with a mint pesto. so right here we have two chicken split, that i'm going to just pour off. this was a brined chicken, all right?

brined meaning that solution right there was a combination, equal parts of salt and sugar, in water overnight. so let's go ahead and start the smoking mixture. easiest recipe in the book. equal parts sugar, rice, and tea. again, we're using the lapsang souchong tea. so you put this all in a wok lined with foil. and you have to mix it well. the reason there's sugar is eventually on high heat the sugar's going to start to melt. that will start smoldering the tea. and you need the rice so the tea doesn't end up burning. so the rice is kind of like an insulator. and you'll see eventually there'll be little bubbles when the sugar starts to melt. see that? it's already moving just a little bit. it's going to take about four or five minutes before we get this smoldering. all right, this is coming together nicely. see how this sugar's starting to melt? the only other thing i want to do to this... you don't need to rinse the brine off. but the other thing i want to do

is i want to add just a little glaze. so a little naturally brewed soy sauce and honey. about equal parts. and what this is going to do is just give it kind of a nice soy flavor, and just a little sheen. and that gets rubbed on the chicken. all right, these are big pieces, so i'm going to do this in two levels. you could probably squeeze it all in one, but i want to get really good smoky flavor into these, so i'm doing it in two. all right, glaze it again. a little color. okay, and this we cover up. and check our our smoldering rice sugar mixture. all right, so that looks good. so this goes right on top of the wok. and the last thing you need to do is take damp cloth and wrap it around and put it inside the

wok between the steamer and the wok to really seal it. you don't want any of this great smoke escaping. so now you turn the flame on low, and you want to smoke it for about ten minutes on low flame. then i actually turn it off and let it go for another 15 to 20 minutes off the flame to get nice tea smoked flavor inside. all right, so after about 25 minutes total you have this chicken. oh, so nice and smoky. all right, you've got both pieces. now i'm going to show you, this wok, we're then going to, of course, reuse this. so what you need to do is just take out this foil. have to use foil, all right? foil is what's going to keep your wok really clean. and be careful. it's going to be hot, all right? so then in here i'm going to actually add a little oil. because i just want to kind of shallow fry this chicken.

it's going to get a nice, dark color because of the honey and the soy. all right. so we're going to heat that oil up, and then make our mint pesto. super simple, everything in a blender. four cloves of garlic. kind of a classic pesto. this is toasted pine nuts, a bunch of mint, and olive oil. so i'll start with a little bit and then i'll get it going. pinch of salt. we'll get this going. turn it on low. and as it's going, whisk in some more oil. then add just a little water, just so it starts to move together. all right. let's give this a try, make sure this tastes good. give this a little try here. mmm, that's awesome. so nutty and really minty.

so this is going to be our sauce that we're going to just use around the chicken. all right, let's see how our chicken's doing here. we have oil. it's pretty much close to temp. so you take one of these smoked chicken. these are still rare, right? this was just lightly smoked. and i'm going to put it skin side down. it'll get a nice color on it, then it's going to be flipped. and i'm going to serve this nice and whole. i think it's going to be beautiful as a whole piece. probably eight minutes to cook it all the way through. oh, look at that. how good does that look? all right, so this is going to go in there about another five minutes. let's go back here and make a quick cocktail that's going to go really well with this chicken. mint iced tea. but i'm going to do two versions-- one with soju, which is a delicious alcohol, and one without. here's some black lychee tea. actually smells like the lychee flowers. we have boiling water here. pour boiling water on top of the

tea, and you're going to let this steep. i learned to make iced tea that you actually do some boiling water and then actually add that super-strong tea to some tap water. so we're going to let this steep for at least ten minutes. all right, so now once this tea has been steeping for ten minutes, i drain it into just the same water, but just room temp. and what this does is it chills the tea instantly. the problem with hot tea, sometimes you make iced tea, if you add ice it dilutes it. all right, that's great. so now, mint syrup. how do you make that? sugar, equal parts of water to that sugar. and we're going to add to it just a couple slices of lemon, just for a little flavor. that goes in. got to mix this well, make sure the sugar and the water combine. and then we're going to add a whole bunch of mint.

so just take your mint, crush it up, break that off, and you're going to bring this to a simmer and reduce it by about 50% until it's pancake syrup consistency. all right, so after about 20 minutes look what you get-- it gets a little nice and dark from the mint. so now we can make our cocktail. i'm going to strain this out so the mint leaf can come out, and then this syrup you'll be able to keep for a long time in your fridge. just never put your finger into it. it's a refreshing drink. the first one we're going to make is a little iced tea. so here's our tea that is not too screeching hot. and we're going to add our mint syrup, all right? mix that, and then of course ice and a couple extra mint sprigs

in there so people know that you're drinking iced mint tea. more ice. and there we have a delicious iced mint tea. now, a cooler cocktail with actually a little alcohol. a little mint syrup, a little soju, which is a low-alcohol beverage made from sweet potatoes and barley, depending on the brand. not very strong at all. so i mix this up with the sugar cane, and then tons of ice into this. and then we'll put a little mint in there, and we're good to go. all right, so here's a tasty cocktail. oh, i love that. and here we have our bird, which looks awesome. look at that.

