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

I have one of my favorite people in the world in the house.

Sara Moulton-- cookbook author, PBS star, Sara's Weeknight Meals, a protégé of Julia Child.

What is she gonna be cooking today?

Chicken.

Chicken Buffalo-style with some orzo.

>> Notice one pan here.

One pan, there we go.

Now the blue cheese is a-coming.

>> MING: Pretty cool.

I'm gonna be taking that same flavor profile, doing chicken, but our famous Blue Dragon chicken sandwich.

My first encounter with Julia Child, I was a nervous wreck.

And I'm not a nervous wreck, ever.

>> Really?

>> MING: But it's Julia Child... >> Julia was so nice.

>> MING: I know, but it's Julia Child.

>> And she loved men.

I bet she loved you.

>> MING: We're cooking hot chicken, coming up right now, right here on Simply Ming.

♪ ♪ >> Funding is provided by... >> MING: Hello, Sara.

>> Hello, Ming.

>> MING: Nice to have you back.

>> So glad to be here.

>> MING: You look great.

You never age, it's awesome to see.

>> Nor do you.

>> MING: Well, we try not to.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: So, as you know, I'm gonna make a cocktail, just get us in the mood to cook.

>> I love the way you start.

>> MING: Chicken, Buffalo chicken.

So this is gonna be an Italian Ice, if you don't mind just dumping those.

Of course, we're gonna spend all this time making a delicious drink-- chill your glasses, guys.

And the secret, I use club soda, because it actually helps chill it faster, because of the bubbles.

>> That's so cool.

I did not know that.

>> MING: Oh, my God, I taught Sara Moulton something.

>> Oh, my goodness.

No, you always teach me something.

>> MING: You know, we met, like, in 1996.

>> Yeah, when you were discovered on my show.

>> MING: That's a true story, Cooking Live.

>> You were a nothing.

>> MING: (laughing) >> And look at you now.

>> MING: I still am a nothing.

This is called an Italian Ice.

This is based after a classic French cocktail called a French 75, which apparently was named after a World War I artillery gun called the French 75.

>> Really?

>> MING: So we're gonna take some delicious vodka.

Three ounces.

We're gonna add an ounce and a half of freshly squeezed lime juice.

You're going to take all your time to make a good cocktail... >> Make use of fresh stuff.

>> MING: Juice, oh, my God, please.

Don't ever use those plastic limes.

>> No, those... >> MING: No, no, no, no.

>> Or that bottled stuff, that's awful.

>> MING: Simple syrup.

Very simple, it's one-to-one ratio, sugar and water.

Also one-and-a-half ounce.

That's it.

That's the drink, and then... >> Wow.

That's simple.

>> MING: Pretty simple.

We then... we do get to top it up... >> You get to do... turn around.

>> MING: No, you turn around.

>> No, no, no.

No, I'm not working-- you're working.

>> MING: I'm doing everything, aren't I?

>> I know, I know, I like that.

>> MING: All right.

>> Do you really start... Do you make a cocktail before you start cooking at home?

>> MING: Um... sure.

Glasses of wine probably more often than not.

>> Yeah, I'm right there.

>> MING: But I do like my tequila.

>> Jacques Pépin comes with a whole bottle.

>> MING (laughing): He does?

>> Yeah.

>> MING: Well, that's good to know.

But then, the last but not least, the kind of... >> Oh.

>> MING: The ice part is just a little bit of Prosecco or Cava.

I would never use the good stuff, right?

Don't buy a $100 bottle of champagne to put on top of the cocktail.

>> Okay-- oh, so this is just the bubbly.

>> MING: That's just the...

But it has a nice little, little fizz to it.

>> That's gorgeous.

>> MING: Right?

I love the flavor of champagne in cocktails.

I think it cuts through it, it adds a nice roundness.

>> It does.

Do we get to drink it?

>> MING: Of course we get to drink it.

>> Okay, thank you-- thank you.

>> MING: Cheers.

>> Oh, jeez.

>> MING: Chin-chin.

>> Lovely, thank you.

>> MING: Cheers.

>> Yes.

Whew!

That is nice.

>> MING: Is it nice?

>> Yeah, whew!

>> MING: Will it inspire you to cook Buffalo chicken?

>> Oh, I think so.

I think this would go very nicely with it, actually.

>> MING: Let's see.

>> Talk about a pairing.

>> MING: Well, let's go talk about... We're a pairing, come on.

>> Yes, okay, let's go, let's go.

>> MING: What's the dish?

>> Buffalo chicken orzo.

And I'm gonna have you start with the chicken.

>> MING: All right, chicken in the fridge.

>> Okay, and I'm gonna get the orzo going.

Now, we should tell people who don't know what orzo is what it is.

>> MING: What is orzo?

>> It's rice-shaped pasta.

>> MING: Okay.

>> And it cooks very quickly.

Did I mention this is a five-ingredient recipe?

>> MING: You did not.

So, why is... Talk to me about that-- why five ingredients only?

>> Because if you start with fewer ingredients-- don't do this at home-- yeah, that's salty.

>> MING: I do that all the time.

You taste the... you have to taste the water, because you don't know if it's salty enough.

>> I know, but you could use a spoon.

>> MING: You could, you know, it doesn't matter... >> But it's not as flashy as sticking your finger... >> MING: But the point is, it should taste like seawater, right?

>> Right, it does.

>> MING: Because orzo has no flavor per se.

At least no seasoning.

>> And you can't add it afterwards.

The salt does not go in.

You have to add it to the water.

>> MING: Awesome.

Are you a cover to bring it to a boil, then uncover?

Or are you a like it uncovered?

>> What do you do?

>> MING: I cover it so it gets to a boil quickly.

>> Okay, let's do that, you're impatient-- but I also stir it.

>> MING: It's not that I'm impatient, it's just that I don't like wasting energy, because this world has... >> No, you're absolutely right.

>> MING: I love orzo-- orzo is like the easy risotto.

>> Yes.

>> MING: Right?

>> Right.

>> MING: Because risotto takes an extra, you know, je ne sais quoi... >> 20 minutes, 20 minutes, yeah.

>> MING: You've got to watch it.

All right, so, how big would like these like these pieces?

>> About like this-- half-inch cubes.

>> MING: Half-inch.

So just go kind of long dices like, like this?

>> Yes, and I was just going to point out that if you're doing this at home, it really helps to get... to get it and throw it in the freezer for about a half an hour, because it's much easier to chop raw meat if it's a little bit, you know, frozen.

>> MING: So, Buffalo chicken, is that something like when you were, like, yea big, were you eating wings and stuff?

>> No, I never...

I hated hot sauce, I hated blue cheese.

But at any rate, this is a take on this.

So Buffalo chicken, as everybody knows, is deep-fried chicken wings tossed in butter and hot sauce.

So we've got our butter, we've got our hot sauce.

We've got our chicken, but it's quick, quicker to cook it this way, and much safer than deep-frying.

Let me get the butter going in the pan.

>> MING: Do you know I have the world record?

It's not Guinness-proved, but I ate 115 chicken wings in an hour.

>> Wow!

>> MING: Yeah.

I wouldn't recommend it.

There we go.

>> Um, any rate, so, significant amount of butter.

So this goes in now.

>> MING: Do you season this at all now, or you season when you're in there?

>> Let's season it now.

>> MING: I'll get a little pepper for you?

>> Yeah, and I'll do the salt.

>> MING: Got it.

>> It's important to season as you go.

Don't wait to the end or it tastes...

It's sort of like a toupée-- you know, it doesn't become one with the hair.

>> MING: Hey, that was a secret!

I can't believe you're divulging... >> You mean that's not real?

>> MING: No, yeah, this is a combover.