how good does that look? all right, so you have to fry it twice. we have two pieces. but to plate this up is going to take just kind of a bed of mint just to kind of hold the chicken, if you would. take our chicken. it goes on top of the mint. oh, this is awesome. then we have our pesto. and put a couple streaks of pesto like that. and there you have it-- tea smoked chicken with lapsang souchong tea and a little mint pesto, and a delicious soju mint cocktail. all right, let's get started on our third dish. this is a tea-braised lamb with a little bit of mint salad. all right, so this is lamb shoulder. season it well. so add a little black pepper. when you sear meat, you don't want to overcrowd your pan,

because if you do that you're not going to get a good color on it. all right, so about a tablespoon and a half of oil. whisk that around. you've got to have a good "sss" when you put this in, all right? that's what you want to hear. i just want all of it to be touching metal. let it sear really well on one side, and then we'll give it a quick stir. all right, let's go ahead and get our tea component. so this is my favorite of all the black teas, lapsang souchong. it's the one that's got really deep, smoky flavor to it. and i'm making it with a sachet. so this is cheesecloth. basically you want to make sure it's really tight so nothing can escape. then we're going to add mirepoix-- celery, carrots, and onions. again, this is a braise, so most of these veg will melt down, so you really don't have to be perfectly cut. all right, so we have that, we

have an onion here. we'll do about, i don't know, half-inch dice. so a half-inch dice this way, come back across, all right? it doesn't matter what it really looks like. there we go. we have that good to go. all right, so this is coming together. again, it's going to take probably four minutes a side before i stir it up. so let's just let it sit there. all right, so check this out. this is about after eight minutes. look how nice and dark brown this lamb got. it's definitely not cooked all the way through, but some nice unctuous flavored fat there with the lamb. so in this same thing we're going to add onions, going to add a bunch of garlic, just, like, five or six cloves of garlic. celery and carrots all go in as well. season a little bit, all right? add your carrots. a little bit more seasoning.

definitely pepper. pepper is a must. so this now we're going to cook not to caramelize, but just to really soften it, just to get a little bit of color. all right, so after about four or five minutes, you see how it's sweated down a little bit? that's what we're looking for. to this now we're going to add our hero, just mint, right? just get the oil a little bit out. slapping it actually wakes it up. good dry red wine. you want to deglaze, you want to get all that stuff that's stuck to the bottom, scrape that off. you want to reduce the wine by 50%, which is going to be really quick, right? this is a nice hot flame. just to burn off the alcohol flavor. you want to keep the nice grape flavor. then the luscious meat, added back. a little bit of water to cover. and then we have our sachet of tea.

all right, so this goes in. and then what does the tea do? if there is any off flavor in your water, it will take that away. but more importantly it adds that smokiness from the lapsang souchong. taste for seasoning here. how this tastes, salt, pepper level, is how the meat's going to taste at the end. all right, pretty darn good. just a little bit more salt. all right, we're good to go. so now this you're going to braise. total braising time on low, once it comes to a simmer, is two and a half to three hours. but the last half hour you're going to add some sweet potatoes to give you a little starch. all right, look at this. after about two and a half hours, nice and unctuous. it's a great time to check for seasoning again. oh, that's spot-on. all right, so again for the last half hour you add some sweet potatoes. this is going to be our starch now in this. just a half an hour, because you don't want to get them too mushy. again, on a nice slow simmer.

all right, now check this out. oh, look how good that looks. so this is completely done. the sweet potatoes are nice and soft. we can plate this up. i'm going to do just one more quick kind of garnish, a second level of mint. we're going to just zest a lemon, and use lemon juice just to toss some fresh mint leaves, just to add a little nice acidic and herbaceous kind of zing to this dish. so just the juice of one lemon, through a strainer, and we're done. we're going to plate this up, all right? so this is mint. i'm going to just toss it in this juice, just a little bit of salt, just to give it a little zing. all right, here we go. let's plate this up. so we have the lamb. look at that. get the carrots, get the celery, get it all, like that.