>> Yeah, yeah, it's gorgeous.

Okay.

>> MING: I'll help you here.

>> All right, so this... We want to only partially cook the chicken because we're going to park it, and it's going to get reheated again with the orzo, by the way.

And then we finish it with some blue cheese and some hot sauce.

But I just... and we're going to talk about celery.

>> MING: Yes.

>> Which is the sixth ingredient, so we're cheating.

>> MING: Oh, that's okay.

>> But as we all know, celery is an important part... >> MING: You're Sara Moulton, you get some leeway.

>> I can cheat, I can cheat.

And let me stir and pay attention down here.

I took a tip from the Italians.

You know how they finish the pasta in the sauce?

>> MING: Yep.

>> So that the pasta absorbs the sauce?

>> MING: Yep.

>> That's what we're doing here.

>> MING: And you're kind of, like, butter-poaching it, I love this-- it looks luscious already.

>> Doesn't it look good?

Okay, talk about celery.

>> MING: Well, this is your... celery comes like this, right?

But most people, I think, throw away the leaves.

What do you do?

>> They do.

I save them.

>> MING: Save them?

>> They're yummy.

And we're going to use them as our garnish.

But you have...

I think you have an idea about how you want to garnish this, right?

>> MING: I don't know, this is your dish.

But I do think the leaves are great.

I think, I think celery leaves are a great garnish.

So the orzo's going to take, what, six minutes more, probably?

>> Yeah, less, less.

>> MING: Less?

>> We want to undercook it.

>> MING: We'll keep going, then.

>> And then...

I know you're going to do some fancy garnish, but, um... And I'm cheating with the celery, but it's because celery is the garnish for Buffalo chicken wings.

>> MING: You have to have celery.

I think you need to have celery sticks, and I think celery leaves is fantastic.

>> Yeah, and we should say, so it's deep-fried wings tossed in butter and hot sauce.

>> MING: Right.

>> Served with a blue cheese dipping sauce and celery.

>> MING: You close there?

>> Yeah.

>> MING: All right, I got your celery garnish there.

>> Okay, so, you know what I'm going to do?

I'm going to turn this off, all right?

Okay.

>> MING: I love celery hearts.

>> And I'm going to add the hot sauce.

>> MING: Mmm, mmm, mmm.

>> And it's as much as you want.

And we're using... you can use any, any one you want.

The classic would be... what's the one from...?

>> MING: They would use... Oh, Frank's, Frank's.

>> Frank's, I knew, I knew I was forgetting.

But you could use any one you like.

Although you want it to be acidic, because... >> MING: You do want vinegar.

>> Because the blue cheese, you know, I think it's a couple of tablespoons.

All right, so, let's see... >> MING: How's that orzo doing?

>> Let's see how our orzo's doing.

Uh, let's see.

Don't do this at home.

Mmm, oh, I think we're ready.

>> MING: We're ready?

Can I help you strain?

>> Mm-hmm.

>> MING: You put that there.

>> Now, we're going to save some of this cooking liquid.

>> MING: All right, so you're putting a bowl...

I love that.

So you put a Pyrex bowl below.

>> Right.

So because this is like, as I said, with pasta, you save some of the pasta cooking liquid, which has some of the starch from the pasta, so that then when you add the liquid back to the pan, it sort of thickens the whole thing.

So the orzo... notice one pan here, one pan.

>> MING: I love that.

>> There we go.

And now the blue cheese is a-coming, here we go.

And we're using just regular old crumbled blue cheese.

You could use gorgonzola, you could use your favorite... Whatever your favorite blue cheese is.

>> MING: This looks awesome.

>> You also could use chicken broth if you wanted.

>> MING: May I mix it for you?

>> Yeah, please do-- yeah, do your Ming's thing.

>> MING: My Ming thing.

>> And it's got to...

It's got to reduce a bit.

>> MING: Right.

>> So what we're doing is, we're finishing cooking the chicken, we're finishing cooking the orzo, and we're creaming the whole thing up.

>> MING: Look at this pasta water.

I mean, it does... it's cloudy because of the starches, right?

This is... it's so much better to thicken and finish the sauce than just water.

>> Right.

>> MING: Plus it's hot.

Well, and it's one of my... well, it's not even... You know, it's one of the ingredients.

Actually, we don't count water or salt, sorry.

We're cheating-- we may add more.

See?

It looks pretty good already, to me.

>> MING: It looks like risotto.

>> Should we taste it?

>> MING: Oh, absolutely.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: My mouth is watering.

>> I think we need more hot sauce.

I can tell looking at it-- what do you think?

>> MING: I agree.

>> Mmm, go for it.

>> MING: I agree-- it's so good.

>> Mmm, not bad, huh?

>> MING: And you don't need... >> Only five ingredients.

>> MING: And it's perfectly seasoned because of the blue cheese.

>> Right.

>> MING: Right?

You don't need more salt.

>> No.

So if you're going to add chicken broth, you need to go for low-sodium, because otherwise this would be...

I think it's done.

>> MING: Let's do it.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: Let me get you a big... >> Oh, you got our garnish ready and everything.

>> MING: I am so ready for you, Sara Moulton.

>> Yeah, see?

See, now, you see, we just made this in real time.

Although, of course, two of us did it.

>> MING: We always make it in real time.

>> And you can cut up a chicken in ten seconds, so... >> MING: Just in the middle?

>> Yeah, just in the middle.

>> MING: Okay.

>> Yum, yum.

>> MING: Awesome.

It smells great.

>> And don't you think this cocktail's perfect?

>> MING: It's perfect.

>> The acid will cut through the creaminess and the sugar will cut through the heat.

>> MING: I love it.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: All right, you garnish away there, chef.

Well, no, you can't... Well, I'm going to do the, the leaves.

You can do the... you had vision of the doohickey, of the actual stalks.

>> MING: Well, I just figured since we had... >> Right, let's do it.

>> MING: We had... we had to do something with these, right?

>> Right, yum, yum.

>> MING: I mean, come on.

You have your stalks.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: There we go.

>> There we go.

Now, if kids don't like blue cheese, you could use cheddar.

>> MING: I love this dish.

>> Aren't you impressed?

>> MING: I am impressed.

>> You were mocking me.

>> MING: I would never mock Sara Moulton.

>> You were mocking me.

>> MING: What are you talking about?

>> Yes, you were.

But there, ta-da!

You need to taste this.

>> MING: Awesome.

No, I've already tasted, but we're going to cook my Buffalo chicken-style recipe.

Then we get to sit down at the table.

>> Ah, can't wait.

>> MING: And have some wine.

>> Okay, yeah.

>> MING: Sara Moulton-- boom, look at that.

♪ ♪ I can't wait to try that orzo chicken.

It looks so good.

It's so simple.

Five ingredients, plus one, six.

>> Yes.

You're not supposed to mention the celery.

>> MING: It's okay, but it's...

So I'm doing the Blue Dragon chicken sandwich, which is infamous.

I want to show you and you how we do it.

>> I'm so excited.

>> MING: Key one is brine, right?

>> Of course, of course.

Chicken needs it.

>> MING: So we have sugar and salt.

>> Okay.

>> MING: How much you put in?

Equal parts.

One, two.

>> Very scientific.

>> MING: One, two.

What is... how much do you add?

We've all been to the ocean.

We've all swallowed seawater.

>> Right.

>> MING: Unfortunately, right?

>> It's got to taste salty.

>> MING: This has to taste like sweet seawater.

So literally...

So that's not quite.

>> No.

>> MING: Like a big wave hitting you in the face.

>> Yeah, yeah.

>> MING: And by the way, you don't have to add the sugar.

It does make it taste better, but it's not necessary.