take some mint, put it on top, with the zest. and there you have it, guys-- tea-braised lamb shoulder with mint salad. all right, i've got a wonderful friend in the house, susur lee, down from canada. what's up, sus? nice to have you here. one of the best chefs i know. you've got chocolate. the secret ingredient was tea and mint. what's your dish? >> well, i'm going to infuse two kinds of chocolate, folded in avocado. >> ming: right. >> i think avocado is one of the best things, you know, for health for you. >> ming: right. >> and this is really a pure vegetarian dish. there is no gelatin or anything. >> ming: so no animal product? >> yes. >> ming: so it's an avocado mousse. >> yes. with white and dark chocolate, yes. it's like a ying and yang. >> ming: a ying and yang, i love it. >> so i have the... >> ming: what is that? >> this is sweet condensed. >> ming: oh, sweet condensed milk? >> yes. >> ming: okay. >> and then i'm going to add a little bit... >> ming: all right, and what do

you need me to do here? i've got sugar. >> well, meanwhile, can you puree the sugar with mint for me? we're going to use it for a little garnish. >> ming: as a kind of mint sugar. i like it. >> on my side i'm going to do some mint, and also the tea leaves i'm going to use like making a tea. >> ming: okay. >> approximately about a cup. so after that i infuse it and let it sit for about 15 minutes. >> ming: that's also going to go into the mousse. >> yeah. so now after that i'm going to strain this tea. >> ming: all right. >> and get the essence, because... >> ming: that's 15 minutes. oh, nice strong, tea. >> right. >> ming: how is this mint? does this look good? a little longer? >> yeah, i would puree until, like, nice and green. >> ming: okay. >> so they're not sticking together. so i add half of this liquid. a little bit... just a little bit... >> ming: so you're adding this tea and condensed milk. i like that. >> so, you know, again, a little bit of that, you know, floral flavor, right? >> ming: so this is a bain marie, right? that was boiling water, a light boil, which is the best way to work with chocolate, right? >> ming: to melt it slowly. >> and also i put a little bit of salt to balance it, bring the flavor out. >> ming: that's so key.

how's that sugar look for you, sus? >> yeah, that's perfect. now can you put it on the plate and just spread it out? >> ming: all right. >> so, you know, i love mint sugar. you know, sometimes you can use, you know, brown sugar. >> ming: yep. >> light brown is also very good for garnish. >> ming: that looks awesome. so now i have these two avocados. you want to puree these? >> yeah, can you puree it very fine, and turn it into a paste for me? >> ming: okay. so you're not... are you making a ganache? not really, right? >> yeah, it's like a vegetarian chocolate ganache. >> ming: okay. so instead of using cream, you're using avocado. all right, let me grab a spoon. >> so this is two part. i'm going to just... i hope it doesn't... so cooling down, room temperature. >> ming: okay. which is key, right? you have to cool it down. >> ming: yeah. because when you fold the whipping cream and also the avocado, you don't want it to fall. you need consistency. >> ming: so you're a busy man, right? you've got four restaurants now, one in singapore, one in dc, new york, toronto. >> yeah, you know, a toronto project, i will be opening a lounge, which is in a couple of

months. i'm thinking about inviting you to come for cooking with me, for the film festival. >> ming: i would be honored, sus, you kidding me? you hang out with susur, you hang out with good company. and your book is one of the coolest books ever. half the book is your family story, and half the book is cooking, is that right? >> yeah, my recipe. but i also like, you know, your book that's coming out, the one-pot cooking. >> ming: yeah, i've got one more book. thank you, sus. appreciate the plug back. how's that look? keep going? >> yeah, i would, making sure completely pureed. >> ming: completely pureed, okay. >> and meanwhile, can you burn this paper for me? i want to do a little garnish, like, a quick garnish, so people at home can always use that. >> ming: i love this technique you showed me. so parchment paper in a hot pan, no oil, no nothing. it just burns like that, right? >> yes. >> ming: and that's just a little garnish? >> yeah. see, take it out. now it's done. see, it looks like rice paper. >> ming: that's cool, medium rare. >> and then i'm going to fold the avocado in. >> ming: all right. >> i'm going to do half and half. >> ming: fold this up.

>> and after that, can you put a little bit of whipping cream, fold in, make a little bit of that lightness? >> ming: about half of this? >> yeah. >> ming: okay. i love this, sus. >> there you go. fold it with your... >> ming: yeah, i'll fold it this way. i love that you're using avocado. i don't think it's going to taste like avocado at all. >> no. >> ming: you won't even taste it, right? >> no, you keep a richness. >> ming: it is nature... i say it all the time, sus. it's nature's butter. >> yeah, i like that word, too. so you whisk it very fine. >> ming: okay. >> that's great. so can you put it in a piping bag? >> ming: yep, got a couple right here. one for you, one for me. if you don't have piping bags, you can use a plastic bag, right, susur? >> or else you can use a spoon, too. >> ming: use a spoon? >> yeah. >> ming: put this in. and then how are you going to get that green sugar, which looks so cool, to stick to the... >> well, what i'm going to do is i'm going to spread it right on