What is necessary in a brine, of course, is salt.

>> The salt, and the reason we're brining it is because...?

>> MING: So, brining...

So this is good, try that.

Make sure that's salty enough for you.

Should kind of taste like the sweet sea.

>> Yeah, yeah, good.

>> MING: Good?

So the reason you brine-- and there's a lot of discussions about this.

Lots of chefs-- some do, some don't.

I'm big fan of it for pork and chicken, like turkey for Thanksgiving.

It's osmosis.

What happens is, nature wants equilibrium.

So if you have a salinated solution, which this is, originally, when the protein hits, it actually draws the moisture out of the chicken, which makes it dry.

But once you have this chicken juice in the, in the brine, what happens is, nature wants to establish equilibrium, and draws back the flavored juice, which is now sugar, water, salt, and the chicken juice, and it helps plump it up.

So when it cooks-- because salt retains water-- when it cooks, you get tender and juicy chicken.

>> Much moisture, because chicken... Moisture, listen to me-- moister.

>> MING: So here, you want to go 24 hours, right?

That's what we have here.

>> I just want to point out, you're using dark-meat chicken, which is a good choice to begin with.

>> MING: Chicken thighs, thank you.

>> Thighs, yes, because they're juicier anyway.

>> MING: Right-- so after 24 hours, you can see that it gets a little bit more opaque, and this is ready to go.

All right?

>> Okay.

>> MING: Come on, come with me.

>> And if you couldn't do 24 hours, would six be okay?

>> MING: Yeah, absolutely.

>> Okay.

>> MING: Actually, if I'm at home and I only have an hour, I do a dry rub then.

>> Yes.

>> MING: And I put even more.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: So we're just going to drain these, because I need dry chicken... >> Right.

>> MING: ...to coat.

So, again, I apologize, we have a lot of ingredients.

>> I mean, come on!

What is this, a restaurant kitchen?

>> MING: This is what it takes to make a great chicken sandwich in a restaurant.

>> A great chef, right?

>> MING: Right, so this is the batter, which, we have corn starch and buttermilk, a great hot sauce-- a little bit acid-- an egg, and a little bit of baking powder.

This is the dry rub, which is, again, corn starch with rice flour, garlic powder and ginger powder and onion powder, salt, and black pepper.

And here's the slaw.

So I need you, if you don't mind, using this box grater, grate me some carrots, grate me some celery, and then thin-slice some scallions.

And this is going to be a yogurt-sour cream slaw.

>> Okay.

>> MING: All right?

So I'm going to go ahead and get started... >> Okay.

>> MING: On the batter.

So, again, rice flour, buttermilk... And if you want to keep it dairy-free, you could use soda water.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: This is the hot sauce.

>> You could use beer.

>> MING: You could use beer, good point.

Excellent point.

Actually, I love beer batter, because I think beer batter has a great...

It has a sweetness to it that helps make things caramelize.

One egg.

>> Also, the acidity of the beer helps, too.

>> MING: Yeah.

Baking powder.

Okay?

Then a good club soda or sparkling water.

That's what we have here.

>> That's simple.

>> MING: And I like...

I like bubbles, because bubbles help makes the batter even lighter.

>> Crispier and lighter, yeah.

Meanwhile, can I just say that I don't...

I'm doing this for you, but I never use this tool.

I consider this a lethal weapon.

>> MING: You use a plug-in, don't you?

>> I use one of those food processors with a grating disc, because have you ever noticed with this, if you're not paying attention, a little bit of you goes into every dish?

>> MING: Well... >> Yeah, you know, it can get quite ugly.

>> MING: A couple of pieces of Sara Moulton, it won't be bad.

>> A je ne sais quoi.

>> MING: Right?

>> MING: So, again, you want it not super-thick.

Kind of pancake batter consistency.

All right, that's perfect.

That's what I'm looking for, right?

There's my batter.

Now, go ahead and do the flour mixture.