the rim using the finger, just kind of, you know, paint it on. >> ming: so what goes first, dark or white? >> we can actually pipe it together so you can see the ying and yang color, you know? is that cool? >> ming: i like that. it's togetherness. that's so cute, sus. >> so... >> ming: okay, let's bring this up here. all right. so you tell me when. you and i can go together. >> yep. >> ming: looks like a huge margarita right now. >> well, you know, if you top off with a little bit of booze... actually, that's not a bad idea. a little grand marnier in there would be perfect. >> ming: sus, you and i know you can top anything with booze. so what do we do, together? >> let's just go one, two, three. there you go. nice. >> ming: oh, my god, that was great. >> so we are not short of mint. >> ming: no. you want some mint? >> some nice mint garnish. >> ming: okay. you want the whole thing?

>> there you go. >> ming: dude, you rock. will you join me at my table? we've got a lot of food. >> love to. >> ming: (speaking chinese) >> (speaking chinese) >> ming: all right, we have a couple dishes. let me pour you a little... you like bordeaux, right? >> thank you, yes. >> ming: fantastic wine. bordeaux from france. >> very nice to go with the lamb. >> ming: exactly. bordeaux and lamb is a classic combination. i have this chicken. please, go ahead and start. i have this chicken as well, you saw, the tea-smoked chicken. let me slice you a little piece of this. >> how long do you stew the lamb again? >> ming: lamb, all in, about three hours. give that a try. look at this chicken. >> i like the fact that you have a lot of juice. not so thick, not so heavy. >> ming: yeah, isn't that key? all right, let's try this. that goes there. i'll give you a little of this chicken sauce, too. have a little pesto. all right, so this drink, too, you need to try. this is my version of sweet tea, and the booze i used was soju, right? you know, the japanese or korean booze. >> mm-hmm. >> ming: cheers.

you're the best. mmm, try it with this. see if it works with this chicken. >> this is really a great summer menu. >> ming: nice, huh? >> i like the brining of the chicken. you can taste the seasoning. >> ming: all right, i've got to go in here. let's try this. that's delicious, sus. that is unbelievable. oh, my god, you guys, this is unbelievable. you can't even... i'm going to double dip, sorry. you can't even... there's no avocado flavor at all. >> yeah, it takes it... gives a richness, but... >> ming: oh, that's good. i toast you, susur. you're a genius. only you would put avocado in a dessert, and it works. thank you all for watching, and as always, peace and good eating. cheers. >> cheers. for more information on simply ming, including upcoming guests and more, visit us online at ming.com/simplyming. funding for simply ming is provided by: >> ocean spray.

for over 75 years, our grower owners have been harvesting cranberries to bring you and your family products like craisins, sweetened dried cranberries; a versatile snack that's surprisingly sweet. ocean spray, straight from the bog. >> ming: and by... t-fal's actifry. one spoon of oil for two pounds of fries and many other meals. >> ming: and by... >> melissa's world variety produce is a proud sponsor of simply ming. >> ming: and by... >> wan ja shan. simply natural, simply organic, and a proud sponsor of simply ming.

>> the simply ming studio was provided by clarke, a new england luxury kitchen and bath resource. >> to order the simply ming cookbook, dvd collection of classic simply ming episodes, or soft cover cookbook featuring recipes from previously aired programs, call 1-800-255-9424.

>> welcome to "skyweek." let's see what's happening in the sky from monday, july 22, to sunday, july 28. two fine constellations are side-by-side in the south -- hook-tailed scorpius on the right, and sagittarius to its left. modern star charts usually show sagittarius as a teapot. it's an eye-catching pattern, even though none of its stars is super bright. but sagittarius means "archer," and the bow and arrow are easy to picture if you visualize the stars that way. according to ancient greek tradition, the bowman was either the centaur chiron, or the satyr crotus. this is tony flanders from "sky & telescope" magazine, wishing you clear skies and great views. >> brought to you by...

manufacturers of telescopes and binoculars. maybe you have some energy- saving appliances, like an energy star-rated washer and dryer. but what about your tv? chances are it's on more than your washer, dryer, and kitchen appliances combined. did you know that if half of us in the u.s. replaced our regular tvs with an energy star model, the change would be like shutting down a power plant? you can find the energy star on everything from standard to high def to the largest flat-screen your heart desires. ow that makes sense. ow that makes sense.

hi. i'm rachel. come join my friends, alex and leah and hopkins, for signing time! leah uses american sign language. we'll teach you some. come sign with us. ♪ there's singing time and dancing time ♪ ♪ and laughing time and playing time ♪ ♪ and now it is our favorite time--signing time! ♪ ♪ it's signing time! with alex and leah ♪