>> I'm sorry, I... >> MING: So you dip it in the batter.

And then you dip it in the flour, then you fry it.

>> Right.

The batter first?

>> MING: The batter first, yes.

>> Before the flour mixture?

>> MING: Yeah.

>> I usually do it the other way around.

So the flour glues the batter on.

>> MING: Exactly.

That was corn starch and rice flour, equal parts.

A lot of stuff here.

We have garlic powder, onion powder, garlic powder.

And again, guys, this is more quantity than you would use, in, I don't know, a year at home.

Black pepper, look how much black pepper that is.

>> That's a lot of black pepper.

>> MING: Salt.

Ginger powder.

Okay?

>> That is a lifetime supply.

>> MING: So here... Yeah, but, again, there's nothing in here that will spoil.

So if you're gonna make it, make a big quantity.

I would actually put them into plastic sealable bags, if you have extra, and then put it into your freezer.

It will last... it could last a year into your freezer.

All right?

So here we have our flour mixture, right?

So this has salt and everything into it.

>> That's great.

Did you invent this?

>> MING: We did it at Blue Dragon, yeah.

So Christine Canlas, my chef... >> You have a female chef?

>> MING: I have a fantastic female chef.

>> I'm glad to hear that.

>> MING: So when I first cooked for Julia at... At Blue Ginger-- we're talking probably 20 years ago-- I was a nervous wreck, and I'm not a nervous wreck, ever.

>> Really?

>> MING: But it's Julia Child coming in.

>> Julia was so nice.

>> MING: I know, but it's Julia Child.

>> And she loved men.

I bet she loved you.

>> MING: You know what?

In the very beginning, I just...

I was serving all the best food I could possibly serve.

And then, sure enough, the waiter says, "Hey, chef, Julia wants to speak with you."

I'd just served her my foie gras shumai.

>> Oh, my God!

>> MING: All right, so batter and then flour, guys, right?

>> Whew, I want some of that.

>> MING: Look at that.

So that's how you batter them.

So I'm cleaning myself up, I'm getting my hair ready, I'm getting my apron changed.

I'm, like, "Is she going to say the best preparation "of foie gras, the most creative, the lightest?

What is she going to say?"

And I have an open kitchen, as you know, at Blue Ginger.

And she goes...

I go, "Yes, Julia?"

She goes... (imitating Julia Child): "Chef?"

I'm, like, "Yes?"

She goes... (imitating): "You don't have one woman line cook!"

I'm, like, "Oh, God, come on!"

>> That's my girl, that's my girl.

Yep, yep, yep, yep, yep.

>> MING: I go back to the kitchen, the cooks say, "What did she say?"

I say, "Shut up, keep cooking."

I was so distraught, and she was right.

I didn't have women.

Not that I don't like women.

I married a woman, I love women.

>> I know, but that's different.

>> MING: But in this industry, back then, especially, there just weren't enough women line cooks.

>> I know.

>> There're still not enough.

>> MING: I mean, women are smarter and they listen better.

>> They're calmer under pressure.

Much calmer under pressure.

>> MING: They're just a superior race.

But you know what?

We are a close second, so that's good.

>> Oh, that's so funny.

>> MING: But, thank God, at the end of the day, she loved the meal, and she did something that I do now whenever I go to a restaurant.

She went to every single person in the line-- dishwasher, cook-- "Thank you very much, thank you very much, thank you very much."

>> She's amazing.

>> MING: It was amazing.

It was, like, wow, that's why she's Julia Child.

>> She is, she was the greatest.

>> MING: All right, see what what we're doing here, guys-- into the batter, and then a great flour coating.

All right, slaw's looking good.

>> I'm not quite as far... far along... >> MING: No, you keep going, we're going to start frying.

So 360?

Perfect.

I want it really kind of crispy.

>> So this is like Southern-fried, so much stuff.

>> MING: Yeah, this, this is going to have, um, a good, spicy tang to it.

So we're going to go ahead and get three of these... >> Ming, do you want white and green, or just white?

>> MING: White and green, please.

>> Okay.

>> MING: Scallions, yes.

Put one more in here.

All right, we'll get one more in here.

All right, Sara, we're going to take about eight minutes, because it's going to take eight minutes for this to get G., B., and D-- golden, brown, and delicious.

When we come back, we get to make a chicken sandwich.

Eight minutes, Sara, look at these puppies.

>> Wow, that is just ridiculously yummy-looking.

>> MING: Just give me a little salt on top of these.

>> Okay, okay.

>> MING: Just like french fries, you always sprinkle while it's hot and... >> Right, right out of the oil.

>> MING: Because that's how it sticks.

>> Right.

I just want to say that frying at home is completely possible, as long as you have one of those deep-fat fryers.

>> MING: Yep.

>> But you must have one of those deep-fat fryers.

Otherwise, it's dangerous.

>> MING: Oh, look at those-- look at those.

All right, to make our sauce.

>> Okay, okay... >> MING: So, classic Buffalo sauce is actually the famous hot sauce and butter.

Well, here we have butter.

And again, guys, I'm making... >> Just a little.

>> MING: This is enough for probably at least eight chicken sandwiches.

At least.

This, have you ever had before?

>> No, no, what's that?

>> MING: It's momiji.

This is a Japanese super-spicy chili sauce that has carrot, yeah.

Give it a try, it has a little carrot purée.

Really spicy, right?

>> I should say so.

>> MING: Right?

That's a kick.

>> Whew!

>> MING: That's what we're talking about.

>> Well, the, the butter will... That's, that's fun.

>> MING: Then a little tamari.

All right, so that... That's gonna be our sauce, that's going to come together.

>> Okay.

>> MING: Now for the slaw.

>> Okay.

>> MING: So, please.

This is sour cream into my yogurt.

>> Okay.

Oops, sorry.

>> MING: It's all right.

>> Again, this is much more than you need, right?

>> MING: Yeah.

This is, like, for eight chicken sandwiches.

>> Okay.

>> MING: It's like... a really rich type-- a little blue cheese, like you did.

>> Do you want all of that?

>> MING: All of it, please.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: And then, just a pinch of raw garlic.

>> I like that.

>> MING: If you could juice that lemon for me.

>> Okay, and I'm gonna do something that you taught me, that Jasper taught you.

>> MING: Jasper White, our fantastic mutual chef friend.

>> Who's now doing yoga and...

I don't know.

>> MING: He's doing yoga and loving that, because he's retired.

>> He does it this way, right?

>> MING: Yeah.

>> Yeah.

So... Oops, there we go.

We're gonna do it... >> MING: Oh.

He did it this way.

>> Did he?

That makes more sense.

>> MING: Which makes a little... >> Do we want a lot of lemon?

>> MING: Like that, perfect.

That's a great trick.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: We'll take out two... >> Yeah.

A few little pits.

>> MING: Lemon seeds.

>> Gosh.

This is-- you know what, what makes me happy about this?

Is, there's so many different layers of flavors and textures, so you got the crispy thing, you got the coleslaw thing, you got the creamy thing.

>> MING: Exactly.

>> And then you got the buns.

>> MING: And again, I will repeat, this is-- this is a restaurant recipe.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: I did it in honor of Sara, because I know how Sara loves great food.

>> Yeah.

>> MING: And... >> Oh-- yeah, well, I do.

I don't know if I needed it for eight, but that's okay.

>> MING: That's okay.

So then we're gonna put a little bit in here.

>> Mm-hmm.

Just a little.

>> MING: Just a little.

Well, yeah.

This is kind of like your creamy coleslaw, just like a good barbecue sandwich, you want something to cool off... >> Off the heat.

>> MING: Because this, this sauce is spicy.

This is... >> How's that?

>> MING: Oh, yeah.

>> Is that good?

>> MING: Oh, yeah.

>> Mmm, mmm, mmm.

>> MING: Need a little bit more.

>> Wow, yummy.

>> MING: Okay, let's see it-- let's get one more spoon.

Let's see how our sauce is coming together.

Oh, yeah.

It's looking good.

Okay.

We can... >> We can do this.

>> MING: Get this thing going.

>> Do you want me to bring everything down?

>> MING: No, no, stay there.

I'm coming to you.

>> Okay, oh, you're coming to me.

>> MING: All right, we have a couple of beautiful buns here.

There we go.

Here we go.

Let me take our chicken.

>> So, do you serve this for lunch, for dinner, or both?

>> MING: This is on our menu at lunch.

Which I just love.

Here's our sauce, we take our chicken... >> Wow, this is totally decadent.

>> MING: Into this butter, hot momiji sauce like that.

>> Dripping.

>> MING: Oh, yeah.

All right, then dunk that, Butter, momiji, oh, yeah, baby.

Look at that.

Oh, yeah.

That's what I'm talking about, Sara.

>> I can't believe it.

>> MING: Then... That beautiful, creamy, rich slaw on top.

That's what we're talking about.

Like that.

>> This is sort of Dagwood-esque, I'd say.

>> MING: We're gonna... Because we have to, because it's a little bit hard to eat.

>> Well, wait, wait, when does that go on?

>> MING: No, that's the slaw.

>> Oh, that's the dressing.

We already did it.

What am I saying?

I have the attention span of a two-year-old.

Okay-- oh, my God, that is gorgeous.

>> MING: Right?

Like that and that... >> It's steaming.

>> MING: Let's do it again.

>> You could make mini versions of this too, right?

>> MING: Oh, you could do... >> Sliders.

>> MING: You could make little sliders of this.

But we don't want a mini version, Sara, because we are big people.

>> Uh, yeah.

>> MING: Let's go eat chicken.

>> (laughing): Let's go eat some chicken.

Buffalo chicken.

>> MING: Come on, follow me.

À table.

Cheers.

>> Cheers.

>> MING: Always nice to have you, Sara.

>> Oh, yes, ooh.

>> MING: Little pinot gris from Carneros.

>> Yeah, I love this.

>> MING: Right?

>> Cocktails and... >> MING: Stainless Steel.

>> Yes.

>> MING: Right?

>> MING: That's like a quince nuance, a little-- not sweet, but a little bit of sweetness.

And we have some spicy food going on, so... >> Yeah, no, that's gonna be perfect.

That sweetness is gonna cut-- ooh, I'm so excited.

>> MING: I love how creamy.

I mean, it's really like risotto, the orzo, right?

>> Yes, it is.

Mm, mmm.

>> MING: Wow.

>> My husband says, "Never eat anything bigger than your head."

I think I'm in trouble with this.

Oh, my God, that's good.

This is hands-down the best chicken sandwich I've ever eaten.

>> MING: Thank you.

This is unbelievable.

I love-- obviously, you can make your dish 20 times before you've got my dish done.

>> Uh-huh.

>> MING: But the creaminess of the risotto, the pasta water, but the blue cheese is your butter.

It melted everywhere.

>> Right.

>> MING: You know what?

>> What?

>> MING: I think we did Buffalo proud.

>> I think we did.

>> MING: I think we did our version of Buffalo chicken... >> We did, we did, we did, we did.

>> MING: Sara, I love you.

>> Mm, mmm.

>> MING: You're the best.

>> I love you, too.

>> MING: And your latest book is what?

>> Home Cooking 101.

>> MING: Home Cooking 101.

There's no one better to learn from than Sara Moulton.

>> Thank you.

>> MING: Love you.

>> Thank you.

>> MING: Thank you very much.

And I love you guys.

As always, peace and good eating.

Cheers.

♪